What would you choose?

scarbs85

If you were only allowed a certain number of bikes in your stable, what kind of bikes would you choose to fill the limited slots? Obviously this will be different for everyone, depending on what they like to do! So for example I would probably go with the following:

One Bike:
Full sus all rounder

Two Bikes:
Light XC hardtail
Full suss trail / all mountain

Three Bikes:
Light XC hardtail
Trail hardtail
Full suss trail / all mountain

supersonic

One bike: My Zaskar Carbon Team

Two bikes: My Zaskar Carbon Team, and my Zaskar LE

Three bikes: My Zaskar Carbon Team, my Zaskar LE, and my Mongoose Otero.

The Zaskar Carbon is a tough, light hardtail, the LE a very light bridle path and road warrior, the Otero a tough, budget all round FS.

bennett_346

One bike: FS all rounder
Two bikes: FS all rounder, FS light xc
Three bikes: FR bike, FS all rounder, FS light xc

Mojo_666

1st Bike My Nerve AM: which covers me for everything very well
2nd Bike I would add a Torque FRX for DH/Uplift days (AM is fine but I seem to be doing it more and more...more than the once in a while I had planned)

ilovedirt

If I could, I'd have three.

Long travel trail hardtail. Ragley Troof, Dialled Alpine, Evil Sovereign, something like that.

Mid travel trail bike, probably an orange 5 or alpine 160, or something around the 140-160mm mark, something I can pedal all day, but wouldn't feel out of place on a downhill track (my slayer, basically).

Big hitting DH bike, something with the geo of a 224, but takes the big hits without bottoming out constantly. Not sure what would fill that criteria...

oodboo

1 bike - my Spesh Enduro

2 bikes - plus Piglet Ti

3 bikes - plus Transition Bandit 29 or Spesh Camber 29er or some other trail orientated fs 29er.

FBM.BMX

1 bike - BMX (deluxe)

2 bike - BMX (Deluxe) + All round full sus (nicoli helius)

3 bike - BMX + Burly full sus (bottlerocket or ns soda fr) + Burly 4x/trail hardtail (cotic bfe with 120mm forks)

Northwind

One bike- my Hemlock (or something comparable)- something that can do XC miles or downhill races.
Two bikes- as above, plus something lighter and faster, to cover ground better and make things a bit harder. My C456's is doing that job just now
Three bikes- as above, plus a downhill bike
Four bikes- as above, plus something properly light and fast.

I'm discounting my commuter here as it's not a proper bike.

lawman

one bike - something with 150mm travel, light circa. 24/25lbs, 1x10 with chain guide, dropper post, nice wide bars and slack geometry, would love to try a properly light but tough bike with mega slack angles, something like a whyte 146 without the flex or my Mojo HD with updated geometry or basically 90% of what my HD does perfectly

two bikes - pretty much like i have now, FS as above and a light long travel hardtail, something like a custom lynskey or carbon 456

three bikes - as two bikes plus a nice strong but light DH rig, full carbon V10 would sweet!

interesting to see people picking a superlight xc bike too, i really dont get on with bikes like that!

Anonymous

One - My Nomad full sus

Two - My Nomad full sus + my Carbon 456 hardtail

Three - My Nomad full sus + my Carbon 456 hardtail + a DH bike of some sort

Currently just have the two and they're a nice combination. The AM rig does everything really and the hardtail is a spare for a bit of fun, for when I haven't cleaned the other one or where the Nomad is perhaps a bit OTT (though the Nomad is at home almost everywhere and isn't just for big hit rides). The 456 is useful for longer XCish stuff, flat bridleways and towpaths, but can also do much that the AM can just with a harder ride at the back.

A DH bike isn't something I'm really after as the Nomad has a leaning towards DH anyway, but if I had space for another I'd consider it. Don't do much DH though.

Option instead of the DH may be a cheap £50 second hand piece of junk for commutes.

projectsome

Carbon All mountain with remote lockout, job done-ish

njee20

1: lightweight FS
2: lightweight FS and a road bike
3: lightweight FS, lightweight trail bike, road bike

I say that, but I have 3, and it's lightweight FS and 2 road bikes, but I'd quite like a Mojo SL-R or sommat.

