MTB queries

Second hand torpedos are the real problem though I'd imagine ?

Mind you I'd reccomend putting a life ring on them before you straddle the buggers, you might end up anywhere, Scotland even !!!

Steel frames are better than aluminium for comfort but they're often heavier (1-1.5lb).

Suspension forks are also generally heavier (often a fair bit heavier) than rigid forks.

For the riding you mention I wouldn't go for a hybrid bike as they're not any use for any proper off-road riding.

How much off-road riding do you actually do and is it forest roads, singletracks or stuff with rocks and the like? What sort of budget are you thinking about?

"nice long front wheelies with the back wheel high in the air controlled by the front brake"

That's called a nose manual.

"can you do this with suspension forks?"

Yes.

"I also fancy getting a bit more into 'trick' riding - don't know the exact word for it but I see these guys jumping up and down off park benches/ bollards and the like"

That would be "Street" and/or "Trials". "Street" is sort of like riding in a BMX on a 26" wheeled bike. "Trials" is the hopping about over impossibly difficult obstacles thing like Junior Kickstart without the engine.

"My main question is is there a sort of hybrid style bike with minimal gears that could be used for trick riding and also short blasts out into the forests?"

Yes there are lots of frames for that sort of thing. DMR is the obvious starting point http://www.dmrbikes.com/

A DMR frame + some short travel strong forks (e.g. Marzochi Dirt Jumpers) would be an excellent starting point. For gears, assuming singlespeed is out, you want a rear mech and a triple chainset at the front but if you do a lot of street riding you'd probably change the big ring for a bash/grind ring. Disk brakes are a good idea as well.

As well as DMR there are a bunch of other options like Cove Stiffee (more XC, less street) to LeToy, 24seven etc (pure street), dirt jump frames (like the new Yeti) at all sorts of price points.

Oh and get a strong headset. I smashed mine jumping of a stair set in Finsbury Park.

Matthew

Steve - all kinds of off road really, though not so much 'rocks and the like' - flexibility is the key. Can never see the point in running 27 gears though. Budget is about 1000 quid.

I was looking at getting a second-hand torpedo but dealers are a problem in my area.

Try Cardiff Rodney.


Fritz Von Good luck & don't get it nicked

If you live somewhere flat then 27 gears might be overkill but where I live there are steep hills up and down and I find I do use the extremes of the gearing quite regularily. There are lots of overlapping gears amongst the 27 that don't get used by 22/32/44 on the front and 11-32 on the back covers most eventuallies even if it can sometimes leave you needing higher gears on the road.

IMO the best bike for flexibility is a rugged hardtail with adjustable forks that have a lock-out. That way you can shorten the fork travel and lock them out for responsiveness on-road but switch to longer travel for off-road and stunts. I prefer steel for that sort of bike but others prefer alloy. £1000 should let you put together something decent with new parts or something very nice indeed using used bits.

The biggest issue for a do-anything bike is tyres as proper off-road all condition tyres are crap on-road. If you mostly ride in hard-pack conditions off-road then there are several options that will be fine for that sort of off-roading and fairly responsive on-road. Alternatively you could get two sets of wheels and switch them for on/off road use.

On-one did have a deal on a rigid geared Inbred which would have been a decent choice however they seem to be sold out. They are doing complete rigid singlespeeds for £399 if you want the other extreme from 27-speed...

I understood from the question that Dave wants to ride street + 'mess around in the woods' type stuff. That's very specific and On-One's Inbred would just break AFACIT.

"The biggest issue for a do-anything bike is tyres as proper off-road all condition tyres are crap on-road"

For street riding on a hardtail you want big fat tires. My Schwalbe Fat Alberts are just fantastic .

The DMR Trailstar is an obvious pick and great value at £250:



Which is made of steel and so isn't going to break unless you start hucking of buildings and the like.

Matthew

quote:

Originally posted by notMatthew:
I understood from the question that Dave wants to ride street + 'mess around in the woods' type stuff. That's very specific and On-One's Inbred would just break AFACIT.

It didn't sound like he was planning to do anything that hardcore but you might be right. Jump bikes make shit allrounders though.

BTW I've heard about several people breaking DMR Trailstars (in normal riding type accidents) but not many breaking Inbreds.

