On 17 Jul 2006 04:14:23 -0700,
[email protected] wrote:
>
>- = k O e N s = - wrote:
>> moving from 24" bmx cruiser and want to get into mtb, no storage room
>> so can only have one bike so need an all rounder i can ride to work in
>> the city but also taek off road on the weekends.
>>
>> my mate suggests a short travel, and also suggested the SPECIALIZED sx
>> trail as a good starter bike.
>
>Why short travel and why a starter bike?
>
>I would judge the amount of travel by the type of offroad riding I was
>going to do and get a suspension with a lockout and an extra set of
>wheels for pavement. Offroad to me almost certainly means something
>other than short travel, unless you mean well-groomed paths that are no
>more challenging than what you would see on a paved road. Since more
>money generally means lighter, among other things, I would get the best
>bike I could afford.
The shortest commonly used travel for a front fork is about 80mm. This is
perfectly adequate for aggressive cross country riding through almost any sort
of terrain.
If your idea of "offroad" is Northshore stunts and jump parks and ski lifts,
yah, you're right. but for the other 92% of off road riding you don't need a lot
of travel.
Back to the OP, I'm not very familiar with Specialized's product line if the
bike you meant was the "Specialized Enduro SX Trail" that's a substantial bike
and probably overkill (not entirely a bad thing) unless you ride hard over
severe terrain with jumps and three foot drops.
Almost any mountain bike will handle your commuter needs, for that you do prefer
shorter travel and a hard tail. The real test is what sort of off road riding
you do. If you're riding trails and such the same short travel hardtail will be
fine. If you're continuing your BMX ways you'll need a more robust fork with
more travel. I don't do jump and freeride myself and see a mix of HT and FS on
the guys who do, so I guess that's a matter of taste. For urban and jump park
stuff the HT seems to do as well. It's the guys riding fast over really crazy
trails who seem to need the rear suspension.
Ron