Specification queries

NickintheLakes

I am looking at this bike as a go anywhere tool. It would be used mainly on poorly surfaced country lanes (Lake District) and some forest trails on occasion. Tyres would be switched to slicks and suspension would be locked most of the time.

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/rose-count-solo-4-517657/aid:517659

Some specification queries if you don't mind:

The drivetrain is SRAM X9 although it can be reconfigured to Shimano XT at no extra cost. 10 years back I had an XTR equipped Saracen and I liked that a lot. Is it best to switch the spec' from SRAM to Shimano? I will not get an opportunity to try SRAM before ordering.

The chainset is an FSA V Drive Megaexo with a 44 large ring. This would be useful on road as 44x11 gives me a reasonably high gear. I can upgrade to Shimano XT for £35 but this has a 42 large ring. I am not overly sure if I would notice much difference between 44 and 42 tbh. Is the FSA good quality or should I go for the XT?

The brakes shown are Avid 5's. I have read good things about the new Maguras and for less than £20 extra I can spec' an MT2 lever with MT4 caliper. Good option or anything else I should consider around this price/quality point?

Is the Reeba RLT a good fork for my intended use?

Apologies for all these questions!

warpcow

SRAM vs. Shimano is mainly a matter of preference. I personally prefer SRAM, but if you know and like Shimano you should probably go with it.

For your intended use, the slightly higher gear of the FSA chainset might be better. I've used both FSA and Shimano chainsets (although not those specific models) and haven't found much difference. Shimano BBs are perhaps marginally cheaper and easier to get hold of.

Can't comment on the brakes. Both seem to get good reviews.

The Reba is a good, solid work-horse fork. Light but reliable, and easily user-servicable.

oodboo

Personal preference would be switch to xt groupset. Kepp the avid brakes but if upgrading then again xt. reba is a good fork.

Seems like a lot of bike for your intended use though.

oodboo

What about a 29er instead:
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/rose ... aid:517532

NickintheLakes

oodboo wrote:

Personal preference would be switch to xt groupset. Kepp the avid brakes but if upgrading then again xt. reba is a good fork.

Seems like a lot of bike for your intended use though.

I can get it with XT brakes for +£80 - what would I get with them that the Avids or Maguras would not provide?

The bike will get a lot of use albeit not off road. I prefer to buy well and buy once and saw the around £1k-1.5k price point as decent spec' that will last me quite a while.

I have been testing road bikes but the ride on them is just awful esp' on the rubbish roads we have up here. So I decided it will be either CX or MTB for me. Hence looking at this bike or a Rose Cross.

In truth I morn the demise of decent quality rigid MTB's - decent tough bikes. Way back I had a Pace hardtail with a rigid carbon fork that was a top bike but it was stolen and I never replaced it.

NickintheLakes

oodboo wrote:

What about a 29er instead:
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/rose ... aid:517532

Was looking at that one too - although I have not really researched 29ers. Are slicks easy to come by for these?

Anonymous

As said, SRAM / Shim is just preference really. X9 and above SRAM stuff will be a match for the XT / XTR. The brakes should be fine being Elixir. So long as they're not Juicy.

oodboo

NickintheLakes wrote:

In truth I morn the demise of decent quality rigid MTB's - decent tough bikes. Way back I had a Pace hardtail with a rigid carbon fork that was a top bike but it was stolen and I never replaced it.

2012 Pace RC104 - rigid carbon fork:


You can still get them but'll probably cost more than the rose. There's also a 29er version due out soon.

btw I've got a cx bike and love it, 700x35 tyres and it's fine on rougher roads.

oodboo

frame:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=46323
groupset:
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop ... OUP-10.htm
wheels:
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop ... WHM785.htm
forks:
http://www.carboncycles.cc/?p=197

That's give or take £1200 and not far off a complete bike. Could be done with you £1-£1.5k budget.

NickintheLakes

Thanks for the replies.

The Pace looks nice in an old fashioned way. Needs building up though which is a step too far for me!

