Mountain bike buying advice.

[Bungle]

I recently bought the Kona Stuff from a freind as it was going cheap and i like it. Some of the components are a bit cheap though when you consider the asking price of £800 i.e Alvio rear deraileur (sp?) but its a cool bike that takes me down any mountain (very fast )

[Bungle]

Dont like all that pedalling power going into the rear shock, and a decent full susser costs alot more.

There are some good cable disc brakes if you cant be doing with the hassle of hydraulic lines.

Like the Stab primo piccy

[Apex]

Aye it's a work of art, but i too like hardtails. They tend to be cheaper too

[shiato storm]

yeah the fox vanilla coils are pretty hefty to be honest - and there's only one way those bikes are going...down!...

and for the money hardtails will always come with better quality components - what ever you look at.

but, money no object, for alround fully-sussed trail bashing there are a few bikes i could recommend; Marin attack trail or its sister bike mount vision, each having similar frame but the former aimed more at free-riding with a bit more strength welds and longer travel and the latter much lighter and a bit less travel with XC racing in mind. the shocks on both are fox air shocks, both have hope discs and are spec'd out with pretty much some of the best stuff around.
Whyte bikes recently released a long travel bike using the same technology as Marin's [same designer] only their top of the range bike sports 6inch travel both ends thanks largely to the new Mavrick upside down forks - yet it rides surprisingly well with barely a pedal induced ripple and lays to rest the fears of long travel bikes being heavy and bouncey.
on that note fox are releasing their own huge fork for downhill racing - and its tipped to be the lightest fork on the market for downhill...acceleration will no longer be a serious chore!
also pretty good are the specialized enduro range, the tried and tested 4-bar linkage works damn well and all but eliminates 'pedal bobbing'. I have one of their older full-sussers and it works very well - I use it wen I go to the alps...
giant do some good cheaper full sussers. as do trek but I think their head tube angles are too slack [tipped back towards the rider too much] reducing control a litle when compared to more 'over the bars' type frames.

if you're after serious pimpage on a bike get a Klein with a custom paint job. they cost a fortune but if you have money to burn [and like to show it] then hell, get one with your name scribbled on it.

cannondale to a sweet looking brushed metal finish on one of their special edition bikes...

if you're after ultimate non-pedal induced bouncing then you have to shell out big-time e.g. Fox forx F80X is about £650...what many people would pay on an entire bike!so you better have good sponsorship or a well paid job to want to get that sort of performance.

[shiato storm]

p.s. I'm a hardtail rider...
observe:



I names my pedals: one joy, the other pride

[Apex]

nice x

[shiato storm]

hmm...now this is strange - I'm getting a red x not the picture I put up...pants.
well, heres a linky instead just in case

[Apex]

prolly don't allow hot linking

nice setup

[Apex]

http://www.bonthronebikes.com/produc...ls.asp?id=2890

[Dorza]

Like the Stab primo piccy

Thats the old one
THIS is the all shining new one (although it doesnt look that much different) And here is a new model with the stinky range.


PS. Check out the Specialized BigHit. Another damn good bike. And thats a nice bike you have there Shiato

[Maffu]

Friend in the US has a mate who runs a bike shop. A $700 bike is £700 over here. Given the current exchange rates, that's around £320.

I'm getting myself a $1000 [£1000] bike for £600.

Cannondale/Orange, here I come!