Full Sus.
XcOllie
Posts: 9
Hey guys, so ive been around doing MTB'ing for around 12 months now just doing some XC and some more lighter stuff, at the mo i have a specialized hardrock pro ( beginner bike ) but now am looking to buy a full suspension bike as ive progressed alot and want to do it alot more.
Only bikes ive really looked at at the moment are the Specialized Stumpjumpers, i had a go on the FSR Elite at a local shop and loved it. So considering that at the minute.
I have around £1800 to spend, maybe push 2 grand.
just what your thoughts are on other full sus bikes around this price that match or beat the stumpy?
Also any weaker points on the FSR elite which could probably do with being replaced?
Cheers for any comments. Ollie
Only bikes ive really looked at at the moment are the Specialized Stumpjumpers, i had a go on the FSR Elite at a local shop and loved it. So considering that at the minute.
I have around £1800 to spend, maybe push 2 grand.
just what your thoughts are on other full sus bikes around this price that match or beat the stumpy?
Also any weaker points on the FSR elite which could probably do with being replaced?
Cheers for any comments. Ollie
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Comments
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Orange ST4 is getting great reviews at the minute
http://www.orangebikes.co.uk/2009bikes/ ... odel_id=97
best thing to do is to try & make a shortlist & test as many as you can, they will all feel a bit different, some you'll love, some you'll hate
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Trek Fuel EX 8 or 9
Giant TranceX0 -
you have an excellent budget so almost anything you buy will be a good choice. as mentioned, try and test everything you fancy, its a lot of money to spend on something you dont end up getting on with .
i really like the trance x1, tis very light, well specced and very efficient, i reckon the maestro system is one of the best out there.
obviously im a big fan of specialized (ive got 4 of em!!) so i would say get one
btw, i hate to do this but i think you can get a 5 for about 2 grand and they are reputed to be mega, shame about the spec but it is said to be one of those bikes which is more than the sum of its parts.0 -
I know Sheeps vaguely mentioned it but the spec is pretty bad on the 5 S though, deore and Recons for just shy of £2k. The really seem to have hit hard times financially given the price ramps this year.
For slightly less money you could get the very top end Meta 5.5 http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=1104&categoryId=129.0 -
Toasty wrote:I know Sheeps vaguely mentioned it but the spec is pretty bad on the 5 S though, deore and Recons for just shy of £2k. The really seem to have hit hard times financially given the price ramps this year.
For slightly less money you could get the very top end Meta 5.5 http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=1104&categoryId=129.
+1, or take a look at the Super 4 which may be more suited to your riding style.
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... goryId=1290 -
The Super 4 looks excellent for the money.0
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The Meta's are good bikes, but do they have a handbuilt in Halifax frameset? (one of the reasons I bought a 5, supporting a UK built manufacturer)
Yes the Orange Spec is a little below par, but it still rides very well
Not wanting to start an Orange war or owt here 0 -
Robots weld batter than humans.
*runs away*
Fight!0 -
That's all well & good in a chip shop, but I don't want my bike held together with cod & chips thank you very much.supersonic wrote:Robots weld batter than humans.
*runs away*
Fight!
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Haha, cracking typo!0
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How tha hall did you miss tha e whan ye typad it though ? 0
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Andy_B wrote:The Meta's are good bikes, but do they have a handbuilt in Halifax frameset? (one of the reasons I bought a 5, supporting a UK built manufacturer)
Yes the Orange Spec is a little below par, but it still rides very well
Not wanting to start an Orange war or owt here
Comparing the Orange 5 Pro with performance kit to a Meta 5.5.1 there's almost a £1000 difference, all you're really getting is "Hand made in the UK" stamped on everything. I'm helping the UK, when I bought my Meta a shopkeeper got a wodge of money, this spread out to the distributer as well.
With the spare money I could buy over 3 kilos of Coffee, made by weasels. Does your bike have 3 kilos of weasel coffee? (one of the reasons I bought the meta)
http://www.firebox.com/product/616/Weasel-Coffee
The Meta spec is fantastic, as is the ride, they also rival Giant and Specialized for value while still keeping a bit of individuality.0 -
I prefer my coffee without weasel vomit thank you.0
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Robots Dont weld better than humans
A robot use is for mass production/small batch running and to replace or better the flexability of a well trained human would cost a fortune.
Someone has forgotten robots are set up/programed by humans ?
Gets me when youth think they know it all with no experiance or know how or knowledge of manufacturing in any of these fields.
Buying HandBuilt is knowing you have purchased something from someone of skill
and quality product rather than mass produced which has a low re-sale value
and short life time cycle known as Fashion0 -
im looking forward to this one............................0
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Sorry, but robots DO weld better than humans as they can make the same quality pass time and time again, do not get tired, do not make mistakes.
"Gets me when youth think they know it all with no experiance or know how or knowledge of manufacturing in any of these fields."
Don't patronise me.0 -
robots dont exist and will be at least another 1,000 before they do .
think about this :
making a cup of tea, a simple task right....wrong.
first:
brain sends signal thinking it time for a tea, your brain then sends signal to your nervous system to fire up your muscles in the areas needed to perform the moverments.
nerve causes muscle fibers to twitch and thus contract muscles , inside your ear the balance system works to help you steady yourself as you move, brain works and uses the memory cells and parts of brain to remember how to walk and cordinate the muscles.
memory serves to help you move properly and then using long term and short term memory how to make a cup of tea.
eyes send signal to brain to help you navigate around..
the list goes on, they recon it about 10,000 differant commands to make a cup of tea, try programming this into a robot lol.
robots are purely a thing of the sci fi and very unlikely you will have a robot which slightly able to do the most basic on humans things.
didnt anyone watch the horizon special on this.... London2Brighton Challange 100k!
http://www.justgiving.com/broxbourne-runners0 -
I watched Transformers on DVD and would definitely buy a bike that they had made . . . Whether it was fashionable or not.0
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Well of course robots are set up/programmed by humans, but I am talking of the physical process of welding and application.
