What Mountain Bike?

[Mark Davies]

Originally Posted by JAG

At this time have decided to avoid mechanical and hydraulic disc brakes, maybe an upgrade later on.

You're unlikely to be able to change them later unless you change the frame - you need lugs welded to the frame to attach the brake calipers to.

As for tyres for road use get the thinnest you can fit to your rims and get slicks. There's absolutely no point in tread on road tyres for bikes - with so little rubber on the road you'd need to be doing around 80mph to aquaplane! Skinny road tyres are an absolute bastard to get on and off though - if you can find some with beaded rims (ie a broken and not continual wire around the contact edge) these will be much easier to get on and off when you want to put some nobblies on. I used to just have two sets of wheels to save the bother, with a close ratio gear block on the road set for extra speed too. Worth considering if you expect to be changing use regularly.

[puddlediver]

I know I am hijacking the post but you guys seem to know a bit about mountain/road bikes.

I am a weedy 5 ft 2" with an inside leg of 29". This makes even a 16" frame too big. I really fancied the GT Avalanche as the lockout thingy would be suitable for me. At Halfords they reckon that I need a 14" but the spec I would like isn't available 'till 16".

I use 50/50 off on road.

Any ideas please.

Lyv

[DanE]

Originally Posted by puddlediver

I know I am hijacking the post but you guys seem to know a bit about mountain/road bikes.

I am a weedy 5 ft 2" with an inside leg of 29". This makes even a 16" frame too big. I really fancied the GT Avalanche as the lockout thingy would be suitable for me. At Halfords they reckon that I need a 14" but the spec I would like isn't available 'till 16".

I use 50/50 off on road.

Any ideas please.

Lyv

Try Orange. They do well spec'd 15" frames which are quite small (I'm 5' 6" and ride the 17" P7 frame).

You'll pay a bit more though. At their lowest specs, £600 for a G2, £700 for Clockwork, £800 for a P7

Orange Mountain Bikes 2007 Model Range

Cheers,
dan

[Mark Davies]

Originally Posted by puddlediver

Any ideas please.

Again, I'm a little out of date but when I was in the business the brands of choice for small frames were Kona, Specialised and Trek - in that order.

Always been a fan of Orange though - my last bike was built on a Clockwork frame. It was a thing of beauty!

[shippy]

keeped the GT on v brakes and swap the whole wheel, lock out forks with lever on the bar fantastic! it's an old I-drive and flys on the road with wide bars. Clip in pedals off road, if you are not used to them don't! I did and broke my wrist, practice on the road it's safer. top tip glasses a fly in the eye not fun on down hill.

[puddlediver]

Thanks, Mark and Dan, will check these out.

Lyv

[adamr]

Hi I'm wanting to get into this biking cos frankly I'm getting a bit fat....

I've been offered a Saracen Jump/slalom bike for 180 quid. He says its got these top shimano brakes etc etc and cost 300 quid new.

Does it sound like a good buy or not? ?

Thanks for any help

Adam

[Mark Davies]

Originally Posted by adamr

I've been offered a Saracen Jump/slalom bike for 180 quid. He says its got these top shimano brakes etc etc and cost 300 quid new.

Saracen are a decent brand but this will not be a 'top' specification bike - £300 these days will buy a bike in the low end of the 'quality' range. Bear in mind it is very easy to spend in excess of £1500 on a decent mountain bike!

It will be a decent and perfectly adequate bike - and certainly better than the sort of stuff knocked out by your local motor spares dealer. If it's in decent nick it will be worth the £180 he's asking for.

[adamr]

thanks for that mark, would you recommend this type of frame or a normal frame??

As i say I'm just really starting out on it so I doubt I'll be jumping (maybe falling) or doesnt it make a real difference?

Cheers

Adam

[DanE]

Originally Posted by adamr

Hi I'm wanting to get into this biking cos frankly I'm getting a bit fat....

I've been offered a Saracen Jump/slalom bike for 180 quid. He says its got these top shimano brakes etc etc and cost 300 quid new.

Does it sound like a good buy or not? ?

Thanks for any help

Adam

Unless you know the seller well, make sure they have the receipts for the original purchase.

Bikes are stolen so often and hardly ever recovered, it's stupidly expensive to insure them! (My Orange P7, which was £1,300 new in '97 used to cost £130 a year to insure!)

Also, a bike aimed for jumping may not be the best bike for getting fit on. Having fun, visiting A&E, yes, but not getting fit!

dan