hustler

iTrader: (6)

I want a cartridge bearing. Maybe SRAM X9.

EErockMiata

I'm a mtb rider primarily... and only own a road bike for cross training and the twice annual century ride for the ms society. So take my comments with a grain of salt hustler.

With regard to hubs on mtb's... engagement is king. The sram x9 hubs for mtb's have totally **** engagement and riding them sucks pretty hard, especially on a 29r. That was one of the biggest differences i noticed when I upgraded from an oem built wheel set to a chris king, hub based wheel set. Doing tech climbs and out of the saddle smashing was so much easier.

again... mtb rider sticking my head in road bike **** where it doesn't belong... but may apply to you.

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

So, with 3 lift accessed bike parks within an hour of my house I've been SERIOUSLY thinking about a gravity/park bike. I always have fun at those places on my 5" trail bike, but it's not worth the abuse and the bike is simply not made for it.

I'm no baller, so I have a few options here. I could get a full blown downhill bike, dual crown, the works for ~1500. They are the rental bikes at taos, they just opened this year and have 2 trails. They are selling them at the end of the year, so I imagine these things will have very minimal use on them compared to the other bikeparks around that have a ton of trails and tourism. The bike in question is a 2014 rocky mountain flatline park, looks like this:



I'm starting to feel like the dual crown 8+ inch bikes are going to be overkill though. I really love flicking my bike around, quick turns, and the likes. The idea of a bike that "plows" through things isn't really what I want.

So i've been looking at some 7" "park/freeride" style bikes, and I've found this:




What do you guys think? The airborne has good reviews from everyone who has ridden it, it comes with decent mid range components that I'll replace as I wear them out, a warranty, and looks like a blast to ride.

New or used, what bike under 2k would you recommend?

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

Not sure why, but OK. Some newer Shimano may be. To answer other question, yes to 135 and that the disc mount is the correct ISO bolt pattern, not Shimano proprietary screw-on.

TorqueZombie

iTrader: (6)

Curious question. I have a Rockshox rc28 on my hardtail MTB. I'm 195lbs. Shock is stock. Aired down to 35psi with a tubed tire, shock dampening dial up, and preload is just enough to make the bike settle witj me on it a hair it pogo sticks like crazy. Down hills with tree roots/rocks it is unsettling. Any ideas? Bike is less than a year old.

I have turn the shock damper all the way to turtle, removed, reinstalled, and turn further to see how far it will go. Never stops and dampening get better, but not much. Still spongy and I can hear is move fluid when I jump on it. Always been this way.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Hmm.

Using manufacturer-supplied photos, I compare This Schwinn (in red) to my existing Giant Revel (in blue). Since the wheelbase is longer on the Schwinn, I align the two using the front axle as a point of reference:


(The numbers for rake and trail are not in any specific unit (eg; they're not mm or inches), they're just AutoCAD units which provide a relative comparison. The steering angle numbers are correct in absolute degrees.)

Interestingly, the headtube angle and trail are roughly identical between the two. The stack height appears to be identical as well.


Obviously, the fork on the Giant is longer (when fully extended) than the Schwinn. So I create another composite, rotating the Schwinn's frame around the rear axle until it aligns with the Giant fork, then tilting the Giant fork to re-align it with the Schwinn headtube:



In this configuration, trail is slightly increased and steering angle becomes slightly more relaxed, which will have the effect of making the bike more stable, which will be of great importance when it's doing 45MPH and carrying even more weight than it does now.







Not quite following you here. The angle changes by 3.7°, which isn't much. And consider the dynamic loading on the headtube and fork- when hitting a road imperfection at 45 MPH, the increased layback will allow for more of that force to be absorbed by compressing the suspension.








Sounds like I may need to enlist the services of a competent welder.

EErockMiata

@fireindc

Tough call tbh. Both bikes are going to end up with fairly similar geo. You are right in that the airborne is going to feel a bit more peppy and less grip and rip dh style. A few things to note about both bikes. They both come with avid elixer 3's which I am very much not a fan of. I've tried to setup this particular set of brakes on a few friends bikes and they are a PITA to keep running right.

