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Always well rated, just seen that there is a new voodoo bizango out. For £650 (before normal discounts) you get a decent frame, 1 x 11 (although confused as to whether it's NX or Deore), deore brakes and a half decent air fork. And boost, and dropper ready.
No connection to Halfords just think if my bikes got nicked and I was starting again I'd have one as my hardtail.
Last years' is on discount too. Pisstakingly good.
Saw that as well earlier, does look great for the money, especially with BC discount. Be nice if they put stack and reach figures up though. As you say would also be nice to know what the drive train is...
Just shame still QR rear, otherwise bloody great.
It's NX 1x11 according to the spec sheet.
Basically looks like the last model updated with the new standards. 1x, boost, internal dropper routing. Also better brakes. Assuming the frame is the same otherwise it should be a great bike.
Looks longer as well but can't see reach figures, just going off the photos which is never clever. Agree it is a shame about the QR rear, seems odd to continue it.
Agree it is a shame about the QR rear, seems odd to continue it.
Why? What's the problem / alternative?
(Genuine question, based on not having any problems getting the back wheel in/out of my Bizango...)
No issue with QR but when the front is boost its a bit mis matchched. So you want to upgrade wheels you'd have to go custom as not many offering boost front qr rear. Bit old tech now too
Actually looks damn nice that, what are the forks like?
Actually looks damn nice that, what are the forks like?
Just what I was going to ask, how do they compare to the likes of a RS recon?
NX for £650 is amazing, but then there's a non tapered steerer tube on the fork (I think?) Which severely limits the upgrade route for the fork.
Previous came non tapered fork; Just needs a hope mix and match bottom cup on the frame and can take a tapered fork. Got a nice Reba on mine.
Cracking bike
Ahh excellent, sod trying to find a boost 29er fork with a non-tapered steerer!!! 😆
Some wider bars, a set of used guide R brakes for £100, dropper post and a used Reba for £250 and you're probably still under £1000 once you've sold the brakes/fork.
Various websites will give you reach and stack from the info provided
The new zobop will be good when the discounts cone round too. 1x11 decent looking geo and stealth dropper ready. Tidy.
Some wider bars, a set of used guide R brakes for £100, dropper post and a used Reba for £250 and you're probably still under £1000 once you've sold the brakes/fork.
Plenty of great bikes for around a grand that don’t require parts changing and second hand bits. Why bother?
Require is a strong word. Of course you can get a better specced bike for a grand but at 5-600 it's very competitive.
I wouldn't be changing the fork or brakes tbh, there's nothing wrong with them. Certainly wouldn't spend £100 for used guides, that's mad, they're £130 new. I'd just change the bars and front tyre and stick a dropper in it, sorted.
ta11pau1 - Member
Ahh excellent, sod trying to find a boost 29er fork with a non-tapered steerer!!!
Just looked at the fork spec, its tapered according to suntour website, would they really get a custom straight steerer for this bike, or could they be mistaken?
I road the previous version and found it a very harsh ride, unpleasant even. The suntour fork was very sticky too, so to get any kind of small bump smoothness you had to drop the fork pressures which ended with it blowing through the travel of bigger hits.
Not ridden the last version, but had an original black one and it definitely wasn't harsh. I bought frame only though as built as ss with 120mm revs.
And comes in 22" for us tall people. Old one topped out at 20"
In related news, no more Wazoo fat bike. It's been changed to a 27.5 plus 😥
Yeah point taken, if you're happy not changing anything apart from adding a dropper its very good value, more so if you can pick one up on sale (plus BC discount).
Just shame still QR rear, otherwise bloody great.
It's QR 141, so that's what, three bikes in the whole world using that standard now? Finding wheels down the line will be great fun...
In related news, no more Wazoo fat bike. It's been changed to a 27.5 plus
Could it be a common frame with the bizango? Looks similar just one's painted orange, the other yellow...
A Hope hub could be QR 141 couldn't it? If a change of end caps turns a QR135 into a 142 bolt through and it uses the same end caps as a boost 148, then putting those same QR caps on would be QR141
Double tap.
