Recommend me some bikes please.

[Mantaii]

Hi!
Some of you may have seen my thread about upgrading my brakes on my Trek 4100 Alpha to discs, well, after looking at the bike I have decided it will be better to sell the bike and get a new one with discs and a better front suspension fork for not much more than it would cost me to upgrade.

So, my question is, what to upgrade too. I've always liked Trek bikes but I am open to change. Now this is the bit where I am not sure whether this post should be here or in the commuting section.
I want to use the bike to commute in to work which is about 13 miles from door to door so 26 miles there and back but I would also like to join my mate on some downhill runs which he uses since he lives near some trails.

Look forward to hearing your suggestions.

 

[RedBike]

Unless you want to become super humenly fit then you can forget all about commuting that sort of distance on a downhill bike. It's near impossible to ride a downhill bike up-hill or at speed on the road. In fact, assuming your commutes all road, you'd be well advised to forget all about a MTB completely and get a good road bike instead.

A downhill bike will probably cost you the best part of £1000. This is significantly more than a convertion to discs is going to cost! Unless you want to end up in hospital you don't want to use any old rubbish on a downhill run!

I would recommend you fit slick tyres to your Trek for the commute then start saving for that downhill bike. (Also keep your eyes open for a good second-hand road bike to replace that Trek).

Neither of these bikes are actually downhill bikes, However, you can just about pedal them along a road and they should handle most tame downhill runs (with the right rider).
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s1p563
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s1p438

 

[Mantaii]

Blimey, wasnt thinking to spend that sort of cash. I currently run 1/2 and full marathons so my fitness isnt too bad but the route is a mixture of road, coastal path and loose surface i.e. gravel / mudtracks.

Would my Trek, with discs and maybe some new front fork do me for tame downhill tracks? Im not looking to do jumps or anything crazy, just head out once in a while and join my mate on the hills.

I can't justify £1000 of bike which I will use downhill once every other month, I just dont have enough time at the weekends to do this along with all my other hobbies

 

[Mr Pig]

Where abouts in Scotland are you?

I use a steel-framed Genesis Altitude bike for riding to work and plugging through the mud and it's fine. It's quite a heavy bike but I have two sets of wheels, one with slicks, so that I can swap them over quickly. That's about the best you can do as far as having one bike for all. Any bike which is lighter built is simply not going to take off road use so you're stuck with a sturdy mountain bike and slick-shod wheels.

I've done big road runs on my bike but the guys are right, it's going to be a lot more work than a road bike would be, even a light-weight comuting bike with no suspension fork etc. The geometry isn't right either. My bike is fine off road but only just about tolerable on. You'd really be best wit two bikes. If I was comuting as far as you I'd run a stripped down bike just for doing that.

 

[Mantaii]

I live in Fife and work in Edinburgh.

Looks like my options now are either

1) Get a new bike for cycling to work but forget about the downhilling
2) Get a new bike for downhilling and continue with the train to work
3) Stick with the bike I have, put some slicks on it but Im still unsure if it would be OK for hills OR
4) Do nothing to the bike I have and just put up with the hard work

I don't have the space for 2 bikes so thats not an option.

Thanks for everyones advice, its giving me plenty to think about.

 

[spence]

What do you mean by "downhilling"? The full-on Steve Peat type of thing or a few of the trail center descents? If it's the latter a half decent hard tail will suffice with a bit of skill and still do the commute with the forks locked out and set of slicks on a spare wheel set.

 

[Mantaii]

It would be mostly the trail centres.

O.

 

[RedBike]

Blimey, wasnt thinking to spend that sort of cash. I currently run 1/2 and full marathons so my fitness isnt too bad but the route is a mixture of road, coastal path and loose surface i.e. gravel / mudtracks.

In that case I would stick to your Trek and invest in some semi-slick tyres. (Assuming the mud-tracks aren't too muddy).

Would my Trek, with discs and maybe some new front fork do me for tame downhill tracks? Im not looking to do jumps or anything crazy, just head out once in a while and join my mate on the hills.

