Biking

Originally posted by Muse25 Hey Batmanwest, what suspension fork can you recommend at the $150 range. Mostly all mtn. Riding, nothing too crazy, no drops. Some single tracks and something that would eat up roots.

Well, that's a hard one. 150 isn't much for a fork. With the region you live in, and the style of riding you want to do, mixed with your rider weight, you want something that is air sprung. Something you can tune. In my book, when it comes to a mtn. built, fork is one of the highest priorities for me to get quality.
If you want something that is going to last, ride well and make you want to keep riding, I would go with a RockShox Recon Silver or higher fork (in the rockshox line). Fox makes some great stuff too, but if you are on a budget don't even bother looking over at their stuff, just gonna make you sad

A new Recon Silver is going to run you right around 250 I think.

You can go with a coil sprung fork, but I really think you are not going to be happy in the long run (or right away) being a light weight rider. I think it's going to be a pretty rough ride for you going coil sprung because you will not have enough weight to get full use out of your forks travel. With air sprung, you can tune it to your weight so it takes less to initiate travel, and get full actuation.

Sorry if this complicated things a bit more for ya haha. How has the build been going? Sorry I never got around with ideas, I kinda lost track and got caught up in my own builds and projects around here. I might actually be the owner of a brand spankin new full suspension trail bike in the next week or two...keepin those fingers crossed!! :)


EDIT: This person is selling a "new" Recon silver 120 mil fork for 175. Keep in mind it is from ebay....and there is no one to help you if something isn't right with it. Most shops will cut you a deal on install of a new fork if you buy it from them. Might cost you a tad more, but you have warm bodies to back it up if something goes wrong.
Either way, here is the link...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300848624717?hlp=false&var=

Originally posted by Muse25 I have a 1.5 to 1 1/8 headset though. Any way around it? Like ise an adaptor? What do you think of rockshox tora tl a guy on pinkbike is willin to sell for $90 might be able to talk him down to $80 and what are your thoughts on avid 1 elixir and avid bb5 brakes? The build was put on hold for a little bit, but back on track now.

First and foremost, if you have a tapered head tube, in no way do you want to try and go around that with spacers....having a tapered head tube is a blessing! Yeah, parts for it will cost you more, but they really stiffen up your front end and make for a much nicer ride. Stick with a fork that has the 1.5 to 1 1/8.

My thoughts on the Tora? It's a very basic shock designed for beginners at a budgeted price. Does it do what it was intended to do well? Yes. Would I ever buy one (even before I got my job in a shop)? No. Too basic for my needs. That being said the fork on my rockhopper is worse than the tora. I make it work, but I am never happy with it. It's one of the areas of my bike that I always have hated how it worked.
If you are going out and go do some very basic smooth trails, with no drops, and not much climbing, then yeah, get the tora. If that isn't the case, get something air sprung!

So, lets talk brakes.

I'll start with the bb5's. If you are thinking of going mechanical, spend the what, 20 extra bucks? for the bb7's. BB5 are okay, but IMO have heat displacement issues. Even if you change to organic alloy backed pads, they hold too much heat. Also, after a bit of use and banging around they get a little hard to set proper tension on them. Just not the smoothest set out there. Now if you wanted to put them on a city commuter where you don't have much elevation change, and don't ride them as hard as you would on the trail, they are a fine brake system. But once again in my opinion, they are not a good trail brake.

BB7's can be a good entry level trail system. As far as mechanical goes, BB7's are my favorite. Very budgeted price for what you get. Easy to maintain and can take a beating. Does have some heat displacement issues though and can get a little loud.

Now onto the avids. My bike came with elixir 1's on it. I rode a full season with those on my rig. They stop pretty decent even at my heavy weight (200 lbs) When the pads wear evenly and maintain a solid pull feel. There really doesn't seem to be any fade issues with them...well, unless you ride really hard. BUT, they are very noisy. The rotors that come with them go out of true very fast. They are a pretty high maintenance system. Really though, they are LOUD. That, and I had a ton of vibration from them that transferred into the frame, making for a pretty rough ride.

If you want to get into hydro brakes but don't have a ton of money to sink into them, then go with the elixir 1's. There really isn't a better solution to a budgeted hydro. Magura are pretty decent, but have heard the same issues with their lower and mid level stuff. Hayes are junk, so don't bother with them.

Hope that helps, shoot out any other questions ya have! It's fun for me

Originally posted by j_lucky84 Always enjoy your posts, BMW. :) Just wish I made a wage more than a couple peanuts so I could put use to some of your suggestions. lol

Shucks, thanks man! I just really like to talk about bikes, and it helps that I work in the industry.

