my first mountain bike the pains,problems,pics and successes
Comments
-
He doesn't have rear mounts. They are not DH forks and not sure they have mounts either.0
-
Chunkers1980 wrote:He doesn't have rear mounts. They are not DH forks and not sure they have mounts either.
sorry im new to this
those size forks I uselly see on the DH bike's cant see why you would put them on a normal rigid style bike :?
I ment on GT chucker you could have disc brakes at a closer look not sure theres a mount on the back. but attach front disc brake if you use a semi decent set of forks.0 -
andrewgrundill wrote:GT-Arrowhead wrote:Thats useful for you.
My parents wont let me go half way across the country to ride a massively long bike ride over a week with what she would assume "total strangers". And the best bike ive got at the mo is a 10-ish year old GT Arrowhead...cant afford anything else cos im only 16! Im hoping that its an annual thing though, would definitely have a go at it once i gain my independence!
im 24 years old so im allowed to abbreviate very simple words to make myself sound more yoof and street innit bruv to relate more with the young chaps of today
FTFY
:roll: It's a boy , It's a boy , I Shouted Running Into The Street With Tears Running Down My Face.....
That's The Last Time I Holiday In Thailand
URL Pinkbike0 -
rgliniany wrote:andrewgrundill wrote:GT-Arrowhead wrote:Thats useful for you.
My parents wont let me go half way across the country to ride a massively long bike ride over a week with what she would assume "total strangers". And the best bike ive got at the mo is a 10-ish year old GT Arrowhead...cant afford anything else cos im only 16! Im hoping that its an annual thing though, would definitely have a go at it once i gain my independence!
im 24 years old so im allowed to abbreviate very simple words to make myself sound more yoof and street innit bruv to relate more with the young chaps of today
FTFY :roll:
yeah!
im feeling my age now im going to have to start a pension fund soon
0 -
jus ordered
2 Intense Tyre Systems XC System C3 Wire Tyre - 26
from CRC
payed for tracked quick service for £5.99 better be here tomorrow I got a couple days of work and want to test the tyres out of road0 -
That frame was not designed to take suspension forks of any description..
You can't just plonk any fork on any frame. Same holds true when converting a frame designed with suspension forks in mind to rigid forks (gotta keep the head tube the same distance from the ground, give or take a centimetre). By the look of the original forks, the axle to crown height looks somewhere in the 400mm range (maybe less). The only real suspension forks you could get away with are some seriously retro 60mm suspension forks.... probably (but then, why would you want a pair of those.... they won't be that good).
With the head tube that far off the ground the angles are going to all wrong and it's going to steer "funny", if you know what i mean.
And on another note... why would it take you a week to do the coast to coast? You can do it in a day. Two if you're not in a rush.0 -
payed for tracked quick service for £5.99 better be here tomorrow I got a couple days of work and want to test the tyres out of road
You go on about how tight money is, then blow £6 over and above first class post so you may get your tyres a bit quicker!? Mental, save that money, buy better tyres!0 -
andrewgrundill wrote:on your new build
are you going for disc brakes I presume.
on your current bike the DH forks looks kinda stupid they look really outta place on that bike you should stick with the rigid forks. sell the DH forks on ebay and buy parts for your new build maybe some forks if you wanna go off road pick up some lower level suntour ones for cheap on eBay and places. while your saving up for a better set.
Chunkers is right about the fork not being a DH fork, it just looks like one. Arrowhead has no rear disc mount, the DH look alike fork has a mount, the Chucker does have a rear mount.
I think it looks nice with the fork, i just have a thing for ridiculously big and long forks.0 -
Ouija wrote:
That frame was not designed to take suspension forks of any description..
You can't just plonk any fork on any frame. Same holds true when converting a frame designed with suspension forks in mind to rigid forks (gotta keep the head tube the same distance from the ground, give or take a centimetre). By the look of the original forks, the axle to crown height looks somewhere in the 400mm range (maybe less). The only real suspension forks you could get away with are some seriously retro 60mm suspension forks.... probably (but then, why would you want a pair of those.... they won't be that good).
With the head tube that far off the ground the angles are going to all wrong and it's going to steer "funny", if you know what i mean.