I'm not too sure what you mean. Even the tamest downhill run will almost certainly have jumps and plenty of stuff that falls under most sane peoples definition of crazy.

The Trek would be fine for riding the local trails as it is; but will be totally unsuitable for doing a downhill run at speed.

This is Fort William, probably the most famous downhill in Scotland.
They make it look a LOT easier than it is. You wouldn't get me to ride down there on any bike.

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ2dwrwNLJY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR7Y...D0E191FEA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1

 

[Mantaii]

I guess part of the problem is I havent been to any downhill areas to see what is involved so I am just guessing to what demands will be put on the bike, hence the reason asking for advice here.
As I have said in my other thread I hope to get the bike through the CycleScheme so I should be able to afford a more expensive bike but pay less.
The downhill stuff as I said would only be once or twice a month, if that, so I should really be focussing on a more commute friendly bike, but I do enjoy riding the coastal paths which can be rocky and loose under foot/wheel.

So I am no further forward.

Here is a new brief :

Looking for a bike which will allow me to do occasional trail riding but be used mostly for cycle paths and commuting in the region of £600

 

[Mantaii]

How would a Specialized Hardrock Pro Disc fair on downhill routes?

Found this one: http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebw...QRY=C106&f_SortOrderID=1&f_bct=c003155c002909

Quite like the look of it but looking for your advice once again.

O.

 

[Mr Pig]

How would a Specialized Hardrock Pro Disc fair on downhill routes?

It just depends what you're actually doing with it. For most rough tracks and bumps it'll be fine. It's not like the bike is going to snap in half or anything like that. What you'll find is that the wheels will go out of true, things like that. It just won't take the abuse as well as a stronger bike would.

If you wanted to do jumps etc then I wouldn't use it as it might break big time but for a bit of bumpy fun it should be fine. Shop around as £500 will buy you a good bike if you can find a good deal going.

 

[spence]

I'd say the frame was fine but the fork lets it down. 80mm may not be enough - I know someone will say you can ride anything on a ridged, but - and the group set isn't brilliant.

Try and go for a Rockhopper, the comp looks ok with a 100mm Tora and Deore.

 

[RedBike]

The Rockhopper is more of a cross country machine than a downhill bike. It will cope fine with trail centers but it's not ideal for downhill.

For a downhill bike think masses of suspension travel and a frame that could with stand a bomb blast.
http://sports.shop.ebay.co.uk/items...fsb=&_sacat=33503&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_pgn=1http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Specialized-B...14&_trkparms=72:1688|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318
(Carefull, there's a few bikes in this list that have been miss-described as downhill bikes. )

I would be tempted to try a few rides (Off-road and to work) with your existing bike before you go out and buy a new bike. I think you'll find commuting 13 miles each way with off-road tyres a real pain.

A lot depends on what sort of terrain you're going to ride Off-road.There's a number of 'levels' of off-road bike. Hybrid, Cross country (xc), All Mountain, Downhill.
As you progress up these levels the bikes become more compitent over the rough stuff. However, they also become much harder to pedal.

Somewhere you've got to make a comprimise. A hybrid will be great for commuting on but a nightmare on the rough stuff off-road. Whereas a downhill bike will be a nightmare to commute on but great when the going gets rough.

 

[Cubist]

Cube Acid.http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=30538

Bang on your budget, very good components for the money, beautiful to look at. Will handle trail centres and improve your skills. Buy a pair of slicks for commuting.

 

[Mantaii]

Cheers everyone, that is a nice looking bike.

I have been told my work is about to roll out a new Bike to work scheme so I will need to wait until these details have been released. What I will do in the mean time is get some semi-slicks for the commute in and give it a go on my current bike. Will probably do that next week some time since the nights will be lighter.
Will order a new helmet as well since my old one has seen better days.

Any more suggestions of bikes are welcome.

What should I be looking for myself within the spec details?

i.e. bad / cheap brands to avoid and things like that.