See here:
http://www2.merida-bikes.com/en_INT/Tec ... obotwelded
They are one of the biggest manufacturers of bike frames in the world.
"The results are convincing: Robot-welded frames are permanently at a higher level of strength than handmade aluminium frames. In addition to that the welding-structure is absolutely consistent. "
But I appreciate what handbuilt means to some, the effort that goes in, and what mind set that might give the rider. If you don't love your bike, then you might not get the best from it.0 -
its true youth dont have a clue take the PC away and they cant get over a problem or tie there laces Like a load of lost sheep looking for the top dog.
You cant prove me wrong ive been in manufacturing for 28 years.
From flo-line manufacturing to computer rised machinery
and in Hand Built UK Bespoke Furniture
And no robot is not better than a human maybe more efficent but only to
a degree.
Computer rised machines are a hell of a lot different to the laptop
in a office and i do know what I am taliking about
Has I have worked with software designers and manufacyures
in designing these so called Robots.
LOL what is that picture showing me? one thing is when the next robot brakes
down the whole flo-line stops And Er wheres my bike ? When you get it
working again? Youve just been lead to believe it is better.
Unless you have experiance in these fields then ask not show what you
think is right has you do-not know.
Have you any hands on experiance? Actual hands on working and knowing
when the Robot starts shakimg during Manufacturing Because its stuck on All
Three Axis. No Thought not Plum
When I Here CO CK it dont half PI SS me off
So youth dont have no idea but open your ears and listen for once
you just may learn something. 0 -
Read the above link. You verses Merida - and you are wong.
And for your info the first job I had was at Barker Collins in Sheffield.
Quit the bad language and hard talk, if you can't construct a post in a civil manner then you wont construct one at all in future. Is that clear?0 -
supersonic wrote:"The results are convincing: Robot-welded frames are permanently at a higher level of strength than handmade aluminium frames. In addition to that the welding-structure is absolutely consistent. "
Appart from the ones made by humans in a small town called Halifax. I think the company are called Orange. These humans have been trained by extra-terrestrial beings in how to weld the most Perfect weld ever, and, as such, they`re frames remain the strongest and most perfectly welded for all of time 0 -
If thats the only answer you can give then there cannot be a forum
again youve asked me to read an article which you have no experiance or
knowledge off
And probaly some input I have given through my years are maybe in that software
or is.for what they paid me very well for.0 -
So do you disagree with this statement?
"The results are convincing: Robot-welded frames are permanently at a higher level of strength than handmade aluminium frames. In addition to that the welding-structure is absolutely consistent."
Have you worked in the bike trade? Have you welded an aluminium frame?
Does this even matter in this arguement, as we can only judge the final product. And all the info I have seen, including 100s of frames is that robot welding is indeed more consistent and of a highr quailty, and this is backed up by the manufacturers research.
Stick to the point in hand.0 -
Pdid you have missed out that the most manufacture to have perfect or near 10
points for there bikes0 -
I have worked and designed in the metal industustry yes and made Go-Karts
when at school
A hand weld is far stronger, not long ago there was an article in the Gaurdian
regarding Cars?
Ok cars I here you say. But after a crash when re built by hand they are far stronger
and less likely to crumble has and when put together by a Robot or robots at the
Factory.
So what you going to ask me next?
PS I did not write the article.
By the way what was you making at this factory/role and length of time served
and what you do know???0 -
Anyway I dont want a mass produced bike if i did ill only have
to look in my pocket for the piece of Tiawan badge and ride with pride0 -
Well in the end we ride what we want to, which alludes to what I said in the top post on this page. You feel that magic in the Orange that I feel in my Zaskar, which was hand welded lol. Though I bought it not because it was hand made.
We could go on producing evidence such as:
http://www.robotics.org/content-detail. ... ent_id/678
Which clearly states advantages for robots. In cars at the top end of the scale.
Of course a robot can weld badly just as a human can if it was set that way.0 -
It appears the site is not woirking
LOL in a Robot you only find efficency thats it in a nut shell
And at the high end of the bike manufaturing Orange are in
I dont think you'll find a bad or poor welder just wouldnt
happen unless they continued to make by Hand and sell Low price.
Again will not happen.
Look One thing you need to understand mate is what you are not told ok
Is the machines always breakdown and when they do they cost a hell of a lot
which is not shown in the Article
Nore how much is lost while the flo-line is shut down
Because there is no other way round it or to get over it
They cant think.
The most thing you are looking for in manufacturing is effiecency but you
also need what alot of people dont see is flexibility or also known has
the what if factor, thats what if something goes wrong
Ive seen machines like i said before when stuck on all axis shake like hell
and I mean like hell I also see one machine just deside to lower itself into the bed with
64 drills spining Is that what you have read and know of?
Also a big problem working with Robots is the pins in there joints
the average life span is one year and if not constantly checked/changed
what ever you are doing will be a odd degree or a few millmetres out
and I know that alot of companys let it go because the width of the weld
covers it, or they spread the weld to compensate
Also I did read last year in the MBR Mag that they found the Meta 6 was a degre different than specced and that the Company know nothing of it, and was about 6 months in production?
And what was this bike made by!
Many people get sucked into the computer machinery is the answer when
in some/most cases its not at all0
