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I am due to grow out of my current bike by mid summer and I am thinking of getting a new one and I wanted some opinions.
My current bike is a 26" hardtail with 100mm travel and its good but I am looking to get a 27.5" mtb with a longer fork and maybe a shock(?). I would still like to go on longer rides and be efficient on climbs but also be able to do small - medium jumps and tech. Should I go hardtail or full sus and do you have any specific models on the used market (frame only or rolling chassis) that I should look at?
Alternativley have an mtb and a gravel bike for the n+1 experience?
Thanks
Key thing is budget. Watcha got?
@thegeneralist I'm looking to spend tops 600 on a frame, forks, wheels and brakes. I can transplant the rest from my current bike.
It's going to be tricky finding something that'll do medium jumps, longer rides and efficient on climbs at that budget, especially full suss.
Which would you prioritise? The jumping or the efficiency?
Will have a think, meanwhile I'm sure others will have suggestions.
Ah yes, hang on. Other " key question" 😄 what size you after?
What do you mean by "grow out of"?
As above I don't think £600 on all that kit is going to make a significant difference to the ride (depending on what you have, or if you buy sh) and wheel size is not as life changing as the marketeers tell you.
What have you just now? There may be better ways to upgrade.
Which would you prioritise? The jumping or the efficiency?
I was hoping a bit of both, like a downcountry type bike
what size you after?
Probably a size large I should be about 5 foot 10/11 by summer
What do you mean by “grow out of”?
Sorry I should have clarified this but I am currently 16 and 5 foot 9 and a half. My dad is 6 foot 2 so hoping to be about 6 foot / 6 foot 1
What have you just now? There may be better ways to upgrade
I have a medium 26" hardtail that I am starting to grow out. I have done a lot of upgrading to it and the only glaring weakness are its brakes which I am saving the upgrade for the new bike.
What's the bike (frame, brakes and fork)?
Condition of wheels?
Lee Cougan HardCore Medium 2011
Avid BB7s
Rockshox Reba Race 2007 100mm
Wheels are in great condition with hope tech xc hubs (also 2011)
The brakes shouldn't be too bad (I use them on road bikes), a recent thread have many people saying they are good enough, but basic Shimano hydro's aren't expensive.
The forks should be good too. In fact nothing about this bike says it won't do jumps TBH.
The wheels have good hubs at least. You would spend half+ of your budget to get equivalent quality new ones.
Not sure what to advise, you obviously need a new frame, but I think that to buy all the parts you want for £600 will involve significant compromise and a lot of shopping around, less so second hand. I am not super in touch but prices and availability have gotten worse in COVID.
ok thanks for ur advice. I would be buying second hand and hopefully i will find a rolling chassis deal for around that budget.
NP, that sounds a much more achievable way to get those parts, will require some efforts obvs, and will depend on what you can find at the time. Good luck.
Another idea would be to buy a 27.5 frame and transplant your existing parts over, then update as you have funds. You should be able to fit your existing forks into a tapered headtube with an adapter. Something like this, for example:
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/brand-x-ht-01-hardtail-mtb-frame-27-5-2019/rp-prod130452
Parts and frame availability are poor at the moment - maybe you need to go for what you can get rather than what’s ideal.
My mate picked up a new Sonder Transmitter frame recently - they’re £300 brand new from Sonder. You’d need a longer fork - my mate has gone with the 140mm Trvelation he already had on his old full suss bike. The advantage he had is that he already had that fork / 650b wheels. Although his rear hub was on his last legs. I found him a Bitex hub with the same amount of holes as his existing rim and ordered him some ACI spokes so he had a go t rebuilding the at back wheel onto the new hub. He’d never built a wheel before but he’s ended up with something straight / reasonably well tensioned for not a huge amount of money. Might be worth finding out if your Hope XC can be converted to 148 or 142x12 rear axle and 15x110 or 15x100 front axles. If they can that gives you options around reusing those hubs / what fork you can buy.
Forks are going to be your issue I reckon - at 140mm the main Rockshox forks I’d be looking for are a Pike / Revelation or if budget is proving difficult a recon with a motion control damper. I think Fox will be out of budget - but something like a 34 Rhythm or a current Marzocchi Bomber Z2 (not the old ones).
Edit - I forgot about that brand x frame - the reach vs seat tube length isn’t ideal but I built one up for my nephew last year. Decent enough frame in terms of build quality / weight - he’s 5’11 on a large but at the moment would struggle to get a dropper post in there as the seat tube is so tall. It turns out he has a long torso / short legs. Most people at 5’11 would get a 100mm dropper in there probably.
I built it with a 130mm Rockshox Recon Gold RL I got cheap from CRC. I built wheels for it myself - Alex Rims with 23mm inner width / Sapim Leader spokes (cheapest ones I could find at the time) / Superstar V6 front hub / Shimano XT rear hub. That said if your hubs are qr then they’ll fit in that frame (fork was boost 15x110 though). Came out as quite a light bike and he’s really happy with it.
Ok I will have a look at the Brand X frame. I think I might save the wheels from being taken apart as they belong to my dad and just buy a wheelset for ~200 or extend my budget if need be.