Best £1000 HT MTB Questions

Davy Sunlund

Thanks for the replies to my previous question. Any ideas about the following:

Low end carbon versus high end alluminium versus steel, I can't help being sucked in to the lightest?

Has anyone any comments on the 29er, I've never tried one?

And finally, I find I currently run out of gears when going hell for leather down an average decline on the road, has anyone tried a 46T outer chainring and does it make much difference?

supersonic

Some alloy frames weigh less than cheaper carbons ones.

As for gearing, what cadence are you doing when in the 46/11 combo? Any upped gears need to be compared to what will happen offroad. Alo many front mechs wont handle the jump from 32 to 46 teeth very well.

lost-time

I used to have a 52 outer ring on my MTB (34? inner). This was in the day of bright lycra, cosmic trail toptube pads....

Helped get me above 50mph on numerous occaisions.... (the 52 ring, not the old school stuff).

Didin't hampen the shifting but by todays standards you'd find ground clearance affected!

z000m

wasnt 1st april over a week ago?

BlackSpur

z000m wrote:

wasnt 1st april over a week ago?

What?

Matteeboy

The trouble with carbon is that it's not much good with impacts - wallop the frame on a rock and you'll need to repair it. An ally frame will probably just scratch or dent very slightly.

Carbon is great - light, stiff and of course it looks cool, but I'm still not convinced it's the best thing for most MTBs.

toasty

You also get the awkward connections between carbon and alloy on most frames in a few places, usually held together with glue. Saying that, I've seen a few 10 year old carbon frames still happily biking around, Trek Y frames and things.

The weight saving is only a couple of hundred grams most of the time, even on top end frames, if that.

They do look very sexy though usually

fizik

But very lightweight xc frames can be very fragile too with very thin walled tubes especially if you crash and the tubes come into contact with a rock etc. I wouldnt fancy dropping my focus raven, would be more than a scratch and a small dent.

Captain Turok

I've looked at the weights of a number of the 'cheaper' carbon mtb frames, don't think you actualy save that much (if any) weight?

Spent some time on my dads 29" Genesis Dual Track(?), its a slow steering barge that weighs a ton

supersonic

Of the top of my head: for medium sized frames:

Scott Scale LTD = 2.1lbs
GT Zaskar Carbon = 2.64lbs
Giant XTC carbon = 3.0lbs
Claude Butler Cape Wrath = 3.5lbs

Some Alloy frames:

Merlin MALT 4 = 3.25lbs
GT Zaskar = 3.6lbs
Kona Cindercone ~ 4lbs
Guess XC01 = 2.7bs
Dave Hind Olympic = 2.3lbs
OnOne Scandal = 3.5lbs

Steel:

OnOne inbred standard = 4.7lbs
Orange P7 = 5.2lbs
Cotic soul = 4.25lbs
OnOne 456 ~ 5.5lbs
Pipedream Sirius = 4.7lbs
Rock Lobster 853 = 4.3lbs

Captain Turok

The Claude Butler is probably most representative as a 'cheaper' carbon frame (as might be expected on a sub £1500 bike). The others I guess are £2 / 3k+ bikes.

toasty

supersonic wrote:

Of the top of my head

:shock:

3.3lbs for a Stumpy HT frame, not sure how the new ones differ, this is an old M4 jobby. Very impressed with that new carbon Zaskar frame going by those numbers :O

aphex2k

supersonic wrote:

Of the top of my head: for medium sized frames:

Scott Scale LTD = 2.1lbs
GT Zaskar Carbon = 2.64lbs
Giant XTC carbon = 3.0lbs
Claude Butler Cape Wrath = 3.5lbs

Some Alloy frames:

Merlin MALT 4 = 3.25lbs
GT Zaskar = 3.6lbs
Kona Cindercone ~ 4lbs
Guess XC01 = 2.7bs
Dave Hind Olympic = 2.3lbs
OnOne Scandal = 3.5lbs

Steel:

OnOne inbred standard = 4.7lbs
Orange P7 = 5.2lbs
Cotic soul = 4.25lbs
OnOne 456 ~ 5.5lbs
Pipedream Sirius = 4.7lbs
Rock Lobster 853 = 4.3lbs

The 631 Pipedream Sirius is 3.9lbs...

supersonic

Ah, twas the standard I listed. Is the 631 really that light?

Surf-Matt

Supersonic - "Off the top of your head?!!"

You are obviously to MTBs what I am to cars - factoid geek boy!

Got a 2007 Stumpy HT in aluminium - whatever it weighs, it feels light, I wouldn't want it any lighter to be honest - knock the tubes (with knuckles) and they feel pretty thin.

bantamroberts

i personally can recommend a boardman pro.£1000 fully loaded with juicy kit,great frame.an absolute bargain by anyones standards.just tried one at bike demo days when they came to dalby forest.there is also a carbon fibre hardtail called the titan,this also has a good spec and comes in at £1000.not a massive fan of halfords but i can recognise a bargian when i see one.