Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

Moreso, steal is really real got MTBs these days.

My 529 is awesome- possibly because it’s 853.

On a different note would anyone like this lever?

2 Attachments

Free to a good home, I’ll chuck it at you from my balcony to stay COVID safe.

Does the "Steel is real" extend to mountain bikes too these days?

I thought that was where it originated

XL-XXL would be the way to go.

I spent about an hour trying to find them in stock online. I seen that Evans had them in the store near my house, so I'm afraid I was that guy and went round. Staying dry while mountain biking through lockdown is pretty essential to me...

Got the xl-xxl home to find that they do not fit in to a size 11 freerider pro. I give up.

Bugger! I did have to really wrestle mine on, you can put a lot more force than feels comfortable through them to pull them over the shoe and get the heal in. I leave them on the shoes as fitting them is a PITA, but they work so well when you are riding.

I could make a @Dammit style I have no idea what I'm doing style thread, however on a much smaller budget and with even less of a clue about bikes overall.

I definitely prefer the steel frames I've ridden.

The Orange looks like it would do the trick and it's in stock in my size. I'm kind of counting this as free money anyway as it's an insurance voucher.

The Orange looks like it would do the trick and it's in stock in my size

Looks like a good choice for a 'bit of everything' mtb :-)

yeah me too. Me and my 2006 dialled bikes PA 725 hardtail agree

1 Attachment

That Boardman looks decent. The P7 also looks decent and those bottom end Fox forks are very good. If you look around you'll probably find an Orange Crush or Clockwork well within budget, and it'll be a bit lighter than the P7.

I'm pretty sure Halfords do 10% discount for BC members... And Tredz usually have a voucher in the Honey extension in Chrome.

@magpie - not sure where you are but you are welcome to have a go on my 529, which is £1,877 for a rolling chassis here: https://pacecycles.com/pages/rc529#BuildOptions

You could do the rest very cheaply I reckon then upgrade over time as/when.

They look neat.

"Only complete bikes currently available." though

If I was silly enough to stick a suspension fork on my Inbred because it was getting used for actual mountain biking now. What should I look for? How long, what properties etc for a roadie doing some XC riding? 26" wheels btw

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/which-rigid-forks-for-26-inbred/

"And 470mm (29er) length works perfectly. If your used to 100mm+ forks the front feels very low with a 440mm."

"Crikey I prefer 425mm forks on mine after trying 440’s and finding the front end too wandery. But then I preferred 85mm bouncy forks on the Inbred too."

"450mm would be the longest I would run on an inbred"

Obviously rigid chat, but what's an equiv, cheapish, durable suss fork?

Or is the geo all wrong and I should just bin the bike and buy something new :)

Get something with 100 mm of travel? But good luck finding a 100 mm, straight steerer, I assume qr dropout fork that’s in decent nick and not terrible.

I guess it's now so old and non-standard that it becomes impractical to use it?

re: QR, if I ditched the front wheel too I could use TA instead but then at what point does it become impractical?

Is there a source of NOS forks somewhere? They can't have all been scrapped or thrashed to death.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/suspension-fork-mtb-26-epicon-rdl-conical-white-SUNTOUR-bike-suspensions/333627708420

New but probably shit forks that cost more than the whole bike. #sadface

Or

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SR-Suntour-Mountain-Bike-Disc-XCT-26-80mm-Forks-removed-from-Brand-New-Bike/383895822960

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROCKSHOX-30-SILVER-TK-100mm-Travel-1-1-8-MTB-Suspension-Forks-26-27-5-29-Bike/232223925744

I'm pretty sure Rockshox still do forks that meet your criteria.

I'd avoid those suntours, the rock shox 30s are a bit crap too but better, can get Judy's that would work but cost a fair bit more and are out of stock with the distributor for 5 months.

It seems the market for new non tapered sus forks (especially 26") is almost all bottom of the range OEM type stuff, which won't be great and still isn't that cheap.

I'd try to go non thrashed 2nd hand (comparatively cheap as it's considered obsolete) or stay rigid and save buying something new if you upgrade the frame.

I have some old think rockshox rebar forks with adjustable travel from 100-130, which I had on an inbred. Qr, straight steerer also v brake comparable, but of Stanton wear but still function smoothly etc. Let me know if you might be interested and I can dig them out check over etc.

@Dammit, thanks for the offer. Unfortunately because it's an insurance payout I can only use wheelies.co.uk or halfords so I'm quite limited.

If I want to get something this side of March it basically boils down to a choice between the Orange or the Boardman.

The orange is definitely the cooler bike bike, but the Boardman is very good value.

I think I’m edging towards the Orange as there is less to go wrong. People also seem to say you learn better skills starting with a hardtail.

You do spend less time trying to find the source of clicks and creaks it’s true.

You should probably check the axles on a hardtail too ;-)