Looking for something a bit specific

Dr_Pepper

Hello everyone and sorry I know you probably get asked this sort of thing a lot, but I did have a look through your buying guides already but none really fit the bill.

I wonder if you guys would be able to offer any advice on a bike to buy. I do loads of mountain biking and road riding, but have always had a bit of a budget, my £350 Felt Q220 has lasted some years and I have two sets of wheels, one with MTB tyres and one with road tyres. I’d like to retire that bike to mainly on-road use.

Recent trips to Afan Forest and various places in France have left me wanting a full suspension bike for the downhills. But, I love my hardtail for the uphills. I have a budget of £1000 (and not a penny more, because I’m buying it on a tax scheme!) I would really like to have remote rear suspension instant Lockout, not sure if this is possible on the budget? But a minimum of a standard rear suspension instant lockout. I want a bike that can go anywhere, so Ideally I need to have some big gears for the road, might have to add this after purchase I know, I currently have an 11T ring on the rear. Naturally I would like it as light as possible because the Felt is a bit of a tank! For me, everything else is pretty incidental really. Can anyone suggest something suitable, or am I being too optimistic?

Thanks for any help!

cooldad

You don’t really get many bikes with remote on the rear. Although IMO remotes are pointless anyway as they just clutter up the bars. As it takes a second to flick a switch, and you don’t need to do it very often I wouldn’t have it anywhere near the top of my list of priorities.
As regards gearing (without going into stupidly expensive options) 11 is as small as you can go on the rear, and about 44 up front, so you are not going to get higher than that. If you want more on the road, you need a road bike.
As your budget is limited, what shops can you use?

Dr_Pepper

Hi, thanks for fast reply. Fair point about the handlebar lockout, although if I had it I would use it a lot I reckon. If it's not possible then as long as the lockout is easily reachable while riding then it's ok!

To Clarify I don't need smaller than 44/11 gears that's what I've got at the moment and I know you can't get smaller. I just mentioned it because I don't want to end up with a tiny crank which doesn't give me flexibility on-road. I defintely need a MTB because my daily ride is cross country on and off bridleways & roads alternately, which is also why I'm looking for the instant lockout suspension.

unfortuantely don't know too much about bikes as I've never actually bought one before. I'm not limited to any shops at all, can buy anywhere or online. Cheers!

rockmonkeysc

Rear suspension doesnt have full lockout. You get propedal (or similar) which stiffens up the compression damper to reduce pedal bob but still move with bumps.
At under a grand your options for full sus are very limited.
Have you thought about a road bike for road use? They are so much faster, more efficient and more comfortable than a mountain bike and you won't have to compromise your mountain bikes off road ability.

Dr_Pepper

Hi, thanks but again, a road bike would be zero use to me because almost every journey I do involves partly off road sections. Plus, I'm thinking it's also about climbing fire roads or whatever on a MTB trail, so easy on my hardtail but so hard on my mate's full suspension bike.

Twelly

Sounds like you need a well sorted hardtail. Or two bikes.
You realise a road bike wont melt if you ride it on a bit of gravel or mud? Stick some CX tyres on some sturdy 32 spoke wheels and you can ride most things while still being fast and efficient on the black stuff.
The best thing to upgrade to help with the climbs is your legs. Unless you spend a lot on a proper lightweight trail bike with sorted suspension you are going to have to compromise on the ups or downs.

cooldad

Dr_Pepper wrote:

Hi, thanks but again, a road bike would be zero use to me because almost every journey I do involves partly off road sections. Plus, I'm thinking it's also about climbing fire roads or whatever on a MTB trail, so easy on my hardtail but so hard on my mate's full suspension bike.

Depends on the bike as they range from XC to DH and absolute rubbish to unbelieveably good.
What does he have.

rockmonkeysc

My Giant Anthem has no rear lock out, just pro pedal and that climbs as easily as any hardtail I have owned.

Dr_Pepper

cooldad wrote:

Depends on the bike as they range from XC to DH and absolute rubbish to unbelievably good.
What does he have.

It's a very expensive top of the range XC Specialized. But maybe 10 years old now. Absolutely fantastic on downhill but bloody hard work going up or flat on roads when compared to my hardtail.

I appreciate you guys are basically saying why bother and I can understand that if I only was only going singletrack MTB'ing. But I can only afford one bike and I want it for the ride to work too, which may have miles of uphill road. so I was just hoping that I could buy something with a rear suspension that I can adjust from soft to rock solid. As I said, other than that, I'm easy on the specification.

