De-evolution or Diversification ( Bike or Bikes)

S

schwing

Likes Dirt
Okay I have three bikes , dually- Kona Bear (Vanilla RLC's ), hardtail - RockyMountain Hammer, with Psylos , and a single speed Fully rigid ( my shopping and riding with the girlfriend bike)Both Hardtails are Good CRMo

I can't ride em all . all the time and thought the Kona would be the king of the crop. but I like the Hardtails best and reckon bikes like a Norco Torrent, or Kona Stuff combine the best features for a do it all ride.

I reckon with singlespeeding , good cable discs , travel adjustable shocks,
etc theres a movement toward more simple reliable bikage. anyone else see this trend. Esp for street and jump bikes that can be used on the trails.
 
R

Rik

logged out
I like the idea of one bike that can do all... but that doesn't stop me from owning too many of the things.
IMO, a smallish hardtail, strong enough for jumping yet light enough for all-round riding, is the best way to go. Only need 9/18 gears, and adjustable travel suspension just makes things even nicer. That'd be my perfect bike..
 
wombat

wombat

Lives in a hole
Agreed, but if you want something reliable ditch 9 speed and go back to 8. Use Alivio shifters with a good mech if you have to, it'll be worth it.
 
R

Rik

logged out
You love your 8 speed, don't you? :p
If you want even more reliability, HUB GEAR!

My mate is about to fork out for a shimano Inter4, it'll be interesting to see how it goes.
 
wombat

wombat

Lives in a hole
It's not so much that I love 8 speed, but that I hate 9 speed; and I'm going to keep drilling the point at every chance I get :p .

Hub gears are brillant, check my hooray thread. For the moment though they're limited to the original Sturmey Archer in my chopper.
 
R

Rik

logged out
I somewhat agree, I'd rather bikes be made more reliable/rhobust than have weight savings... someone like SRAM should release a heaps burly 8spd driveline, strong derailleur, chunky chain+casette etc...
 
CHEWY

CHEWY

Eats Squid
what were the problems with a 9spd drivetrain? skinny chain and a bad chainline? thats all i can think of...
as for ss... if i ever screw a der. all i have to do is pop a few links and slide back the wheel... best of both worlds
 
R

Rik

logged out
Skinny chain + bad chainline is a pretty bad thing, I've broken a few more chains on 9spd than I did on 7 and 8 put together. But that's progression for ya.
 
wombat

wombat

Lives in a hole
Alright, admittedly one of the reasons that I REALLY hate 9 speed is because I hate working on it. It is so much more fiddly to get a 9 speed system running well that it is to get an 8 speed one running well. Mainly it's due to the tighter tolerances in the indexing, but it basically means that worn chains/sprockets and stretched cables have a much greater effect.
I won't even touch on the chain issue, anybody who has seriously hirt themselves when breaking a chain will know the value of a strong chain.
 
C

Cruz

Likes Dirt
Sram do make a good quality 8 speed setup, go to their website and have a look.
Wombat, do you find the sram esp 9 speed systems easier to setup than the Shimano 2-1 ratio, as I have with the couple I have done. The Dirt cable entry on the Sram mechs is a lot better than that big loop hanging out the back of the Shimanos too.
 
K

kalem

Likes Bikes and Dirt
i think alot of people are finding that a nice hardtail with a 4" fork is great for everything they do... Dj sessions, street, a day at the some DH trails... what else is there? cable disc's offer great power and are simpler than any v-brakes i've used, and i've done away with gears (but i was running 8-speed) , though SS is not hindering me AT ALL which is great, DH runs included.
 
R

Rik

logged out
Cruz said:
Sram do make a good quality 8 speed setup, go to their website and have a look.
Click to expand...
What series is it? I had a quick peek, and couldn't find it.


And I'll add a bit, my SRAM 9.0 setup is so much easier to set up than the XTR system on my other (out of service) bike. Plus the shifting is so crisp and precise, it's a beautiful system
 
bazza

bazza

look at me
single speeds seem pretty popular down there with such a strong bike culture compared to up here!
 
wombat

wombat

Lives in a hole
Cruz said:
Wombat, do you find the sram esp 9 speed systems easier to setup than the Shimano 2-1 ratio, as I have with the couple I have done. The Dirt cable entry on the Sram mechs is a lot better than that big loop hanging out the back of the Shimanos too.
Click to expand...
Actually yes, SRAM stuff is nice and easy to work with, unfortunately though most of the stuff I see is Shimano, mainly because a lot of our customers are like me and really can't stand the action of Gripshift; but that's purely down to personal preference, if you like it you're lucky. I am looking foward to getting a go on these SRAM trigger pods though, they look good.
 
S

schwing

Likes Dirt
Single Speeding has it's own community it seems usually Bike Addicted very fit beer lovers.
8 or 9 speed makes little differnece to me. I stick with 9 speed to keep things even and similar between bikes
 
S

shwinboy

Likes Dirt
I hve 3 single speeds. One Trail bike, one ute commute and a track street fixie for hanging it out on the road. The ss thing started with my commute when I was poor and couldn't afford $200 to replace my drivetrain every 5 months. No it costs $100 every year or so. I experimented on dirt an fell in love. I do have an 8 speed hucktail and won't be going 9 any time soon. I always thought 9 speed was a con but I also think that about tripple rings on mountain bikes. If I ever went 9 it'd be 2x 9.
I've got a hydro disc equiped ss with an excentric bb and it's the most reliable bike I've ever owned . I am saving for a rollof 14 speed or the new sachs 16 speed thats apparently cheaper and lighter that is coming out. If i build a wheel with one of these hubs I can swap it when I want to do something like the wildside. I know some guys running 3, 5 and 7 speed sachs hubs with vearing results. Some have blown some haven't. unfortunatly they don't have disc versions yet. I think 5 would be plenty or even 3. The big question is when will we see the hydrolic drive train. http://www.powerengine.com/actx000bsldshw2.htm

I don't like cables much give me oil in little pipes any day.
 
RaID

RaID

Likes Bikes and Dirt
"puts hand up"

internal hub gears
mmmmmm Rohlf


im just getting a over having a slightly bent deraillure
and now can get all the gear to work properly
too tight tolerances in 9speed
i ll have to live it as i dont wanna replace my whole drivetrain
 
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