All-mountain choice

mark62

Hi
I'm looking at getting an all-mountain (do it all) rig, looked at the basic Specialized Enduro & Kona Coiler. Mainly to be used at Llandegla black route. Are there any other bikes I should take a look at?

Cheers

paul williams

I ave a Santa Cruz Heckler that i'm very happy with. It's built with Fox Talas 36 forks, Hope M4 brakes and Fox DHX Air shock, great ride, light enough for the uphills, strong enough for the downhills and drop offs, because of the adjustable travel forks it makes it easy to tune the front end depending on whether your going up or down

Great Ayton

Giant do some bikes that peddle very well and I quite like the look of the new pace but they cost a lot.

Andy B

Specialised Pitch, Orange 5, Commemncal Meta, Giant Reign, Santa Cruz Heckler...

Lots to choose from, my advice is try as many as you can to get the right bike for you.

jbford

I've got the RC405 and am very impressed, it's rapid on the climbs and flies down singletrack plus it's a joy in the air. It's an expensive bike but worth it, me thinks.

I've got the '08 32 Talas RLC forks and whilst they are good, I do think that they are not quite stiff enough or long enough for fast hard riding. If I can pursuade my LBS to do me a good deal I'm gonna trade for the 36's as soon as I can!?!

chilled rider

The GT avalanche range are described as 'All mountain' on their website. Im expecting a tirade of 'How can that be so its a xc hardtail>>>????? Go check for the disbeliever in you
8)

El Capitano

I ride Llandegla on my Coiler (a 2004 Dee-Lux). Can't fault it.

dave_hill

Giant Reign or Reign X. Or I'd even go so far as to say a VT. They crop up on eBay now and again and they are capable of far more than the original spec would have you believe. Mine is definitely set up more AM/FR Lite than XC.

Splasher

I have to second a number of points already made:

Fox 36 rather than 32 if you like to batter down stuff

Heckler's a good choice although I don't think it's available in DHX Air any more (rp23 or DHX coil when I was looking at them)

Giant VT was a bike that was much more capable than the forks that Giant put on them and I ran mine with a 150mm Marzocchi AM1 which was a cracking combo. Doubt you're interested if you can afford an Enduro, but both frame and fork are for sale.

mark62

Thanks for all the replies, gives me plenty of food for thought. MTB is my second sport so ideally the less I spend the better. I like the look (and reviews) of the Kona Coiler, new 2006 Coilers can be had for under a grand. Spesh Enduros & Giant reigns etc look like they could last me (for my basic needs) many years, so a close-out deal at £1500ish is not to bad (not looking at top spec models).

Splasher:
I'v been using a 2006 Carerra Banshee for the last 12-months (not a proper MTB to you guys) but its given me loads of fun and been a good introduction to MTB. Its time to get a decent rig and move up a level or two. My Banshee has got sram 7 & decent rims and loads of upgrades, so your frame & forks could be an option, how much are looking for and where abouts are you?

Andy B

The Banshee is actually quite a good bike, I'm told the frame is based on the Coiler, whether that's correct or not...

Splasher

Mark,

First thing is that it's a 20" frame so you'd want to be in the 5'9 - 6"3 before it would fit.

Next thing is I'm in the East Midlands (near Rutland Water)

And finally I'd be looking to clear £300 on the frame and fork but could include the existing chainset and BB, a headest, and the gear outers (saves having to cut and cap a set to suit).

The fork is a 2006 model and is a year old.

Piccie of it built as a bike http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 942&size=l

Reason it's for sale http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 928&size=l

Cheers

mark62

Slasher, thanks for the pic. I'm 6"4/6"5 so 20" should just about be OK, but XL would have been great. This is a serious option for me. I will sleep on this & get back to you tommorrow. I'v found a couple of reviews on the VT & will scan them tonight, but looks v-good. Three things, I'm assuming the rear shocks included & is the bomber 20mm through bolt or standard QR? Are these damage free?
Cheers
Mark

To get this of the forum we can talk through:
markhayford at hotmail.com

zero303

I'm looking for a similar sort of thing to you and I've all but settled on an Orange 5 S but upgrading the fork to a Fox for £65...

I'm a bit of an Orange fanboy though so perhaps my judgment is skewed a little.. 8)

Splasher

Emailed you some more info and the geometry details. Don't know if my emails working though as the servers been playing up lately.

mark62

Splasher, thanks for geometery, come through fine. After much thought, I'm not going with an Enduro or even atempt to build a bike (too many pit holes for a novice like me). I found out about the Spesh Pitch Comp (£1100), seen a 2005 Kona Coiler Delux at Winstanleys (£1200) but its yellow, Hmmm, yummy, also seen a 2007 Norco Fluid 3 at £799, all brand new so should (I think) be good for me. Coiler looks great value, Pitch sound bang upto date, But the Norco just looks like real good value??? Am I in the right area?

Andy B

The Norco has possibly the worst brakes ever invented, the Hayes Sole's are terrible!

The Pitch Comp looks superb on the specs alone. First reports are very positive for it.

Best thing to do is to try some bikes out, then you know you're getting the right one for you.