VWsurfbum

projectsome wrote:

Carbon All mountain with remote lockout, job done-ish

Scott Genius LT then

1 Bike + Full suss 29er, See below
2 bikes As above + HT Race 29er
3 Bikes a Scott Genius LT plus the above :8
Now where did i put that winning ticket :?

lawman

VWsurfbum wrote:

projectsome wrote:

Carbon All mountain with remote lockout, job done-ish

Scott Genius LT then

1 Bike + Full suss 29er, See below
2 bikes As above + HT Race 29er
3 Bikes a Scott Genius LT plus the above :8
Now where did i put that winning ticket :?

of all the incarnations of the genius i've ridden, and i've ridden them all over the last 6/7 years or so, apart from the LT, none of them have even come close to being anywhere near my wishlist, like wise the ransom...

thing is with bikes like that, they always seem to focus on the shock, but the shock imo atleast never offers the performance of a conventional shock, fox now do a RP23 with remote lockout, why build a custom shock with just one extra position? seems pretty pointless to me, although no doubt there are people who will say other wise, but if you really want to lock your shock out, why the hell are on a bike with 185mm of travel in the LT's case?! seems just plain daft to me...

imo atleast the likes of scott, specialized and cannondale seem to be coming up with technology that is just techno babble designed to sell bikes, as i say none of these so-called wonder bikes have swayed me yet, i just dont see the point of them, stuff like bionicon's travel adjust is a good idea, but I'd rather have great geometry for shredding and singletrack and have to work around a slacker headangle any day of the week over compromised suspension.

cat_with_no_tail

1 Bike: My Edison

2 Bikes: My Edison and a Road bike

3 Bikes: Edison, Road Bike, proper DH bike


And Lawman, what do you think is compromised on the Bionicon suspension? and what are you basing that assumption on? When it's set up properly, the suspension on the Edison is not only rediculously light, it's excellent too. And it's very easy to set up.

lawman

Cat With No Tail wrote:

1 Bike: My Edison

2 Bikes: My Edison and a Road bike

3 Bikes: Edison, Road Bike, proper DH bike


And Lawman, what do you think is compromised on the Bionicon suspension? and what are you basing that assumption on? When it's set up properly, the suspension on the Edison is not only rediculously light, it's excellent too. And it's very easy to set up.

purely the fact its custom stuff, made by bionicon, without owning one, but having ridden one, the performance is fine, i would just be worried about spares, service etc more for piece of mind than anything else really, i like to have kit i know works and will continue working

Northwind

The Bionicon I rode- think it was a Golden Willow? Had really pretty ropey suspension... At the time i had a set of Tora 302s on a bike and they felt very similiar. Now maybe it was knackered but the people running the demo didn't think so. But I get the distinct impression new ones are a different kettle of fish.

cat_with_no_tail

lawman wrote:

purely the fact its custom stuff, made by bionicon, without owning one, but having ridden one, the performance is fine, i would just be worried about spares, service etc more for piece of mind than anything else really, i like to have kit i know works and will continue working

Whilst I appreciate where you're coming from, the fact Bionicon have a UK base means spares, servicing etc couldn't be easier. When I need something, I know I can speak directly to Roger, and get it delivered next day. I certainly couldn't do that with my old Fox forks.

Northwind, it's a shame that you found them so meh. I'd be interested to see if it was just those forks.

lawman

It would be great if we all had the means to create our perfect bike, because i bet we all have tiny changes we'd like to make outside swapping a few components, like i bet loads of C456 owners would love iscg mounts, orange 5 owners wish they weren't orange 5's and weighed a ton...

If you could build your own bike, what would you realistically have in terms of suspension design, geometry, material etc I think it'd be fascinating to see what people came up with and how many bikes on the market actually fit these all these requirements

cat_with_no_tail

lawman wrote:

It would be great if we all had the means to create our perfect bike, because i bet we all have tiny changes we'd like to make outside swapping a few components, like i bet loads of C456 owners would love iscg mounts, orange 5 owners wish they weren't orange 5's and weighed a ton...

If you could build your own bike, what would you realistically have in terms of suspension design, geometry, material etc I think it'd be fascinating to see what people came up with and how many bikes on the market actually fit these all these requirements

+ Potato

I'd love some ISCG tabs on the Edison, just so I could run a hammerschmidt.
I'd love even more to lose a lb or 2 having it in carbon flavour.
I'd like a wider seat-tube so I could run a reverb.
I'd also like it to be in a nice sexy satin black with orange detailing, but I'm working on that now.

I'm no bike designer, but I'm pretty sure if they worked it in carbon, not only could they drop a lb or 2, but they could do something to stop it being so fugly!

lawman

Cat With No Tail wrote:

lawman wrote:

It would be great if we all had the means to create our perfect bike, because i bet we all have tiny changes we'd like to make outside swapping a few components, like i bet loads of C456 owners would love iscg mounts, orange 5 owners wish they weren't orange 5's and weighed a ton...

