looking for advice

Dawesy92

Hey there, new on tye forum so hoping for a warm welcome

Im looking ti start a new project bike im 6ft 1 so thinking about going for a 29er.. also hoping to get into the racing side of things next year so looking at hardtail with decent air forks to keep things light, what would you reccomend I look at?

Also as for gesring setup looking ti go sram x0 but do I go 1 x11 or maybe 2x10??

Hope to hear back from someone soon

supersonic

What is your budget? No need to stick to just 29ers either.

oxocube1

The Rockshox SIDs are a good place to start for race forks. Very light and offer mid range travel if you need it, but they are expensive brand new. Like Supersonic said you don;t have to go for a 29er just because you are over 6ft. Im sure you could easily get one with a 20"-22" 26 wheel bike and have the much larger choice of forks, wheels, tyres etc.

Dawesy92

Frame wise looking at no more than about £600, only looking at 29ers as i was going to go down the full suspension route, but not keen on the extra weight, but have read on the 29ers and found that they take the bumps and irregularities on the trails alot better, one of the lads at my work has pointed me towards the Fossa MTB frames (full carbon) which are £650, i quite like them but not fully looked around yet... Again, more advice would be great

supersonic

They can take the bumps better - but don't be under any illusion it is like suspension, in simply isn't.

many full builds are better value.

Dawesy92

I cant really afford the price of a full build with the spec that im looking towards, hence why I was going to build myself over around 7months isj

mrmonkfinger

Dawesy92 wrote:

I cant really afford the price of a full build with the spec that im looking towards

what spec?

Dawesy92

Good quality frame, fox forks, formula/hope brakes, strong light wheels, sram X0 gearing... wanna go sort of all out on it if you get me
As hopfully it will become my race bike, but again still not 100% on frame weather to go 26" or 29"....

The Rookie

You'll usually get better value buying a complete bike than building one up......something like the Trek Superfly elite, even if you then modify it, selling brand new bits unused will get you just about the new price.

snoopsmydogg

If you're starting from scratch and won't be riding immediately then its prbably worth saving for the 7 months and buying a full build outright. You will get pretty much what you want but for less than buying separate parts.

Nothing worse than looking at a frame you should be riding while waiting for pay day to come around so you can get that next part either

Dawesy92

I have my other bike still fir riding for now. (Which again I built) just wanna do it all properly, but still would you reccomend a 26" or 29er?

snoopsmydogg

I have never ridden a 29er so couldn't comment on them. I would go as far as to say they aren't for me but when I get out on the mtb it's for shits and giggles so a smaller bike is better suited.

supersonic

snoopsmydogg wrote:

If you're starting from scratch and won't be riding immediately then its prbably worth saving for the 7 months and buying a full build outright. You will get pretty much what you want but for less than buying separate parts.

Nothing worse than looking at a frame you should be riding while waiting for pay day to come around so you can get that next part either

Very much agree with this.

The Rookie

supersonic wrote:

Very much agree with this.

+1

On the 26 v 29 debate, well it depends what you want very much, I've demo'd a good 29er, yes it was faster than my 26er, yes it felt really nice, but it felt heavy and cimbersome through tight singletrack (and it was £4K worth of Trek Superfly, no cheapy) compared to mine, so I'd prefer a 26er, that said if it's an all new build/buy I would seriously consider 650B (aka 27.5" or in reality 27er - where a 29er is in fact a 28.6er!), not ridden one but all the reviews suggest it does offer a ride that is more than 1/2 way towards the nimbleness of a 26er while being more than 1/2 way towards the rolling speed of a 29er, noting that many 26er frames will take 650B wheels/tyres anyway!

Dawesy92

The Beginner wrote:

supersonic wrote:

Very much agree with this.

+1

On the 26 v 29 debate, well it depends what you want very much, I've demo'd a good 29er, yes it was faster than my 26er, yes it felt really nice, but it felt heavy and cimbersome through tight singletrack (and it was £4K worth of Trek Superfly, no cheapy) compared to mine, so I'd prefer a 26er, that said if it's an all new build/buy I would seriously consider 650B (aka 27.5" or in reality 27er - where a 29er is in fact a 28.6er!), not ridden one but all the reviews suggest it does offer a ride that is more than 1/2 way towards the nimbleness of a 26er while being more than 1/2 way towards the rolling speed of a 29er, noting that many 26er frames will take 650B wheels/tyres anyway!

