120mm full sus??

lm_trek

Well frame only option??

Had a nosy round the internet, can't seem to find much, ive had a look at full build bikes and a camber or giant trance are the 2 that jump out at me, 125mm travel seems perfect for my needs. But lack of room means only one bike so all the kit needs to be transfered from my P7 across to the new frame.

Budget wise isn't an issue, but im after an alu frame, something to attack the trails an braking bumps at cannock and daytrips to wales etc..

Will keep nosing at the classifieds in case one of the above frames comes up, oh and needs to be small 15.5 or 16, my p7 at 17.5 is slightly too big, although does ride really well!

YeehaaMcgee

lm_trek wrote:

125mm travel seems perfect for my needs.

Don't get sucked into that trap - the bike's design has far more impact on it than the amount of suspension travel.
an old Marin mount vision for example had 120mm travel, yet was a far more capable trail bike than many 140mm+ bikes.
Choose a bike that suits your needs, not one that ticks the right marketing boxes.

1mancity2

Maestro suspension system on the giant is very good, can't comment on the other, may be cheaper buying a full bike,

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b4s1p3504

You'd pay that for the frame alone new.

rockmonkeysc

Trance. It's the b*llocks :-)

lm_trek

Im not being suckering into the 125mm trap, my P7 runs at 125mm revs with the spacer in. As the full strength of 140mm was just too much and 100mm wasn't enough, so i know the travel im after. In the past ive had a 100mm travel bouncer and it just wasn't enough quite a few times ive used it all up, Laggan Wolftrax being one where the bike just compressed up like a coil, not enough travel.

The trance is high on the list, but would prefer frame only.

1mancity2

You can get second hand on ebay now and again, I got my 2010 reign for £400 with shock

rockmonkeysc

Im not being suckering into the 125mm trap, my P7 runs at 125mm revs with the spacer in. As the full strength of 140mm was just too much and 100mm wasn't enough, so i know the travel im after. In the past ive had a 100mm travel bouncer and it just wasn't enough quite a few times ive used it all up, Laggan Wolftrax being one where the bike just compressed up like a coil, not enough travel.

Geometry is much more important than travel. The P7 is designed to run 140mm travel so fitting a fork 15mm shorter will sharpen up the geometry & make it feel less stable. You need to set up the suspension so that you are using full travel but not bottoming regularly.

YeehaaMcgee

lm_trek wrote:

Wolftrax being one where the bike just compressed up like a coil, not enough travel.

More travel won't stop the bike bottoming out, if that's what you mean. Stiffer spring, or tuning the damping would help though.

fat_homer

I'd agree that geo and setup are important but Yeti ASR5 is 125mm travel, never ridden one but look great.

rockmonkeysc

never ridden one but look great.

There is a hell of a recomendation. Similar to most recomendations on various forums.

fat_homer

RockmonkeySC wrote:

never ridden one but look great.

There is a hell of a recomendation. Similar to most recomendations on various forums.

He never asked for peoples experiances, just what frames are out there

styxd

Commencal Super 4
Pivot Mach 4
Morewood Zula

All short travel, lightweight machines without super racey geometry.

simonp123

1mancity2 wrote:

Maestro suspension system on the giant is very good, can't comment on the other, may be cheaper buying a full bike,

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b4s1p3504

You'd pay that for the frame alone new.

Not necessarily, I got my Trance X frameset with the RP23 for £899.99 from Ashcycles. Not sure if they did me a special deal or not.

I was in the same boat looking for a 120mm-ish frame. The Trance at that price was easily the best option for me compared to the other frame only options around. Very happy with it.

concorde

People say geo makes a bigger difference than travel, but nobody says how? Anyone care to explain for an unknowing person like myself?

Thanks

jehosophat

I am looking for the same sort of thing so let me know if you spy any bargains...

YeehaaMcgee

Concorde wrote:

People say geo makes a bigger difference than travel, but nobody says how? Anyone care to explain for an unknowing person like myself?

Thanks

The geometry of a bike is what gives it it's handling characteristics. A steep head angle gives more responsive steering, so great for twisty twitchy singletrack. On the flipside a steep head angle also makes the bike less stable at speed, and make a bike feel more "nervous".

A low BB height can also make a bike change directions faster, and doesn't cause any instability at speed, but it does make the bike more likely to ground out, and increases the chances that you won't be able to pedal over rough ground.

etc etc.

Suspension just absorbs bumps and tries to keep the tyres in contact with the ground.

concorde

Cheers Yeeha

lm_trek

Commercal, might give that a look, another frame only deals about?

jehosophat

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

The geometry of a bike is what gives it it's handling characteristics. A steep head angle gives more responsive steering, so great for twisty twitchy singletrack. On the flipside a steep head angle also makes the bike less stable at speed, and make a bike feel more "nervous".

A low BB height can also make a bike change directions faster, and doesn't cause any instability at speed, but it does make the bike more likely to ground out, and increases the chances that you won't be able to pedal over rough ground.

etc etc.

Suspension just absorbs bumps and tries to keep the tyres in contact with the ground.

It is worth making a little table up of the frames you are looking at for things like seat tube/effective top tube lengths, BB height, wheelbase, and head angle in the various sizes you are considering. The sizes vary a lot, and the comparisons with your existing/previous bikes are interesting.

I have a little table for Tomac Supermatic, Fuel EX9.9, Blur XC Carbon, Blur TRc, and Pivot Mach 4, which are the main ones I am looking at right now (supply issues aside). It is interesting that some are presented by testers as more of an XC bike and some as more of a fun bike and yet those two can have identical head angles and other stats. I use this mainly to ensure the fit will be OK, compared to past bikes.

On the suspension front, they do feel very different. When I went from single pivot to VPP I thought I would not notice differences in things like brake jack and granny ring kickback but it was night and day. VPP to me felt much more plush at speed but always gave a hint of bob on steep climbs, more than compensated for by the lack of kickback that meant for me climbing really steep bumpy stuff with VPP was easier. Braking was much more secure with VPP - going back to single pivot I lock up the rear a lot more, all else being equal.

rockmonkeysc

Commercal, might give that a look, another frame only deals about?

Avoid the Super 4. A friend has one which is on it's third frame & fourth swing arm. The replacement swing arm isn't even the same colour as the frame! Commencal frames do have a bad reputation for breaking, I have seen a couple broken Meta frames and a few broken Supreme DH frames.

nobby2607

Try canyon. I've got a canyon nerve xc 5 with 120mm travel, it rides amazingly well and will cope with a lot more than it has any right to! Direct sales is ok too, they got sales men working the phones in uk. Sell frames, not just complete bikes. Got some amazing colour schemes this year too, some of them look amazing.

Usually ride uk trail centres (hamsterley, dalby tried glentress on it) and had the bike just over a year, no problems just big grins.