New Member Here

[MarkyT]

Hi all, I'm Mark from Lincoln. Recently decided to get back in to bikes after about 6 years of not riding one!

I used to ride a Specialized Rockhopper A1 Comp FS with Rockshox Quaddra 21R Front Suspension, this time however I am looking at getting a something for a bit more rough and tumble in the shape of a jump bike with the intention of learning 'trials' along the way. (I decided to go for the best of both worlds and spoke to a local bike company who said I would be best going for the jump bike).

Anyway, I look forward to posting on here and seeing how things have changed etc and hope you don't mind me picking your brains until I get back on track.

I do have a question though.....

Bike wise, I've been looking at Specialized P Series, Mongoose Fireball and a couple of other's. my budget is about £400 at the most as running a scooby isn't cheap!

So do you have any suggestions for me please?

Many thanks.

Mark

[Lawnmowerman]

If you're going to get a jump bike to learn the basics on then I'd reccomend either the identit dr jekyll or base ta26, both frames are usable as either street trials bikes or jump bikes. Have a look at Tartybikes for the base as I think they're going cheap at the moment.

Once you're validated pm me and we'll talk more............

[tris]

Don't go for a jump bike. get a trials bike. Seriously for £400 you could have a really nice bit of kit. You could always stuff some forks on it if you wanted to do some jumps. The only way to learn trials is on a trials bike. I know from experience. Hope this helps.

Also if you do go for a dirt jump bike, get something a little more versatile, a specialised or mongoose aren't really that great, go for a Marin or other decent brand.

[MarkyT]

Thanks guys, your help and opinions are greatly appreciated.

I'm adament that for now I will be buying a jump bike I'm afraid but we'll see what the future holds!

Where else can I look? Tarty bikes only seem to have actual trial bikes.

Thanks again.

[Lawnmowerman]

Click here

Do you want 26" or 24" wheels?

[javzi monty]

if your wanting to get a jump bike go for a mongoose fireball off winstanleys (not the bmx version) i have an 06 fire ball and its still going strong

[Tomm]

These people are right though - you can't really ride trials on a jump bike or jumps on a trials bike. If you try and get something in between it'll be rubbish for both. The best bet would be something like a DMR sidekick with rigid forks which would be OK to jump but it would be pretty terrible for trials. It just depends how seriously you want to take it I guess.

Or alternatively (what I've done) get a trials bike and then get a dirt jump frame / forks and share wheels between the two to save cash.

[MarkyT]

Cheers Lawnmowerman but I want a bike already built. Ideally 26" wheels as well.

The DMR bikes look good!

I just read some reviews on the Mongoose Fireball and people tend to say it's a heavy bike?

Tomm, that sounds like a good idea.

Thing is, i want to get a bike to get me back in the swing of things and then I'll see how much more time and effort I'll put in as I'm still a big petrolhead!

Thanks again all.

What about GT Tempest 2.0? Reasonable price etc.

Basically I'm after a tough, lightweight bike and I'd like front suspension.

Cheers

Edited July 23, 2008 by MarkyT

[Lawnmowerman]

Forget brand new bikes, they're too much and come with crap parts. Here

You're better off getting one second hand as jump bikes go really cheap

[MarkyT]

Got to be new mate. It's just me, I prefer new even though I know I'll miss out on something.

I'm still really considering the Specialized P2 in Orange, it looks awesome, does anyone know anything about this bike?

[Sean___John]

Got to be new mate. It's just me, I prefer new even though I know I'll miss out on something.

I'm still really considering the Specialized P2 in Orange, it looks awesome, does anyone know anything about this bike?

its heavy as hell and feels clumsy my m8s got one. i cant stand the thing.

hope Ive helped.

Sean.

[MadManMike]

I hope the last post helped.

Hope I helped.

On a more serious note, a Base TA26 is good for both - only £99 per frame too, go for that and build one up. Factory spec bikes are usually crap unless you spend £500+

[bikeperson45]

I learnt to do trials on an XC bike.19" frame

[MarkyT]

its heavy as hell and feels clumsy my m8s got one. i cant stand the thing.

hope Ive helped.

Sean.

Cheers dude. I think I've decided to go for the Mongoose Fireball 26" though now. I like the look of it and I'm not too fussed about uprating the parts if they are not up to scratch. Thing is, I don't have the time to build a bike up, I'm off on holiday soon and want to take the bike with me so definately going to buy a ready made bike.

