Voodoo Bantu

matthew48a

Hi everyone, i have had my Voodoo for around 9 - 10 years now and i'm sorry to say things are starting to die on it, i have had to change my forks 3 times. but lately it's been a lot of things i snapped my chain twice (whacking my knee on the shifter ) whilst doing that snapping two front mech's. think my rear cog is on it's way out too, my front wheel has more loose spokes than i would like and i had to replace my rear wheel also.

Now my question is, with new bikes having disc brakes and with technology what it is my bike is a bit like the missing link. I am at a cross roads, do i buy a new bike, or do i stick with my baby. i would like disc brakes but the Bantu has not got a mount for a rear one, my forks doo. My works are doing a Bike scheme so i can get a pretty good deal on a new bike........

my old one


HELP

ratty2k

If you can get a good deal, take it. Parts values are high at the moment, so could be quite expensive to fix.. Not nessacarily so mind, but worth looking at somewhere like Chain reaction cycles for the prices of parts to compare a new bike to a repair job...

matthew48a

Yea i know what you mean, but my worry is that if things are breaking a lot now will buying new bit's show that other stuff is worn and needs replacing opening a can of worms sorta thing. I suppose i could just keep it for a road bike and use it for work...... mmmmmmmmmmm

Salsa

That's a nice looking slightly retro (not a bad thing) bike, I like it:)
I'd assume it's got a 7 speed on the back, 7 speed drive train parts are actually cheap so you could replace the drivetrain for a nice price.
I did this on a someone's mid 90's Kona Lave Dome the other day, replaced chain/cankset/cassette/front der, no flashy parts (Alivio crank/SRAM cassette/SRAM chain/Nexave der) it only cost him £68 all in & the bike ran so sweet afterwards.
I'd say that bikes worth spending a bit of money on, or you could buy yourself a new bike on c2w & keep it or even single speed it.

matthew48a

Cheers Salsa yea it is retro, i bought it to replcae my Kona that got stolen from school (thats how long i've had this for I am 29 now) thats not a bad price suppose it is cheaper than gettin a new bike though init. Decisions decisions! i do believe in buying quality things though and this bike was the best i could find at the price i could afford at the time. So i dunno about Alivio bit's but there is always the fleebay

cheers for your comments guys.

Salsa

Just remember most higher end cranks nowadays are designed for 8-9 speed, Alivio is designed for 7 speed plus although it's not trendy the quality is still good, the crank was only £29.99!. What was top end when your bike was made has filtered down to the cheaper parts nowadays.
As I said when I rebuilt that Kona it ran super smooth with great gear changes & certainly didn't feel as cheap as it costs.
Ok the rings are steel but unless your going weight weenie they last a lot longer than alu ones.



You can also still buy the Bantu now amazingly enough, so if you want the modern version of your bike that's an option.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

matthew48a

check that out it looks well nice, geometry looks a little different though. Is there a way i can get a disc mount for the rear of my bike?

matthew48a

I think i am going to go with a new bike through the scheme in work, i wanted specalized pitch comp, but their all sold out

so i can spend upto £1100 (i get 10% off then up to 35% after that.

I have seen these two so far,

Giant Trance x5 £696 (after discount)
Orange Crush £757 (after discount)

Very differnet bike's but i wasn't sure if being 14.5 stone it would be worth gettin a full sus bike. or are there better bikes out there for the cash?