bike suitable for bike park wales

tibbzy

Hi, iv been looking for a bike everyday for the past two weeks and started doing my own head in lol need some advice on a suitable bike for some basic downhilling blue trials at most as it stands. Looking to buy from evans store. Would like to make the bike last a good year or 2 before maybe upgrading. The other trial id use would be cwmcarn. Thanks


Quite like the look of this one. This would be the very limit of my budget
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/nor ... e-ec053918

nicklouse

Two very different bikes. UNLESS you are just talking about riding down a hill you would find when XCing.

What and where are you planning on riding.

The Northern Monkey

Bpw, 140mm+ fs is ideal.

rockmonkeysc

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Bpw, 140mm+ fs is ideal.

On the blues and reds? I would prefer no more than 140mm, maybe a bit more for the blacks.
For the blue trails I think a nice slack hardtail would be most fun, the trails are so smooth that you don't need much suspension.
I have seen people riding nothing but blue trails there on DH bikes with 200mm+ suspension, they just looked like hard work.
BPW have a fleet of demo bikes, try out a couple and see what sort of bike works for you.

The Northern Monkey

Hmmm...yeah I kind of agree, just depends how much fun you want to make it!

My 120mm 456 is ok on the blues, not so fun on the reds... but the Canyon is way more fun.

One thing, BPW is very cut up atm (not so much the blues I guess). Lots of rocks so riding a HT can be pretty brutal!

Imo, if you have 1 bike it should be a 140-160mm FS.

ej2320

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Imo, if you have 1 bike it should be a 140-160mm FS.

Agreed

Wont be as fast up as an XC hardtail or as fast down as a DH bike but it will do everything (Well nearly everything with the exception of Fort Bill..etc)

A lot of people will tell you 160mm is too much for UK trails, and it probably is but if you plan on taking it down a DH track it isn't.. I got my 160mm Covert with the intention of riding it on anything from XC to DH

So 140mm - 160mm will cover most rides, that Norco isn't bad.. but if you're on a budget it may be worth looking at the end of season sales or even second hand. I've seen some quality bikes go for very good prices online

tibbzy

There dont seem to be any with 140mm on evans website within my budget theym all 120mm. Iv currently got an hardtail but would love a fs bike just cant choose one

The Northern Monkey

The norco you linked is 160mm... I think I saw it in evans cardiff yesterday, looked very nice!

If you already have a ht, 160mm travel would be nice!

Stevo_666

The Northern Monkey wrote:

The norco you linked is 160mm... I think I saw it in evans cardiff yesterday, looked very nice!

If you already have a ht, 160mm travel would be nice!

That's the sort of bike you're looking for - 160mm will cover the bases for almost all of BPW and means you won't need to buy a longer travel bike so soon when you get better and start on the harder runs. I've done BPW on a Spicy no problems.

eric_draven

tibbzy wrote:

There dont seem to be any with 140mm on evans website within my budget theym all 120mm. Iv currently got an hardtail but would love a fs bike just cant choose one

Why do you have to buy from Evans,as there are other bike shops

rockmonkeysc

Try one of BPW's Trek Remedy demo bikes, that should be ideal.
The only thing about BPW that needs a bit of suspension is the braking bumps. Even the big jumps are fine on a short travel bike. I clear all the Enter The Dragon jumps and Dai Hard road gap on my Mega TR and my riding buddy does the pro line jumps on a Remedy 29.

tibbzy

eric draven wrote:

tibbzy wrote:

There dont seem to be any with 140mm on evans website within my budget theym all 120mm. Iv currently got an hardtail but would love a fs bike just cant choose one

Why do you have to buy from Evans,as there are other bike shops

Because im doing the cyclescheme and they allow top ups

eric_draven

tibbzy wrote:

eric draven wrote:

tibbzy wrote:

There dont seem to be any with 140mm on evans website within my budget theym all 120mm. Iv currently got an hardtail but would love a fs bike just cant choose one

Why do you have to buy from Evans,as there are other bike shops

Because im doing the cyclescheme and they allow top ups

pretty sure other bike shops will as well if you ask them,a guy who i work with bought a £2K felt road bike on cycle to work scheme,through a local bike shop,if you don't ask you will never no

tibbzy

Iv been to a few other shops but there cheapest fs was 1500 for a GT not sure which model tho. Il ring a few more today and see what they got

eric_draven

If I was you,i would narrow down on which few bikes i want and can afford,then see who is there nearest dealer to you on the internet,and then pay them a visit,this way you will get what you want,not what you can find kicking about,unfortunately,some bike shops will tell what you need to hear just to buy any old bike off them,as in find what you want then go and ask

welshkev

RockmonkeySC wrote:

