Building my own bike. Orange 222 frame?

Ethn

Hey. I am getting into mtb and I wanted to build a budget full sus bike. I'm not sure if I should buy the orange 222 for 200 pounds and build of that? I am still debating to just scrap it and go to a bike shop and get a hardtail bike. I am.not building it but my friend is; ) I don't know ow much

nicklouse

do you want a full on DH bike?

As that is what the 222 frame is. no good for flat or uphill.

rockmonkeysc

The 222 was a downhill bike, absolutely useless for anything other than riding down a hill, you won't be able to ride it up a hill.
Even as a downhill bike it's not very good, the pedal feedback is nasty and geometry is a bit steep by modern standards.

Ethn

I will be doing DH most of the time but the odd climb here and there. Is there any good frames within a budget? I found that 222 for £200 on pinkbike.

rockmonkeysc

I would save another £100, you're just going to get ancient rubbish with dead shocks and bearings at this price. Also I wouldn't buy an Orange unless it's a 224 evo, they aren't great but the older models are just rubbish. I would also avoid old Kona's.
These old Iron Horse Sunday's are brilliant http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-Iron-Horse-Sunday-Downhill-Frame-in-Brown-with-Fox-DHX-5-0-Small-No-Play-/141774601213?hash=item21026cbbfd
Or these Moorwoods are great http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morewood-Izumu-Downhill-Frame-in-Dark-Blue-with-Fox-DHX-5-0-Shock-16-Inch-/121766306190?hash=item1c59d6618e
Also very good http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turner-DHR-Downhill-Frame-in-Black-and-White-with-Pushed-Fox-DHX-5-0-Medium-/141758892712?hash=item21017d0aa8
What's the budget for your build? You might get much better value going for a complete bike. A build is going to cost you nearly a grand, for that you can buy quite a decent complete bike.

Ethn

http://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/1830988/ I was looking at that, is that better? My budget is £500 ik it's not a lot but I'm a student xD

rockmonkeysc

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19709507#p19709507]Ethn[/url] wrote:

http://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/1830988/ I was looking at that, is that better? My budget is £500 ik it's not a lot but I'm a student xD

It's pretty rubbish to be honest but for £500 you're not going to get a worthwhile DH bike.
Downhill kills bikes, for your budget you will get a bike at the end of its life, it's just going to cost you more when the fork or shock inevitably blows up or the wheels fall to pieces or the frame bearings die.
My downhill bike is three years old and despite regular servicing it needs a new compression damper for the fork (nearly £200) a full set of frame bearings (£80) and a new rear rim (90 including wheel rebuild)
Spending less than a grand on a downhill bike is never a good idea.

The Rookie

Plenty of decent XC to trail frames on ebay, I picked up a very sound Litespeed frame (more XC) for just £110 delivered, patience is key though!

rockmonkeysc

But he/she said that they want a bike for downhill.
Used DH bikes are worth peanuts now and are hard to sell. £800 is about minimum to get a bike which isn't going to be too worn.
Cheap downhill bikes can be real money pits if the bearings are worn or suspension has problems.

The Rookie

He said he wanted a frame to build from and I was using my example of frame buying, it may be a different 'sort' of frame but it's still relevant.