I bought the yellow one as a second bike. I couldn't afford to splash a grand so Bizango it was. I've since sold the forks (for a lot of money!!!?) and brakes and bought a second hand reverb, 2nd hand Rebas and deore brakes. All in its cost me 740 notes.
Tomorrow it's having my old xt 10 speed off my full suss out on it. Yep its a cheap halfords bike but my oh my I love riding it. Just need some better wheels down the line at some point.....
Recommended.
Looks like the new one has lost the adjustable rear dropouts that the older ones have, which were useful for SS conversion without a tensioner.
I converted the Raidon fork on my 2015 (yellow) Bizango to oil rather than grease, and it is vastly improved, like a new fork - It was pretty sticky before, and I almost gave up on it.
I converted the Raidon fork on my 2015 (yellow) Bizango to oil rather than grease
Hmmm. Where did you get foam rings of a suitable size that didn't cost an arm and a leg? Any particular oil weight and volume? I sense a job for a winter's evening...
I remember seeing a guide somewhere for a DIY revamp of the Raidons but haven't been able to find it again.
I wonder if it's the same thing you've done, mine are starting to feel sticky.
There’s an MBR (I think) video on YouTube, it’s aimed at the even cheaper forks but I had a go at mine before a trip to Scotland a couple of years ago and it really did the job.
I also put a bit of PTFE tape round the bolts at the bottom and dropped some reverb fluid in as per the suntour manual. PTFE tape was my addition, first time I tried it, the fluid just dripped out.
Edit Found it - http://www.mbr.co.uk/mountain-bike-videos/workshop/how-to-revamp-your-budget-suntour-fork-video-317009
I've also done the oil conversion.
Couldn't find any suitable oil in my local market town at very short notice (forks had completely stuck I needed the bike the next day), so I ended up sticking some multipurpose oil from a DIY shop in there!
Surprisingly it worked and has lasted 6 months of sporadic riding since then.
I also got some (I think Reba) foams of ebay for about £3. They were the right internal diameter (32mm) but outer diameter was too big so had to be cut down with some scissors. Also, could have done with being a bit thicker foam as, once cut down, they were very floppy and tricky to get to fit ans stay in place once soaked with oil.
Planning to do another service shortly to convert to proper shock oil. Can anyone recommend what weight of oil to be using?
I think they recommend 2.5wt from memory, whatever it's supposed to be, it's the same as reverb fluid, which is easier to get hold of in reasonably small amounts.
Cheers.
Can't go wrong at £3.60 for 120 ml!
Disclaimer: I only converted my Raidons to oil as an experiment, because otherwise I was going to give up on them. Definite improvement, and 6 months on they are still going well and no noticeable leaks. OK, with that in mind:-
I didn't add any foam rings or anything, just dismantled, cleaned out the lowers and cleaned up the stanchions, reassembled and then squirted about 20ml of car oil (5w30 semi-synthetic I think?) in through the holes at the bottom of the lowers (while the bike was upside-down obviously), using a (clean) syringe from a brake bleed kit.
Obviously I wouldn't advise this unprofessional approach on an expensive fork....
Ok, I just read up on foam rings - so we are talking about the foam seals inside the top of the lowers? If so I re-used the foam seals that were already in there - in bad condition, will definitely replace them next time I service them.
They were already in there?
There weren't any in mine and when I emailed suntour they said that was normal as they were greased and not oil so no need for rings but there was a recess if I wanted to add my own
yep there were in mine! Someone got muddled up on the production line?
Anyone ridden the new bizango yet?!
Suntour Raidon
Don't know the Raidon.
But from people biking the Suntour-Auron and Suntour-Durolux forks: the new versions of these forks (from 2016 model) are fantastic.
If Suntour delivers similar technology in the Raidon forks: could be a great fork.
Times where Suntour only delivered low end crappy stuff is definitely over it seems.
Like the Voodoo Bizango as well.
Wouldn't be afraid of QR in the back either.
Most of my bikes still have QR in the back and only recently thru axles in the front.
Never had problems with QR (but with Shimano XT hubs - but that's not the problem of QR).
