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

Wider = increased chance of contact.

The less chance I have of hitting things that slow me down, the more likely I am to finish.

I'm trying to ring Hippy's bell but he's not biting as much as I'd like.

whats the best value steel rigid frameset for trekking/long distance rides? 26 inch wheel ideally.
jusk get an inbred?

Buy my Salsa el mariachi - not many dollarz -£175

It's because I know I'm going to be faster than everyone with wider bars*.

*and then I woke up and took my hand off it.

Heavy as fuck. I'm sure there are nicer options. But I do love my tank bike.

is this for 26" wheels?

29"

If you're looking to build one up yourself (and therefore aren't bothered about what components may or may not be bolted to the frameset already), I'd be inclined to just look for a decent old steel MTB for cheaps. I've got a mate who's had a Gary Fisher light MTB/heavy duty hybrid thing for sale, I'll check if he's still got it.

i've got a 1x9 rigid steel mtb at the mo, just looking for something lighter/a bit different to swap the parts onto.

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^ THATS SICK

I GOT A DROPPER

Hi guys. My wife suddenly wants to get a mtb and start trying it out for exercise. Says someone at work says it's fun, and would I please build or buy her a bike so she can join. I have no idea about mtb so can anyone recommend a good beginner frame or bike? I think a hardtail will do for starters, sounds like it'll be mainly trails. Had a look at the on-one options but as I said, I have no idea what I'm doing.

How much do you want to spend?

You can't beat this for value, apparently. Press goes nuts about the ride, and on the face of it they are well specified.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-bossnut-ladies-mountain-bike-p383862

Pretty much credible full squish for the same price as most credible hardtails. Bonkers.

Hardtails are always going to be a safe bet for beginners. Any idea on sizing, budget?
If buying second hand, 26" wheels have fallen out of fashion so can be had for cheap, and there's still plenty of spare parts available, despite what some doom mongers may say.

anyone got a cannondale/OS stem going for cheaps? 1.5 steerer, 31.8 bars?

cannondale/OS

Cannondale is 1.56".

1.5" is... 1.5" :)

To confuse matters the most recent Cannondale bikes use... 1.5".

Big question is, what's your budget?

The main thing I'd be looking for in a starter bike for a girlfriend is a decent fork. Crappy coil sprung forks are uninspiring. The difference to ride quality and enjoyment of a half decent air shock is the key to them getting the bug. Everything else budget can generally be set up to be ok (shifting, brakes etc), but a shit fork will always be a shit fork.

I'm told 1.5, but yet to recieve the frame + forks so best to hold fire i guess....

Which frame / fork? I can confirm.

This frame: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=360436

Gotcha.

So that has a Cannondale headshok head tube. It looks like it has the Headshok headset in it which takes 1.56" steerers.

If you want to run 1.1/8th, tapered or 1.5" forks you need adaptors or a new headset.

Which fork? The easiest way of getting this running is to fit a Cannondale Headshok or a Lefty. Both use the 1.56" for steerer diameter.

If you go for a lefty you have a choice because they do 1.526" straight steerers for 1.56" headshok stems AND 1.56" tapering to 1.5" for Supermax 1.5" stems.

Clear. As. Mud.

I think the forks are from a more recent badboy (they're 29ers). got em off ebay, i'll find the link.

Decent light wheels will bring a bike alive once you're sure your girlfriend is good enough at choosing lines for you not to spend every Monday night truing out the weekend's rockgardens.

This cost me less than £200 a few years ago:
Stans Olympic 26" 32h rims (NOS from Merlin)
XT 10 speed hubs (new, eBay)
ACI DB spokes (21p each, Cyclebasket)
Michelin Wild Mud Advanced 2.0" Tubeless (CRC. Appropriate for the weather that winter, since replaced with Michelin WildGripper 2.25")

does this link work: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252650658465

Personally I wouldn't use that fork with that frame.

Two reasons:

• it will be a pain in the ass, and expensive to fit that fork to that frame
  
• the axle to crown on that fork is about 15mm too long