all purpose mtb

[Jon Marshall]

hi all

the time has come to get a new bike. I'm looking for something that will comfortably do country
lanes, light touring and moderate off-road, not hurtling down mountains but i do end up in some
moderately rough places (ruttted forest tracks, single track stuff etc.), more road than off-road
i'd say ( about 70/30 ). I've narrowed it down to three bikes.

1) Specialized Rockhopper. Nice light frame and decent specs but has front-suspension. That would
come in use off-road but what penalty on road ?

2) Orange P7 with rigid forks. Haven't heard anyone say a bad thing about this bike.

3) Marin Novato. Bit confused about this one. It's sold as an urban bike but seems to share a lot of
the same specs as some of Marin's hardtails. An LBS i popped into said it wasn't much good for
off-road but there is an whatmtb review saying it is a good all round mtb.

I guess i'm looking for a good all purpose bike and i'd be looking to keep this bike for a
considerable time.

Any experience/insights or alternative suggestions woudl be much appreciated.

Jon

[John Hearns]

On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 01:02:54 +0100, Jon Marshall wrote:

>
> 2) Orange P7 with rigid forks. Haven't heard anyone say a bad thing about this bike.
I have a rather old now Orange P7, rigid forks. I love it to bits. I have smooth tyres on it and a
back rack.

[Simon Brooke]

"Jon Marshall" <jon.marshall@rivan.demon.co.uk> writes:

> hi all
>
> the time has come to get a new bike. I'm looking for something that will comfortably do country
> lanes, light touring and moderate off-road, not hurtling down mountains but i do end up in some
> moderately rough places (ruttted forest tracks, single track stuff etc.), more road than off-road
> i'd say ( about 70/30 ). I've narrowed it down to three bikes.

As always with bikes a key issue is weight, and a lighter bike is usually better than a heavier
bike. Also, of course, simplicity is a good thing - less mechanisms means less to maintain and less
to go wrong. However, don't completely rule out a full suspension bike without trying one. I've
recently bought myself a Cannondale Jekyll. It isn't my only bike, and I haven't, as I'd intended,
disposed of my old rigid hill bike - I may still use it sometimes because it's a nice bike. But the
full suspension bike is a revelation (the fact that it's actually lighter than my rigid one helps!).

On road (or when climbing, although I haven't found this particularly useful) you can lock out the
rear suspension at the flick of a lever. But on rutted or uneven tracks or on tricky bits of
singletrack you are just so much more comfortable and so much more in control. So try one before you
make a final decision.

--
simon@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; 99% of browsers can't run ActiveX controls. Unfortunately ;; 99% of users are using the
1% of browsers that can... [seen on /. 08:04:02]

[Sue]

In message <bjtn3f$afe$1$830fa17d@news.demon.co.uk>, Jon Marshall
<jon.marshall@rivan.demon.co.uk> writes
>
>1) Specialized Rockhopper. Nice light frame and decent specs but has front-suspension. That would
> come in use off-road but what penalty on road

I had one of them until it was stolen. They're good bikes. Bouncy forks are slightly heavier but
really useful on ruts and roots. The only penalty I know of is if you want to scoot the bike along
with one foot on the ground, the forks compress, the bike doesn't move and a certain bone hits the
stem - but how often is that?

Full sus is another matter, it adds considerably to the weight and maintenance. Opinion round here
is divided about one third for and two-thirds against, even on a bike meant just for off-road (we
have woods, mud and flints). If you've already decided on the price, you'll get a better bike for
your money if you don't have full sus.

Why not borrow one of each and ride it over your terrain before you decide on the spec? Then choose
your make and model.

--
Sue ]:(:)

[Dave]

"Sue" <SPAM@blackhole.invalid> wrote in message news:6RELcjJdI3Y$Ewya@mashtub.demon.co.uk...
> In message <bjtn3f$afe$1$830fa17d@news.demon.co.uk>, Jon Marshall
> <jon.marshall@rivan.demon.co.uk> writes
> >
> >1) Specialized Rockhopper. Nice light frame and decent specs but has front-suspension. That would
> > come in use off-road but what penalty on
road
>
> I had one of them until it was stolen. They're good bikes. Bouncy forks are slightly heavier but
> really useful on ruts and roots. The only penalty I know of is if you want to scoot the bike along
> with one foot on the ground, the forks compress, the bike doesn't move and a certain bone hits the
> stem - but how often is that?
>
> Full sus is another matter, it adds considerably to the weight and maintenance. Opinion round here
> is divided about one third for and two-thirds against, even on a bike meant just for off-road (we
> have woods, mud and flints). If you've already decided on the price, you'll get a better bike for
> your money if you don't have full sus.
>
> Why not borrow one of each and ride it over your terrain before you decide on the spec? Then
> choose your make and model.
>
> --
> Sue ]:(:)

I would be happy with my full susser on road except for the tyres. I have massive knobblies (oo-er
missus), in the shape of 2.3 Conti Verticals. Not ideal for on-road due to tarmac wearing me
knobbles down too quick, but stick like Spidey to anything off-road. My full susser is an old GT STS
XCR 1000 that weighs in at 24lbs and doesn't have fancy lock out suspension. As a result I save that
for those 'special' times off-road and invested 20 quid in an old racer that is perfect for on-road.
I've also got an old Universal
pseudo-mountain bike that was the first bike I bought when I became 'born again'. This is rigid and
cheap (around £100 new). I used it regularly on road / towpaths / bridleways. I even did the
Coed-y-brennin Karrimor trail on it *once* ;-). The only 'upgrade' I carried out was buying a
sprung saddle ;-) HTH (but doubt it, sorry) Dave.