Getting a cheap spare MTB for winter use?
Jim Lyon
Posts: 72
Hi,
I'm looking for a second hand, 15 & 1/2", rigid, alloy framed MTB with hydraulically powered disc brakes, front & rear, preferably with a reasonable selection of brake pads available to choose between power & sensitivity, etc. 26" Alloy wheel rims, alloy handlebars & alloy seat stem. A minimum of 21 gears, more is better. My experience of riding MTBs has been limited to Trek & Marin & of the two. Marin frames felt more responsive & lively, & preferable. Can any body recommend a btand & model that would fit these requirements? Any place other than "evil" bay where I might pick one up, what kind of price would I be looking @ ?
I realise that with the relativeyl recent posts on cheap new hardtails somebody is going to suggest I go down that road. While some might favour hard tails. I see them as being neither fish nor fowl. Yes, a fork might calm down the front end, but all that does is allow you to hit the bumps faster & then with no shock on the rear, you're going to end up doing more damage to your spine ! And doctors have stated that, from a medical viewpoint, no rear shock is bad news !
The other thing is that cheap suspension ( front & rear that is cheap because it has no adjustability is really quite terrible unless you're really lucky & just happens to fit your needs- unlikely !
When looking for a customised Marin "Mount Vision", I had a trial ride of the stock set up. just to check out the stock suspension settings & they were pretty terrible ! The spring on the Fox Vanilla R was so stiff as to be vicious. I got that replaced with a 20% softer spring. - The Marin stock forks went up & down & that was the only good thing you could say about them. So I had them replaced with Pace RC36 forks, which had a really good range of settings. They were quite well &balanced with the rear.T£he trouble with a rear shock rebound only had 12 clickers, & sods law is that for dirt I wanted 7 &1/2 clicks & for road 10 & 1/2 clicks. So, while you can get it quite close, I don't like clickers!- Yes, with expensive dialed in suspension you can go fast in the dirt, but the cost is going to be expensive when hammering it. And with that level, I really son't want to abuse it in winter time. Which is what I'm looking for. So I'd rather go for simple rigid light bike, go a bit slower & not abuse a good, expensive bike, during winter!
Cheerds,
Jim
I'm looking for a second hand, 15 & 1/2", rigid, alloy framed MTB with hydraulically powered disc brakes, front & rear, preferably with a reasonable selection of brake pads available to choose between power & sensitivity, etc. 26" Alloy wheel rims, alloy handlebars & alloy seat stem. A minimum of 21 gears, more is better. My experience of riding MTBs has been limited to Trek & Marin & of the two. Marin frames felt more responsive & lively, & preferable. Can any body recommend a btand & model that would fit these requirements? Any place other than "evil" bay where I might pick one up, what kind of price would I be looking @ ?
I realise that with the relativeyl recent posts on cheap new hardtails somebody is going to suggest I go down that road. While some might favour hard tails. I see them as being neither fish nor fowl. Yes, a fork might calm down the front end, but all that does is allow you to hit the bumps faster & then with no shock on the rear, you're going to end up doing more damage to your spine ! And doctors have stated that, from a medical viewpoint, no rear shock is bad news !
The other thing is that cheap suspension ( front & rear that is cheap because it has no adjustability is really quite terrible unless you're really lucky & just happens to fit your needs- unlikely !
When looking for a customised Marin "Mount Vision", I had a trial ride of the stock set up. just to check out the stock suspension settings & they were pretty terrible ! The spring on the Fox Vanilla R was so stiff as to be vicious. I got that replaced with a 20% softer spring. - The Marin stock forks went up & down & that was the only good thing you could say about them. So I had them replaced with Pace RC36 forks, which had a really good range of settings. They were quite well &balanced with the rear.T£he trouble with a rear shock rebound only had 12 clickers, & sods law is that for dirt I wanted 7 &1/2 clicks & for road 10 & 1/2 clicks. So, while you can get it quite close, I don't like clickers!- Yes, with expensive dialed in suspension you can go fast in the dirt, but the cost is going to be expensive when hammering it. And with that level, I really son't want to abuse it in winter time. Which is what I'm looking for. So I'd rather go for simple rigid light bike, go a bit slower & not abuse a good, expensive bike, during winter!
Cheerds,
Jim
0
Comments
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Just get an old hardtail and replace the forks with some carbon ones from Carboncycles or something.
But asking how much will it cost is back to front.
How much do you want to spend?
As this is the UK and not Utah, waiting for nice dry weather to ride a nice bike is a bit pointless, IMHO. Just ride.I don't do smileys.
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Parktools0 -
Christ almighty, just ride your bike and clean it.
They're made to be ridden in 'poor' conditions.0 -
FishFish wrote:
Think about steel framed rather than alloy framed.
that makes no difference0 -
You should be letting your legs take the impact anyway - not your spine...
As the others say - ride your normal bike. Better than spending 100s on a new bike. You can buy a lot of chains and rings for the price of a new bike.0 -
POAH wrote:FishFish wrote:
Think about steel framed rather than alloy framed.
that makes no difference
It did five or six years ago before alloy frames got more compliant so might be relevant to used bikes.Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=130702350