And shit...I wish I made a wage more than a few peanuts so I could put to use some of my OWN suggestions

Although, I am putting my financing request in today at work to see if I can get a new trail bike. Gonna try and pick up one of these.... http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/camberfsr/cambercomp29

Wish I could opt for the Comp CARBON 29, rather than just the comp 29. The comp carbon is just too big of a jump in price for me. Doesn't really matter though, the standard comp is just fine for my needs, they really re-worked this bike for 2013 in such a sick way. The older years used to be pretty sub-par, but the 13's are SICK! Plus, I have a set of Avid XO Trail's to replace the low end brakes on this thing. Crossing my fingers that my credit is good enough that I get approved.....

You're awesome batmanwest!!! Ok, I'll gun for the Avid elixirs and stay away from the bb5. What about roxkshox sektor tk? Saw on on eBay for around $200.

Originally posted by Muse25 Originally posted by Muse25 You're awesome batmanwest!!! Ok, I'll gun for the Avid elixirs and stay away from the bb5. What about roxkshox sektor tk? Saw on on eBay for around $200. Or Rockshox Reba or the domain?

Meh, if you say so

So I  am getting a tad confused with this one. You seem to be all over the map with your travel. The Domain is a downhill fork. 160 mil of travel is the lowest that fork goes, and that is a TON of movement. The frame you have actually never came with more than a 130mil fork. Personally, I wouldn't go higher than what the bike came with, but sometimes you can go up 10% of fork travel and not mess with handling.

I can't remember, so you have the Komodo 1.0 or the 2.0?

The sektor tk is a nice budgeted beginner/intermediate fork with a ton of trickle down tech from their higher end forks. The secktor does have a tapered option, and a solo air option. I would go with the 130mil version. What model/spec was the one on ebay? Actually, rather you mind sending me the link so I could take a look at it? I will say, the price tag on the sektor is pretty nice. For everything you can get with it, it is definitely a value.

Now for the Reba. That is one of my favorite forks made by rockshox, the SID being my fav. It's light weight, has some amazing tech built in, and is extremely tunable. It's also quite easy to overhaul. Plus, it comes ready for a remote lockout setup which is pretty damn cool. A little bit lower on the travel side, but the tech they use for dampening and rebound is so good you can ride a lower travel but have it feel better (and work better) than a higher travel, lower tech fork.

Hope this helps. Let me know any other questions!

Oh, and financing didn't get sent last night, but going to do it today when I get to work....stillllllll crossing my fingers 

At that price range you're looking at a sub par fork, for around 450 you can get a nice fork.

Have a Suntour Radion 100mm 29" 1 1/8" taken of a Giant Talon 1 at home doing nothing, if interested can sell it for $50 plus shipping.

Originally posted by diviesti My bro in law is looking to get in the bike scene, he set me up with the ultimate challenge. He wants an alluminum road bike for $400.  Found some framesets in the $99-199 range but this is going to be tough sleddin. Only way I see it happening is if he gets a relatively older bike or push that budget up to 500ish

Ebay or Craiglist it and you may find an aluminum frame with carbon fork and entry level 9spd parts; don't expect anything recent thou.

Here you go BMW http://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/1249094/ he says its a 150 travel but can adjust it to 130 and 100 :)

I gotta find the Reba link

Here's the MTBR review page for your reading pleasure, RS Sektor R

That's an OEM fork and if not wrong was made during the time that RS had quality issues with their forks, most manufacturers go thru this periods from time to time so don't be scared.

I would look for something else like the Reba or Totem if you like RS.

Its just some cheap off brand named Gravity with a kinesis fork. A guy I know locally has one and the quality seems decent.

Anybody riden the Airborne Goblin 29er?

Ended up missing the trip to the bike shop yesterday. The friend i was gonna mob over with got a flu that's been going around town, so it was better for him to rest up.
Ended up going boarding with some friends instead. Shitty snow conditions, but the weather was uber nice.
Still need to find me a bike, but browsing the bike store is gonna have to wait til sale day, i guess.

I love my job. I get to demo this for the weekend. It's the bike I am saving up for..2013 Specialized Camber Comp 29. Our flagship location in town got a fleet of camber demo bikes, and I get first rides!  Just set up the suspension a few minutes ago..
Going to go ride some trails with the guys from my shop in the morning. Can't wait to have my ass handed to me

Are you talking about the thumb trigger on the sora? If so, you really should check out the 2013 line up. They really re-worked their line up for 2013, Sora in particular. If you get the chance, give em a spin. Got rid of the thumb shifting, and upgraded the internals. Not as nice as my Ultegra by any means, but a definite leap forward.


