Buying advice for a full suspension frame, probably used.

simonp123

Having suffered some neck issues I am looking to change from a hardtail to a full suspension setup without shelling out too much (gotta keep the wife happy ).
My current bike is a 2008 Knoa Balst Deluxe on which I have upgraded the wheels to Hope Hoops on Stan's Rims with an XT cassette, EA bars, and Rockshox Tora Air forks.

My plan was to swap most of the bits (though will use new BB and headset) on to a useful suspension frame. Depends if the fork tube is long enough to fit on another frame though of course. Would like to leave that for a future upgrade.

No idea what sort of thing to look for though as my FS experience is nil. I'm thinking 4" travel as I ride XC and trail centres. The fork currently runs 100mm, but can be set to 120mm (don't you just love the mix of units used in bike descriptions!!), so dunno if this would work with a 5" travel frame?

As I'm on the heavier side of life, super light weight isn't such a big deal, I don't find the Blast that heavy TBH though it is (standard) about 32lbs I believe, but it would be nice to keep close to this if possible.

Should I stick to the well known brands or are there any "secret" bargains available?

I'd like to be able to stick to under £500 for the frame/shock and new BB & headset.

Pudseyp

Trawl ebay for a 2007 on Marin Mount Vision....probably one of the best 120mm platforms ever created....which should be within easy reach !

thel33ter

For that money a Mount Vision is probably a good choice, but for around £500 for a used frame you get plenty of things, have a look around and see what takes yout fancy.

simonp123

thel33ter wrote:

For that money a Mount Vision is probably a good choice, but for around £500 for a used frame you get plenty of things, have a look around and see what takes yout fancy.

I've been surprised how much some things fetch used to be honest.
What I fancy and what would be suitable may not be the same thing Some things that look interesting whne I look into them turn out to be pretty heavy, or too much travel for what I would use it for.

ewizzy1977

2006 Marin Rift Zone..

4" travel, I'm 13 1/2 stone and was plenty strong enough for me... Cheap on ebay too, usually find them coming up on there for roughly £200 - £250.

meesterbond

Personally, I'd stick a WTB notice on the Singletrackworld classifieds and see what people offer you... for £500 you'll get a lot of frame secondhand.

simonp123

meesterbond wrote:

Personally, I'd stick a WTB notice on the Singletrackworld classifieds and see what people offer you... for £500 you'll get a lot of frame secondhand.

OK, might give that a go.
There are some pretty old used frames making good money on ebay, but maybe they are high end, as I say my full suspension knowlegde is slim.
My £500 is for frame and bottom bracket and headset, so the frame needs to be somewhat less than £500.

meesterbond

Whenever I've sold a frame in the past I've tended to leave the headset in place - less hassle than trying to remove it without buying the proper tools...

salsarider79

100mm refers to 4" of travel, 120mm refers to 5" travel.

I have ridden a fair few Specialized Epic's which are 100mm travel. The brain shock isn't the best on the older frames. It's ment to lock out when not in use, thereby it rides like a hardtail on the road and then opens into a full sus when hitting off road. Often it doesn't work brilliantly, but is fine if you leave the brain shock on fully open, thereby making it a full sus. The frames are very light and good to ride.

You could look at 29ers too. The wheels don't drop into ruts and bumps in the same way as 26ers do. It's amazing the difference it makes. You really do have to ride one to understand. I have a bad back, and I loved my 29er. However it would mean an upgrade to the forks and wheels as well, so it may not work money wise...

paulbox

How about a brand new Brand-X FS? They are down from £599 to £303 on CRC.

I have no idea what these are like, but noticed them when browsing a couple of days ago: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=32041

diy

Have a look for a Specialized Enduro

Its a good platform for a frame transplant. The toras will run fine, but you will probably need a new headset and seat post.

I currently run an Enduro frame, with stans flows, XT groupset and Easton stem and bars. I have swapped the RL 195/50 for a RP23 200/55 which works really well.

If you go second hand, budget for a shock service (£100)/replacement (£200-250 new) and a bearing set replacement (£40) and seat post (£20).

TBH if it has an RL or brain rear shock just bin it and buy a RP23. But always handy to have a shock included in the deal so that you don't spend ages trying to source rare parts.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/specialized-endur ... 2a0a566018

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Specialized-Endur ... 33610c2992

simonp123

salsarider79 wrote:

100mm refers to 4" of travel, 120mm refers to 5" travel.

Yeah that's what I assumed, but got confused when I saw quite a few bikes listed as 5" travel but with a 140mm front fork :roll:

So my Tora set to 120mm would be fine with a 5" travel frame.

diy

simonp123 wrote:

So my Tora set to 120mm would be fine with a 5" travel frame.

There is no dependency on each other, you can run 100mm front with 120mm rear as long as you can make the geometry work.

simonp123

Well, looks like my £500 budget for this is going to be a problem what with things like 2 year old Stumpjumper FSR frames fetching over £500 before spending money on BBs and headsets I gave up bidding on a 2006 model Stumpy FSR when it went over what would put me above £500 once you counted in shock service BB etc. There are even some pretty knackered and dented frames fetching what I consider to be good money 2nd hand.