Is the mongoose fireball, (despite being not as light as some others), worth the £299 price tag or is there something else I should get instead for a similar price?

Thanks

[JD™]

Cheers dude. I think I've decided to go for the Mongoose Fireball 26" though now. I like the look of it and I'm not too fussed about uprating the parts if they are not up to scratch. Thing is, I don't have the time to build a bike up, I'm off on holiday soon and want to take the bike with me so definately going to buy a ready made bike.

Is the mongoose fireball, (despite being not as light as some others), worth the £299 price tag or is there something else I should get instead for a similar price?

Thanks

why not just order all the parts of something which will actually suit your needs (The TA26) and take them to your local shop and get them to build it up for about £30? This way you'll have a bike which is great value for money, and does what you actually want it to do. Surely there's no point in asking for advice if you're not going to take any notice of it?

[MarkyT]

why not just order all the parts of something which will actually suit your needs (The TA26) and take them to your local shop and get them to build it up for about £30? This way you'll have a bike which is great value for money, and does what you actually want it to do. Surely there's no point in asking for advice if you're not going to take any notice of it?

Well to be honest pocket rocket, i wouldn't know which parts to go for and there would be so many different opinions from everybody I think I'd be back to square one asking what to go for!

The advice is greatly recieved and I do appreciate it and who's to say I won't take the advice. I'm still shopping about at the moment and learning a hell of a lot more. I want to have ordered the bike by next week so the things I ask etc may be all over the shop to you guys but to me it's a lot to take on board when I'm used to piston rings, dump valves and con rods!

Thanks to all who have offered their advice.

[JD™]

Well to be honest pocket rocket, i wouldn't know which parts to go for and there would be so many different opinions from everybody I think I'd be back to square one asking what to go for!

The advice is greatly recieved and I do appreciate it and who's to say I won't take the advice. I'm still shopping about at the moment and learning a hell of a lot more. I want to have ordered the bike by next week so the things I ask etc may be all over the shop to you guys but to me it's a lot to take on board when I'm used to piston rings, dump valves and con rods!

Thanks to all who have offered their advice.

good points well made. I still personally feel you will be better off with something built to your specs, and that you will regret that by buying a full bike. Can I ask why front suspension is important to you at this price range? You could get something much better by sticking to a rigid setup and riding smoooooth.

[MarkyT]

The front suspension is important because when I used to ride the Rockhopper it had front suspension and I grew very accustomed to it and also, some of the riding I'll be doing may need it.

I take your point though and you have me thinking! I can always buy a rigid frame and a set of front suspension forks and have the best of both worlds.

I really like the look of the DMR bikes but they are all 1 speed and I want the 8 speed.

Think I've found 2 ideal options, (both with front suspension though), the Coyote Slayer and the Haro Thread 8. What do you think to these?

[onzaboyjake]

No affence MarkyT but all these bikes you are naming are going to be actually horrible to ride and will not speed up the process of learning trials one bit. But thats just my opinion. Good luck with your riding adventures and saty safe

Jake

[MarkyT]

No affence MarkyT but all these bikes you are naming are going to be actually horrible to ride and will not speed up the process of learning trials one bit. But thats just my opinion. Good luck with your riding adventures and saty safe

Jake

Cheers Jake, what bikes would you suggest?

[MarkyT]

Surprise surprise, I have found another couple of bikes I like the look of.....

Commencal Absolut 2

Yeti DJ

What are your thoughts on these bikes and here comes perhaps a silly question but you get the option of a Short or Long frame and i'm wondering, (apart from the obvious size difference), which one I should go for and why? This option seems to crop up a lot.

Sorry to be thick!

Edited July 24, 2008 by MarkyT

[JD™]

I don't know of any off the top of my head in your price range, but maybe it's worth looking for a fork with a lockout option? Although not as good as a rigid fork, it will allow you to stop the travel for when you're doing trials stuff...

EDIT: ebay is your friend http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=270255257817

that, the base frame and some wheels sourced off ebay as well would sort you for the main components...

Edited July 24, 2008 by Pocket Rocket

[MarkyT]

Cheers Pocket Rocket, I'll bare that in mind.

[davey1991]

Got to be new mate. It's just me, I prefer new even though I know I'll miss out on something.

I'm still really considering the Specialized P2 in Orange, it looks awesome, does anyone know anything about this bike?

Get a p1 same frame but your paying £50 more for gears, last years was good this years looks a bit stupid but itll do the job, the wheels it comes week bend like paper though.