best mountain bike reccomendations

[DBSV8]

Any ideas on a pair of good mountain bikes , his and hers for France , must be full suspension models please give prices

thanks

[alfaman]

what is your approx. budget and what sort of riding do you do ? - that will effect what sort of bike best suits.

Why are FS bikes "essential" ?

[DBSV8]

was looking at a couple of trek fuel 80 at around 950
anywhere up to 2k for two bikes
do alot of cycling when i can but its all road racing , so fancy a change bit off road


as possibilities anyone reccommend these? or are they over rated
looking at off road canal paths around Brittany and just going for a blast , want something durable that will last

Edited by DBSV8 on Thursday 10th August 20:42

[Graham]

if you want somthing durable that will last, and is also nice and light i'd get one of these

www.orangebikes.co.uk/2006bikes/p7-pro.php


Ok its a hard tail but thats less weight and less to go wrong.

I used to break bikes in about 12-18 months untill I bought a p7 back in 92 !!!

[Phil Hopkins]

I'd second Graham with the Orange Bikes. (i'm biased, I have two).

If you are specifically looking for Full Sus just for knocking around on, the Orange Five is a FANTASTIC bike.

Buy British!

www.orangebikes.co.uk/2006bikes/five-s.php

Edited by Phil Hopkins on Friday 11th August 09:23

[DBSV8]

Phil Hopkins said:

I'd second Graham with the Orange Bikes. (i'm biased, I have two).

If you are specifically looking for Full Sus just for knocking around on, the Orange Five is a FANTASTIC bike.

Buy British!

www.orangebikes.co.uk/2006bikes/five-s.php

Edited by Phil Hopkins on Friday 11th August 09:23

Thanks guys

like the look of the G7 and fits nicely into the 900 mark .......Also British and at the mo im mightly pissed off with the news regarding Flights / US etc........really

going to make my travel from Siberia to blighty that bit more crap !!!!
bloody politcs , bloody yanks , bloody hell ...

need to get out of here and on my bike !!!

[JPJ]

You're also lucky that it's getting to that time of the year when the new season bikes come in, and the prices of the 2006 models can drop. When you've worked out what you want (probably worth some test rides if you can fit it in) then have a good shop around on the web and finally see if your local stockist will price match.

[White_van_Man]

the evans sale starts tomorrow, this is a very good place to look for bikes. I would have a look at the specalised, a tvrmans GF has got one of their FS bikes and it was very good for the money. What riding are you hoping to do in france and which part are you going to?

[CarlT]

I have GT Avalanache Disc - nice and easy to ride and lighweight

[Locoblade]

A lot of the more popular Specialized full susers seem to have been in short supply this year though, so I wouldnt expect that many in the sales.

I was looking in this price range a few months ago and the Giant Trance was the one I was favouring, seemed better specced than the equivalent price Fuel and the "Maestro" suspension system seem to get very good reviews. Pedal-On have some good deals on 2005/6 Trance 3 and Reign 3's but only if you're a small size, and Pauls Cycles still have this really good deal on the Trance 4 (slightly lower spec) but with a hydraulic disc upgrade for just over £600 instead of ~£1k RRP.

If you can stretch your budget a little (or buy the missus a cheaper bike ) then I'd also recommend having a look at the Scott MC50, again Pedal-On have the 2006 model reduced by about £400 to £1200 now the 2007 bikes are about to appear. Rather than buying one of the above I ended up buying a 6 month old MC30 off a good mate and its a cracking bike, the frame etc is the same as the MC50 just different front fork and mechanicals etc, but should be just as good to ride pretty much.

Chris

Edited by Locoblade on Friday 11th August 18:51

[venom500]

Try a Specialized Epic , great bike, the S-Works with a weight of only 24Ibs is the pick of the bunch but a tad expensive. StumpJumper also worth a look at,great build quality.

[beanbag]

venom500 said:

Try a Specialized Epic , great bike, the S-Works with a weight of only 24Ibs is the pick of the bunch but a tad expensive. StumpJumper also worth a look at,great build quality.

I'll 2nd the Stumpjumper. Just bought an FSR Comp model from the 06 range and got €600 knocked off the price. That's about 400 quid to you and me so do a bit of hunting and you'll get yourself a bargain!

[Crippo]

New Trek Fuel EX 5 coming out later this month. It is 4" has a motion control shock and use Shimano Hydraulic brakes. It undercuts every other bike in the market and will come with a Lifetime warranty on bearings and frame.