And on another note... why would it take you a week to do the coast to coast? You can do it in a day. Two if you're not in a rush.
You are right about it handling differently. In that 2nd picture i put the forks on and lowered both crowns to make sure the front of the bike was as low down as possible, the difference in steering was not all that different if im honest. I almost fell off going round the corner of my road for the first time though, totally forgot that i had a suspension fork on and it compressed over so slightly and i shat my pants. LOL. Other than that it was fine.
But then after i raised the fork to make the front as high as possible, the handling completely changed. It felt weird, there isnt a word to describe the change really, it just felt alot different, and the suspension was compressing alot more easily than when i initially put it on.
Im taking it off when i have the time though, going back to rigid. I do more on road riding right now than i do offroading and this is sort of holding me back. I did add a bit of weight to it by doing this, and apparently i risk cracking the headtube if i go too extreme with this fork. Dont know if thats bullshyte or not, but i cant see that happening... Im going to try and find some 2nd hand bombers for the Chucker to replace this zoom one, cause this is the only 1 1/8 fork i have right now. Have to do a bit of saving up though. Thanks for the info by the way.
I read in the CC one that they are taking something like 5 days ish if im not wrong, so near enough a week.0 -
Trust me, i've been there. Stuck some 470mm hybrid forks on a frame designed for 390mm rigids. Made me feel like i was riding a Harley Davidson chopper (handle bars up in the air, front wheel sticking further forwards with that wonderfully 'vague' turning affect you get when trying to corner).
As for the coast to coast thing. It's only 140 odd miles. That equates to just 30 miles a day over a five day period. I pop out over Dalby forest from Scarborough every afternoon for a Cappuccino in Dalby Courtyard. Twenty miles there, twenty miles back (if i'm being lazy and don't go wandering off onto the moors or anywhere else). Barely takes four hours (including stops). So 30 miles a day won't consume more than three or four hours of the day. What are they doing for the rest of the day? Pub crawling?0 -
Vague is a good way to put it actually, just not as "sharp" as it was before on the rigid. The handlebars are much higher, i can ride over bollards now
I just read the thread again and they said 50 miles a day, monday to the next saturday. Apparently because of the severity of the ride.0 -
Spent last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday knocking some bikes together out of spare parts (two hybrids and a mountain bike). Now got six bikes kicking around the back half of the kitchen (and still two frames, six forks and countless shifters handlebars, disk brakes and assortment of knick knacks left over).
Built this large framed hybrid for the guy who serves me my Cappuccinos in Dalby every day after mentioning how much bike crap i have lying around. He didn't want a mountain bike and can't stand curly handle barred road bikes so i said i'd make him something inbetween.
He's a big bugger (six foot two) so i had to slap some 470mm A2C road suspension forks on it just to get the handle bars anywhere near high enough (got some riser stems in reserve if it doesn't prove high enough). The frames a large Kinesis Maxlight XC pro 2 with carbon seat stays, so can handle a 100/120mm (470mm A2C) geometry. The seats currently set at my height. I'll have to ratch it up a few inches after i deliver it to him. Only cost me £50 to build (new cranks needed as the only spare one i have is an old, heavy truvativ internal bottom bracket affair). Slapped on some old shifters and stuff from back when my bikes were eight speeds). Almost ordered a Alivio derailleur for him before noticing i had a couple floating around the bottom of a box somewhere (soaked in white spirit and given an oil bath they're now as smooth as silk).
Nothing to right home about but it'll get him from A to B.
Also had 16.5" version of the same frame in white floating around and some old Merida Carbon forks so thought i'd knock this together to see how it looks....
It's quite small and i had some difficulties with bar height (cut the steerer down a couple of centimetres and put some 3T riser bars on it since taking the pics). The beauty of that bike is that i have quite a few white wheel sets lying around with skinny Schwalbe Duranos, Contintental Sport Contacts 1.5", Michelin Country Rock 1.75", DSC Knobbly 1.75"'s and Continental Speed King 2.1's on them. So if i want to whizz up the cinder track from Scarborough to whitby, which doesn't really require suspension, i can just slap the appropriate set of wheels on it. Being small and completely rigid though, it's quite "Chuckable" if you know what i mean. It's a bit like going back to a BMX.
