Hi guys im looking to buy a hardtail to use at places like gisburn forest and lee quarry but also just for riding along bridelways etc what sort of travel should i be looking for in the forks on the bike

120 – 150 max

what he said

Yeh was thinking that sort of travel didnt think 100mm would be enough

Anyone got any ideas of good bikes with 120mm-150mm travel

Budget?
On one 456 Evo x5 sector?

£1000 max but need to get gear aswell out of that like helmet tools etc

You should consider getting one of these.

I’ve got an NS Surge, which is the pretty much the same and it’s a great bike for thrashing about on. A few places still have stock of the 2011 model too, so you could get a bit of a bargain if you shop around.

If you looking at buying new, consider the on one above or look for a discounted previous years bike from somewhere

lancslad – Member

Yeh was thinking that sort of travel didnt think 100mm would be enough

it’s plenty.

That NS surge doesnt seem like it fits what you’re after? Low/short with 130mm DirtJump forks doesnt strike me as great for ‘just for bridleways’* .
*by which i assume you mean ‘farm’ tracks and stuff and not mountain passes in the lake district?

What do genesis do for that sort of money?
On One 456 good for lee quarry/gisburn etc, ‘just for bridleways’ maybe something a little less travel/slack angled would be better, though a 456 should still be a decent pedaller, more so than the NS?

Will mainly be doing gisburn, lee quarry, whinlatter, grizedale but also just general riding like you say farm tracks but also stuff in the hills but mainly trail centres, i like the on-one have looked at the genesis core 26.2 or 26.3, really like the saracen zen x but really stretching my budget especially when i need other stuff, what do people think of saracen mantra x or expert or the kili cromo 1

Anyone else got any views on the travel i need, or on any bikes i should look at?

Haven’t Saracen brought out a really nice 140mm hardtail for a grand?

Yup, here it is. Can you push your budget 100 quid more? Might be able to find it discounted a little though.

http://www.saracen.co.uk/bikes/trail/zen-x

I might get one actually 🙂

120mm seems to be the sweet spot these days for fork travel for “general riding” (by which I mean not XC racing, not DH, but what most of us do most of the time).

With that in mind, I can wholeheartedly recommend a Genesis (Core or Latitude), Whyte do a couple of suitable bikes, the On One 456 would be good too, but there’s probably tonnes of others too.

You would still be perfectly happy on something with 100mm of travel in sure, but it is often useful to have a little bit in reserve if it doesn’t bring a weight penalty as such.

the genesis bikes are great, up till tonigth i owned one, and out of all the hardtails i’ve had, it is easily the best for what you describe. The zen’s are very nice as well, but a bit more aggressive, They offer very good value for money as well.

You could get round on a rigid fork no problem…

100-150mm.. as long as the frame angles are right for the fork and your preferences it’ll just be pros-and-cons between the different areas of riding you describe.

Mboy’s right tho, 120mm is an ideal mid-ground especially if it’s on a well-laid out frame, you can get fast trail/xc as well as good DH handling in one bike based on a fork like that (IMO, disclaimer etc). Bolted front axles rule too.

Thanks guys

If your only riding canal towpaths then I’d say no more than 100mm, if your riding demanding technical terrain such as coed-y-brenin then I would say maybe no less than 160mm of travel front and rear, if not more! But then again I don’t think riding gets more extreme at places like that! oh yes, lee quarry too! 😀
Fantastic place to improve ones riding ability!

coed-y-brenin then I would say maybe no less than 160mm of travel front and rear, if not more! But then again I don’t think riding gets more extreme at places like that!

Erm no.

Genesis Cores are great bikes. A lad that I ride with has just got a Core 20 as his first proper MTB and he thinks its great. Decent forks frame and brakes and the rest of the build seems pretty good for the money.

Have a look at this below, you can easily get a helmet for £50 then some decent shorts and a couple of tops for £100. Football shirts are good enough if you have any. That gives you £100 to spend on some allen keys and a spoke wrench, maybe a pump and tyre levers if you dont already have them. You don’t need any more tools than that if you are just starting out.

http://www.fifecycles.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=582&osCsid=7fba8e82e638fc4020b58072dc040e57

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=56087

http://www.bikechase.co.uk/index.php?p=217163&o=217187

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=9343

All the above is good kit.

rupertpostlethwaite – Member

if your riding demanding technical terrain such as coed-y-brenin then I would say maybe no less than 160mm of travel front and rear

I’ve done Coed y Brenin several times quite happily on my old Kona hardtail with an 80mm fork, and also on a Trek 9000 full suspension (the really old one with the single pivot swing arm and an undamped elastomer, basically a pogo stick!) and an RST 281XL triple clamp fork up front, I’d be amazed if it had more than about 75mm of travel at either end. I’m off down there again at the end of next month on a hardtail with a 105mm fork, I don’t anticipate any dramas.

Why not look at a 29er inbred
or even just a straigh inbred

jasonm945 – Member

or even just a straigh inbred

Good call. Almost forgot, done CyB on one those too (borrowed), with a Reba, those God-awful Dual Control shifters/brakes and a rapid-rise rear mech, very wierd.