[beanbag]

Crippo said:

New Trek Fuel EX 5 coming out later this month. It is 4" has a motion control shock and use Shimano Hydraulic brakes. It undercuts every other bike in the market and will come with a Lifetime warranty on bearings and frame.

It needs the lifetime warranty on the frame! My brother-in-laws cousin had an Fuel EX 9, and not once, but twice the frame broke at the pivot joint on the rear suspension.

This was one of the reasons I ended up with the Specialized.

[pombstard]

beanbag said:

Crippo said:

New Trek Fuel EX 5 coming out later this month. It is 4" has a motion control shock and use Shimano Hydraulic brakes. It undercuts every other bike in the market and will come with a Lifetime warranty on bearings and frame.

It needs the lifetime warranty on the frame! My brother-in-laws cousin had an Fuel EX 9, and not once, but twice the frame broke at the pivot joint on the rear suspension.

This was one of the reasons I ended up with the Specialized.

One of the guys I go cycling with had same prob with a Trek Fuel - frame breaks just where the chainstay meets the downtube. He now rides a Nicolai XC machine - very, very tasty.

[beanbag]

pombstard said:

beanbag said:

Crippo said:

New Trek Fuel EX 5 coming out later this month. It is 4" has a motion control shock and use Shimano Hydraulic brakes. It undercuts every other bike in the market and will come with a Lifetime warranty on bearings and frame.

It needs the lifetime warranty on the frame! My brother-in-laws cousin had an Fuel EX 9, and not once, but twice the frame broke at the pivot joint on the rear suspension.

This was one of the reasons I ended up with the Specialized.

One of the guys I go cycling with had same prob with a Trek Fuel - frame breaks just where the chainstay meets the downtube. He now rides a Nicolai XC machine - very, very tasty.

Interesting! That's the 3rd Trek Fuel frame I've that's broken. I'm sure there are instances of Specialized ones going but I've yet to hear about them.

I think Trek have quite a flaw in their design....which is a shame as it's otherwise a very nice balanced bike.

[Crippo]

Fuel Exs dont snap as a rule. (Not to say they cant snap, as anything can of course) He may have had his bearings come loose as they are bonded in. Many people try to rebond their bearings and do a bad job or dont use the correct retaing compound. Hence they come loose again. I havnt had a single problem with the bearings or bushes on any of my bikes in the 4 years I have been riding various Treks.
Besides Bearings are Press fitted on the 07 bikes to negate these issues for the future.

Hope that Helps

[beanbag]

Crippo said:

Fuel Exs dont snap as a rule. (Not to say they cant snap, as anything can of course) He may have had his bearings come loose as they are bonded in. Many people try to rebond their bearings and do a bad job or dont use the correct retaing compound. Hence they come loose again. I havnt had a single problem with the bearings or bushes on any of my bikes in the 4 years I have been riding various Treks.
Besides Bearings are Press fitted on the 07 bikes to negate these issues for the future.

Hope that Helps

The frame definately broke. Twice! This was confirmed by Trek since they gave him a replacement....twice. On the 2nd time, he sold it and bought a Specialised. Not a problem since.

Still, maybe he had bad luck of the draw but twice in a row in a short space of time seems a little much for me. It just put me off buying the Trek. (Was going for a Fuel EX 8.)

[neil_cardiff]

beanbag said:

Crippo said:

Fuel Exs dont snap as a rule. (Not to say they cant snap, as anything can of course) He may have had his bearings come loose as they are bonded in. Many people try to rebond their bearings and do a bad job or dont use the correct retaing compound. Hence they come loose again. I havnt had a single problem with the bearings or bushes on any of my bikes in the 4 years I have been riding various Treks.
Besides Bearings are Press fitted on the 07 bikes to negate these issues for the future.

Hope that Helps

The frame definately broke. Twice! This was confirmed by Trek since they gave him a replacement....twice. On the 2nd time, he sold it and bought a Specialised. Not a problem since.

Still, maybe he had bad luck of the draw but twice in a row in a short space of time seems a little much for me. It just put me off buying the Trek. (Was going for a Fuel EX 8.)

I can confirm they feel flimsy, as my mate has had a couple inc. the Alu framed one and the full OCLV one. He was in love with the ride, not so much the potentially short durability.

Also, I've found a lot of these lighter weight full sus frames suffer from premature bearing failure - or bearings working loose (as mentioned earlier). Whether this is bad design, manufacture or what is not here for debate, however it makes me wary of a frame so expensive.

You can't beat a good old hardtail for reliability. Or my Trek Y

[beanbag]

Neils regular porno site:

www.users.bigpond.com/cool386/trek/trek.htm