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Great thread - I'm looking for exactly this type of bike, but too much choice! Normally ride an 07 Enduro SL, FS. Quite a 'long' bike, but I love it and it suits my *cough* I think there's a medium framheavier frame. Have a craving for a similar 'style' (burly?) HT, get back some skills etc. Not having much knowledge, had been looking at Orange Crush - maybe P7, but obviously much more out there. Any suggestions for a good buy? Prefer ready built, and prefer way under a grand....
I also have an SL and my seocnd bike's a Marin Rocky Ridge. I love it,
I think there's an 09 medium frame for sale in the classifieds for £150!
Bargain!
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Does 130mm count?????
Bernaard - how does 130mm feel on the old Wanga? I run mine rigid and am toying with putting my RC40 on when weather improves to run at 100mm. I's have thought 130mm made it a bit "chopper-esque" n'est pas?
Mo DMR fo yo.
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My old Switchback. Now with a talas 140mm & even better. The camo has gone for a home respray, shortly to be done again for fun.
Go on then, my new Evil Sovereign with 140mm Magura Thors
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My old Alpine, my mates using it now
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Don't think 130mm is long travel, but:
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I have a few other bikes,but this is the one I enjoy the most.
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that Evil looks rather nice and balanced! also liking the alpine... some great responses, keep em coming!
By the way how many are running a 1x9, 2x9 or a 3x9? considering dropping one ring or possibly 2
is that a rumble? they seem good value, look like a nice little frame too.
Any excuse to post the frankenbike... Orange Sub Zero with Specialized E150 (110-150mm travel)
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Really need to get round to taking a pic with proper tyres on and out on the trails somewhere! 😆 Soon to have a proper set of gears added to the rear; the alfine/hammer combo is just a bit [i]too[/i] heavy and you can feel the drag in the system when in overdrive, it's hard work!
Also has a gravity dropper seatpost now for uppy/downy fun 8)
It is a Rumble, newer ones are a bit different as they have swapable dropouts so you can run with gears or ss, have only seen one other which is a pity as they are a great frame
For me LTHT is about going slower but having as much fun.
You need so much more skill to ride a HT as fast as a FS on the same terrain - I've hardly used my FS since getting a HT as it made my trails too easy.
I'm not sure that a FS is needed on 90% of the trails in the UK. I think everyone would benefit from taking a step back from technology and improving their skills - spending a few grand on a bike versus a few hundred on skills - I know I would spend my money on the later as it is much more worth it in the long run.
JonEdwards - loving the BFe - would love to hear more about it. you got an email I can email you some Q's on?
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Difficult to remember what it was like having white grips that aren't brown..
My well loved P7
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realman thats a great chameleon, always like to see a pic of it.
here's my original lt-ht, in fact the very same lt-ht that managed to get more runs in at cwmcarn than the susser-riders as mentioned by the OP way back on page 1.
unfortunately i was blinded by shiny toys and went on to go through a number of sussers in the name of bling. now i am hanging out to get my HT back on the road so i can plow through rock gardens feeling my teeth rattle loose, i can climb up hill and get to the top feeling like ive collapsed a lung, and most importantly end up looking good when sat in the pub with the biggest fekkin grin on my face from a day on my bike!
long live the hardtail!! and down with those who take this sh*t too seriously, were playing ffs!
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A mr Soul.... yep a lot of playing on here 🙂
a bikes a bike simple, just enjoy it but accept both have their pros and cons that eventually end up making them even.
Thanks all some really nice bikes out there, now any more for any more?
After taking the newer Trailstar/LT forks down the jumps, I can safely say that it's awesome 🙂 Dunno why people prefer short travel for jumps, I feel so much more confident with more. Maybe its more to do with the geometry of the bike now its a bit slacker though.
just finished building this yesterday. After canvassing opinion here I got a 16" (I'm 5'10") as the TT length is similar to my full sussers.
Parts a straight lift from a Kona Coiler (well it needed a f/mech and seatclamp). Forks are the 140mm variant of the 55R. My first HT in five years (previously given up due to back problem) and my first ever steel MTB!
CK headset bearings are as silky shmooove as they were when they were first fitted to the coiler 5 years ago.
REALLY looking forward to riding it.
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My PA with pikes. Got slightly different kit on it now but still running pikes, all be it coil ones instead of the air ones in this pic. A great all round HT. Could fancy giving an Alpine a go though.
