150mm-180mm.. i'm spoilt for choice.. suggestions?

Scratch n soda

Hi there,

Looking for a frame which takes anything from 150mm to 180mm.. looked at scott genius however i'm not sure of their equalizer suspension? is it tried and tested?

Was contemplating a Talas, but the new forks for 2013.. are EYE WATERINGLY :evil: expensive.
Another frame was either a transition bottle rokcet?
Or Transition tr 250?

Suggestions of frames with forks/ rear shocks are welcome, need as much imput as possible as i dont want to be dissapointed with my new steed!

Cheers guys.

Greer_

Delete or ignore! :oops: (being silly again!)

YeehaaMcgee

Scratch n soda wrote:

Hi there,

Looking for a frame ...

Was contemplating a Talas, but the new forks for 2013.. are EYE WATERINGLY :evil: expensive.
Another frame was either a transition bottle rokcet?
Or Transition tr 250?

Huh? What are you looking for, a frame, or a pair of forks?
Fox are always expensive (forks)

bennett_346

I think he wants a frame and fork.

But really, it's anyones guess right now.

delcol

transition blindside,
canyon torque
ns soda
nuke poof mega will take up to 170mm
santa cruz bullit wll take 160-203
knolly delerium.

to name a few off the top of my head...
as for forks only ones i can think of is
fox 36 talas
rockshox totems.

rockmonkeysc

Giant Reign X. Works best with a 160-170mm fork.
170mm travel, pedels extremely well. Will take a shocking amount of abuse downhill. Great fun to ride.
I have got one with 160mm Lyrik up front. I ride laps of the local DH trails, pedal up then blast down chasing lads on DH bikes.
I am selling mine to buy a DH bike for racing though I guess you are looking for new.
Santa Cruz Bullit is also a great ride, 190mm rear travel with a 180mm Totem up front, heavy but so much fun to ride.

mrmonkfinger

delcol wrote:

as for forks only ones i can think of is
fox 36 talas
rockshox totems.

marzocchi 66, RS lyriks?

YeehaaMcgee

Er, non-TALAS fox36s?

rockmonkeysc

If you go for Lyriks, avoid the basic Lyrik R. The RC is good, the RC2DH is awesome. Domains are also very good but a bit on the heavy side though they are bombprof and extremely plush.
The latest Marzocchi 66 Ti is excellent.

bennett_346

RockmonkeySC wrote:

If you go for Lyriks, avoid the basic Lyrik R.

Why?

lostboysaint

The answer to your prayers? https://www.surf-sales.com/surfshop/shopexd.asp?id=3009&bc=no

And choice!! https://www.surf-sales.com/surfshop/shopexd.asp?id=3008&bc=no

rockmonkeysc

RockmonkeySC wrote:
If you go for Lyriks, avoid the basic Lyrik R.
Why?

Same with basic Fox Van / Float R. They tend to blow through the travel far too easily and have very poor small bump sensitivity. Mine were basic a Lyrik R fork & they were aweful, I sent them to TF Tuned and had a Mission Control DH compression damper fitted which transformed them in to a very nice fork, though it cost me £230 to get it done.
With a longer travel fork any faults are much more noticable than with a short travel fork.

mrmonkfinger

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Er, non-TALAS fox36s?

36 floats?

rockmonkeysc

Or 36 Vans if you like a coil spring

mrmonkfinger

I hear there's some company up north that make a frame with 180mm travel. Nobody likes them round here though.

rockmonkeysc

New Patriot is nice, but over priced. Are you wanting a sort of mini downhill / freeride bike or a big all mountain bike?

mrmonkfinger

think the scott genius is sort of "light-ish long travel all mountain" - 150mm rear, 160? front

rockmonkeysc

Patriot is more at the mini downhill end of things.
Reign X is great, I used mine for everything from uplift days and 8 foot drops to a cross country endurance race!
Transition Blindside is also very nice.
Things like the Canyon Torque, NS soda & Santa Cruz Bullit are probably a bit heavy duty.

paul.skibum

TR250 is a great mini DH bike, with air forks and shock you can build it just about light enough to pedal.

Really depends what the OP wants his bike for - DH, mini DH/park/fun, All mountain, enduro.

