Mountain Bike Advice

colintdi

colintdi

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Hi any mtber's on here? I'm wanting to get a full supsension bike but don't have a clue what to get or what i should be looking for. Any one on here that could give me some advice?

I've got into mtbing over the last year when I got a new hardtail and since then i've betting getting into the sport alot more. Even done a few day trips over to 7 stanes. So think it's time to upgrade to a fs bike. Don't what a full down hill bike more something that will do everything. Not into jumps just general trails etc. What kind of bikes should i be looking at or how to i find out more info to help me chosse.

Any help would be great
 
For a start mate I would buy a copy of MBUK and MBR have a good read as there full of great info/reviews, I have a 2009 Specialised stumpjumper comp, which I think is a good entry level XC bike, think I paid around £1600 for it so not cheap but also not too much. Should be a good time of year to buy a bike should be some decent sales coming soon as the 2011 bikes will be coming out
 
I also ride XC and have played in wharnclif woods. ( steve pete's local area for training ) and concidered a full suspension bike... However as i like riding up hills as well as down them i went for a well suited ( to me) hard tail.
Its a gary fisher and its upped my confidence no end.
Now is a good time to buy, Massive savings on 2009 and good saving in 2010 spec bikes.
 
I had a FS Kona a good few years back and changed it for a XC bike a about 2 years ago, since then i've ridden 7 Stanes, the Afan Forest trails and spent a week in the Peaks this year and various other places. I survived perfectly ok on the downhill bits, although if I was looking to gain speed (i.e. in a competitive manner) then i'd need an FS bike for sure. The uphills are the killer though, especially in Afan and for that reason alone, i'd prefer to ride 50km off-road a day on a much lighter machine, so if you're into your XC then I would keep either a hard tail bike or go with a nice short travel, light, well sorted FS XC. But bear in mind to get the same weight, spec, performance from a FS XC bike over a hardtail will cost you a fair bit more money.

I'm in the market for a new FS XC now that I have my new road bike sorted, but it will be an addition to the stable rather than as a replacement to my hardtail. It all depends what you ride to be honest, the 7 Stanes trails vary an awful lot, some wouldn't warrant a FS machine at all, whereas others there would require a fairly serious DH machine!

And it's great to know there are some fellow MTBers on here too :icon_thumright:
 
Depends on your budget!

If I had bottomless pockets it'd probably be between a Turner 5-Spot or a Santya Cruz Blur LT.

For general XC/"all mountain" riding I'd go for something like a Trek EX.

However having said this, I currently ride a hardtail Kinesis Maxlight XC2 and keep up with my full-susser mates no problem. Most of my riding is in the Peak District, so it includes some pretty rocky hardcore stuff. It just means I need to pick my lines through the rough stuff rather than floating through it all. I actually enjoy riding hardtail more because of this.
 
I'm just looking also for a fs xc. Think I'm going for a Specialized FSR XC Pro 2010 as down to £1200. Will just have to wait until I'm back from holiday
 
I got a Rocky mountain at the beginning of this year 140 front travel and 130 ish rear iirc. I love the bike just finding the extra travel at the front strange when dropping off stuff as I go to pull up and just lift the compression out of the fork not the bike lol had a few close calls.

Id look at last years models that are in the sales Treks, Specialized, felts are all good , I`d always go for a fox front shock as they just work well and seem to last.
 
Check out Specialized, and also Giant. Both make great bikes in the 100mm bracket, and light too.

It would help to know your budget though.
 
fingermouse said:
I got a Rocky mountain at the beginning of this year 140 front travel and 130 ish rear iirc. I love the bike just finding the extra travel at the front strange when dropping off stuff as I go to pull up and just lift the compression out of the fork not the bike lol had a few close calls.

Id look at last years models that are in the sales Treks, Specialized, felts are all good , I`d always go for a fox front shock as they just work well and seem to last.
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I hear you with the bit about lifting the front to drop into a run only to find its just the fork you raise.
Had that happen a few times now. Intresting isnt it?
On a recent run on quite a few serious trails with some of the lads with FS £3000+ bikes and i was on my Gary Fisher hoo Koo E Koo 2010 hard tail.
First thing i noticed was ... they dont ride up a single hill... i could keep up with them on 85% of the runs with only mad drops like the "peaty jump" making me bottle it !
I concluded that if i had bought something like they have yes it would look the part but wouldnt turn in as fast and i probably would never use it hard enough to justify the price/ weight
 
S3 Paul said:
I hear you with the bit about lifting the front to drop into a run only to find its just the fork you raise.
Had that happen a few times now. Intresting isnt it?
On a recent run on quite a few serious trails with some of the lads with FS £3000+ bikes and i was on my Gary Fisher hoo Koo E Koo 2010 hard tail.
First thing i noticed was ... they dont ride up a single hill... i could keep up with them on 85% of the runs with only mad drops like the "peaty jump" making me bottle it !
I concluded that if i had bought something like they have yes it would look the part but wouldnt turn in as fast and i probably would never use it hard enough to justify the price/ weight
Click to expand...

Agree completely. As with everything in life these days, you can spend what you like on a bike but first you need to think carefully about what riding you're going to do. There are so many guys (& girls) out there with fancy bikes that don't use them to their full potential. Sometimes it seems more about having the latest fashion accessory than about MTB-ing!
 
cherr's guys hear what your saying but just don't really know how to choose/narrow down which bike or find out which bike would suit me the best. I'm keeping my hardtail for sure but just wanted a fs bike for the more difficult trails i would ride. I only mentioned 7 stanes as i'm from northern ireland and guessed most of yous would have never heard of the trails here as there not legal trails.

