I drive

Dannythornton123

Hi everyone
Basically Im looking to get a new bike through the bike to work scheme I am looking to buy a full suspension and I will be using it for xc / trail riding ive been looking at a gt I-drive xcr with the discount I can get it for 400 I was just looking to see if anyone has one or has had one and could let me know how the bike rides and basically if its a good bike for what I need

nicklouse

is an XC/trail bike.



is a DH bike.

Dannythornton123

Had a mind blank there mate sorry I did mean for trail

cavegiant

The I-drive system is one of the best suspension systems out there.

You get a travel path of a high single pivot, with a fixed chain line. The trade off is the pedal to seat height is slightly variable and it weighs a bit more than other sytems. I would say the extra weight is well invested for good suspension and travel.

I should add, I so not own a GT so am not a fanboy.

Anonymous

Almost certain the chain length isn't constant (if that's what you meant by "chainline")

mattv

I had one identical to the one in that picture, an XCR-5. Rode well, nice and efficient. Didnt really thrash it offroad, but handled a few sections I did on it ok, if it was a little heavy. I was not a fan of the Juicy 3 brakes which didnt stop the bike, and the Recon 351 fork was pants with no lockout.
HOWEVER, there have been a few reports of them creaking. After about 4 months, mine had a strange creak that came on in 24 hours to the point people were looking at me in the street. Took it back to Halfords to sort, they had it 3 separate times, the first time they had it and told me it was ready I made it creak in front of therm before I left the shop. After a month, they finally found it was a dry and very slightly loose (they used a 10inch allen key) brake mount. Once this was sorted, it was fine again!

handful

I've got one and had it for 18 months.Paid the same as you can get it for on C2W, brilliant value at that price. It is a little heavy and bobs if you are a stand on the pedals masher but for me it's fine as I tend to sit and spin. Mine has just started creaking a bit but I am about to strip and sort. Excellent bike for trails, I've done Penmachno, Marin and Cwmcarn loads and it is sure footed when set up right. The stock tyres and saddle were awful though.

supersonic

Chain line and length definitely isn't constant.

cavegiant

I was knacred when I wrote that, chain length was what I meant.

The cranks are directly linked to the rear triangle, not the front. Hence why the chain length is fixed, but the seat to crank length is variable.

Am I overlooking something very obvious, or is the Mongoose licenced version of this different to the GT?

cavegiant

Bottom bracket directly linked to chainstay, therefore no compression in that area.

Anonymous

Erm, no. BB is on a rotating assembly, which is in turn attatched to the rear swingarm. As the swingarm moves, the assembly rotates, changing the distance between rear wheel and BB.

Please fact check your stuff before presenting it as fact, you seem to have a lot of misleading posts recently.

supersonic

Yep, the pic does not show the link the bb is on, just the bearing 'hole' for it. The freedrive and idrive basically have the bb on a floating (4 bar) linkage. With freedrive, the bb moves further than id as the sus compresses. But there is still chain growth. They are not urts.

cavegiant

Dammit going to check on the bike downstairs brb.

cavegiant

Dammit, memory failed me again.

As I thought the BB is not part of the front triangle, however it is not part of the rear triangle either. Sneaky little link in between.

Anyway, still the most efficient pedaling system I have seen.

Watching my wife doing the climb up to spooky wood there was no bob at all, none, not even a little bit (and she had propedal off), yet when she went over a twig the rear wheel popped up and over and dropped down on the other side.

Very impressed.

Well that was the mongoose version, assuming the original I-drive is similar.

Zziplex

Watch this for more info:

http://www.youtube.com/user/GTBicycles1 ... nGoqF7CNR8

I'm on my 3rd idrive bike now, got rid of a Trek Fuel for my latest one.

Anonymous

The idrive is ace, a mate of mine had a very early version. I found it wasn't quite as plush on big terrain when standing up, as my old wolf ridge, or a GT LTS though. But as an all day bike it was awesome. I dare say they've tweaked it a lot since then, particularly the AM, and DH models, as that very early one was not at all suitable for that stuff.

supersonic

It has many great traits, but gt make a hash of explaining them.

chrischris1315

I've always wanted a go on a GT full sus as I have one of their hard tails and love it, how much heavier is the iDrive system compared to others?

Regards

Chris

Bar Shaker

My last bike was a GT iDrive.

I have since sold it to my mate but it gave me years of trouble free riding and felt superb when powering along XC trails.

I still get to ride it as we sometimes swap bikes for a couple of miles. It still feels good.

I only sold it because I wanted something lighter but I had considered putting it on a £600-£700 diet and suspect it would have been a stunning bike if brought up to date.

Pedal bob was negligible and the system really does work.

EllieRockyPally

Another "version" of this type of suspension system is the Maverick Mono-link.

I had a Klein Palomino until it was stolen in January, that was THE best bike i've ever known for pedalling efficiency. However, I should add that I've neverr ridden the GT or Mongoose versions. The Maverick version is so much more simple than the the other two though, which counts for something in my book.

Hope this helps!

Anonymous

LMFAO!

the wheel will move up and back (the direction the bump came from). Understand that, and you understand MonoLink! That’s what it’s all about: Creating a natural wheel path for the rear wheel to travel that naturally efficiently absorbs the forces exerted on the bike...
Our wheel path is so special, it’s patented. You just can’t get this feature, or its benefits, with any other system.

Er, yeah, right, because that's not what almost every other manufacturer aims for!

Check out their video, as the suspension compresses, the BB is bought up considerably - causing noticeable kickback into the pedals. Only telling part of the story does not reveal the subtle details.

Ride it, if you like it, buy it, if you don't, try something else. That's all there is to it.

EllieRockyPally

"LMFAO! "
"Ride it, if you like it, buy it, if you don't, try something else. That's all there is to it."

Chill out pal! :roll:

Anonymous

Er, I am chilled out.
I find it amusing when almost all manufacturers claim pretty much the exact same things, and then proclaim how only their design does what "they" have thought of.
It's the irony.

supersonic

GT sued maverick lol, and got a payout for patent infringement.

EllieRockyPally

Really?! Blimey!!!

Regardless of any manufacturer claims, I think that it's a marvellous system who's real benefit is simplicity. In my opinion, this makes it one of the better "floating bottom bracket" suspension designs, which is why I purchased it.

Anonymous

EllieRockyPally wrote:

Really?! Blimey!!!

Regardless of any manufacturer claims, I think that it's a marvellous system who's real benefit is simplicity. In my opinion, this makes it one of the better "floating bottom bracket" suspension designs, which is why I purchased it.

Quite right (ignoring the patent infrignement which is a whole can of worms)
I was simply finding it amusing that they're claiming the same thing everyone else is, and claiming that only they have cracked it, the same as everyone else!