The Mount Visions seem to be rare on ebay, some full bikes, but they are making BIG money

When you compare these prices with a new old stock Santa Cruz Superlight frame for £650 they do seems expensive.

Perhaps I am being unrealistic about the prices? It is unfortunate that it is pretty much only the upper end stuff that is available as just a frame from new.

Northwind

Try not to settle on one frame, if you keep your options open a little you'll find what you're after faster without compromising so much on condition or price. Perhaps a Trance? They seem to go around at good prices.

And don't give up, I paid barely more than your budget for my as-new Hemlock, ex-demo, you can get stupid amounts of bike for silly money. You could pick up an Idrive 5 for under £200 or a Heckler for £300 and blow the rest on forks... Or allsorts. It's a good budget you have, so don't settle too easily.

simonp123

Northwind wrote:

Try not to settle on one frame, if you keep your options open a little you'll find what you're after faster without compromising so much on condition or price. Perhaps a Trance? They seem to go around at good prices.

And don't give up, I paid barely more than your budget for my as-new Hemlock, ex-demo, you can get stupid amounts of bike for silly money. You could pick up an Idrive 5 for under £200 or a Heckler for £300 and blow the rest on forks... Or allsorts. It's a good budget you have, so don't settle too easily.

No I wasn't fixating on one frame, there just happen to be a few Stumpy FSRs on recently.

Part of the trouble is that I think a 140mm travel frame will be too much and too heavy for what I want, but wonder if 100mm might be a bit too little for a heavier rider, so 120mm is a good compromise. There are not so many 120mm travel frames around.
I have looked at stuff like the Trek Fuel EX and Giant Anthem, but the few frame only ones around again fetch good money.

diy

Travel is irrelevant if you have air shocks you can set the bike up to suit. Rider weight is only really a problem, if you have a XC bike that you are mainly using for AM/DH, because then its likely to suffer component failure. However..

An XC frame with AM rims, bars, seat post and stem is unlikely to fail due to heavy riding. Its mostly rims that get bent tbh.

Northwind

diy wrote:

Travel is irrelevant if you have air shocks you can set the bike up to suit.

Er, care to expand on that?

joshtp

if it didnt snap as much id recoment a Commencal super 4

other than that a mout vision or Whyte E120 is good

simonp123

diy wrote:

Travel is irrelevant if you have air shocks you can set the bike up to suit. Rider weight is only really a problem, if you have a XC bike that you are mainly using for AM/DH, because then its likely to suffer component failure. However..

An XC frame with AM rims, bars, seat post and stem is unlikely to fail due to heavy riding. Its mostly rims that get bent tbh.

That's usefull to know, the impression I had was the light XC frames would be too flexy for someone my weight. So really then for my use 100 or 120mm would be OK, doing smoothish surfaces (towpaths green lanes etc) most of the time in the week and then some trail centres would be OK?

simonp123

joshtp wrote:

if it didnt snap as much id recoment a Commencal super 4

other than that a mout vision or Whyte E120 is good

I was tempted by a Meta 4 frame that was for sale on the Singletrack forum, but never got a reply from the seller.

Anyway after all my moaning I just bagged a 2006 Stumpjumper with quite a few bits left on for quite sensible cash. Cheap enough that I can afford to maybe replace the shock if needed and stay in budget 8)
I was tempted by the Giant frames as there were some newish ones for not so silly money, but the head tube is so long I'd need to buy new forks as well. I plan to use the Tora 302 Air one's from my Kona for the moment (mainly as they have sturdy stantions, good for my current portly 17 stone) until I loose a few stone then move to something posher and lighter.

Thanks for all the help guys.

simonp123

Just an update in case anyone is interested, I got the frame yesterday evening, met the chap halfwayish. Frame looks in good nick, a few chips and rubs but that's it. The Triad shock has been replaced with a Float R, which is better I hear. There are LX front and rear mechs left on, but not sure how much wear until I look more closely. Deore XT front shifter and an SRAM X9 rear shifter also left connected both of which appear in good working order. FSA Orbit headset wich feels in good nick. Nice Hope seatpost clamp too 8)

Also on there is a Shimano HONE crank/chainset with twin chainrings and bashguard. The BB feels a bit rough so will need replacing, but the cranks are better than the ones on my Kona so wondering if I can use them, but will want a triple chainring setup, not sure how easy that will be. Might post a tech question on that.

diy

simonp123 wrote:

. There are LX front and rear mechs left on, but not sure how much wear until I look more closely. Deore XT front shifter and an SRAM X9 rear shifter also left connected both of which appear in good working order.

You sure?

interested to see how he got that working given that X9 is 1:1 actuation and Shimano LX is 2:1.

of course the X9 3spd will work fine with the front mech.

tip: take every opportunity to clean and lube everything thoroughly. One of the +ives of doing a self build is that you can take time and car with the installation and get the best possible result.