Mountain Bikes

what do you mean by #2? their advertising recons they've never had a failure (except for some shiming problems which can be easily fixed and only needs doing once) and some are up to 80,000 km with no problems - any direct real world anecdotes much aprieciated
the weight aspect isn;t really a big deal and i'm sure what with the lack of extra chinrings, front derailleurs, only one shifter etc. the overall weight differential is minimal - add to that the fact that the thorn weighs 27lbs all in and i weigh over 215 - and you see where i'm going with this - if i want to loose weight, i'll errr loose weight
cheers


julian.

 

I read some comments on a forum somewhere that weren't encouraging... I can't remember whether it was Singletrackworld, mbuk or pinkbike though...

I could be entirely wrong. I've never ridden one. I've never had a particular problem with mechs though.

 

on the weight thing, its a bit heavier I think. I'd expect a 2k front sus bike to normally come in 22-24lbs. So, its about 4lbs heavier..

That might be as much due to the steel frame, which by the sounds of it has been built for endurance events (I read the review, here - http://www.sjscycles.com/pdfFiles/CP169EnduroTest.pdf)

Its hard in some ways buying a bike at that price point, because you can have, literally almost anything you want - lightweight ti, full sus xc, the raven you mentioned - anything really. They've all got their own unique compromises and differences..

I know we've already discussed it, but I think given that the bike is made specifically for the rohloff hub, if you decide you want a rohloff speed hub, that just looks like the most sensible option.

I know Mountain Biking UK has a forum. I've never been on it, because its full of kids. It is the biggest MB'ing mag in the UK though, and Im sure that there would be some users of the speed hub there that could give you feedback.

Another thing that might be worth doing, is finding out about the Reynolds 853 tubing that the Raven uses. It might be a heavy frame, but is that a robust tube set? Mike (merlin) could probably tell you. Maybe some of the others could. I get my steel tubing mixed up, and cant remember the differences anymore.

 

The Cross Country and technical sections are useful, it's the general, DH and Street/jump bits that are full of kids..
And as for Reynolds 853, that's as light as you'll get for steel - wasn't that long ago they were using it for the Tour! My racer's made of Reynolds Millenium, which became (I think) 751 and that's pretty light and it has the comfort factor of CroMo..

 

The singletrackworld.co.uk forums seem good....

853 is the tubeset used in the classic Kona Explosif frame.

 

i had two kona explosif's brilliant brilliant bikes, wish i'd never sold them. can't remember them being reynolds tubing though, you sure isaac, which years? they both came in light, around 23lbs, no suspension just a really compliant rear triangle and some straight forks.

 

Chris - regarding your earlier question on tyre weights... try:

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/

 

Hi Isaac!

What a great site!! I've just saved about 180g on two tyres. bonus

 

if Im going to start riding again, whats a good tyre of the moment? I'm FS so dont need comfort but am into weight saving on unsprung mass (wheels). Another bonus of FS bikes is you can run higher pressures avoiding snakebites.

 

right thought i'd add my current bike.

gary fisher marlin with the limited edition paint job, mostly deore kit with various other shimano stuff thrown in. changed the brakes to avid and added the 150mm stem to give me more of an dynamic/areo position. rides well but the forks are pretty average. having ridden and raced to a reasonable standard i'm quite content with this level of bike now and really only plan to upgrade things when they fall off

 

Rob - have you considered semi-slicks? The lower rolling resistance is lovely... I'm very happy with my panaracer Mach SS Kevlars. Otherwise, quite a few people rate the panaracer fire XC.

 

check out that link that Isaac put up Rsand. Its fantastic for finding out weights of different things.

The lightest XC tyre of the moment appears to be the maxxis flyweight 330 or the contintental twister supersonic. Thats looking at 1.9's.

I'll probably go for the conty twister supersonic, as they are available at wiggle and the maxxis arent. They are about 333g.

 

Might have a look (try?) of yours when we get out, I guess you dont need big knoblies when its dry.

 

I've just had a couple of situations today where they've not been as good as knobblies (riding in 3" of water on algae covered rocks, 4" deep mud, etc).

2.5 hour ride... a definite shakedown, slowly getting the gremlins out. The front mech is starting to play ball, although I'm getting a new one anyway. Think I'm almost there on rear shock pressure... fronts might take a bit more tuning. However, the confidence to attack the trail, or to take a rougher line is amazing. It rides SO much better than the hardtail, and if it is any heavier I can't feel it.

 

I rate the Panny Fire XC pros - awesome grip in both mud and dry sandy stuff. I can take corners much faster with those than with my previous WTB Raptors - even though they weigh 800g or so tubeless! That's the price to pay for no flats..

 

wow! a 12.9lb front suspension MTB!

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/articles.php?ID=94

 

i love that site, some really fantastic bikes there.

 

Carbon chain rings? How long would they last (given that some people describe the alu rings of XT as being "made of cheese")?

Mad weight, but some of the stuff I was riding yesterday would have caused that thing to fold up and die... knackered my shin by embedding pedal studs in it.... several times. Used up all 4" of travel on the forks, and can't believe I didn't ding the wheels (remembering why I got mavic downhill rims and 2mm plain gauge spokes...).

 

it is a little worrying to see carbon fibre in a chain ring isnt it?

Im guessing its for the 'spokes' of the chain ring, and the teeth are aluminium. Even so, I dont think I'll be buying a set

There is a full sus bike on there for 18lbs, which is pretty incredible too.

 

I'd agree though I tend to switch to Continental Vapor during the winter, they're a great allrounder IMO, but particularly good in the sticky stuff compared to the FireXC's.