saleens7

well instead of buying shocks that cost more than my own bike i think ill just wait until this one breaks (it will eventually) and buy a newer, better one (with disk breaks, more suspension travel, etc.)

drag racer

thats what im planning on doing with my bike. i want to get a norco downhill or freeride bike but im gonna wait until my bike breaks

saleens7

too bad i cant really afford the bikes i like...

im considering either overhauling or buying the new diamondback coil EX (same frame as my bike, but with disk brakes, better forks (with 75mm of travel), better rear shock, better rims and tires, etc.

i just wish i could afford one of those gary fisher hifi's...or the mongoose otero....but anything over 500$ will be too much for me....i think ill be better off just using my current coil x frame and just buying new forks, shocks, rims, tires....and maybe if i can disk brakes....but if if not im fine with my current brakes (what are they called again...they use the side of the rims as the "disk"?)

saleens7

i found some cheap (but still good) rock shox for my bike

http://www.bikeparts.com/search_resu...p?ID=BPC326217

for only 100$ its a steal and it has 17 more mm of travel than my current forks have...i think ill keep the current rear shock for now...it works good and hasent bottomed out yet....

drag racer

i have a schwinn right now with rock shox on the front and i am pleased with them. it is hard to set the preloads so i dont bother but i have never bottomed them out. the rear shock is another story, it always bottoms out even if i do a 6 inch bunny hop it will bottom. the norco im looking at is like 2500 but i wont be able to get it until i fix up my car[&o] the bike i have now is a schwinn 240-dsx i paid 500 for it ( it was on sale) and i wish i had bouht a norco or a specialized instead of it. so far its been working ok but i think its on its way out and i have only had it for two years

saleens7

i wish i could afford the schwinn you have....right now, the coil ex (same frame as mine, but better forks, shocks, and disk brakes) is the most im able to pay for (its only 400-450$ i think)....and this is for christmas...

i found some other shocks that have 100mm of travel for cheap

http://store.airbomb.com/ItemDesc.asp?IC=FK8052

im surprised some of these forks are....1,900$ ones than have 275mm of travel (mean for freeride bikes)...

and then they have rear shocks that cost over 2000$ that have all these crazy features, etc....i could buy a whole bike for that cost....and not a cheap bike either, but one of those all mountain or trail bikes that i can only dream of buying...im surprised how much this stuff costs....

SpikeX

What type of shock do you have? If it's an air shock (like mine), you get a pump and put some more air pressure in it. If it's a coilover shock, you can just change the spring.

Well the amout of designing and testing in these things are mind-boggling, and when you think about it shocks have to withstand immense forces (if you've ever seen downhill / freeride biking before). You don't want to cheap out on forks and shocks, as if they fail on the track or on the mountain, you can very easily die.

saleens7

yes i have seen a downhill/freeride bike before....wish i could afford one....im more worried about my current fork failing than if i got the rockshox one....this thing bottoms out too easily and i swear is just a few more hard landings away from breaking....im not too serious of a mountain biker, so i wont be riding on any expert trails anytime soon...its beginner/intermidiate for me right now...ive also read on one of the reviews of my bike that they upgraded their forks to the ones im looking at and they are much better....ive also read some reviews on the fork and they say its a great deal for such a cheap fork...it will take some hard landings and not bottom out...someone even took it off a 6-7 foot cliff and it didnt bottom out or broke.....seems its a reliable fork to me...(this is the 80mm travel 100$ one....i think ill spend the extra 60$ and get the 100mm travel one....)

drag racer

SpikeX ive got a cheapo coilover shock and i dont think that i can remove the spring. i wish i had shopped around more before i got this bike though, because i went to a couple other bike stores later and found a really cool norco hardtail with hydraulic discs for about the same price. and saleens7 i have read some reviews on rockshox and apparently they are like the second best shock company out there

saleens7

well some things happened...

im keeping my coil X stock, and for christmas im going to buy a diamondback response comp 07 or 08 model....you can get em for around 400$ and the reviews are good on it....its a hardtail, but it would be better suited for the terrain i usually run on....my dad seems to be more enthusiastic about me getting it than rc stuff, so thats good as well

besides, i dont think its worth upgrading my crappy frame anyway....its only a few hard falls from something breaking again anyway....

drag racer

[sm=thumbup.gif]

saleens7

anyone ride at markham park down here in south FL? im going to ride there in a few days and il wondering how the trails are...

saleens7

well it seems buying this bike is a bust....if i get it for christmas, i cant buy anything else sonce it costs so much....i rather have rc stuff than a new bike.....it seems upgrading the fork on my current one will be the route to take instead...

saleens7

bad news....i was pedaling up a hill and the chain broke (one of the links literally sheered in half) and i bent one of the sprokets on the rear gear set (cassette?)....i was supposed to go trail riding tomorrow too[:@]....

and my pareant are too busy to go to the bike store to get it fixed....besides going on the comp, biking is the only other thing i really do...[].....