The Rookie

Many DT Swiss shocks (as fitted to Scotts and branded Scott) have a lockout and you could swap what was fitted to one with a lockout, although my Sons doesn't really feel that much different between locked and pro-pedal to be honest!

Clank

RockmonkeySC wrote:

My Giant Anthem has no rear lock out, just pro pedal and that climbs as easily as any hardtail I have owned.

I found the Anthem climbed so well, I never felt the need to firm up the rear for the up-hills (it was CTD as opposed to the pro-pedal). It changed my view on how well a full-susser could climb.

So yeah, depends largely on what the bike is (and how smoothly you can pedal if it's a very active rear end).

supersonic

Fit a new shock to the specialized or get it tuned?

rockmonkeysc

You're looking for a bike which basically doesnt exist. Mainy because most full sus bikes pedal extremely well now but also people spending £1000+ will be buying it for its off road performance not its ability on road.

Dr_Pepper

Cool thanks for all the views. I know most of you guys are used to stuff on a bit of a higher budget but remember I'm coming from a £300 bike which I have always loved.

Anyway I found this Carrera Banshee and tested it at Halfords. Ok it doesn't have a great review, but the lockout switch is easy to reach and seems to work brilliant to me, totally solid - exactly what I was looking for. Is there a major catch? As it's only £750, I was hoping that for £1000 I could find something a bit better specced and/or lighter that featured similar suspension setup.

cooldad

Going back to your first post, it's a bit of a tank.

rockmonkeysc

cooldad wrote:

Going back to your first post, it's a bit of a tank.

Tanks are generally lighter.
Something like a used Giant Anthem will be far better for what you want. They dont have lock out but they feel like a hardtail to pedal and climb

The Rookie

Nah, even a Scorpion is ruddy heavy, but something like a Challenger really heavy...

The Banshee is a budget heavy hitting bike (and it does that job pretty well), the frame weighs 4Kg all on it's own compared to circa 1800g for a Carrera hardtail, given usage you state in your first post the Hardtail would do a far better job than the Banshee.

To be clear, if you want an FS and want it to climb as well as an HT your spending at least £1K, modern FS (unlike a 10 yo clunker) have much better rear suspension designs and also shocks, get a decent one with a pro-pedal and you don't need a lockout, but if you must get a £1K bike and add a DT Swiss shock with lockout!

Spend much less than £1k and it will never climb as well as your HT even if it does have a lockout as it will be too heavy!

Dr_Pepper

The Banshee is not very light you're right, but still lighter than my current bike. As it's £250 under budget, I'm still hoping to find something lighter.

I did find this Rockrider 9.2 which I might be able to squeeze under £1000 as I know someone who works there. The reviews applaud it's lightness for the money. Any views on it? I guess the suspension is own-brand.

Rookie, thanks for the constructive post. Maybe a stupid question but all all shocks interchangeable then? If so I can probably find a light bike with a cheap shock and replace it with one like you suggest,

Cheers

The Rookie

Key points for shock is eye to eye length (at full droop) and travel, most are push but a few pull actutated, so not hard to find a replacement, but suggest you try one first before deciding to change it.

Specs for the RR 9.2 make it clear it is a Rockshox fork and an X-fusion rear shock, so no, not own-brand!

The rear shock has 3 positions to stiffen it up, one is suggests for road which will mean locked or nearly so?
"X-Fusion RLX shocks, specifically adjusted for this frame, equipped with 3-position lever: the "full open" position is used for rough uphill and technical downhill (power and adaptability) rides; the other 2 positions make the bike firmer, which is useful for smoother routes: road, 4x4 trails."

cooldad

Agreed the kit on that RR would put a lot of bikes twice the price to shame.

rockmonkeysc

You need to get a shock with the right tune for the frame as well.

prawny

I have a 9.1 and it climbs pretty well, even without any compression damping witchcraft. I'd like a 9.2

Dr_Pepper

Thanks again for all the help, I bought the Rockrider 9.2 and I can confirm it's absolutely awesome and fits everything I was hoping for. It's not the lightest bike in the world but it's a lot lighter than my old bike.

Only thing I need now is a slightly larger sprocket on the front. I think it's ~42tooth compared with 48 on my old bike which is really noticeable when on-road. Hopefully I can get that easily enough and the same derailleur will be ok.

The Rookie

The same derailleur won't cope.

How sure are you you need something bigger than a 42T up front, you should be able to hit 35mph with that spinning at a reasonable rate (100rpm)....