Reality is you're doing mostly DH with this so the braking issues aren't going to be quite as annoying. Both are going to be pig heavy with their build outs (x5). The airborne's fork has me sccrrrddd. I've experienced some of these stripped down oem/proprietary fork damping units on a couple of the rock shox forks and they leave something to be desired. The good news is that it's very easy to create a franken fork with rock shox product line where you simply drop in the motion control or rebound units from the higher end version of the fork and voilla... expensive fork for nothing. I'm guessing since the airborne lists the fork as a domain and not a domain r or rc it has a pre-specified damping circuit that doesn't have the adjustment that i'd want. IE most likely port compression and port rebound unit instead of shim stack units on both. This means the bike may feel ok on single or big hits but on braking bumps or repetitive high speed events, the fork packs down or starts to seize up. Very common for rock shocks bottom end of the line.

That being said downhill bikes aren't as picky about wheel weights or drive train build outs. Just like miata's however, i find my DH, AM and FR mountain biking experience is tied to the quality of the suspension system of the bike i'm on. These are simple single pivot bikes which aren't going to pedal for **** (due to size, weight and suspension link style) but should be pretty fun going downhill.

My gut tells me the rocky mountain might be the more fun bike to shred on although it's going to want to be ridden hard. I'd have to put some riding in to see how they blow through (or don't) their rear suspension travel to know for sure. A used bike may be a better proposition however as gravity riding seems fairly new in your area, there might not be a great market.

Either way prob decent first bikes that you won't lose your *** on should you get bitten by the bug and want to sell and upgrade (trust me you will, everyone that tries this gets bit by the bug).

hustler

iTrader: (6)

I chatted with Fairwheel Bikes. They can do a DT350 hub with a 240 cog, double-butted DT spokes, brass nipples, and they are checking on all-black Pacenti SL23 wheels for under $650 shipped. I think I'm going to do it.

Now I can get back to obsessing over a Chris King R45 set-up, power meter, and 6870 for my road bike. Ummm, I mean "fixing the green Miata."

vehicular

iTrader: (3)

It strikes me that it would be a hell of a lot easier to weld a caliper tab to your Giant and figure out a lever solution, than it would be to weld a steering head onto that townie. It will be lighter, and more pleasant to ride. As a bonus, you'll be able to look yourself in the mirror after riding it.

emilio700

iTrader: (3)

There is a chance that some of the industry has adopted 1" road or 1-1/8" road for their cruisers head tubes. I'm rusty on this but the informal nomenclature is 1" BMX and 1" road, the former being smaller actual diameter. Sheldon Brown's site probably has some details.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

4.5 miles into a 70-mile ride:

GP4ks to the rescue. If there were any mention of gravel prior to this ride I would have put on the Gators.

emilio700

iTrader: (3)

Dollar bill makes a good boot. Park Tool sells a boot patch thing which is also handy.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

My boot-patch and dollar boot didn't work, it was either too close to the bead or I'm an idiot. I'm also not sure I wanted to do another 60 miles on a booted tire with more gravel though.

doward

15.26lb China carbon disc roadie I saw on Weightweenies:




I'd definitely ride it.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

lol @ stem^2, crank, cable pull brakes

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Probably, which is why I'm hoping that no welding at all will be necessary. I'd really like to avoid having three levers if at all possible.



I did spend some time poking around Sheldon's site, and didn't find anything. Beyond being somewhat outdated, most of his articles are much more about common sense and ordinary maintenance than building Frankenbikes. (He reminds me a lot of the late Bob Hoover.)

Time to get empirical about this. Once the cast comes off and the pins are out, there's a bike shop out in Brooklyn where they do nothing but refurb and re-sell old bikes, often combining parts from two or more damaged bikes to make one. If anyone can answer the interchange question, it'll be them.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

I've got your frankenbike RIGHT HUR:





I got an "A" on it.

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

Cable pull disc brakes are totally fine.

Not sure why there is hydro hype for road disc bikes. who cares. lol

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

Bike Ride Profile | 50 kilometers near Ontario K0H, Canada | Times and Records | Strava

My longest/hilliest ride yet.
Nothing compared to some of you dudes on here doing huge miles.. but this is pretty big as a solo ride.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

I still find it to be somewhat to look back at how Hustler has grown from an anti-carbon, anti-disc povertyrider to the bright, elitist flower that he is now.