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when it was new and clean
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which now rarely gets used as i have succumbed to the darkside which is Lynskey pro29 🙂
that BFe is one sexy piece of kit
that Bfe is just right in so many ways!!
I'm just loving the picture from Walleater. Guessing North Shore, where abouts?
after 1 year of riding my BFe the only i've changed is the tyres. The mountain kings were a pile of sh1te so i switched to my favourite nobby nics. other than that i'm super happy with the frame and build
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my soul after last week in brickhill.
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cant wait to get my mits on my blue Bfe when it ships in mid march ,
Half of these 'Long Travel Hardtails' are a cop out - there just XC bikes with 130mm forks on the front
how do you post pictures on here? i would like to post my newly built lt ht lovelyness but cant figure it out!
if your pic is on the web i.e photo bucket or pinkbike etc right lick and properties, copy the url. Then type [ img ] PASTE URL [ /img ]
like that but remove the spaces 🙂
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IT'S BEING EATEN BY HORSES!!!
horse... I call photoshop 🙂
Photoshop? Nivver! Look how it spurns the Jones in preference for my tatty old Cove and its well-travelled saddle. Long travel hardtails - they have the Highland Pony Seal of Approval. 🙂
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is that the quantocks? sure i have seen that horse before, he tried to eat my intense.... 🙄
4130soul - Member
long live the hardtail!! and down with those who take this sh*t too seriously, were playing ffs!
Best quote ever!
Balfa Minuteman.
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The BlackSpire seatpost is long enough to get me up to the woods, and sinks low enough into the frame for me to get really silly.
2.5" DH tyres on hardtails rule
Hope 6Pot Ti brakes enough for ya?
The Pike forks have blown up a few times on big landings even after I changed to a firm spring . I'm now running the "Push" upgrade and I'm happy on a Firm spring and enjoying the performance ... must be the heavy langings to flat
It's a really solid feeling bike with this set up and really happy with it. I doubt I''ll manage to break it but that won't stop me trying
Gratuitous in use shot
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I have other bikes but this is my workhorse which see's most of my stupid local forest action and almost never gets cleaned. Roll it out of the garage, ride it out hard, quick wipe with an oily rag, shove in garage, repeat. Local forest is a bike-breaker and my bikes have evolved to get tougher after breaking many frames and parts over the last 18 years of riding. I bit the bullet this year with new wheels and hand me down brakes from my big bike... I wish I had put better brakes on this years ago.
59 times the pain - MemberHalf of these 'Long Travel Hardtails' are a cop out - there just XC bikes with 130mm forks on the front
i thought that, too.....
(owner of Sanderson Breath running 130mm Revs)
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24/7 steel frame (not sure they ever named it... they sold a bunch of them for £60 each on ebay, a few people here bought them), Magura Menja 130 forks. Rides very nicely.
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kiwijohn - Member
Mo DMR fo yo.My old Switchback. Now with a talas 140mm & even better. The camo has gone for a home respray, shortly to be done again for fun.
John how is the Switchback with 140mm forks? I am thinking about putting my Pikes on mine
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Is 130mm long enough to be long travel?
130mm used to be long travel, but the fashonista bitches say No!
Apparently you need a whopping 10mm more to make the “cut off”, can’t see the fuss myself 130mm counts in my book…
Half of these 'Long Travel Hardtails' are a cop out - there just XC bikes with 130mm forks on the front
"It's all XC", as some old bloke on here is fond of saying. 😉
that cotic looks great with the magura's
Had a few over the past 3ish years;
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Thanks Coyote. Yes, it's Leopard on Mt Fromme.
a better pic of my on-one
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so how do post pictures is they are not already on the internet?
@ DJTC....you don't.
load them up first to zooomr.com, flickr.com or similar. you'll need to open an account and follow the steps from there.
once the pics are uploaded to pic hosting site, select the pic you want and copy the [b]http[/b]:blahblahblah.com.[b]jpg[/b] and paste into the box that appears after clicking the IMG button above the 'Reply'/'Post'.
pic should appear in your posted reply.
Oh look!! another On One 😉
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😛
John how is the Switchback with 140mm forks? I am thinking about putting my Pikes on mine
I thought it was good with 125 Vans, but 140mm is so much better. Slackens the head angle a bit so you can be more aggressive riding it. Not too slack though & the BB isn't raised too high either. Also went for a shorter stem & wider bars as well.
Go for the Pikes.
Noted and fitting is lined up. Now need to wait until Thursday so I can test it out. I suppose worst case I can just drop the travel down a bit with the uturn.