A more hardcode, but still flexible, alternative to the Inbred is the Dialed Bikes Prince Albert:



or if you're willing to spend a bit more on a frame a Cotic Soul like mine (which cost about £1000 to put together using 2nd hand bits):



Externally it doesn't look as burly as the Trailstar or the Price Albert but it's made from stronger tubing (Reynolds 853) and doesn't need the gusseting.

BTW There is also a stronger, longer travel version of the Inbred available now (the 456).

Trailstar's are made out of 4130 and overbuilt. If you break one you get much respect from Da Kids as, assuming its not a dodgy weld warranty issue, you probably did something unconscionably dangerous

Dave's asked for "hybrid style bike with minimal gears that could be used for trick riding and also short blasts out into the forests?"

Which says to me the obvious cheapish option is a DMRs and the more expenisve options are things like Cove Stiffees (best choice obviously), Orange Hitman, Yeti's jumpframe, the Norco hardtail, Specialised P1s, etc.

Unless you weight 10st I wouldn't jump off park benches on a skinny steel bike like an Inbred.

Matthew

PS Is Alex still lokking to sell his Stiffee I wonder?

quote:

Dave's asked for "hybrid style bike with minimal gears that could be used for trick riding and also short blasts out into the forests?

If tricks means jumps and the likes then fine but if it means the odd wheelie or stoppie then any decent mountain bike would cope.

quote:

Unless you weight 10st I wouldn't jump off park benches on a skinny steel bike like an Inbred.

Don't be fooled by steel tubes being thinner. Alloy bikes like yours have larger diameter tubes because they need to as the basic material is weeker than steel. I'd be surprised if an Inbred, Cotic or Prince Albert wasn't as strong a frame as a Cove Stiffee. Jumping off a park bench or bollard is tame compared to the abuse received on a downhill course like Fort William or St. Andrews and I wouldn't expect any of the bikes mentioned to break doing that.

When someone with enough bike control to do long nose manuals on a 26" MTB circa 1988 MTB says he'd like to ride some street I figure he will quickly manage to develop enough skill to break most things

"Alloy bikes like yours have larger diameter tubes because they need to as the basic material is weeker than steel"

Alu bikes have larger diameter, thin-walled tubes becuase it's lighter and so gives a better strength to weight ratio in oversized forms. I am no material scientist but AFAICT if you could make a frame out of oversized steel tube and somehow get it to not weigh 50lbs harldy anyone would ride aluminium.

The Trailstar is made out of 4130 steel which is as strong as it gets (and its the reason my BMX weighs about 4lb more than my MTB despite being half the size).

"Jumping off a park bench or bollard is tame compared to the abuse received on a downhill course like Fort William or St. Andrews"

Well I would suggest if you ride down the WC course as Ft William on your Cotic the frame breaking material is going to be least of your worries ;P

However, riding off-road genrally you are going to be landing into mud/dirt and some kind of transisition and 10ft+ jumps are fine. Jump to flat off a 4ft wall or case your front wheel on a concrete ledge and you will break the same bike -- which is why I've never broken anything "structural" in nearly 20 years of MTBing but in one full season of riding "street" (i use the word, incorrectly :P ) i have broken (as it physically smashed) a BB, a set of cranks and a headset.

Riding street breaks MTBs full stop. There is a reason that BMXs are so ludicrously strong and if the OP is serious baout messing about in the park type riding he should get some kind of overbuilt frame IMHO and parts to match.

Matthew

Matthew - how's the BMX working out?

Ian,

Not riding much lately due to being very busy with some work/life things but basically my BMX carerr is still stuck roughly where I got to months ago: can bunnyhop up about 8-10" and cant seem to get higher, can balance a manual for about 2 secs, can almost ride fakie but usually fall off, can pivot on the back wheel about 100-110 degrees, etc.

However, my trackstands are now pretty good!

Currently waiting for the trails to dry out before I can ride up there and formally not have the balls to try to jump the big double again

Matthew

The trails up here have dried out nicely now, other than the odd soft patch. I'm just back from a very pleasant mornings ride - empty singletrack, sun shining, birds singing etc. with the only downside being several cuts to my legs due to the occasional misjudgement.

My favourite descent should have dried out enough to be useable again so I think I'll give that a go tomorrow.

On the subject of doubles - I've never managed to clear even the little ones at Glentress yet and any time I've tried I've landed into the up-face of the 2nd part. I haven't had any big accidents trying that yet but it's only a matter of time!

