hardtails

[paigeo]

Now, I don't have anything against full-suspension bikes or bikers, but I enjoy more of a "rougher" ride of sorts. I admit, I am not tough enough to go totally rigid, but do enjoy to feel the bumps underneath my tires. Therefore...I ride hardtails. Currently, I ride a 19" Marin B-17. Now I tell you the size because I am 5'3" and riding a 19" frame. I wanted to know if that is unusual and if anyone else rides a bigger frame as a shorter person. Back to my main point: I wanted a place for people to post photos of their "rigs" when they are just hardtails. Not full-suspension, not rigid. Just hardtails. So, if you ride a hardtail...post a picture and look at everyone elses.

-Paige
P.S.--my photos are yet to be taken but I will post them as soon as I can

 

[dgz69er]

thats freaky dude, i'm 5'11" and i ride a 19" frame. but i do agree i think that hardtales are much better than full suspension bikes. i don't have a pic of my bike, but i do have a trek 4500, upgraded to an xtr drivetrain. i'm upgrading everything on my bike as time goes by.

 

[Mellic]

holy cow, don't you pole yourself when you fall off? I am 5'4" and I ride a 15"-16" frame.

 

[paigeo]

holy cow, don't you pole yourself when you fall off? I am 5'4" and I ride a 15"-16" frame.

No, not quite....see that i am a WOMAN. But it seems that that is unusual for my height. Anyway, Mellic, you must have some pictures of your "rig" , so why don't you share?

 

[Mellic]

I haven't taken any pictures of my "rig" yet because I haven't had it for very long, but it pretty much looks like this:

http://www.bmc-racing.com/bikes.cfm?lang=eng&catID=3&modID=18

The components I am running on the bike are slightly different. My bike has reba race forks (85mm travel), hayes hfx-9 brakes, mavic 317 wheels, onyx hubs, sram rocket trigger shifters, and an xt rear derailleur. Everything else is pretty much stock.

You can still pole yourself if you are a woman. True it might not hurt as much as when a guy hits his crown jewels, but been a woman myself I know it still hurts.

Surely you are unable to stand over the top tube with both feet flat on the floor? I cannot even stand over a 17" bike, so I cannot imagine even attempting to stand over a 19". Anyway I guess if it feels comfortable for you then stick with it, but the advantages of riding a bike that fits you properly is that you have better control.

 

[dgz69er]

I haven't taken any pictures of my "rig" yet because I haven't had it for very long, but it pretty much looks like this:

http://www.bmc-racing.com/bikes.cfm?lang=eng&catID=3&modID=18

The components I am running on the bike are slightly different. My bike has reba race forks (85mm travel), hayes hfx-9 brakes, mavic 317 wheels, onyx hubs, sram rocket trigger shifters, and an xt rear derailleur. Everything else is pretty much stock.

You can still pole yourself if you are a woman. True it might not hurt as much as when a guy hits his crown jewels, but been a woman myself I know it still hurts.

Surely you are unable to stand over the top tube with both feet flat on the floor? I cannot even stand over a 17" bike, so I cannot imagine even attempting to stand over a 19". Anyway I guess if it feels comfortable for you then stick with it, but the advantages of riding a bike that fits you properly is that you have better control.

thats a pretty nice bike you have.

 

[paigeo]

I haven't taken any pictures of my "rig" yet because I haven't had it for very long, but it pretty much looks like this:

http://www.bmc-racing.com/bikes.cfm?lang=eng&catID=3&modID=18

The components I am running on the bike are slightly different. My bike has reba race forks (85mm travel), hayes hfx-9 brakes, mavic 317 wheels, onyx hubs, sram rocket trigger shifters, and an xt rear derailleur. Everything else is pretty much stock.

You can still pole yourself if you are a woman. True it might not hurt as much as when a guy hits his crown jewels, but been a woman myself I know it still hurts.

Surely you are unable to stand over the top tube with both feet flat on the floor? I cannot even stand over a 17" bike, so I cannot imagine even attempting to stand over a 19". Anyway I guess if it feels comfortable for you then stick with it, but the advantages of riding a bike that fits you properly is that you have better control.

Yeah, I CAN stand over it...I am not sure how, but I can. How do you mean been a woman, are you not anymore?

 

[Mellic]

Yeah, I CAN stand over it...I am not sure how, but I can. How do you mean been a woman, are you not anymore?

LOL, I tend to get my been/beings mixed up. Of course I am still a woman, and there is no way I would even consider changing.

I checked out your bike on the net. Your bike is predominantly used for agressive xc riding and the top tube is angled down more than a regular xc frame and that is why you can stand over the top tube.

And thanks dgz69er, I think it is a nice bike too. Is great to ride.

 

[paigeo]

Thanks for clearing that up...lol. Thats good to know...because I thought it was a mistake sticker when I first got it because my boyfriend also rides a 19" frame, and he's 6'. I can't stand over that bar on his Jamis Durango Sport SX (I think).

 

[Trekhead]

Hey. I'm 6'3 and ride Trek 4500 with a 19.5" frame. Seems to fit me perfect. I'll probably never get another bike unless this one cracks in half. I love hardtails. I do mostly urban riding so I don't need much suspension but even if I rode trails a lot I'd still use one. The RockShox Judy is nice to have up front though...

