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Do You Mountain Bike?

Go2Trackdays said:
I just had yet another birthday :bday

... and I got quite a bit of $ from family, and now I'm thinking about upgrading the front end of my Hardtail Jamis.

The frame was warranty replaced in 08 because of a headtube frame crack, and I had to buy a new disc wheel for the back - originally the late 2003 model bike had V Brakes ( still has a V brake front :|)

The 2010 Fox F series RLC FIT fork 15 QR just came out recently :drool and I have some connections to get a good deal (but they're still not that cheap!) on it.

That means a new fork, front brake set, new front wheel !!! Whoa $$$$$

I have ridden this bike with it's Marzocchi spring / oil fork since Jan 2004 putting on a little over 1000 miles / yr.

Is the ride quality change dramatic enough to justify the $ ? or are there some other possibilities?
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see if you can chase down a Fox F100 Terralogic (should be able to find a new one for around $500)....grab a mechanical front disk brake and a decent front wheel.....you will notice a HUGE difference....

but so ya know....the terralogic forks are not that plush....it's basically a 'brain' for the front suspension....they don't compress until something hits it from below......i've raced a F80X (PUSH'd) in '07 and '08....GREAT freakin' fork...climbs like a billy goat on crack.... :)
 
CHUM said:
see if you can chase down a Fox F100 Terralogic (should be able to find a new one for around $500)....grab a mechanical front disk brake and a decent front wheel.....you will notice a HUGE difference....

but so ya know....the terralogic forks are not that plush....it's basically a 'brain' for the front suspension....they don't compress until something hits it from below......i've raced a F80X (PUSH'd) in '07 and '08....GREAT freakin' fork...climbs like a billy goat on crack.... :)
Click to expand...

+1 on the Terralogic "X" forks... but they stopped making them in '07, so you won't find one with a 15QR or FIT. I'm still riding a TALAS X. I just sold the last F100X I had for $300 and it was freshly rebuilt, so they can be had reasonably. Just keep an eye out.

And +1 on getting a newer rig. You may have to add it a few $$$, but that could be offset by selling your old one. At $1k, you'll find even more and nicer ones on CL.
 
Thanks to Tread Bike Shop I had a chance to try a hardtail bike ($3.4k) with a 09 Fox 32 RLC 100, well only around the parking lot. It didn't seem that much different at first, maybe a little plusher... weird when I picked up the front I could hear and feel the rebound working. I went up and down the nearby curbs and couldn't find any rocky areas or stutter bumps.

I tried the same curbs right afterwards with my own bike - :wow OK it IS quite a bit different! Mine was much harsher when landing off the curbs, like landing on a hard rubber ball, there was a lot more high frequency "ringing" in the handlebars, it didn't have that refined damping action. And supposedly the 2010 has even smoother action... If I buy some other used bike, it WON'T have a fork like the FIT RLC no matter what I find, right?
 
Another vote on getting a full suspension rig and keeping the hardtail as a backup bike or rainy day/mud bike.

Save your money and spend like $1500 and you can get something pretty nice, I'd love to have a 2010 Fox fork too but instead I just painted my 07 fork white and put new stickers on it :laughing

If you insist, I'd look on ebay or craigslist and look for a 07/08 Fox Float 100 or 120. A RL or a RLC would be good. You can probably score one for $250-300 or so. You don't need a fancy brand new Fox fork for that bike. The fork will be worth more than the whole bike!
 
Yody said:
The fork will be worth more than the whole bike!
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yep, definitely since originally I bought the whole bike for about.... $460

:laughing

I see that the 2010 FOX RP23 is about ~ $400... I'll just save up for an ibis frame :teeth


So the consensus here is that a $700 full suspension bike with cheapo fork and shock rides better and goes everywhere better and more efficiently than a overkill front end hardtail setup?
 
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Go2Trackdays said:
yep, definitely since originally I bought the whole bike for about.... $460

:laughing

I see that the 2010 FOX RP23 is about ~ $400... I'll just save up for an ibis frame :teeth

So the consensus here is that a $700 full suspension bike with cheapo fork and shock rides better and goes everywhere better and more efficiently than a overkill front end hardtail setup?
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I think the consensus is to toss in a few more $$$ (maybe by selling the old bike) and getting a nice FS in the $1k-$1.5K range with a decent build.
 
Go2Trackdays said:
...So the consensus here is that a $700 full suspension bike with cheapo fork and shock rides better and goes everywhere better and more efficiently than a overkill front end hardtail setup?
Click to expand...

OH HEAVENS NO!......just about 99% of bay area trails are HT friendly.....most people rely on FS as a crutch.....

personally i'd just take all those silly derailleurs, cable thingies, rings off and pop on a rigid carbon fork and some bar ends......SS your old Jamis.....:thumbup

ride that for a bit while you save for a Mojo, Stumpy, Yeti etc.....your skillz will be greatly improved :teeth
 
CHUM said:
OH HEAVENS NO!......just about 99% of bay area trails are HT friendly.....most people rely on FS as a crutch.....

personally i'd just take all those silly derailleurs, cable thingies, rings off and pop on a rigid carbon fork and some bar ends......SS your old Jamis.....:thumbup

ride that for a bit while you save for a Mojo, Stumpy, Yeti etc.....your skillz will be greatly improved :teeth
Click to expand...

Get a decent full suspension bike, and I'll GIVE you a MB-5 frame to build Chum style.
 
Phew! Just got home from DV.

Conditions: Additional exposed rocks all over, More ruts - I guess from the rain last week.

More rocks + More ruts = fucking fun


DSC00195.jpg



I know, the DH bike is overkill for DV, but it gives me more confidence to barrel down and hit the jumps faster @ butcher. LOL :ride
 
back on the saddle

7 weeks after I broke my leg/dislocated my ankle at Northstar, I'm back to riding:teeth

1st week back and I'm looking at ~72-82 total miles of trail riding -- good stuff:cool

My 3 weeks on the stationary bike with a HR monitor really helped me transition back with ease (possibly even a bit stronger than pre-injury). The 40min sufferfests on the trainer with a sustained HR of 175-185 did its job:thumbup

The ligaments around the ankle seem to be getting stronger with each ride:) (No jumps/drops for another 3 weeks;))

My parting gifts:
 

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