I’d say arround 120mm would be ideal for most trail centers, I’ve got a Pitch (150mm FS) and a Swift (rigid 29er) and whatever I’m riding always feels wrong! But it’s all good fun, the pitch is probably overkill at a trail centers and generaly feels like hard work to bully it into lines, whereas the Swift takes 100% concentration all the time to keep it going where you want it. Time to go shopping for a 120mm FS methinks!

Back to the OP, hardtails dont suffer from too much travel like FS bikes so so a 140mm On-One will do bridelways just fine and be a hoot at trail centers.

does anyone know if i got a Genesis core if in the future it would take a longer travel fork like a 150mm instead if the 120mm that comes on it

You may find that it upsets the geometry giving you a slacker head angle, and it may(?) void the warranty. That’s not to say don’t do it I’m sure many have before you!
Do you “need” 150mm travel 🙂

probably dont need 150mm but was just wondering if i got a genesis core and wanted longer travel forks in the future would they fit ok

The bike was designed around a 120mm fork. I had a 130mm fork on my Altitude for a while (same geometry but in steel or Ti) and it felt too slack.

Besides, with a rigid back end, it could be argued that running more suspension travel up front is pointless (though of course our whole sport/pastime could be considered pointless too). You won’t need more than a well setup 120mm fork on that bike. If you felt you did, then you’d have bought the wrong bike, and maybe a long travel full sus bike is more suitable, but then that’s also gonna cost a lot of money.

Off the top of my head 100mm – 120mm

I think the main thing is to buy the right bike, not the correct fork travel. Ideally you’ll want to have riddden a few bikes to see how they feel. I’d be wary of any bike that doesn’t have at least 2×9 drive train, preferably 3×9 or better. I think your intentions are the norm for most riders and lots of bikes will fir the bill. The genesis, On one 456 or inbred should all work. Boardman are good value to

Coed Y Brenin

on the one hand I agree its a place where i appreciate suspension and don’t really like to hear ot called not technical. Thats misleading

On the other hand I once followed a child of under 10 out of the visitor centre (along Badger) on a 24 inch wheel rigid bike. He was flying so it depends on the rider 😉

Does anyone know what the frames are like on the genesis core, just wondering if the frames are good then ive got a good base to improve things, not sure what the specs are like Genesis website doesnt tell me if the stuff is Alvio, Deore, SLX, XT etc

Voodoo’s from halfords do 140mm forks on the bokor link
…and 120mm on the boardmans – link, and are generally well regarded and probably better value than the genesis…

Genesis site tells you the spec, just click on the model number and hit the specs link!

Jay

120mm max on a Ht.

Not keen on halfords heard bad things like need to take bike to LBS to have it put together properly but will keep those bikes in mind do quite like the boardmans have to say the spec on a voodoo wanga is amazing just frame sizes to big i think for myself

The genesis frames seem well regarded Aluminium or steel. I haven’t wridden either

I wouln’t worry to much about up grades and is the frame the best bit etc.

Firstly my advise would be buy a bike ride and love it. Get the saddle stem length and maybe tyres correct for you. Then just maintain it replacing bits as needed. People vary but I own a bike with a deore mech and one with an Xt mech. The one that works best is the one with the newer cable.

If you do get the continually change bits on your bike bug then it could be anything you change. It might be the frame that you change

I’d look at merlin bikes as well. They are good value and well regarded

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Bikes/Mountain+Bikes/Merlin+Bikes/list.htm

But I repeat your needs are standard just get a bike and ride it

The genesis frames seem well regarded Aluminium or steel. I haven’t wridden either

They’re great frames. I’m perhaps a little biased, but do some research on here, you’ll not find many unhappy owners. I had an 853 Steel Altitude, which I eventually swapped for a Ti Altitude. Both are/were superb. The good news is that it’s almost entirely down to the geometry, which the Aluminium framed Core also shares. What Mountain Bike mag loved the Core …

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-genesis-bikes-core-50-11-40746

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-genesis-bikes-core-50-10-36076

In fact, they loved pretty much every Genesis they’ve reviewed! Says something for the company, the design and the geometry… (oh, and the guy who designed em, hangs around on this forum too, though he has moved to another venture iirc, I’ll preserve his anonimity for now! 😉 )

I wouln’t worry to much about up grades and is the frame the best bit etc.

If you’re already worrying about upgrades before you’ve even bought the bike, unless it’s very simple things like tyres and probably a saddle, possibly handlebars and grips, then I’d think about spending more up front on a better equipped bike in the first place. Upgradability (and worthiness of upgrading) of a bike is important, but you shouldn’t be too worried from the off unless it really is a piece of pig iron already draped in XT and expensive trinkets just to look nice.

Firstly my advise would be buy a bike ride and love it. Get the saddle stem length and maybe tyres correct for you. Then just maintain it replacing bits as needed.

Good advice… Spend time getting the forks set up correctly for your weight too, but in general, just get out there and ride the thing. You’ll know within a few rides if you want a different saddle, tyres, or wider bars etc.

thanks guys you have all been a great help, def fancy a genesis but wont right off on-one or saracen yet