Finally something coming from someone whos ridden one, been talking to a few lads from work and they all say the preffer the 29ers, suppose really I need to get out and try on really...

supersonic

They are not all the same though. Testing bikes, whatever they are, is the best way.

rockmonkeysc

Dawesy92 wrote:

Good quality frame, fox forks, formula/hope brakes, strong light wheels, sram X0 gearing... wanna go sort of all out on it if you get me
As hopfully it will become my race bike, but again still not 100% on frame weather to go 26" or 29"....

Fox forks are over priced and no better than Rockshox which offer far better value. Shimano brakes are better than Formula or Hope and cheaper and SRAM X0 gearing is no better than much cheaper mid range Shimano kit (I prefer my SLX set up to my X0 and it cost half as much)
I don't like 29" bikes but I have noticed that mates who have switched to 29ers have suddenly got a lot faster. I'm just a much more aggressive rider so I like a bike that handles well and responds well to being aggressively thrown in to turns a bit too fast, drifts nicely and is good to jump and 29ers don't seem to be as good for that.

toasty

Fox forks are over priced and no better than Rockshox which offer far better value. Shimano brakes are better than Formula or Hope and cheaper and SRAM X0 gearing is no better than much cheaper mid range Shimano kit (I prefer my SLX set up to my X0 and it cost half as much)

All power to the weapons. Fire the self-opinionated-internet-fact cannon!


Try both though if you can, as above. I don't think I'd go back to hardtail 26" bikes after a few years on 29ers, so satisfying just powering over everything, most have pretty steep head angles and speedy steering as well. On the flip side, I've stuck with my 26" trail bikes for playing about on and have no intention of switching over on that front.

What sort of racing were you considering? Shorter XC things or longer endurance races?

chrisw333

RockmonkeySC wrote:

SRAM X0 gearing is no better than much cheaper mid range Shimano kit (I prefer my SLX set up to my X0 and it cost half as much)

I keep hearing this and I know it's down to personal preference, but in my experience this simple is not true.
I had X9 on my last bike and it was infinitely better than the Deore I was using before.

Equally, I have XT on my new bike. I really like it, but frankly it seems to me that there is minimal, if any, performance improvement over the X9.

Maybe I'm unusual in that I am quite happy with either, but I just can't see how XO is no better than mid range Shimano when in my experience X9 certainly is.

The Rookie

I agree, I don't think SRAM is that far behind (behind, yes, that far, no) and some prefer the ergonmics of SRAM to Shimano.

Brake wise, no contest though, all Avids feel like they should be Juicy3's, all Shimano like XT!

chrisw333

Yes, agreed on brakes, although my Elixir R's were very reliable and absolutely fine for xc and trail centre use.

toasty

XX brakes are about 25% lighter than XTR, depends what you're after. Avid were well ahead of Shimano for getting proper double groupsets out all over the place as well.

Prefer Shimano here, both are valid though. Prefer cheap SRAM to be honest, it feels a lot more solid.

In reference to the post a few back, I still prefer Fox forks as well to be honest. Interestingly the latest WMB (which came through my letterbox yesterday) agrees. It's definitely not a given that one is better than the other for everything.

The Rookie

chrisw333 wrote:

Yes, agreed on brakes, although my Elixir R's were very reliable and absolutely fine for xc and trail centre use.

Avid brakes work just fine, they just don't 'feel nice' progression is certainly a long way off the stnd set by Shimano, although yes, Avid's are lighter like for like than Shimano.

Dawesy92

Well I currently have acid elixir r brakes on my current buke both on 180mm rotors. And I think they are great fir what I paid, so much feel with them, so may stick with another set of them. Guess its just down to how you ride, as for othrr prople slating my choices, if you havnt personally tried them then dont comment slatig me for wanting to try, but as for the people who have tried the equipment ive asked about, thanks for the information its all going down for when I can afford to start buying

supersonic

This is going to sound harsh, but please use a spell checker!

Dawesy92

supersonic wrote:

This is going to sound harsh, but please use a spell checker!

Its only cause I was on my phone after being out drinking