[On the blues and reds? I would prefer no more than 140mm, maybe a bit more for the blacks.
For the blue trails I think a nice slack hardtail would be most fun, the trails are so smooth that you don't need much suspension.
I have seen people riding nothing but blue trails there on DH bikes with 200mm+ suspension, they just looked like hard work.
BPW have a fleet of demo bikes, try out a couple and see what sort of bike works for you.

rim dinger isn't much fun on a hardtail that's for sure!!

but yeah, I rode it on my DH bike the other week as my trail bike was in the shop, it was poo

rockmonkeysc

I only enjoy Enter The Dragon on my DH bike, all the other trails are too flat.
The only problem is that by early afternoon everyone gets a bit brave and you end up with beginners wobbling down ETD and on a DH bike you carry so much speed it's scary how fast you catch them. I have almost hit people stood on the landing of the big gap before.

tibbzy

Well after lots and lots of searching iv decided to get the giant trance 27.5 4 and should be on the tracks within a week and thanks for the advice people.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Trance-27 ... _66531.htm

Antm81

Great bikes, I'm sure you'll enjoy it

rockmonkeysc

Nice choice. I think I would take that one over the higher spec trance with the shockingly crap Fox CTD fork.

Antm81

To be honest I can't tell a great difference between the CTD fork on my new trance and the latest revelations on my old one.

poah

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I only enjoy Enter The Dragon on my DH bike, all the other trails are too flat.
The only problem is that by early afternoon everyone gets a bit brave and you end up with beginners wobbling down ETD and on a DH bike you carry so much speed it's scary how fast you catch them. I have almost hit people stood on the landing of the big gap before.

even that run is pretty smooth.

rockmonkeysc

It is apart from the braking bumps in places where you should be on the cranks, mostly after you come out of the woods but also on the approach to the gap where I guess people panic and decide to bail out of hitting it. The jumps are nice and smooth.

tibbzy

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Nice choice. I think I would take that one over the higher spec trance with the shockingly crap Fox CTD fork.

Looking at the specs on that bike is there anything you'd recommend upgrading?

Antm81

The tyres, they'll be the performance compound which is very plasticky and doesn't offer a huge amount of grip. Other than that ride it till parts wear or you're not satisfied with them, I even find the saddle fairly reasonable.

rockmonkeysc

As above. Swap the tyres for something better, change the saddle if it's uncomfortable and upgrade the rest as things wear out.
It's not the highest performance or lightest build but it's a solid, reliable build.

benpinnick

You want something with a low bb, slack HA and pedals like a trooper for BPW. May I suggest a Bird Aeris

http://dirtmountainbike.com/photos/excl ... ml#!bGHNNT

ok, so you;ll have to wait until Jan though, sorry.

poah

YT capra comp

echowitch

I've seen that most 650B and 29er full sussers are running 120mm. Is that going to be enough for places like BPW ? Im stuck buying from Evans as thats who our company is using (grrr despite us and the cyclists in HR advising not to use them)

Norco Fluid 7.1 & 9.1 are the bikes Im looking at.

Or should I go with the Norco Sight ?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/nor ... e-ec053918

Im wondering as I want to go to Whistler next year, and I'd like to be able to have room to improve.

welshkev

echowitch wrote:

I've seen that most 650B and 29er full sussers are running 120mm. Is that going to be enough for places like BPW ? Im stuck buying from Evans as thats who our company is using (grrr despite us and the cyclists in HR advising not to use them)

Norco Fluid 7.1 & 9.1 are the bikes Im looking at.

Or should I go with the Norco Sight ?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/nor ... e-ec053918

Im wondering as I want to go to Whistler next year, and I'd like to be able to have room to improve.

yes 120mm will be enough. but 140mm will be better IMO, especially if you want to go to whistler next year.

personally I'd also avoid 29ers and go for a 650b

rockmonkeysc

I would go for the Sight over the Fluid. It will just be better more of the time, it's more of an all rounder.
Nothing wrong with 29ers. You can't rule out a wheel size, it's about the overall package not one or two features.