Mountain bikes, 29ers and/or full suspension

[Jamisjockey]

BTW, I had an interesting encounter with a pickup truck yesterday.  I had a green light and was halfway thru the intersection when he comes flying up the side street on my right and makes a left turn on the red light without hardly slowing down right into me.  I had to stop hard and jump out of the way to keep from being run over.  Well-dressed guy in his 30's in a nice looking truck, not the a-hole redneck you might expect it from.  Not the first time it's happened, just the closest I've come to getting hit.  I'm seriously thinking about getting a cup of 20mm ball bearings or 1" hex nuts for the frame mounted waterbottle-holder, so I can break a window next time...  Leave 'em something to remember me by.

Last two times I had to change a flat in the middle of BFE, "rednecks" stopped to offer help if I needed it.  Usually, its the Yuppies in BMW's, etc, that are the biggest pain in my ass riding.
I'd suggest not breaking windows for bad driving.  In many states, escalating a situation is considered assault. 

[zxcvbob]

Last two times I had to change a flat in the middle of BFE, "rednecks" stopped to offer help if I needed it.  Usually, its the Yuppies in BMW's, etc, that are the biggest pain in my ass riding.
I'd suggest not breaking windows for bad driving.  In many states, escalating a situation is considered assault. 

Point taken.  I am a redneck, and know that some are a-holes; I wasn't trying to imply that all of them are.  I just really wasn't expecting a Yuppie to be driving a pickup.

[Harold Tuttle]

Back in 2004, Niner co-founder Steve Domahidy never thought that he would find himself on a mountain bike ride with a former President of the United States, but that is just what happened last week after Steve and Chris Sugai, Niner's other founder, received an interesting call from Kennebunkport Bicycle Company, a Niner Dealer in Maine. 

"It turns out that Former President Bush is intrigued by 29ers, so he asked Brandon at Kennebunkport Bike Company about Niner" said Steve. Chris and Steve spent Thursday and Friday last week with Mr. Bush, fitting a new Niner Jet 9 full suspension bike in Black Anodized. 

"We are glad that Mr. Bush wanted to ride a Niner. He has been an avid rider for years and helping him to make the leap to 29 inch mountain bike wheels is a privilege." said Chris. "We had the opportunity to discuss trails and trailbuilding after the ride. No matter how you weigh in politically, this is good for mountain biking," Steve added.

In addition to delivering the new bikes, the group spent two days mountain biking on the trails around Kennebunkport. Said Chris, "Mr. Bush is a very good rider, fast and with good technical skills. He certainly knew the local trails really well, and Steve and I had to work pretty hard. It was a lot of fun."


http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs077/1101892244311/archive/1103623558128.html

[KD5NRH]

I'll add Santa Cruz and Surly to my watch list, too.

IIRC, somebody came up with a homebrew attachment for the Big Dummy to put the front wheel and fork of another bike on one side of the rack so you could use it like a towing dolly to haul your MTB out to the trail.  That way everybody can see that you're a real biker. 

[Ron]

Sooo, after checking out what I can get special deals on and setting a price point (that I immediately went over, lol...) this is where I'm at in the decision process:

The manufacturers I can get good deals on are Novara (REI house brand), Cannondale, GT and Marin.

Novara doesn't have a 29er at the componant level I'm gunning for and none are readily available, all the Cannondale 29ers are lefties (not interested), GT with whom it it seems you have to go to their super high end to get good components, this left Marin, who I was leaning toward anyway.

Pretty sure I'm going to pull the trigger on a '10 Marin Palisades 29er. It lists msrp for around $1300. That isn't what I'll be paying :)  

http://www.rei.com/product/796963

http://www.marinbikes.com/2010/bike_specs.php?serialnum=1310

Any critiques on the components below?

Frame   6061 aluminum

Fork   RockShox Tora Solo Air, 100mm with external rebound and lockout

Crankset   TruVativ Five D 3.1, 44/32/22

Bottom bracket   Truvativ

Shifters   Shimano SLX, with 2-way release

Front derailleur   Shimano Deore

Rear derailleur   Shimano Shadow SLX

Rear cogs   Shimano, 11-34, 9-speed

Number of gears   27

Brakes   Avid Juicy 3.5 hydraulic disc

Brake levers   Avid Juicy 3.5

Rims   WTB SpeedDisc 29er

Front hub   Shimano Deore disc, 32h

Rear hub   Shimano 525 disc, 32h

Tires   WTB Prowler SL, 29x2.1

Handlebar   6061 alloy double-butted

Stem   FSA OS190 threadless

Seat post   FSA SL-280 alloy

Saddle   WTB Vigo Comp

Pedals   Alloy double-sided mountain

Headset   TH-888, 1 1/8'' threadless

Chain   Shimano HG53

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Well-dressed guy in his 30's in a nice looking truck, not the a-hole redneck you might expect it from. 

Round here, it's not the rednecks and pickemup trucks you have to worry about, it's the women driving Subaru station wagons festooned with lefty bumper stickers that'll kill you.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Sooo, after checking out what I can get special deals on and setting a price point (that I immediately went over, lol...) this is where I'm at in the decision process:

The manufacturers I can get good deals on are Novara (REI house brand), Cannondale, GT and Marin.

Novara doesn't have a 29er at the componant level I'm gunning for and none are readily available, all the Cannondale 29ers are lefties (not interested), GT with whom it it seems you have to go to their super high end to get good components, this left Marin, who I was leaning toward anyway.

Pretty sure I'm going to pull the trigger on a '10 Marin Palisades 29er. It lists msrp for around $1300. That isn't what I'll be paying :)  

http://www.rei.com/product/796963

http://www.marinbikes.com/2010/bike_specs.php?serialnum=1310

Any critiques on the components below?

Consider buying one of those other bikes with the lower components, and upgrading the important bits as needed to get back up to where you want to be.

[dm1333]

I think it is a pretty decent bike but I'm basing that judgment on what I would use the bike for (commuting, lots of dirt road, some singletrack).  The real question is how do you feel about it?  I am curious about why you don't want a lefty, they do look a little goofy but everybody I see with one says they work well.

[Harold Tuttle]

My restored full squish bike pron:
http://www.googlepixel.com/99Mantra/

[Ron]

I think it is a pretty decent bike but I'm basing that judgment on what I would use the bike for (commuting, lots of dirt road, some singletrack).  The real question is how do you feel about it?  I am curious about why you don't want a lefty, they do look a little goofy but everybody I see with one says they work well.

This bike is for single track here in the midwest. Roots, rocks, some smaller downhill stuff with a smattering of tight technical stuff to balance out the mostly XC type trails.

The lefties are proprietary IIRC, so I would be locked into that manufacturer for replacement parts with a shallower pool of techs that are familiar with them.

Pulled the trigger on the Marin, now the wait for it to get here...

[Harold Tuttle]

I'm gonna ride the Klein into work today

[Ron]

I'm gonna ride the Klein into work today

I just don't have the coin for a full suspension bike :(

Thats a sweet ride Harold.

[Harold Tuttle]

it was an ebay pickup for 435 bucks
plus a few upgrades...

ya know how that garage sale "honey it's an incredible deal" rifle
needed a Leopold scope?

yeah. its like that

[mtnbkr]

Oh yeah, I "stone soup" bikes all the time.

BTW, My 29er will be finished in a few days.

Chris