Oh, and it IS a nice bike. Rode the piss out of it all day yesterday. While I am terribly out of shape, I feel like it put it through enough paces to get a good first opinion on it.
The trails we rode have a TON of climbing (did close to 7k ft of climbing yesterday ) and even though the bike is a slightly longer travel XC with a slightly "slacker" geometry, it likes to climb. The new FSR rear end with an updated Horst link just plain and simple works. It can get a little "bobby" while climbing rutted/rooted steep stuff, but nothing too bad.

The first trail we went to had three...."downhill"....trails leading down from the highest part of the XC trail. Now, I say "downhill" because this IS still Ohio we are talking about. So maybe 200/300 ft of elevation change, and quite short, but damn some of the sections were pretty damn steep with lots of little (1-2 ft) rock drops scattered all through it. Banked corners though which are always fun. This bike is by no means a DH bike, and by no means was I on real DH trails, but what I put it through it seemed to like. Tracked every line I gave it really well, and handled all the rocks with ease. Thing also has some decent brakes on it. They are only Elixir 3R's, but the rotors are HUGE and they hold some pretty nice stopping power.

The original rear derailleur that came with the bike had a faulty clutch in it, so Sram just had us put one of their new XO's on it. Also has the "chain slap" clutch in it. Actuation was nice, although when in my lowest two gears in the rear, shifting was a bit too slow for me. It also didn't like to shift while under climbing tension....which really you shouldn't be doing anyways, but for something as high end as XO I just assumed it would take it. Still worked just not as smooth as expected. The clutch was, well, clutch when it came to descents. Never heard or felt any chain slap.

The new 142+ rear end they put on this thing was awesome. Really stiffened the bike up from past years. I found myself playfully sliding the rear end around corners, probably more than I should of, but it was just fun. That and power transfer was noticeably better as well.
Overall, with just a few upgrades (lighter or carbon wheelset, carbon bars, a dropper post, and carbon cranks) this rig could hang with the best of the highest of the highest end bikes out there...at a fraction of the price. Yes, 2600 msrp is a lot for most people, but for what you get in this bike it's my pick of best bang for your buck in the Specialized lineup. Can't wait till I get mine, and can really stretch it's legs. 2/3's of the way saved up for it...just another 500ish and I can place the order. I got the fever, and it getting up to 70 today didn't help


EDIT: Oh, there was one thing I really didn't like about the bike. While it was pretty soupy on the trails we rode, there was an abnormally high buildup of mud directly onto the front derailleur. That, and with how it's fashioned to the bike, caused for a sloppy feel in shifting towards the end of the day. Granted, most of the time I will ride the bike it won't be near that muddy, but still, if I lived in a climate that had wetter trails I would try and find a way to "fender" that small area. Nothing currently on the market that I know of that would solve the problem, but mtn. bikers are usually resourceful, I bet someone could figure something out.

Looking for a entry level Mountain bike. I just want to ride some trails any suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

Not really sure what my budget is yet, I just was thinking that I need a mountain bike so I wanted to see what the biking people of TruSnow had to suggest.
I will look into those companies, thanks!

Originally posted by j_lucky84 Don't forget to check out craigslist :). You could likely get a hell of a deal on a lightly used setup. People buy entry level bikes all the time then decide they wanna upgrade soon. Not trying to take business away from your LBS, but you could very well get more bike for your money that way.

Agree, I sold a well maintained Giant NRS1 for $400 and traded a Giant Reign X1 for a 29er a couple of months ago on Craigslist.

I was thinking of checkign out Clist soon, there is also a swap at the local velodrome coming up so I might wait and look there
Thanks guys

Mr. Dirtdevil, is that XT and XTR I see there on those Giants? Never have been a fan of Giant, but to each their own 
What specific upgrades have you and your son done to your rigs?

Mr. Homie, a rough, estimated budget helps a ton to help suggest bikes for ya :) Also, the type of trail riding is quite important too. You want to do XC, Trail/enduro, or gravity stuff? Single track, fire roads....you going to be climbing a ton, or just from time to time.....or lift assist? Answer that and I'll chime in.

And yes muse, that camber IS fun. Getting really close to having the money saved up. Look to be on par with my goal of having the cash saved by the end of the month. Going to be close, but should be able to do it.

Originally posted by Muse25 Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited for you! *I had to put the build off for now* =/ so in the mean time I'll just have to live vicariously through you!