Why don't the volume manufacturers do a rigid carbon fork option? No real demand?

NickintheLakes

oodboo wrote:

NickintheLakes wrote:

In truth I morn the demise of decent quality rigid MTB's - decent tough bikes. Way back I had a Pace hardtail with a rigid carbon fork that was a top bike but it was stolen and I never replaced it.

2012 Pace RC104 - rigid carbon fork:


You can still get them but'll probably cost more than the rose. There's also a 29er version due out soon.

btw I've got a cx bike and love it, 700x35 tyres and it's fine on rougher roads.

Looks cool!

What CX bike are you running?

I have looked at these as an option and Cube/Rose do some nice models.

Not sure about Avid Shorty 6's as a friend has some on his Dolan CX and they make a heck of a row even when fettled to the nth degree. They take a while to stop on steep descents too.

Also would prefer hydraulics to mechanical discs although BB7's seem to be well regarded.

I guess my ideal bike would be a CX with slicks and hydraulic discs.

felix.london

NickintheLakes wrote:

I can get it with XT brakes for +£80 - what would I get with them that the Avids or Maguras would not provide?

Shimano brakes are very easy to service/bleed yourself with no additional kit required. New XT's look really nice too

concorde

Why anybody would want to buy that bike then ride it with slicks and the suspension locked out is beyond me. What a waste.

oodboo

NickintheLakes wrote:

What CX bike are you running?

It's the Genesis Groix de Fer (see my sig). Got shimano discs on at the moment. I'm hoping drop bar hydro levers will start coming out soon as I'd love to upgrade to hydros. Also thinking an alfine hub would be a good idea, was good enough for Vin Cox to get round the world on so should be good enough for me. For now I'm just going to keep the tiagra groupset that's on there running, got a new chain cassette and chainrings ready to fit when I get some time.

I mainly use the bike for commuting but that takes me on a 30 mile round trip down forest roads, bridleways and a few roads. I've got schwalbe marathon tyres on there which are pretty heavy but seem tough as boots, nearly 2000 miles puncture free. The bike just begs to be ridden far and fast.

NickintheLakes

Concorde wrote:

Why anybody would want to buy that bike then ride it with slicks and the suspension locked out is beyond me. What a waste.

Well, I'll try and answer your question from the perspective of my circumstances.

As background I am 55 years old and used to ride road bikes 35-40 years ago and MTB's from the early nineties until I had a climbing accident which has kept me off bikes for some time. I am due one small op' soon and will then be set to go again. I am pretty fit as I have kept up my hill walking and some scrambling (unroped easy climbing) but will never be able to undertake 'proper' climbing again.

I now wish to resume my biking again and just want to do 1/2/3 hour rides to improve my fitness levels. I have been testing some road bikes and they are really uncomfortable as they have so little air in their tyres. The roads here in the Lake District are awful too and this doesn't help the comfort cause one bit. So I have decided to head in a different direction. Basically I want a comfy bike ie ride and fit that I can ride for 10 to 50 miles at a time. A CX or MTB fits the bill with relaxed riding position and some air in the tyres. Either way works for me. Both types of bike at the £1k level are available nicely built and nicely equipped. Apart from the practicality aspect I also like to own nice things.

For sure the suspension is not really needed -although my house is situated on a rough track and there are a few nice little bridleways near where I live - although not as many as you might expect up here. It will get used occasionally. I wouldn't mind betting that many MTB's that are sold are over-equipped on the suspension front either! Apart from hard-core MTBers hurtling down High Street most bikes I see where I live are just being footled around the lanes.

In truth I would be happy with a rigid carbon fork but if a bike has a suspension fork that can be locked out then that is not a deal breaker to me.

I do like the Rose bikes btw as they are stunning value and can be almost infinitely tweaked - although they do not have a rigid fork option!

So in short if a bike is nice, comfy and capable of being whizzed along (whizz to me is around 13-15mph not 20mph+ etc) and it is within budget then that is all I need to be happy.

Hope this makes some sense.