Lastly, i knocked this mountain bike together from a set of 120mm Epicon forks i've had in a box for a couple of years.
Had a choice between using a white Viper frame (rebadged Kinesis, by the look of it) or a mint condition Specialized Rockopper SL in black (with white markings). The whites proving a bit of a bugger to clean (should of gone with the Rockhopper me thinks). Still it does well enough.
It's got white Clarks disk brakes on it rather than hydraulics because i had a couple of spare sets of minty fresh, never been used sets lying around. Why? Because a couple of years ago a new Clarks disk rotor cost £14 and fresh pads would set you back a tenner (£24 in total). But CRC were selling complete sets of Clarks mechanicals in white for only £16, including pads and rotor. Since i had some Clarks mechanicals on another bike at the time it actually worked out cheaper to buy the whole kit and kaboodle for spares than it did to buy them seperately (i'd take out the pads and rotors and throw the calipers in a box with the intent of selling them on ebay but nether did). They slam the bike to a stop well enough (a little too much so) and it meant i didn't have to spend any money knocking the bike together.0 -
Wow. Thats quite alot of nice kit youve got hanging about in your kitchen! Really really nice.
Looks like youve done a great job to build those bikes in 3 days. I particularily like the white Maxlight. Never heard of Maxlight but it looks really nice. Thanks for sharing this.
Ill also be running mechanical calipers, hydros are massively out of my price range and i dont need the extra power they apparently offer at my level of riding anyway.
Id imagine that whoever you live with would be annoyed with you keeping your bikes in the kitchen. 0 -
The Maxlight "Pro" frames are usually around £400. My main bike uses that frame (left most in first pic) When i was employed (been unemployed since October) i had a nasty habit of buying second hand ones off ebay as backups for my main bike, since frames don't last forever (supposed to change em every five years, apparently). Very light frames. Triple butted 7000 series aluminium with carbon seat stays and only marginally heavier than most Chinese carbon frames.
You'll also see a lot of Pro-Lite Allein wheels in that first pic. Super lightweight 1600gram sets that they don't make anymore. Always liked them because the two tone graphics can be pretty much matched with any bike (don't you just hate it when a wheel set has some garish color in the logo that completely doesn't match with anything else on the bike). Each set cost between £200/300. I've made a point of buying every single set i can still get my hands on (the white ones on the white Maxlight i got off ebay just before Christmas for £200).
You'll also notice a black and white Exotic Carbon bike hanging off the back wall ("Orca, The Killer Snail", as i call it). As with all my carbon frame bikes, i ended up ridiculously overbuying parts when building them. Must of bought every variation of black/white grips, handlebars, seats, seatposts going at the time to find which ones i wanted to finally use. The end result is that i have a lot of surplus black/white stuff filling my parts box (and two tone grey for my original Maxlight). The Black/White Rockhopper and Viper frames where just cheap spares i bought off ebay on that build in case i didn't get on with the Exotic Carbon frame (which i did, so they've been in a box for the last few years). Also had some rare white SRAM X9 shifters left over on that build which is what i used on the newly built Viper mountain bike.
Don't know what came over me really. I woke up Wednesday morning knowing i was going to have to get my arse in to gear and knock together this bike for this bloke (he was getting impatient) and once i started, i just couldn't stop.
The worse thing is, i'm looking at that black and white Rockhopper frame, a black and white set of handlebars, X7 rear derailleur and
Suntour Axxon air suspension forks that used to be on this.... (long gone)
and thinking to myself "mmmmm.... you know .... i could just about knock another one out"...............
Make me stop..... PLEASE MAKE ME STOP.......0 -
I do like those wheels youve got. White wheels are the bollox! Ive got polished aluminium Alesa rims on my GT. They look properly nice, but my GT doesnt look so retro anymore, i think they would like nice on my Raleigh Mirage with a pair of Schwalbe Big Apples on them. Ive got a some polished flat bars and a stem that goes with it. The person i bought that Alivio crankset didnt have a fiver in change so i told him to give me anything that he though was worth a fiver. He came back with the bar and stem, avid brake levers and a fox racing saddle bag with tyre levers. The bars are really light too. Result!! (He must have been drunk?)