drag racer

that sucks hope you get it fixed soon

saleens7

actually, i forgot to mention...my mom was able to squeeze some time to take me to lee's (LBS) and they got it fixed and i was still able to go to markham that day......i got a new cassette and chain....although for some reason, the bake tire was rubbing against the bar that held it in anytime i tried to accellerate, so going uphill was hell...even parts that would normally be a breeze to get up would be so hard that i had to walk it alot....i didnt realize how bad it was rubbing until i tried to acellerate on pavement and it was really hard even in a high gear setting.....so being an idiot i took the shaft from the rear tire and little did i know that there were bearings in there only held in by the pressure of the shaft keeping them in...so when i took it out all the little balls fell out....luckilu i got em all and put em in a bag....my dad took em back to lees today on his way to work....so i hope it can get fixed....i really want to go back on those trails...somehow i find it fun that one wrong turn or mess up and i could be tumbling head over heels down a rocky slope full of tree's...

anyway, ive decided that id much rathr buy a bike than anything else for christmas...(since they are so expensive....thats all i can get for christmas).....i went to lee's to scope some out and i found this GT hardtail bike....seemed to be pretty strudy and they front forks seemed to has enough travel for my liking (with my diamondback, the from fork hardly has any travel and it constantly bottomed out on the trail....so my wrists were taking all the impact.) and it was only 460$....so i cant wait till i get that....although i might upgrade to a fork that has more travel (around 160+mm)...i would want to have alot of travel to make up for not having a rear shock...

anyway, should have my bike fixed up soon and am hoping to ride the trails at markham more often....once i feel like the intermidiate trails are easy, ill start riding the pro/expert trails...although they do have to pretty tall, steep hills and drop offs (thats what they call those "bridges" that go out about 5-10 feet on a downhill section and just drop out so you fall like 10 feet or so?) as well as some hard technical sections....anyway, till then its the intermidiates for me....

drag racer

good luck with the bike and those trails sound pretty hard ( i hate drop offs) all the trails around here really suck. they are all really easy to ride along, and there are no jumps or
drops

saleens7

the drop offs on the intermediate trails arent that bad...only 2 or so feet...ive never hit the bottom of the bike on the edge....i usually go slow enough i dont get air at all anyway....yeah, those BIG drop offs scare me...

saleens7

good news, my bike is back in working order....got it back from the LBS today....new rear axle (hubcap??...whatever its called)...also replaced the brake lines and pads....still has the problem with it falling off the sproket when switching to gear 7, but if i can get it on without falling off, it doesent skip too much....

drag racer

i need to get some new brake pads for the back of my bike. they will not grab whatever i do. right now i have it tight enough that it will grab but it is rubbing against the back rim so i think im in need of some new ones. im trying to figure out how to do a backhop but i need good back brakes to do it[&:]

saleens7

backhop? you mean where you balance on your back tire and hop over stuff?

im still trying to hold a wheely longer than 20 feet....you have a hardtail, right?....is it any easier to wheelie, back hop, bunny hop, etc on a hardtail?

you could switch the front brake pads to the rear...on roads, i tend to use the front brake....that way i dont wear out the rear tire as much....and i like doing stoppies...

drag racer

a back hop is where you balance on the back tire and hop.ive got a full susser but the rear shock isnt any good. i find it way easier to bunny hop with suspension because you can preload.i can't wheelie very long, i used to be able to then i tried doing it sitting down and i got better at it but now i forgot how i did it standing[&:] i ususally use the front brake more as well but i can't switch the brake pads becuase i have a disc brake on the front. ugh i still cant do a backhop but now im trying to coast backwards but im not having any luck[]

drag racer

ow and i hurt my ankle trackstanding today and it is still killing me it hurt to walk[]

saleens7

ouch....that must hurt....i cant backhop, or balance on my rear wheel for that matter...i can wheelie for about 4-5 seconds if i try hard enough, but normally i can only wheelie for a few feet....i used to be able to bunny hop really well on my hardtail (old raleigh) but i stopped riding for a few weeks and gained some pounds and now i cant as much...since i got my diamondback, i re-learned that ability, but i still cant do it as well...im working on it though....normally would bunny hop but just lifting up both wheels at the same time, but now, i lift up the front wheel really high and push the handlebars forward and that lifts up the back tire...i think i can bunny hop maybe 10-12 inches at the most...the trails at markham are very tight and technical (due to the small space they are in) so they require more technical ability...normally, you dont go much faster than 15mph on some of the faster sections as there is usually a tight turn just ahead, and let me say, my front tire is starting to wear down....only a week or so before i need to replace it...

speaking of which, ill hopefully be going to markham tomorrow, if the weather holds up....every day around mid-day t-storms usually roll in and soak the place, so ill have to go in the early morning or later afternoon...im opting for morning though as i dint really like muddy trails...i also found out the bike im looking at is the GT avalanche 3.0 (2006 model)....the shop also has the newer 2007 model as well....although for some reason, i like the 2006 for the orange frame....

i also registered to the mtbr forums....ill be asking reccomendations for a new fork for the GT when i get it...ill probably use the origional for a few months, but im looking at one with more travel...

drag racer

i wish i could bunny hop that high. i can bunnyhop ike 8 inches at the most but i lift both tires at the same time. hopefully sometime next week me and my friends will go out back and build some trails but everyone is so busy[]