Mix of OR and thru axle will be only a problem when you try to upgrade later a complete wheel set. Complete wheel sets "in sale" normally won't be available in such a mix. But no big issue either. Enough shops around which assemble you your wheel set on demand and for little money.
I was looking at getting the Bizango but with various discounts and so forth I was able to pickup a Bokor for £544 today. The bike was already reduced by 20% there was was an extra 10% off bikes at Halfords today and I also aded the 10% British Cycling discount as well, bargain!
Gave it a quick fettle after getting the kids to bed and took it out for a short local spin. So far I’m really impressed. Much lighter than my old inbred, which is to be expeced but it’s so much more fun and much happier to change direction and generally behave like a hooligan. It even comes with decent Maxxis Ardent tyres. Only oddity is that the crankset which is SRAM NX appears to use an older style powerspline BB, but that’s not a biggie. Oh and the saddle will need swapping out for me. Overall well happy.
Oh it also has a bolt through rear axle, not sure of diamater as I haven't measured it yet.
Nice looking bike mate, love that colour too!
What frame size did you get? I’m 5’11 so thinking 18, problem is I’m about 40 miles from a store and I’m going to get it delivered and build it myself.. cheers
Yeah probably 18 unless you have long legs. I'm 6'2, 34 inside leg on the 20".
32 inside leg so 20 would be like a barge I reckon. Thanks. Have been trying to decide between boardman pro 29er or bokor as with all discounts the boardman would be about 150 more. Any thoughts on if the extra is worth it?.
I have suntour epixons on my bike, I really like them, they are one model up from the Raidon, which the Mrs has on her bike, you can tell they are a lower model but the seem decent enough to me.
Suntour just seem to have gotten a bit of a bad rep as thier low end coil forks like xct are not that great, but are fitted to a lot of off the shelf bikes to keep cost down. Thier air forks are as good as anything at thier respective price points IMO.
I've not ridden the Boardman so only going off the spec sheet. The Boardman is a lot lighter and the components look great for the price. The frame geometry is slightly more XC-oriented, but I'm not sure how much difference it makes. MBR review mentions this as the only real downside to the bike, but still loved it
I can only speak for the Bizango (think the Bokor is the same frame) but it's been brilliant as a new rider, and I've felt comfortable riding it over much more technical terrain than I would have attempted a year ago. It is on the heavy side but I have another bike I prefer for mixed road/off-road rides, and I mainly take it to trail centres or messing around in the woods.
If I only had one I might be inclined towards the Boardman, but it depends how and where you're planning to ride. I don't think you'd be disappointed with either.
Thanks for the reply. Final question I take it if I wanted to do more than just fast xc I would choose the 18 in boardman? As this would mean it could be used for more technical stuff? Sorry I’m a boob but don’t want to land myself with the wrong one!
If you can't get to a store to sit on some I suppose you'll have to go by the size guide on the site, which suggests the 19" Boardman for you.
People talk a lot about getting the right bike fit, and it is important, but I found it really hard to tell when I started riding off road. I don't know what kind of riding you do now, but it took me a few months to get used to moving around on the bike and finding the right neutral position. Until I'd figured that out the bike never quite felt like it fit me, but now it's great.
Can't comment on the Boardman but as mentioned above it depends what sort of terrain and riding you want to do. If I was still living in the Chilterns I'd go for the Boardman, but now living near the Peaks I went for the Bokor.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Bokor is the same frame as the Bizango</span>
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">I'm 6' 5" so went for the 22".</span>
Just in case anyone comes back to this thread I managed to get the standard tyres and rims setup tubeless using gorilla tape and stans sealant.
With a change of tyres the boardman can handle most things limited mainly by the rider. Running a high roller 2 upfront and minion ss on the back, it descends really well and climbs even better,
Has anyone fitted a dropper post to the 2018 model, it says you can fit a stealth dropper post, but cant see how its internal ??
RE THE ABOVE DOES ANYBODY KNOW WAT SIZE I NEED DROP THAT IS ?
Take your current seatpost out and see what's stamped on it. Guessing its 31.6
About 15 seconds on Google revealed it is 31.6mm. Drop depends on what you want and how much seat post you currently have exposed.
There's even a link on the op post showing it's 31.6!