If you could build your own bike, what would you realistically have in terms of suspension design, geometry, material etc I think it'd be fascinating to see what people came up with and how many bikes on the market actually fit these all these requirements

+ Potato

I'd love some ISCG tabs on the Edison, just so I could run a hammerschmidt.
I'd love even more to lose a lb or 2 having it in carbon flavour.
I'd like a wider seat-tube so I could run a reverb.
I'd also like it to be in a nice sexy satin black with orange detailing, but I'm working on that now.

I'm no bike designer, but I'm pretty sure if they worked it in carbon, not only could they drop a lb or 2, but they could do something to stop it being so fugly!

see what i mean, once you actually start thinking, its easy to pick minor faults, none of them tend to be deal breakers or ruin the ride, but niggling things you wish were different.

My HD is abit short in wheelbase and i wish the chainstays were slightly shorter, toptube slightly longer and the headangle slacker, around 66.5 degrees or so.
It lacks iscg tabs.
Its grey and not satin black and green.
It uses a maxle rather than a fox/shimano axle (this is a really, minutely tiny "fault").
Losing half a pound using the new moulding technique on the mojo sl-r, whilst losing no stiffness.

No bike on the market currently has all the above, barring the whyte 146x, which is a crying shame because I adore that bike

miss notax

bennett_346 wrote:

One bike: FS all rounder
Two bikes: FS all rounder, FS light xc
Three bikes: FR bike, FS all rounder, FS light xc

This Which is spot on really, seeing as that's what i've ended up with

I don't really do non-bouncy bikes!!

nicklouse

Sorry I don't do such small numbers.

Northwind

Lawman, FWIW sticking an angleset-type thing in that would sort the head angle and increase the wheelbase. Though at the cost of a wee bit of BB height, if that bothers you. But it might end up having some unexpected side effects too.

android125

Bike 1. My Spesh Stumpjumper FSR
Bike 2. My Merida 96
Bike 3. Thinking of a 29er hardtail like the Merida Twenty-Nine Lite 1800D or something similar. Never thought I'd get a 29er but rode one recently and liked it.

lawman

Northwind wrote:

Lawman, FWIW sticking an angleset-type thing in that would sort the head angle and increase the wheelbase. Though at the cost of a wee bit of BB height, if that bothers you. But it might end up having some unexpected side effects too.

this is indeed an option I've looked into, including the original cane creek angleset, and works components and FSA options, I'm gonna try and get another test ride of the 146 over the spring and see how I get on with it again, as the other measurements are very similar

VWsurfbum

lawman wrote:

It would be great if we all had the means to create our perfect bike, because i bet we all have tiny changes we'd like to make outside swapping a few components

Thats my point about the Genius, having a lock out shock really makes the bike, having HT and a long travel full suss.

I'm looking at new shocks for Beyonce at the moment, apart from sizing issues i'm looking at the scott Nude off the spark (which works like the genius one, but is push not pull) and the Rockshox rt3 with remote, but the Fox Rp23 2012 is almost twice the price in normal form without any remote kit!

I suppose i like to build my bikes for this reason, so i can put what bits i want on, not what comes with it off the shelf! Still never bought a complete bike!

I want a go on you Mojo if we ever meet, very curious to see how it compares to other steeds i've ridden.

felix.london

1 Bike - Spesh Enduro or similar

2 Bikes - My Rockhopper (or similar +/-12kg HT) and Full 200mm DH Rig (sub 16kg) 8)

3 Bikes - the three above but maybe swap the HT for a carbon super lightweight jobby

Just thinking about option 3 is making my mouth water :P

Northwind

felix.london wrote:

Just thinking about option 3 is making my mouth water :P

Mmmmmmmmmmm jobbies.

bennett_346

miss notax wrote:

bennett_346 wrote:

One bike: FS all rounder
Two bikes: FS all rounder, FS light xc
Three bikes: FR bike, FS all rounder, FS light xc

This Which is spot on really, seeing as that's what i've ended up with

I don't really do non-bouncy bikes!!

Yeah i don't get along with hardtails much these days

Shaggy_Dog

1 bike: Lightweight 29er hardtail

2 bikes: Road bike and a 120mm full suss

3 bikes: Road bike, Lightweight 29er hardtail and a 160mm slopestyle/AM bike