Which 160mm frame?

Skyshaper

Hi,

Currently I'm thinking of replacing my Mythic spitfire (a lovely bike but too much crossover with my P7) for something with a bit more travel and downhill orientated.

Currently I'm quite keen on the following:

Titus el guapo
Transition covert
Liteville 301 (or maybe 601?)

I have a pair of 160 fox vans the frame would have to take, ideally it'd take a piggy back coil shock and I'd like a 68/73mm bottom bracket if possible. Any opinions on the above or any other frames worth considering would be great thanks!

Cheers.

bjj.andy.w

Santa cruz nomad, nukeproof mega

rockmonkeysc

Covert, Nomad or Reign X

bluechair84

Canyon have a 160, I think it's the Strike? YT industries has a 160 too. I don't know if either of these are sold as framesets alone though but I'm sure they'll be nice n cheap if they do. I've a Canyon in 170mm guise and I've no problems with it. But the new carbon Covert is my current frame of lust and that's 160. I think actually the alloy one is a 150, only the new carbon one is 160.

Thewaylander

Know a good few happy Transition Covert riders out of your list.

But a i say in the 160 bikes area's all the time go test, the difference in styles between 160 bikes from my testing days was huge, with some being very trail and XC orientated, to others feeling like mini DH machines for example

Nomad, very trail friendly, fast pedally bike which was fun.
Mondraker Dune R, less trail friendly more DH orientated, felt more stable at speed and in the air (So i bought this one myself)

Both good bikes, both do it all, both come at it from different angels(literally lol)

So go look and don't listen to most people there priorities will be different most people would choose the nomad over my dune its lighter for a start and pedals better on a climb, but i needed a single bike to do it all and spend more time at FOD DHing these days than anything else so the Dune really fits my riding style.

rockmonkeysc

Canyon have a 160, I think it's the Strike? YT industries has a 160 too. I don't know if either of these are sold as framesets alone though but I'm sure they'll be nice n cheap if they do

The are surprisingly expensive. I think they make their bikes so cheap by buying the components in bulk.
Getting demo's on 160mm bikes can be quite difficult and the comment above about the Nomad being more like a trail bike & the Dune being more of a mini DH bike seems odd, I thought the Nomad rode better the harder I pushed it and the Dune was the opposite.

felix.london

Spesh Enduro is an amazing machine

bluechair84

felix.london wrote:

Spesh Enduro is an amazing machine

Actually... this. It's the defacto 160mm bike... I'm surprised it was forgotten about in favor of boutique brands like transition and Santa Cruz.

Thewaylander wrote:

go look and don't listen to most people there priorities will be different

But mainly this.

Skyshaper

Cheers for the opinions, I know I really should go out and look but it's hard to find some of these models in the flesh and I'm interested to hear other thoughts and general views too.

Lots of familiar names popping up, many of which I've already thought a bit about but maybe worth revisiting. Just to clarify the bike would be used for general dossing about on DH trails, enduro style riding and hike a bike on the Lakeland passes etc. so pedalling efficiency isn't too high on the list but the option of a front mech would be nice.

So I guess most common terrain would be rock gardens and a bit rooty, if that helps?

felix.london

But as Thewaylander says even within Transition you have the Covert which I guess is sold as an enduro type bike and the TR250 which is basically a DH bike - both 160mm frames...maybe the Covert is 150mm (??) but you get the point

Skyshaper

felix.london wrote:

But as Thewaylander says even within Transition you have the Covert which I guess is sold as an enduro type bike and the TR250 which is basically a DH bike - both 160mm frames...maybe the Covert is 150mm (??) but you get the point

True, however the TR250 is based around a 180mm fork and I already have a 160mm... but yeah I understand guess I just need to do a bit more research!

felix.london

If you can test ride a Spesh Enduro - make sure you do. I was mighty impressed with the one I had last summer for a week or so. Just an awesome bike all round imo

bennett_346

BTW the only 2012 models they import are the top ones, no longer import the comp as far as i'm aware. Prices from £2,499 whereas in 2011 they imported the comp which was £2,000. Oh and the EVO is 170mm which is the 2.5k one, and it's pus yellow and blood red.

NORTHERNSHAGGY

http://www.bikescene.co.uk/Specialized- ... -92-0.html

oodboo

+1 for the spesh enduro, but then I would say that Only the evo models will take a coil shock but you can buy an evo link and shock for a standard frame if you really want it.

oodboo

There's also the spesh pitch:
http://www.bikescene.co.uk/Specialized- ... -92-0.html
150mm frame but it'll probably take a 160mm fork ok.

bjj.andy.w

Forgot to mention the trek slash. Demo'd one (along with a lappiare spicy and a whyte146) and it was the only one that really impressed me. Still perfer my nomad though.

The Northern Monkey

Commy Meta SX?

Thewaylander

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Canyon have a 160, I think it's the Strike? YT industries has a 160 too. I don't know if either of these are sold as framesets alone though but I'm sure they'll be nice n cheap if they do

The are surprisingly expensive. I think they make their bikes so cheap by buying the components in bulk.
Getting demo's on 160mm bikes can be quite difficult and the comment above about the Nomad being more like a trail bike & the Dune being more of a mini DH bike seems odd, I thought the Nomad rode better the harder I pushed it and the Dune was the opposite.

On flat or trail centre maybe for you, but on an actual DH course Nomad is just not the same, test ridden both extensively actualy found the Butcher to be a more aggressive ride that the Nomad(This is not to say the Nomad is a bad bike I liked it and would have it as my 160bike if I could afford to have a full DH bike too).

rockmonkeysc

I rode the Nomad at Triscombe on a pretty ugly DH trail & thought it was excellent when pushed hard. It did have a DHX5 coil rather than the standard air shock which probably helped. I just didn't like the Dune to be honest.