New bike time or not?

mark~p

You could look at a second hand Ibis Mojo
It may not be the very latest but you are getting an awful lot of bike for you money from a local bike shop.

http://www.chaingangcycles.co.uk/chaing ... condition/

It all depends on how set you are on particular components.

I was looking at this when the RH chain stay cracked on my Cube Stereo 2012. Unfortunately I could not slide it under the radar from the wife (cost and colour). Going from something that is black to bright green is a bit difficult to explain.

I am not affiliated to the shop in any way but found them very helpful when I was talking to them.

joebristol

I have to admit I’ve also got a Bird as my full suss.
Got an Aeris 145LT with Lyriks etc on it - basically their equivalent of the Bronson.

The 120LT has 130mm rear travel and I’d run that with a 140mm fork. Slack but not too slack and they’d even build you up some custom wheels with hope hubs and your choice of DT Swiss rims for not crazy money.

I’m currently wondering whether it could be a goer to swap my 145lt frame for a 120Lt frame and justbswap all the bits over. The 120lt is a little shorter / less slack and a bit more playful I believe.

jamski

Grovsie29 wrote:

The aeris 120 LT.

Owch I know there not xc weight but 14.5kg is bit heavier than I was expecting.

Is the mudguards on yours the 1 from birds?I was going to go blue but I've changed my mind to orange now seeing yours. It's a cracking colour. Yeah I've specced everything up comes in at 3250quid.

Orange is the best colour!

Yeah, it's a mudhugger shorty, from Bird, I leave it on all year, best guard by a mile. I'm sure you could save some weight over mine, especially the wheels, but I don't really think you'll notice it. The 120 is a cracking all rounder, especially the LT version.

steve_sordy

I have a Wyhte T130 with a mix of XX1 and XO1. I liked 12-speed so much that I converted my Capra from 2x10 to 1x12 and after much thought I went for GX. I accept that it is a little bit heavier (but not much), but the main thing is that I cannot tell the difference in shifting performance. So, save your money on the XO1 and spend it on a Lyrik (although the Pike RCT3 is superb).

ryan_w-2

steve_sordy wrote:

I have a Wyhte T130 with a mix of XX1 and XO1. I liked 12-speed so much that I converted my Capra from 2x10 to 1x12 and after much thought I went for GX. I accept that it is a little bit heavier (but not much), but the main thing is that I cannot tell the difference in shifting performance. So, save your money on the XO1 and spend it on a Lyrik (although the Pike RCT3 is superb).

This.

GX is excellent and new rear mech design means it won't explode like the V1's...

joebristol

If you’re looking at the 120lt I’d personally stick with a Pike over a Lyrik. Broadly the same charger 2 damper, but the Pike is lighter if that's your priority. The Pike still has a 35mm chassis so it’s not going to be flexi - just not quite as stuff as a Lyrik.

I’ve got a (140mm) Pike on the hardtail and (170mm) Lyrik on the 145 - I can’t say I notice the Pike being flexi in comparison - just it has less travel to play with. Both forks have the new style debonair air shaft but the Pike has a charger 1 and the Lyrik has a charger 2.

Wheels / tyres are where you’ll feel the weight the most in acceleration terms. I’d concentrate most money on getting some decent rims - depending on width I’d look at a DT Swiss xm481 or the narrower 25mm version of that. The DHF 2.5 / Dhr2 2.4 do feel heavy on my Aeris 145. Going forward I’d be tempted to try a slightly narrower version of each tyre to save some weight.

I’d got other Dt wheels on my hardtail and just stuck on there some on one chunky monkey / smorgasbords and it feels like a rocket ship in comparison. The wheels themselves are actually heavier on that bike too.

joebristol

I don’t know if this’ll work but it’s orobably the spec I’d go for in the 120lt.

Atomic blue M/L size
LT linkage
RT3 shock (worth upgrade over base spec)
Pike rct3 boost 140mm
Gx eagle 12 speed
Mrp chainguide
Xm481 rims /Hope pro4 wheelset
2.3 dhf 3c front / 2.3 aggressor dusk compound rear tyre
780mm handlebar (I didn’t like the standard 760mm raceface bar)
Code rsc brakes with 200/180 discs
Bird chainguide & 2 tokens for the shock
Bird dropper - I believe this is a rebranded brand x ascend

Would stop and go really well and be a very reliable package. If only I had some spare cash!

https://www.bird.bike/product/aeris-120 ... figuration

Grovsie29

That's pretty much the spec id made up, except id gone X01. I also left the wheels, they were DT Swiss M1900. Your suggestion is heavier according to the site.

Ill have a look at the GX eagle then, if theres no point in specing X01 I wont.

Im about to book a demo on one next Saturday at there HQ. its a 2 and a half hour drive, but feel its gotta be done dropping 3k on a bike, ive gotta ride it.

Thanks everyone for the help and advice.

joshy2

What about the Intense Sniper (might be just outside your budget)? It has very good reviews.

https://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/cate ... iew-52377/

The only thing is I'm not sure if you can visit their factory. They may be direct order only. Someone on here may be better placed to advise.

joebristol

Defo test ride one- then you get a direct comparison to see how it feels to your current bike. Swinley is the closest place - might be worth asking if anyone could guide you round some of the off piste stuff if you like things more technical in your riding.

I like the built trails at Swinley for a fun blast but there’s nothing difficult in them.

You’re right on the wheels - although I built up that exact same set and using the weights of the hubs / rims / DT Swiss spokes they should be a bit lighter than that I’d thought. They’re definitely lighter than the e1900’s that came on my Aeris (now on my hardtail).

Grovsie29

You offering joe? Hehe. Yeah I've booked a demo for Saturday at there HQ are there trails there then?Should be good enough to get a feel for the bike. Going to try the medium first.

If i pick the wheels u suggest and hope 4 hubs on the custom build it bumps the price up quite a bit more is it worth it? If there lighter I'm all for it.

joebristol

I don’t think there’s anything right at Bird - you usually pick the bike up and drive to Swinley (at least that’s what I did).

Would love to guide you but (a) I don’t know the off piste at Swinley (b) I live in Bristol and (c) I haven’t got a pass from the wife to cycle this weekend!

The wheels I suggested are a higher up rim
in the range and the hubs are better as I think the m1900 use dt’s cheaper ratchet hub with a slower pickup. I assume Bird handbuild yoo so it’s likley a better build then a factory Dt Swiss wheel.

Ultimately you might not notice the difference though - other than the Hope hub having a louder click!

Grovsie29

Got back from my demo. I took a medium round swinley. He put the LT linkage in for me but it was a 130mm fork.

Anyways the bike felt great. Just a little cramped. I tried a long version around the hq after and it seems a better fit. It climbed a lot better than my tired Bronson and was great fun on the down bits.

Trail wasn't bad there were some fun bits but yeah mostly pretty flat.

Gonna go for a orange 120 lt in medium L I think. Gonna go for the custom wheels with hope hubs and the x01 sod it! Gonna treat myself lol

Thanks everyone for the advice

Grovsie29

Got the bike. Very pleased with it, looks amazing. First ride going to be Friday.

Ive trimmed the bars down from the 800mm that came with it, to 760mm, and fitted my pedals. Still need to fit mudguard and id like to put something on the frame to protect it. Im thinking invisiframe and a big bash type guard under the frame up from the bottom that I see on some bikes.

Iam still playing with the suspension, it seems to be using around 80% of the travel just messing around in the street.