 

[WINGNUTT]

Recently switched back to a hard tail and am very happy I did so, however it's not because I like the rougher ride. I like the hard tail because it's light, and it has no bob, so it's WAY faster on everything but the hard core downhills. I now love cruising by guys huffing and puffing away on their bouncy full suspensions. Oh, and I always lock out the front fork going uphill so I can stand up and crank away. Ever since I started riding road bikes, it just became obvious that full suspension is totally unnecessary for riding in most places.

Here's a few pics of the ol Orbea hardtail:
http://www.bicycleregistry.net/registryitem.asp?ID=23

 

[inrharmony]

I bought my hardtail back in 95, I think....when I got it, it was a full rigid...it was on sale, so I didn't really pay too much attention to fit. I was more interested in getting a bike with Deore LX components for a song. It's a 21" frame, so when I straddle it, it's a bit of an intimate situation....LOL!! Otherwise, the bike seems to fit fine, me being 5' 10"...I've always had fun riding it, and recently pulled it out of the shed and started going over things to get the bike working right again.

 

[Solanog]

I'm 5'10" and my bike is 18.5", a little big but comfortable. It was O.K but I bought a different front fork which is 110mm more than the original so the bicycle "grew up" a little. I've ridden my brothers 21" and it felt O.K.
I have no pictures of mine but I'll post them when I have them.

 

[inrharmony]

I'm 5'10" and my bike is 18.5", a little big but comfortable. It was O.K but I bought a different front fork which is 110mm more than the original so the bicycle "grew up" a little. I've ridden my brothers 21" and it felt O.K.
I have no pictures of mine but I'll post them when I have them.

As for bike size, since my last post on this thread, I've 'received' a Trek Y26, 17 1/2" frame size. This bike fits me MUCH better than my KHS did. No more sore wrists...that was one thing that I've been noticing, especially on longer 'tarmac' rides.

The new bike came via Scion, as a gift for buying one of their cars. Not a bad bike, for a cheap fs. I wouldn't buy one myself, but since it was included in the purchase of the car it definetely fit in my budget!!! Overall, the bike works WAY better than the tired old KHS...

 

[Solanog]

Is this new one bigger or smaller than the KHS? How tall are you?

 

[inrharmony]

Is this new one bigger or smaller than the KHS? How tall are you?

The Trek is a 17.5" frame....the KHS is 21". I'm 5' 10", however I'm sort of long in the torso, short in the legs and arms, comparitively. When I bought the KHS 12 years ago, I didn't know anything about bike fit....and it was on sale, so I lived with it for along time. Now that I'm older and know something of correct bike fit, I won't make that mistake again.

The 17.5" bike seems to be a perfect size for me....did some off-road riding yesterday and had a great time...bike did a superb job.

 

[Solanog]

My complexion is similar to yours, I'm a little short legged. As an example I was going to buy a custom frame for my road bike and the measurements where 54cm for the seat tube and 56 for the toptube with a 12cm stem so total lenght to the handlebar was 56+12cm. I finally got a 55 X 55 frame witht the 12cm stem.
I wonder if my bicycle (MB is 18.5")size is what bothers me because after about an hour of going uphill on a dirt road I get a little pain in my lower back, I stop and stretch a little and the pain (fatigue?) is gone. Could it be that the frame is bigger than it should?

 

[inrharmony]

My complexion is similar to yours, I'm a little short legged. As an example I was going to buy a custom frame for my road bike and the measurements where 54cm for the seat tube and 56 for the toptube with a 12cm stem so total lenght to the handlebar was 56+12cm. I finally got a 55 X 55 frame witht the 12cm stem.
I wonder if my bicycle (MB is 18.5")size is what bothers me because after about an hour of going uphill on a dirt road I get a little pain in my lower back, I stop and stretch a little and the pain (fatigue?) is gone. Could it be that the frame is bigger than it should?

I measured mine just now in cm's, and here's what I came up with. From the front edge of the seat tube to the back edge of the steerer tube is 48cm. The stem is 10 cm from the center of the steerer tube to the center of the handlebar...don't know how similar that is to yours, but sounds like you might be a slight bit stretched on your bike....just slightly. I wonder if you could compensate with a slightly less aggressive stem or more forward seat positioning. I apologize if my method of measuring isn't correct, hence the description of where I'm measuring to....and from. I also measured from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube...45cm. Hope that helps...not that my fit is perfect, but it's much better than I had before....

 

[Solanog]

Sorry if I didn't explain correctly, the measurements (54 X 56 plus 12cm from the stem to the handlebar) were for the road bike.
My MB is 18.5" I think the top tube is similar (18.5" = 47cm) and the steerer is not to long I would say (without having measured it is around 10cm or 4"). I get a little fatigued specially when riding the Mountain Bike, so I don't know if it is because of the rough terrain or because the bike is not my size.
I will try to remember and post some pictures tomorrow.

 

[inrharmony]

Sorry if I didn't explain correctly, the measurements (54 X 56 plus 12cm from the stem to the handlebar) were for the road bike.
My MB is 18.5" I think the top tube is similar (18.5" = 47cm) and the steerer is not to long I would say (without having measured it is around 10cm or 4"). I get a little fatigued specially when riding the Mountain Bike, so I don't know if it is because of the rough terrain or because the bike is not my size.
I will try to remember and post some pictures tomorrow.

Ah, my bad....you explained just fine...I misread. Sounds like the geometry of your mb is similar to mine, give or take. My stem is angled up pretty far, and I have it up sort of to a point where it's close to level with the saddle...wouldn't be great for climbing, but here in Florida, we pretty much don't climb!!