As for my budget was thinking anything from £1200 up to just under £2000 or else if i see something good second hand i'll go for it. (still saving at the min). I've been looking at marin's and the specialzied bikes.

But unsure which one to go for or what i should be looking at in each bike. Still very new to mtb so any pointers to help me r any usefull sites would be great.
 
If you want to ride XC on a FS bike i would make sure it has lock out on the rear at least.
Some of the lads i ride with SAY the bikes lock out but still flex alot when riding uphill under load.
 
S3 Paul said:
If you want to ride XC on a FS bike i would make sure it has lock out on the rear at least.
Some of the lads i ride with SAY the bikes lock out but still flex alot when riding uphill under load.
Click to expand...

Cherr's paul some helpful info like this will help look into each bike a bit more
 
www.badassbikes.co.uk in Bristol sell RAM bikes which are the law! You can even choose your frame colours from a decent selection and have different schemes and they do a host of hardtail and FS bikes. They're also a sound bunch of lads that ride themselves so really know what they're talking about!
 
Lockout on the rear? Mates pushing up hills? You're all soft! ;)

I've a good selection of bikes, but tend to stick to using this for everything from annoyingly keeping up with my roadie mates, through 25 mile xc rides, to DH racing. No pushing involved!

2009-11-07at21-39-20.jpg


I've not ridden any of Marin's full-sus bikes for the last few years, but I have used Specialized's and they've always seemed pretty good value. My hardtail is a Stumpjumper and I've never had any issues.
 
hey mitch that santa cruz looks some steed, but full on for me, had a go on my mates kona stinky the other day near killed me with the monster forks bit much for what i'm looking for. Been looking at bikes like theses:-
Saracen ariel 1
Giant reign x2
Marin mount vision
Specialized camber pro
Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper FSR
Trek fuel ex

What yous think of these's, is there any others i should look at? which of these would you recommed or stay clear of. Any advice welcome.


Also what do you's use to protect your bikes? i.e chain stay, frame patchs for cable wear etc.
 
Helicopter tape for frame protection, never been a fan of Saracens, always seem a bit cheaply built to me, but other than that I think any of them would be good. My personal choice would be one of the Specializeds, but to be honest, they seem a bit like overkill for someone new to full-sus.

If you're not thinking of competing, there's not much point paying over £1,600 unless you do a lot of riding, and I mean a hell of a lot. You're money though, so if you want to spend more it's your choice.
 
What would you recommed for someone new to full sus? (what would you buy?) £1600 a bit much but with the 2011 bikes coming out was hoping to get a good deal. I'm not going to rush into buying a bike and just want to check out as many things as possible before i chosse one. Also what a bike that will last me and something i'm not wanting to change in 6 months/ 1years time
 
Must have been half asleep when i put that in there, the bikes i was looking at where all about £1600.
 
ill give thumbs upto specialized also ive the 2010 Specialized FSR XC Pro and this is my 2nd fsr as i sold the previous comp version for this one, and cant fault either of them and they hadsome proper hammering without fail, but if you want hard tail then apart from specialized i can reccomend rocky mountain as ive got the Rocky Mountain Vertex 50 2009 and again has never failed me
 
Hi i am new to the forum but i am a mountain bike through and through i own a Trek Fuel 80 and its bomb proof it cost me when i bought it New a couple of years ago £1000.00 its great for climbing just lock out the front susp. pump the rear shock up so you get about quarter of the travel when you sit on it and away you go.Derek
 
Hey derek welcome to the site, they guys on here seem to give great advice wether or not its car advice. Recently just changed from the audi but sit come back on here for a nosie and some great advise. Been looking at a few bike and also at the trek, propably end up just chosing a bike from one of the local shops as i would like to see before i buy
 
Ordered my new bike today. Went for a 2011 Specalized Camber FSR Comp. Can't wait to get it
 
Last edited:
pjmspeedy said:
Ordered my new bike today. Went for a 2011 Specalized Camber FSR Comp. Can't wait to get it
Click to expand...

Lovely bike mate, what sort off money did that set you back. Is that your 1st fs bike?

I need tyres for my hardtail and don't know what to get need something to handle the trails and a bit of a commute to work anybody recommed any thing?

Also what mtb forums fo yous use if any?
 
Take up snowboarding instead! Lmao, it's easily the better sport for the UK and Ireland what with all this snow and everything, was thinking of doing some Biking when I go back to Canada, Snowboard in the winter and possibly bike in the summer, It's a fairly expensive sport as well
 
colintdi said:
Lovely bike mate, what sort off money did that set you back. Is that your 1st fs bike?

I need tyres for my hardtail and don't know what to get need something to handle the trails and a bit of a commute to work anybody recommed any thing?

Also what mtb forums fo yous use if any?
Click to expand...

Cost me £1200 and it will be my first F/S bike. As for tyres I can't really help you as I've swapped my hard-tail to road tyres. TBH your much better off getting a set of road tyres and some decent trail ones as you may not get something that does both well! It's not really a big pain to swap but I know it will be best not have too....

I don't use any MTB forums. In fact this is the only forum I use.

Stiggles said:
Take up snowboarding instead! Lmao, it's easily the better sport for the UK and Ireland what with all this snow and everything, was thinking of doing some Biking when I go back to Canada, Snowboard in the winter and possibly bike in the summer, It's a fairly expensive sport as well
Click to expand...

Snowboard lol..... mine's been in the loft now for two years without any use! :eek:( I really must make the effort to go again soon!
 
Anyone interested in a Chris Boardman Comp Full Suspension Bike 2010 mountain bike, its a small frame, not even been sat on, £850 in Halfords, comes with receipt and guarantee....spamspamspam :)
 
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