Pics will follow.
Couldn't wait. Nobody was in work and I am too tired to be hugely motivated at 6am!
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Wheels don't match but I need to get the matching front one built onto my spare 20mm hub. Could do with some white bars but I have some of them at home, also needs a black seatpost.
Nice work. Those bars might feel a bit high now.
They were too high anyway. I had 130mm Recons on and the bars were higher than the bars on my Pitch and that has 66s on it! Good job my white bars are low rise.
they look quite narrow too.
my wife text me to say my new build has been delivered today. i dont get home from work till 2pm tomorrow. arg!
They are 660mm so its probably the rise that makes them look narrow. Others are 760mm so the front will have a nice commanding stance now.
alpin - thank you for your help
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my new build, finished a few months back - absolute beauty
humm, that didnt work
looks like your pasting the link for the page rather than the photo, your photos are also set to private but not sure if that affects linking or not.
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I didn't realise it could be so versatile!
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'Xcuse saddle up waaay too high, as I was just about to ride up to Walna Scar...
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Since changed to a 1x9 set-up with a mini G2 bash/guide, otherwise an absolute hoot of a bike!
Is that a Bfe?
benjag... is that a 456 your racing DH??????????????
Looking on a proper browser - it is a Bfe! Really want one! Gavin - how big are you and what size frame have you got?
@Bushwacked - Yup, its a BFe! I don't seem to have too many pics of 'just the bike', and this one was on a random 'solo day' last summer.
Found another pic here - again still with 2x9 set up, and a 50mm stem which I was trying for a few weeks, but you get the idea..
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Its a medium, so around 17" frame. I had a large Soul before this, and loved it, but it kinda got out of its depth on fast techy stuff, which I guess was fun in itself, but I wanted to run something with 150-160mm forks, so got this. I'm 6'3", and although I'd never suggest it 'climbs like a goat' or anything like that due to it being short along the TT, I love it. Its got a 410mm post and I settled on a 60mm stem. It works for me, although it is a compromised position for prolonged techy climbing, as I don't have a huge amount of room to throw my weight around in. But then, this bike is much more about the 'downs'!
Gavin - it sounds like you're at where I wanna be!
I've got a Medium Soul and similar to what you said I'm starting to want something with more travel to cope with the downs better. Is the BFe very different to the Soul? is it more or similar fun to ride to the Soul? I'm worried getting it especially in medium (since it has the same geometry) I will find it too similar to the Soul and make me regret buying it.
What Fork you got on it?
Yup, the angles are the same as the Soul, but with a longer fork it slackens it up. I'm running Wotans on it, so can vary it between 120 - 160mm. I've since discarded the remote for the travel adjust, and very occasionally knock them down for techy ups, but 99% of the time keep them at 160. I guess I've just got used to riding that way! 🙂 Coil u-turn Lyriks would be great on it!
It definitely feels more capable than the Soul heading down stuff, although a big part of that will be the bigger/stiffer forks (I had 130mm QR Revs on the Soul). It is much slacker - probably about 67 deg HA although I've never measured it!
As I moved from a large Soul to a medium BFe (as Cy has only just started doing Large with the latest run) I find it much sharper on the downs but still fine for riding on the saddle on big XC days. It definitely doesn't climb as well as the Soul, but then its probably about 80mm shorter overall than the Soul I had (with a 90mm stem). One thing that I noticed very early on, is that it is [i]really[/i] stiff, especially at the back. The chain and seat stays are very solid, so you don't get much flex from them.
Yeah, I'd love some Lyriks. Sounds really good> Just got to decide if I go for the same size as my Soul (with a shorter stem and no layback post) or a small frame for increased standover.
Yes it's a 456 SS actually! took 15th in masters at FoD at the weekend! lost of fun spanking Glories and 224's.
singlespeed as well.. you must have got a lot of stares from 8" DH'er?
LOL @ Benjag! That's what's all about!!
Always remember IHN from here taking his rigid single speed Marin from the 1880's on the Cannock DH section and was funny as hell him standing next to the DH'ers in the queue!
Benjag what size 456ss frame are you running there? 20"?
when i lived in morgins/chatel the live guy used to shake his head at me as he loaded up my ss h/t with 63mm forks on and v brakes 😉 this was about 9 years ago so i was only a bit behind the times lol
same bike as posted earlier in the thread but a few new additions to the build to improve it (my full sus looks bare now lol)
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