I really love that red bling you have on that top bike, and that Carbon Exotic looks real nice! I take it your fave colour is white.
That Merida is gorgeous...never heard of that make either.
Building bikes is alot more fun for me than actually riding them. I just love putting life into an old pile of crap (unfortunately what all of my bikes are) and making them back into half decent looking bikes that i actually enjoy riding. When you stand back and look at what youve done it is really satisfying.
I just wish i had the money to just buy the parts that i want to just build away and get all of my bikes done. I have 13 bikes believe it or not but i want 4 of them to be how i want them, then ill be happy.0 -
The Merida is just an illusion. It was cheap Chinese carbon frame with no marking on it. I had some Merida decals in white so decided to bling it up a bit with those and some white chevrons on the top tube and a few other bits and bobs. Creaky frame though, so it had to go.
Surprised you haven't heard of Merida, by the way. They are one of the two main manufacturers of bike frames (Giant being the other). Most frames that come with other makes of bike (like specialized etc) are in fact just rebadged Giant or Merida frames. Giant have been making their own bikes around their own frames for years, as well as for everybody else. Merida only started doing much the same thing over a decade or so ago so isn't quite as well established as a full bike manufacturer as Giant are.
And yeah. That top bike was all about red bling. SRAM XO carbon shifters with redwin red levers, skewers, rear derailleur and cassette and carbon noir crankset.
Lol. First full carbon build (except the wheels). And funnily enough is a Merida carbon frame, despite the Saracen branding.
Very light at 8.8kg (seem to recall). The only thing i've done to it over the years is change the headset and drop the handle bar height by a few inches. I'm actually quite embarrassed to ride that thing these days (been thinking about doing some stuff to it) though it is as light as a feather and bloody comfy enough to ride all day on.
Also. I wouldn't go with the Schwalbe big apples if you want a fast responsive bike. They are quite heavy buggers and slow rolling (expensive too). Have a look a page or two back in this thread for some lightweight tyres (try and keep them in the 500 to 600gram range as weight at the rim as a profound effect on how easy the bike is to pedal).0 -
I didnt know that most bikes are Giants or Meridas!! Thats quite cool.
Those parts are so bling! I love that.
That Merida frame/Saracen is one of the best looking bikes ive seen on here so far. Definitely ticks all my boxes. Red, white, black, nice stickers, and i love full slick tyres. Very very bling! Embarrased to ride it!?!?!
I wouldnt change that if i were you though, Looks amazing as it is and i bet its amazing to ride.
I would add this for the extra bling and to save weight. Would be the ultimate lightweight bike! Its already featherweight...but still.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aest-Pro-V-Br ... 19d645980f0 -
njee20 wrote:payed for tracked quick service for £5.99 better be here tomorrow I got a couple days of work and want to test the tyres out of road
You go on about how tight money is, then blow £6 over and above first class post so you may get your tyres a bit quicker!? Mental, save that money, buy better tyres!
did you not read the last post.
I said I wanted them quickly so I could fit them and test them while I have a couple days off work0 -
But it's first class post anyway - you normally get things next day.I didnt know that most bikes are Giants or Meridas!! Thats quite cool.
Many bikes are made in a handful of factories - of which Giant and Merida are among the biggest. Merida do own a significant part of Specialized too. That's not to say that all frames are Giant/Merida.
Ouija - you seem to have a lot of very similar bikes, if you're going to have so many, why not a bit of diversity!?0 -
GT-Arrowhead wrote:
I would add this for the extra bling and to save weight. Would be the ultimate lightweight bike! Its already featherweight...but still.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aest-Pro-V-Br ... 19d645980f
Lol. it's already got these on....
.. which are pretty light weight (does it need any more bling... seriously).0 -
The Aest ones are half the weight. If weight's a concern you're barking up the wrong tree with mechanical discs though!
It's only 100g lighter than my knobbly tyre equipped FS - so there's plenty of scope for trying harder!0 -
njee20 wrote:
Ouija - you seem to have a lot of very similar bikes, if you're going to have so many, why not a bit of diversity!?
