"David L" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
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>
> "hippy" <
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>
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> > "Richard Thomas" <
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> >
news:[email protected]...
> > > It's time! I'm a roadie that has seen all you guys having fun in the
> > dirt
> > > for too long without me. Besides I just bought a house and it's pretty
> > much
> > > an all dirt ride down Penasquitos canyon to my work. Plus doing a
> > little
> > > single track but no hairy jumps yet. Did a little research on bikes and would like to get a
> > > full suspension
> > frame
> > > if I can. The guys at the LBS are selling an '02 NRS 3 but I've looked
> > at
> > > the Treks there as well. The Hard tails trek 6700 and 8000 look pretty
> > good
> > > as well as the C'dale F600. Price range is around 800-1000$ and I
> > would need
> > > to use the parts til I can replace em. Suggestions? O yea, about 5'10" 200 lbs
> >
> > This post is almost exactly the same as my situation! Roadie, wants to get into off-road stuff,
> > roughly the same height and weight.
I'm a bit shorter, not quite a newbie, and about 195.
> >
> > What is your reason for going full-suspension? I've been looking at hardtails mostly with some
> > duallies catching my eye... I will ride mostly singletrack stuff with not much jumping
> > (chicken) and maybe race XC. I'm a bit unsure whether to go for a light-ish XC bike (e.g.
> > Kikapu) or to get one of the beefier "freeride" bikes (Sasquatch, Dawg (dualie), Giant AC or
> > NRS (dualie), etc).
>
Why full-sus? Because by most accounts it sounded good and I wanted to spend some decent money on a
decent bike and I enjoyed the feeling on the (very short) test ride and after a lot of research. I
ride similar to you by the sounds of it. I don't race (except against myself) and I do mostly what
you'd pigeon-hole as 'XC' riding with lots of tarmac, fields, tracks and earth, a few drops, bumps,
banks and holes. No major jumps although I have been known to try flying in strange places at
strange times.
>
> If you saw the thread about types of riding styles, XC, freeride, DH,
etc...
> that is something you have to seriously consider, and find out what you
want
> to get out of the bike. the categories don't matter to me but weight will matter. racing XC on a
> 35 lbs DH bike may be a little difficult when you
are
> peddling uphill with a grade of 10%.
>
I was going to say the same thing. Don't get too hung up about what category you are 'in' or even
weight unless you intend to race. It's all shades of gray anyway and they are pretty general
categories, and they mostly weigh the same...sort-of. Your average recreational rider is not gonna
worry about a pound or two or three difference.
Kinda like saying that there are only three types of car in the world. Sportscar, bulldozer and
family car. Which do you drive? Having said that, as Dave says, some bikes are better at some things
than others. Sometimes that difference is only small but there may be a difference.
> when discussing bikes with people you will find there are bikes that don't fit in a category, look
> at giants line they have the AC's, the NRS's,
VT's,
> etc...
>
I have an NRS2. At first glance, the Giant AC range is puzzling. They look virtually the same as the
NRS series but they are designed to be a heavier duty bike than the NRS but not as heavy or specific
as a downhill bike. My NRS still takes some pretty big hits and keeps going. eg yesterday at the end
of a hard ride i stuffed up a small fast downhill drop of all of 18" completely. Bike hit the deck
on it's side under me and I kept going. Almost like I stepped away from the bike except that one
foot and all my weight went on one tyre and rim and then onto the other foot on the top tube.
Despite that, no harm done. I had felt the bike and rims bend and flex under me. You're not supposed
to do that to a 'XC' bike.
> Examine what your territory is like, and be honest with yourself,
> >
> > I already have two rigid mtb's: 1 is a GT Talera which is cro-mo and heavy with **** brakes and
> > the other is an Avanti Montari which is alu and has good brakes but is kitted out for road
> > commuting with slicks and rigid fork, etc.
> >
> > Basically I'm just reading posts like these to find out what people use certain types of bikes
> > for. Hopefully this will make my choice easier. I'll be sticking with the GT for now but would
> > love to get at least a bike with disc brakes and front suspension fork.
> >
> > I've been looking at Kona, Norco, Specialized and Giant... Are these brands good? What others
> > should I examine? I am in Australia, btw.
> >
> > Which should I choose: dualie or hardtail? How do I know which would suit the conditions better?
The choice is yours. Full-sus isn't a magic bullet. But it can be really nice too. Skills? I started
on hard-tail but I wouldn't say that the full-sus is making me lazy or a less skilled rider (bear in
mind that we're not talking skilled anyways). Somedays I enjoy the hardtail even though it's heavier
than my full-sus just because it zooms up climbs better and _feels_ faster. But with less shock,
jumps and bunnyhops are a joy on the springloaded and launched full-susser.
Do some more research and consider budget too. Good luck.
> >
> > Anyway, good luck with your purchase - hopefully there's some useful comments from some
> > experts...
> >
> > cheers hippy
Westie