Splasher

mark62 wrote:

Splasher, thanks for geometery, come through fine. After much thought, I'm not going with an Enduro or even atempt to build a bike (too many pit holes for a novice like me). I found out about the Spesh Pitch Comp (£1100), seen a 2005 Kona Coiler Delux at Winstanleys (£1200) but its yellow, Hmmm, yummy, also seen a 2007 Norco Fluid 3 at £799, all brand new so should (I think) be good for me. Coiler looks great value, Pitch sound bang upto date, But the Norco just looks like real good value??? Am I in the right area?

As they say, you pays your money you takes your choice so back to advice:

Coming from a hardtail, I think you'll find Coilers much heavier than you need (about 36lbs) and the spec of the Norco is poor. You need to try as many bikes as you can for both feel and fit but I'd suggest looking at the 30lb 5-6" market (like the Pitch, Reign, )which are perfect for the trail centres like Llandegla.

Incidentally, where are you based?

clas

seconded on the brakes.
Ive just got a Kona Dawg with soles
brand new and I had to go and get an avid juicy 3 on it HAIIIRY!

steelo

Have you thought about, or even seen, the 2stage AM8? Its an all-mountain rig that has upto 8" of travel on the rear.

http://www.2stagebikes.com/ have a look. I saw the bike at the London cycle show and they seem quite phenomenal, no doubt there will be mixed reaction as they become more widely known.

Not exactly cheap at £3k though!

mark62

Thanks again splasher. I'm based on the Wirral. So the Pitch looks best, the 05 coiler De-lux is heavy but wonder if its a better bike as its discounted from £2600 to £1200ish. I'm 6ft 5" & slightly over 100kg so I wonder if Im better with a slightly heaver bike.

2stage AM8 looks nice, MTB is my second sport, so at 3k its way way over my budget. A 3k rig would be wasted on me at my skill level.

Cheers

Steve_b77

Mk if you're anywhere near Cheshire, specifically Wilmslow. Royales have a '06 Rocky Mountian Slayer 50 for £1095 down from £2495.

I took it out for a ride the other day but it was a bit too big for me being a Large. As s quick guide I've got a 33" inside leg and the seat post was as low as it could go. So it would probably be the right kinda size for you.

In the end I bought a Specialized Pitch which I am most inpressed with.

Splasher

mark62 wrote:

Thanks again splasher. I'm based on the Wirral. So the Pitch looks best, the 05 coiler De-lux is heavy but wonder if its a better bike as its discounted from £2600 to £1200ish. I'm 6ft 5" & slightly over 100kg so I wonder if Im better with a slightly heaver bike.
Cheers

Coiler's great value at that price but only if that's the travel and weight of bike you're looking for. To put it into perspective, the fork on the Coiler deluxe alone weighs nearly 7.5lbs compared to 5 lbs on the Pitch.

If you're riding was half trail centres and the other half uplifts, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Coiler at that price. If you think it's right for you go for it, but based on what you've said you ride I think it's probably over built and unnecissarily heavy for your purposes.

As for your weight, don't worry, I'm 97kg and I've not broken any mountain bike yet, even my hardtail frame which only weighs 1600g.

Anonymous

i have a bionicon golden willow and thnk it is about as "one bike for everythng" as it gets. as you are on the wirral, i would reccommend going to abbey cycles in liverpool and speak to ste, he will defo try and sell you a bionicon but he has the norco in his window. atleast you could get a demo on it and see what you thnk. for the record, apart from the brakes (which are not too bad, just need constant fiddlng) the bke looks pretty good.

zero303

I suppose I should also chip in with the Focus Super Bud - no one's ridden it yet (in this country) although reviews back in homeland Germany are positive... It does look like a LOT of bike for the money...

That said, it's slightly on the XC side of All-Mountain...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... ike%202008

Ciaran500

Wow, that's quite a bike for £999. A little short on travel at 100mm for an all mountain bike though.

willy b

http://www.feltbikes.co.uk/mtb-redemption.php?id=9
That bad boy!

dave_s

The Coiler or the Enduro are both good choices.

I've got an 04 Heckler with Fox Vanilla 36R forks on it and 5th Element coil rear shock and decent AM build and it's a great bike, and I had a Heckler Mk1 before that and only sold that because I couldn't fit a rear disc brake on it (otherwise I would have kept it).

Nothing wrong with the Coiler or the Enduro though, the Heckler would be quite a bit more pricey as a custom build but you certainly wouldn't regret it, I know I don't.

clarkson

the banshee x is actually based on an old kona stinky to carry on andys point.

i ride an enduro, cant fault it, beautiful ride and handling and enormous fun on the downs.

clarkson

steelo wrote:

Have you thought about, or even seen, the 2stage AM8? Its an all-mountain rig that has upto 8" of travel on the rear.

http://www.2stagebikes.com/ have a look. I saw the bike at the London cycle show and they seem quite phenomenal, no doubt there will be mixed reaction as they become more widely known.

Not exactly cheap at £3k though!

seconded, i think the 2 stage bikes are quite special. id love to ride one and see if it lives up to 2stages' claims.