Unless he comes back and gets a bit more specific pretty soon I suggest we all walk away!

Scratch n soda

cheers for all the responses! yeah i was looking for frame and forks, sorry if it wasn't clear

Not sure about coils... they really add wieght. I have a canyon at the moment and im not too impressed with them so i'm going to write them off the list! But a giant rieghn x sounds nice actually..

Scratch n soda

RockmonkeySC wrote:

New Patriot is nice, but over priced. Are you wanting a sort of mini downhill / freeride bike or a big all mountain bike?

Yeh im looking for a big all mountain bike. However not something too heavy, as some people have suggested giant reighn and blindside seem nice ouf of interest anyone own a transition blindside?

rockmonkeysc

If you want big all mountain the the Reign X would be my choice. 170mm of coil sprung goodness at the back, nice geometry, will take on anything you point it down but still climbs really well.
I'm only selling mine to pay for a DH race bike.
Only negatives are limited choice of chain devices and it could be a bit more playful on the jumps.
Giants DH team have even used Reign X's for racing at Crankworx Air Downhill and Sea Otter Classic. And won at Crankworx. Not bad for a bike which climbs really well.

Scratch n soda

Only thing about the rieghn is that it's coil at rear? which = alot of pedal bob? Personally never ridden coil rear only air but that's what iv'e heard.... Its either the giant or blindside..

bennett_346

I'd go for the giant.

YeehaaMcgee

Scratch n soda wrote:

coil at rear? which = alot of pedal bob?

Nope, that's a baseless rumour that's been spread around. Shocks like Fox's DHX series actually have propedal valving in them, just the same.
Spring medium does not affect damping.

andymc06

Rockmonkey

Has your opinion changed since you wrote the following comments on the Bike Radar review of the Reign X frame?

"Not the 2012 but the 2011 model which other than the overdrive 2 head tube is the same frame.

Very badly built bike. Terrible cable routing eats through the bottom bracket shell.

Giants warranty is no good, wouldn't even look at mine because the shop I bought it from wasn't interested.

Don't buy one"

Written on the 22nd of November 2011

I looked up the review based on your glowing recommendation only to find you slating it???? Are you by any chance selling one?????

bennett_346

I've come to the conclusion that he has no idea what he's talking about 90% of the time, finding myself almost constantly refuting what he says.

Scratch n soda

To be honest im not too sure about the giant. My reason being, (quote from bikeradar review)

"Fnding a fork to fit the new Overdrive 2 headset standard may be hard (it uses the same 1.5in diameter lower bearing as a standard tapered headset, but with a larger 1.25 – rather than 1.125in – top race) as no one is currently importing them to the UK."

Further more i belive iv'e read far better reviews about bikes than the giant as it does have a few disadvantages...

I'm not sure if this bike would excel at being an AM bike, but it does look fun http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... e-10-39422

SO i've narrowed it down now finally.. It's either:

Nukeproof mega am ( safe choice and i havn't heard a bad review about it)
Transition blindisde( Not sure about pedaling capabilities)

then for the bike park, pehaps not getting an AM bike but getting a fun DH playbike, i could get the transtion tr250, but it's alot of moeny for the frame

Scratch n soda

Oh i forgot to mention, i also tested a commencal sx.. It's one amazing bike, so that's dfefinately up on my list!

rockmonkeysc

My Reign X was badly built by the shop I bought it from and had some useless components which weren't up to the sort of riding the bike is designed for. After upgrading the wheels, forks and transmission its a really nice bike.
There is some pedal bob but any bike with 170mm travel will bob a bit. The new ones come with an air shock though I would swap it for a vivid coil. I believe it comes with a headset to suit a standard tapered fork.
Not sure the mega is a safe buy, I have met a few people who have snapped the chain stays. Nukeproof's customer service is good though, I contacted them because I was unsure about sizing for a scalp, they delivered a medium and large bike to my local shop the next day for me to try.

YeehaaMcgee

RockmonkeySC wrote:

any bike with 170mm travel will bob a bit.

Not neccesarilly. Inefficient pedalling is undesirable even on DH bikes, since you need to be able to accelerate quickly out of bends.
However, bobbing is related to rider weight/power, gearing, and shock setup. Different people will get differing results on different bikes.