Do any of you cycle sluts use tyre foam to prevent loss of air pressure in event of puntures ?
I was caught in a downpour last night on the way back from the woods with my kid, who then predictably picked up a flat. This is the second one in the space of about two weeks.

I'm sure we've discussed the pros and cons before, but I can't find it in the search.

For your help, thank you, I do.

BOR

Tubeless tyres, latex gooey stuff,& tuff-tape (which is a tough nylon strip which you place between tube & inside of tyre) all work to varying degrees. I like the tuff-tape, though in mtb circles, the very keen ones may sneer at it. Too much weight on the outer rim of the wheel, etc etc. I reckon its a small price to pay for no more punctures, & if you don't like it, 10 mins later its all back to normal.

Thanks, maniac.I like the sound of the tuff-tape. If there's any left, I'll stick some on his knees.

And I thought you'd gone back to your beloved Emerald Isle to sort out all those wishy washy know-nothings Dave ?


Fritz Von Whatta Baat der walve caps then

Fritz ! I thought you’d retired from forum life ? I thought you’d flounced off in a tantrum because you couldn’t get your own way !

And now you’re back. Again. I can’t say I’m surprised. Berlin Fritz – The Comeback King. You’ve made more comebacks than BrianD.

How long ’til we next hear the sound of ballet shoes being flung across the room, and the bleating of Berlin Fritz, forum prima donna,

„No, really I’m leaving. Don’t try and stop me, I mean it this time. Oh alright then, if you really want me to, I’ll stay.

You can’t even resign with any guts, LOL.

YAWN³, and totally unsuprising, not to mention unoriginal. Yes you, and many other's so called posts of late can be likened to driving continuosly at 55 (a good point Steve made on another thread), and I don't think it's a particularly good idea if I even attempt to raise my standards to your own dizzy heights of personal attacks, come 'mingin humour'.

Fritz Von My previous departures from this forum (like others) was to protect my own peace of mind, not yours, though you're welcome as always to throw all you can muster at the virtual screen which I hope in all sincerity guides you through your real life Dave, and makes you feel much more betterer, innit

How come all the Worlds most Patriotic Paddies & Jocks don't actually live there ?

Yawn/unsurprising/unoriginal ?????

How many more times are you going to squat out this meaningless cut'n paste response ? And as for personal attacks, every other post you puke out has a snide little dig at someone. LOL. You f*cking hypocrite.

You and your ilk love to dish it but you cannae take it, can you captain ?

Although by no means being perfect, I have no problems whatso'ever with any previous posts I've sent on that score. People have simply ignored them, or replied with another point of view, which is the core point here I suppose John ? You sound like somebody who's a nightmare to all and sundrie when you've downed a couple of shandies, I'm (unfortunately for me) the exact opposite, though that's in the real world, and not the one imagined, innit


Fritz Von As I've mentioned often in the past 'Hypocrisy' is one of my greatest bug-bears, and I try to avoid it at all costs. I personally have the luxury of being totally free in all that I do, with no ties, kids, or debts to-boot, how I use that freedom is my own choice as far as I can see. Since December I am in your eyes a State scrounger, but I'm also unlike 99% of other UK folk know in this country totally integrated into it (barring Citizenship, which is coming soon hpefully) to realise my own private dream of being a true European and voter to boot, living and working actually in the centre of Europe, and not on some wishy-washy (on the fence) situation that so many losers & no hopers wish to sit, and I'd be very grateful if you sent or pointed out a few examples (of my many?) acts of Gross Hypocrisy on this forum, and finally, I have no Ilk, that is your wonderful imagination me old ducker & diver, and I do trust you know (Reilly Know) the difference between a friend and a drinking partner ? innit

Ok ok drinking partners...

Thanks for all the advice.

Have checked out the DMRs, the Norco Torrent (looks like it is built for long travel forks so I think that is out?) and the Cove Stiffee (very nice).

On long travel forks is it possible to 'lock out' at anything other than full extension?

Re. bunnyhops matthewr - I have the same problem - can never get the hang of the front wheel in the air first then lifting the back up - I think about 10" is my best also.

Dave your Brandenburg Tapes were/are brilliant, and I hear them often, it's a pity I'm a boring git in respect of discussing on what, innit