Lol. Until last week i only had three bikes and the two carbon bikes on the back wall only got dug out during the summer. For just about everything else i ride my silver Maxlight (not pictured, but you can just catch the back end of it to the left in the first pic) and slap one of four different sets of wheels on it, ranging from 1.3" road slicks to 2.1" Continental Speed Kings. That's why i built up the Viper mountain bike. I'm getting so old and lazy i can't even be bothered to do the wheel changes any more and just wanted something i could leave some knobby tyres on and just "grab and go". Especially at this time of year as i tend to divide my time up between road riding and off road riding equally.
I did actually do that once before. The other silver maxlight frame (pictured.. now used as the basis for the hybrid i'm giving away) used to be core of my all year round dedicated mountain bike but it was just too big for me so i broke it down in the middle of last year.
And as for diversity as in owning a dedicated "road bike" for instance, no way. Used to own two curly handle barred road bikes (Dawes and Giant Defy) and know from experience that i just don't like them (for various reasons). So all my road riding these days is done on bikes based around mountain bike frames and 26" wheels (don't like the steering properties of 700c or 29" wheels).0 -
Didn't specifically mean a road bike, just why not have a road MTB (if that's your thing), an XC hardtail, and a FS or sommat.0
-
ordered some biking gloves today ordered small size because ive had medium size before and they haven't fitted well.
the order arrived today there literally skin tight and I struggle to get them on when they are on the hurt my hands.0 -
Cool, thanks for that info.
Well, if he likes them then whos to against it. The more the merrier.
He has spare wheelsets with knobblies on if im not wrong. He can just switch over and the bike serves a totally different purpose.0 -
Ouija wrote:GT-Arrowhead wrote:
I would add this for the extra bling and to save weight. Would be the ultimate lightweight bike! Its already featherweight...but still.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aest-Pro-V-Br ... 19d645980f
Lol. it's already got these on....
.. which are pretty light weight (does it need any more bling... seriously).
Didnt notice they were carbon from the picture.
Those are bling as they are. But its a personal taste thing, id like them in red but since they are carbon and light already i probably wouldnt blow that money on them.0 -
njee20 wrote:Didn't specifically mean a road bike, just why not have a road MTB (if that's your thing), an XC hardtail, and a FS or sommat.
I know. I think the viper classes as a XC Hardtail with the Speed Kings on..
I know a lot of purists might say that XC's should have a short 100mm fork on but the way i look at it is why not add a extra 20mm of travel below the headset and remove 20mm from above the headset by using straight bars. The head angles only slightly slacker but the overall feels the same (and it only takes a minute to slap the same wheels on the 100mm Exotic carbon bike).
As for FS bikes, remember that the three bikes i made up were all from spare parts i had lying around and didn't cost me anything (other than the deore cranks). I certainly don't have any FS frames lying around and can't afford to buy any.
I'm also a firm believer in the £400 rule. Which is to say if you have a fully rigid mountain bike that cost you £200 with the sort of weight, speed and handling that you like, you'd need to spend at least £400 more to have a similar bike with a front suspension fork on and still have the same weight, speed and handling characteristics (lighter frame, lighter wheels, tyres and lightweight forks don't come cheap). And if you decide you'd like it to also have rear suspension on and still weigh and feel the same you'd need to spend another £400 minimum. The end result would cost over a grand and still not be a particularly good example of a FS bike (just acceptable and not a BSO). Unfortunately, being unemployed means i certainly can't be splashing out over a grand on a FS bike and anything less will be an heavy, uncoordinated brick with the handling properties of a sherman tank.0 -
Fair enough, but why have several that are identical? Why not sell those and have fewer bikes, or use the money you generate from the sale of those to buy the FS bike or whatever? Even the XC bike is basically the same as the others! Just can't quite get my head around having an entire fleet of very similar 26" wheeled hardtails, particularly if money is tight!0
-
Ouija wrote:Also had 16.5" version of the same frame in white floating around and some old Merida Carbon forks so thought i'd knock this together to see how it looks....
I think that looks great, love the white rims with the white frame and black forks.
You have a lot of bikes, lol. Can I have one of your hybrids please?
I was told earlier this week that Merida made the frame for my 2007 Carrera, so it's posher than I thought, lol.0 -
You have bad taste. For the record Halfords is not posh in any way shape or form.0
