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Is it worth??

MickyDubMickyDub Posts: 44
edited May 2010 in XC and Enduro
Hi everyone,just a quick question...
I currently only have one mountainbike,full suspension,which I use for handy 3 hr spins,XC racing and 2 hr intense XC training spins.The bike weighs 13 kg give or take.My results are ok,am ahead of riders on lighter hardtail bikes,and would love to get a lighter hardtail to hopefully get me further up the finishing table.However,my budget of £1,000 is only enough to buy a hardtail weighing around 11kg.I'd love to buy a 9/10kg hardtail but cant afford it!!My question is,if I spend my hardearned cash on a hardtail weighing 2kg less than my current bike,will I see quicker lap times/results,or will the 2kg weight reduction be too little to justify paying out the $1,000??? Thanks in advance.

Posts

  • MikeWWMikeWW Posts: 723
    Well £1k would get you a Boardman Hardtail which is good value
    You can always lighten a few bits later

    You will notice the difference and if you are at all serious I would say its very worthwhile
    www.lichfieldccc.org.uk
  • turnerjohnturnerjohn Posts: 1,249
    Does depend on how good your full-sus is...ie: how well does it peddle?! and what courses you use it on...some hardtails are better and visa versa.
    I had a superlight hardtail but then tried full-sus which was a few pounds heavier but ended up faster in the long run.
    Mind you 2kg drop as your after is nearly 4pounds and thats a lot any anyones money !!!
    Could try a frame swap?...then change back if your not happy :-)
  • DonnicDonnic Posts: 85
    With that money I'm sure you could knock a fair amount of weight off your current bike.

    For example, what wheels/tyres does your current bike have?
    What groupset? What forks?

    I'm sure with some careful thought and good purchases you could take a fair bit of weight off your full sus, maybe not 2kg.. But enough to notice a difference whilst still benefiting from having a full suspension bike when needed.
  • Cj83Cj83 Posts: 58
    i was in a similar situation, i know people say just race on whatever bike you got as long as you enjoy it but its nice to know your goin a fast as you possibly can regardless of machine and to try give yourself a semi-level playing field at least bike wise when racing guys on 3 grand xc speedsters. so over a period of time bought 2nd hand and new pieces of ebay, online bargains at chain reaction cycles/wiggle wherever else, and stole bits and pieces from my brothers spare parts bit. put it all together and i have a 10.4 kg bike. mind you its rigid, looks like a spare parts bin job (unsurprisingly), and prob cost not much shy of grand in the end anyway.

    that said i pretty confident im quicker on it round your average xc circuit so now when i get thrashed i can't blame anything but my own physical condition!

    i would get the 11kg hardtail which is pretty light but really it depends how into your racing you are as to whether you can justify it.

    you could upgrade your full susser but personally i'd steer clear of that option because to reach 11kg i reckon you'd end up spending nearly all of that grand and you'd still only have one bike! also from my experience of trying to build a lightish bike i found that comort and sometimes durability are sacrificed in the name of weight loss so is nice to still have for full bounce for a bit more comfort and fun when not competing
  • MickyDubMickyDub Posts: 44
    Thanks for the replys everyone.Think I'm going to bite the bullet and spend my £1,000 on a hardtail.Am committed to the racing,travelled over 3 hrs to get to some races this year,so hopefully the weight saving of the hardtail will get me better results.
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