Aw man, that sucks. Why do you have to put it on hold? Hope you can get back to it soon. Dirt season is upon us!

Just got done with a brake clinic with Magura. Now keep in mind I have never actually ridden their brakes other than around a parking lot, but I am stoked that I got to get a rundown of their tech. Went over a few things about their forks, but mainly focused on their brake line.

First off their bleed system is pretty on point. Would give it an 9/10 for effectiveness, 8/10 for ease of use and a 9/10 solely based on the fact they use mineral spirits for fluid. I have always been a DOT guy when it comes to brake fluid, but I think I totally got over that today. Mineral not only makes more sense on your pocket book and the environment, but has a more constant and predictable boil point and has a MUCH longer shelf life.

While the MT6 and MT8 brake systems currently are under recall, I wouldn't let that sway you in their products. The recall wasn't for parts that could break off, or fail during use, but for something that could possibly cause weak brake feel/pressure. Still annoying, but it's nice to find out its not because a hose was rupturing or something. Also, the warranty program they have is pretty good. The guy that deals with all that came along today, and was a super friendly guy.

If anyone is looking for a great budgeted hydro system as an upgrade or for a build, check out the MT2. Gets loads of trickle down tech from the 6 and 8's but at a severely lower price tag.
We will see how my Avid XO trails work out once I get the new rig, but I have a feeling I might have to jump on the EP program they set up for us today and get myself a pair of the MT8's. Freaking insanely light, good feel, and the looks don't hurt  

Hope your shop picks up BMW, rolled through my LBS the other day to get a crown race pressed on my bro in laws bike and I was surprised how packed it was. Nothing's worse than coming into work to stand around, working in an auto shop I know the feeling. 

Originally posted by batmanwest Been playing around with different subtle touches to add some more class to meh Allez. Decided to use some light weight rope to finish off the bar wrap. Decent trial run, but next time I do it I think it needs to be half the width it currently is. I was re-using old tape so I just didn't have the length to go all the way to the stem clamp. I like it..will have to wait and see how it holds up to the rain. I just used gorilla rubberized super glue.  Holds well in the dry. ... So freaking close to the new Camber it hurts. It seems though something keeps coming up and putting me back a week or so, but I guess since all our local trails are too wet to ride, I'm not missing much right now. Been talking with some of the shop guys, and other randoms, about trying to connect/build/finish/bushwhack the series of local..."trails" to make something ride-able this year. Not sure if anyone remembers me talking about it last year, but it's back on the to-do list. Actually have a little support from some friends this year, so it should make clean up from last July's wind storm manageable. We will see..... Anyone out there riding.? Anyone wanna talk about bikes.? Recent rides.? Echo......echo....echo...

I like the look of the rope :). Does it serve a purpose beyond just looks?
I remember ya mentioning the trail cleanup. Hope you're able to find a decent following for it! It benefits any rider looking for some new terrain. And anyone worth having a say should be willing to chip in a few hours to complete that goal.

No rides (or bike) for me yet. Still paying med bills and whatnot. Hope to get something going around the end of this month. But I may end up making a trip to seattle instead. So much goin on!

I completed this mid 4 months ago, it stays fixed haven't rode it in a while since I've been out riding the hill lately now that the season is over I plan on taking it on bike trails near the LA/San Gab river channel run off, it needs a few minor upgrades before I start on a roadie build.

Originally posted by batmanwest Bootleg: What's this road build you talk of?

I'm looking for a vintage 1990-1996 Specialized Allez with aluminum lugged & carbon fiber tubed frame.I found a guy selling just the frame in good condition but he was an hour /half away up north for about 120$ now I'm kicking myself for passing up on that deal, I'm kinda getting burnt out of the fixed gear scene and wanted something different so i can get some leisure riding in my routine.

Originally posted by bootleg Originally posted by batmanwest Bootleg: What's this road build you talk of? I'm looking for a vintage 1990-1996 Specialized Allez with aluminum lugged & carbon fiber tubed frame.I found a guy selling just the frame in good condition but he was an hour /half away up north for about 120$

Careful with that man. There is a reason they are asking 120. Those frames are notorious for being poorly built. A friend had one and it rode like shit, and I have also had 2 of them come into our shop (once in the past year, the other was 3 years ago when I didn't work there) with the carbon separated from the aluminum. Just a pretty poor design if you plan on doing any serious riding, or...well...hit any types of bumps in the road.
They are rather rubbish IMO.

Now, if that's all you can afford, and it gets you out on the road with a different discipline of bike, go for it. Don't let me debbie downer your plans  but just giving you a heads up that if all possible, let go of the dream of that particular frame.