The Cycling / Bicycles Thread

[kernow]

hello,

I'm having a stupid moment and I'm thinking of buying another BMX, well one for me and one for the missus as for some reason she's wanted one for ages. I've had a few before and my last was a half decent one. But as that was 10yrs ago I'm wondering if anyone here is still into it and can recommend a good bike for a starter (maybe £150 at most) and a slightly higher quality one for myself.

I have looked at the starter bikes first and I've seen the real basic models for 80 quid that I haven't heard of and would rather avoid, going up the scale you have the mongoose models for around £120-£130, and the diamond back grind (?) for £150, she wants a pink one too and I've noticed that is indeed available in pink.

Is it true the rumours I heard about most mongoose and diamond back bikes being garbage nowadays? I heard they declined quite a bit in quality and recommendation since the days of old. Can anyone recommend some newer brands as I'm an old fart now and very out of the scene. I could probably spend £350 on one for myself and I've seen a few wethepeople ones for around this that look very nice, and £150 on hers so there you go.

Theres a lovely KHE flatland one on ebay right now but it might be bobbins, looks nice though. I was into light riding, a bit of street and some botched flatland attempts in my day, however I always like to have quality items , hence my allowance on price. Can someone recommend some other brands, or possibly whole bikes I should be looking at?

My last one was a mongoose hooligan frame and forks, haro kneesaver bars, stem and seatpost, tech 77 levers with ABS(?) ballrace calipers, odyssey gyro, and haro 48 spoke alloys, it was a lovely bike, but oh my god it was so heavy (but well built) I could hardly even bunny hop with it.

cheers, maybe I'll consider getting slightly fit again instead of wasting all my money on games !

[vanpeebles]

Shame you live miles away, I have a brand new WeThePeople Airwin in the loft, I can recommend them lovely bikes.

[kernow]

hmm, theres a shop in town that sells them but I'm not sure what their current stock is like, they do have a load of WTP bikes on their website though. I prefer to see one in the flesh however. Maybe I'll trundle down there and have a look, because they didn't pick up the phone when I rung earlier. thanks

[vanpeebles]

The build quality is superb and they have some nice bits on them. Well worth a look.

[Alastair]

This is a fairly old thread then, thought I'd bring it back from the dead.

I'm out of touch with bikes now really although once-upon-a-time I was actually a cycle mechanic, would you believe it, loved that job, pay was pants though.

I have a little jump bike, some decent components, some not so. I've just yesterday collected a frame that I bought on ebay as I want to get back into XC riding with my gf.

On Saturday I'm going to build up the new frame using all the good bits from my current bike. Thing is that the new frame is full suspension and I'm running a single (38 tooth) chainring on the jump bike.

Although I would have known this once, my question is, how much chain slack does a full sus bike need? It's not long travel. Normally I'd just stick the chain on the largest cog front and rear and that would probably do but I don't know if I need to leave a bit more for the suspension movement.

After that it's time to get some decent components on it, got my eye on a few bits and bobs on ebay. Bike gear seems pretty cheap nowadays, was always mega expensive when I was into it years back.

Is there two types of rear mech now? Is rapid rise different or will it still work with normal shifters? And also, will a short cage rear mech work on any gears or is there a special requirement somewhere else?

[charlaph]

Just paid a deposit today at one of my local bike shops for a Scott Aspect 45. I haven't ridden a bike in anger for over 10 years but I need to shift some weight and get fit. Unfortunately I don't pick it up until a week on monday as I'm away to England next week. Can't wait.

[TheForce]

after 4 years of great fun I sold my Cannondale (F800, excellent bike by the way) ,
I'm now looking for a new one, after some digging around and reading some test I have 3in mind;
Trek8500: (http://www.trekbikes.com/nl/nl/bikes.../8_series/8500) ,
Giant XTC alliance 0 (http://www.giant-bicycles.com/nl-nl/...in/2929/33809/)
Grand Canyon 9.0 SL (http://www.canyon.com/_nl/mountainbi...ecs.html?b=806)

so far I prefer the Canyon over the other 2 bikes, it's very well equipped and I like the looks of it... still though I wan't to have a closer look at all 3 of them...

Maybe someone overhere has expierence with any of these bikes ? ...

[charlaph]

LOL, 3 months in and I'm changing already. Having moved office recently my opportunities for off roading with the MTB have been seriously limited, so it's not getting much use. Luckily this has come at the same time as my employer opening applications for cyclescheme. Sooo, in a matter of weeks I'll be taking delivery of one of these and fully intend to use it to commute in and out;



2010 Kona Jake. Also getting panniers and a bunch of other accessories with the remaining money on my voucher. I would have liked a better bike, but I needed to put pennies aside to kit myself out for winter commuting. The Jake is a nice compromise for me, being full Tiagra as opposed to Sora that clutters most sub ?800 bikes, although it will need a fork upgrade sooner rather than later - the steel unit as stock weighs over a kilo! fortunately with carbon being the flavour of the month it means alloy cx forks are pretty cheap. Getting a cross bike also means I should be able to sell the hardtail as I'll be able to do 90% of my usual trails with it.

[TheForce]

check out this movie..... pretty amazing !

http://video.telegraph.co.uk/services/player/bcpid1137883380?bctid=21337502001

[Brad]

holy cr@p!

I've seen some BMX videos and stuff in my time. In particular the Road Fools series and this guy is seriously incredible. I wonder if the snow stopped him from getting anywhere ;-)

Here's my current mode of transport (Sportster P6 - 700c wheels [same as my Dawes Horizon Touring bike]):



Of course I need to get my daughter to school as well so I can usually be seen with this attached to the back:

[Rossco]

check out this movie..... pretty amazing !

http://video.telegraph.co.uk/service...id=21337502001

I totally forgot about that video, came out back in the summer and the guy got quite a lot of news attention at the time. Being asked to shows in America etc but he said no apparently!

It is utterly amazing though. The bit where he rides along the the top of the spikey railings at the start. AMAZE. The bit where he does a BACKFLIP up a TREE. AMAZE. The bit where he jumps from the roof of the building across about a 20ft drop and 20ft gap. AMAZE. And the end where he drops off the bridge and everyone looks over.

Serious skills.

[Nijo]

I've seen him do a live show - wasn't anywhere near as good as the video but you have to expect that. Plus he seemed knackered from doing shows back-to-back.

Then at the end when everybody went to get his autograph I snuck a go on his bike.

[Anpanman]

Office is being moved so just picked up a new Dahon folder.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

check out this movie..... pretty amazing !

http://video.telegraph.co.uk/service...id=21337502001

Macaskill is amazing. Saw that vid on youtube back in the summer & it totally blew me away. Saw a spot on C5 news in the New yr where he's now getting a lot of work because of that vid, & highly deserved too.

For those who want to see a BMX version of Macaskill, check out Mark Webb! Guys a genius!:




BTW I got myself a new bike back in Nov 09. Its good for what I want it to do, which is a bit of hammering (I sorta still ride BMX) but with some gears for travelling too. I need to lose a few pounds but want to have fun doing it so this is what I got (taken the front brake off btw):

[charlesr]

Kinda makes me want EA to make a bmx version of Skate.