Full Suspension Frame change advice

milese

I'm thinking about changing my frame over to full sus.

This is my current bike spec:

Merlin Malt 1 frame
Rock Shox Revalutions air (85-130mm) forks
XT drivechain, except for LX chainset
Avid juicy 7s, 203mm front, 160mm rear
Merlin built XT hubs with XC717 rims

I use the bike mainly for commuting and XC trail riding, with some nice rocky decents on Dartmoor. Would need a shock with lock out.

I want somthing light, but whats the weight penalty likely to be like?

I'm not in any hurry if I decide to change, and dont mind something off ebay.

So what fits my requirements or, (million $ question), do you think I should stick with a hardtail?

Not really thought about the cost, so start at what would be the minimum without underspecing it compared to other components.

On a side note, what would the real difference be between my LX chainset and an XT one?

supersonic

What is your budget? looking at around a 3lb weight penalty, which reduces as ypu spend more. You may need to buy some extra bits as they might not all fit. For 500 quid, this would be ideal:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=17839

Great shock too.

XT slightly lighter, alloy inner ring.

milese

Not overly sure on budget, the cheaper the better really.

As for extra bits are we talking front mech, bottom bracket, seat pin, headset?

That GT looks lovely, cant afford £500 at the moment tbh, but as said, I'm not in a hurry.

3lbs is quite a lot as well....

supersonic

Wont find many frames, if any, below 500 quid, and that was the top race frame. Yeah, stuff like seat post, headset, fork steerer etc.

nicklouse

what is the bikes current weight? and what limit do you want to go on for the fully. and what travel? coil or air?

schmako

My Club Roost frame was £400 a year and a bit ago, maybe find it cheaper in places now. Its been an awesome xc machine, especially with the wheels I got the other day!

gaz047

hi, i went from hardtail to full suss about 6 months ago and got one of these
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2007-Giant-Anthem ... dZViewItem

took 3 weeks to arrive and no import duty required (dont know if i was just lucky) and a neighbour signed for it.
so far its been flawless, done over 1200 miles around peaks, 3 merida marathons, cyb etc and love it. it builds up very light for a full suss and is designed for an 80mm fork and has 90mm rear travel
happy huntin

Splasher

What size frame do you need? I'm selling a Giant VT frame if your interested, would work well with all your other kit.

milese

Thanks for all the replies. I cant remember how much exactly it weighed in at, around 27lbs IIRC.

As for the other questions, similar travel to match the forks, I'd like an air shock, not sure on the max weight, as little as possible really.

How do people feel about the weight sacrifice v performance increase of FS? Worth it? (Can of worms).

I'll have a look at the club roost and I do like the look of the Giant.

Do most shocks have lockout?

I'll want something around 16".

gaz047

pretty much all shocks now have a lockout or a pro pedal setting.
i loved my old hardtail (trek 8500zr) but after finishing long rides my back would be killing, so needed a bit of give at the back end. the anthem frame only weighs 5.2lb iirc so didn't notice a great deal of difference in overall weight.
only just noticed you have revelation forks, which should be ok at 85mm but don't know how the bike would handle upto 130mm (as its designed for 80mm forks). which would be a shame as the revelations are a good fork and you may not be able to use their full potential. don't know if anyone on the forums runs anything over 80mm...........

dirtbiker100

well just to say I'm just about to but a hard tail frame to temp replace my full sus for a little try out - on-one 456 (inbred). I''ll use it for "aggressive" XC, ie xc with whatever jumps, drops, light dh comes my way. I'm having to buy new seat post, seat post clamp (not inc with frame), front mech + new cables, stem for different geometry. BB is same width luckily.

supersonic

Weight, cost, strength and travel are all linked - so the more money you pay generally means lighter weight, or more strength for no weight penalty. More travel usually means more weight.

BoredHousewife

this or this, just suggestions though

milese

Thanks for all the advice, sounds like I've got a lot of research and saving to do before I commit to anything.

BigAl

The Anthem is a great frameset - I love mine.

But it isn't for everyone - it has a pretty stretched position and can be a bit 'hairy' downhill. Mine (an '06) doesn't have lock-out either - though I don't think you need it.

But it's not suited to a long fork. 80mm is best, 100mm is okay, don't go any longer.

milese

Righto, I'll give the anthem the miss then. My forks are actually 100-130mm travel.

What are the opinions on the Spesh Enduro?

milese

To bring up an oldish thread...

I was in a bike shop on the weekend and they had a Anthem 1 frame in stock, in the right size, lovely metalic blue, few tiny scratches, and best of all half price, £900 down to £450. It lookedlovely, much lighter than I expected. I didn't get it though, thought about sticking it on the plastic but I cant afford it really.

I'm still not totally convinced that the Anthem suits what I need.

This question might be a bit basic, but would the Anthem, or other race inspired lightweight FS XC frame, be stronger and better suited than my hardtail merlin from a light downhill / drop off small jump point of view?