New mid weight bike.

[timber]

Okay, It's time for a new bike.
I want something sturdy enough to do the occasional 12 foot drop, agile enough for the skinnies, pedalable enough for the occasional epic ride and I often ride over the brial path from Lynne valley to the base of Seymour and then up.
I'm looking at mounting a new single crown 66rc with 170mm; I like the tight turning radius of a single crown fork.
I've narrowed it down to a Banshee Chapparal, RM Switch, or a Cove G-spot.
I've heard of some problems with the G-spot breaking; rumour or fact?
Any opinions?

[NickS]

THe new g spots are pretty good my bro demolished the older one wiht all the gussets and he does the same things it sounds like you will be doing. The new switch is nice the chapperal is still a banshee though, and i dont say that in a good way. Those feel really high and short.
Id go for the switch out of those or the g spot.

[mint]

I think you might be better off with a hard tail. I have a new 243 racing and it seems to do all the things you described better than my Scream, which I am selling. I am starting to believe that hardtails are better on the shore than sqishies. ANd they are tons of fun at whistler.
Otherwise I would suggest SC bullit, or a Transition Preston FR.

[Mountain Dewd]

Gotta go for the sx trail, such a sexy bike...

[derwood]

Originally posted by Mountain Dewd
Gotta go for the sx trail, such a sexy bike...

you dont even ride here!!!!!

Id say the Switch with the air shocks....sweet ride!!!

[GRIZZ]

presonaly i would go switch, but banshee builds a mean bike that is tough to beat

[derwood]

Originally posted by Jay T
presonaly i would go switch, but banshee builds a mean bike that is tough to beat

he's not looking for a mean bike,he's looking for a capable bike...Banshee's are sluggish IMO.

[Midas]

Specialized SX, sickest mid size dually ever.

Originally posted by derwood
Banshee's are sluggish

[hard_core_biker]

maybe the norco six?

[TheGiggler]

Originally posted by timber

Any opinions?


Yes... buy two bikes for what you want!

a frame that can handle real 12 footers should probably be near or over 10lbs... and it will end being a 40-45 pound bike, if you want to get more than one season on it before it fails.

and then you start getting into weight territory where the epic/xc riding suffers big time.

the Chapparal would probably handle the drops, but with a burly enough build, you are probably talking 40-45 pounds again.

i personally wouldn't run either the gspot or Switch for the kind of drops you are talking about... i don't think there's a hope in hell that either would last a full season of 12 footers.

basically:

- you either tone down your drop requirement to something more in the sub 6-8" range

- buy two bikes: one all mountain and one freeride.


otherwise you risk having frame failures or a sluggish bike on xc/epic rides.

all IMO... i've spent some time thinking about these things, being another single-bike rider who enjoys Bridle path and all the Shore's trails :)

[GRIZZ]

Originally posted by derwood
he's not looking for a mean bike,he's looking for a capable bike...Banshee's are sluggish IMO.

i said my preferance was the switch and i think that is the better choice,, i also think the banshee is a good choice..you dont have to be an ass and rag on me for my choice of words when describing the bike!!!

[derwood]

Originally posted by Jay T
i said my preferance was the switch and i think that is the better choice,, i also think the banshee is a good choice..you dont have to be an ass and rag on me for my choice of words when describing the bike!!! :friend:

[spookymilk]

Originally posted by Midas
Specialized SX, sickest mid size dually ever.

also the most expensive

G-Spot, born and bred on the shore. It could handle the occaisional 12 footers but I wouldn't make it a regular occurance either (or with any of these for that matter)

The joy of any of these bikes is that if you break one, they're all located in Van

[levon]

on the traistion page it looks like they go pretty big on the prestons just somthing to think about. i havent ever ridden one but it would be that or a heckler for me just look at supert go on one of those look very strong not to heavy. you could build it up with nice light rims for tires id get wtb tires nice and light but also have sweet grip. then a fox fork or a pike sl keep it nice and light. i think that would ride light and be an epic bike.

[switch]

The new G-Spot is strong.

You'd want an SPV shock on the Switch and G-Spot to make them a good pedaling bike. A coil one at that, if you're doing 12 foot drops.

Personally, I wouldn't consider any of those bikes an "epic" bike as they're all fairly heavy. I'm not sure of the G-Spot frame weight, but the Switch and Chaparral are around 9.5lbs.

You want to do some big drops, so you'll need some strong rims and good tires, which will degrade the ease of pedaling.

You want the bike most everyone wants, which doesn't exist yet... ;)

[timber]

Thanks for all the input guys.
I may be expecting too much from one bike. I have two mountain bikes now and I was hoping to settle on one bike to replace both of them.
Maybe a cheaper freeride hardtail to compliment a Chap.

[switch]

Originally posted by timber
I may be expecting too much from one bike. I have two mountain bikes now and I was hoping to settle on one bike to replace both of them.

I'd love to do the same thing. Replace 3 bikes, actually. Perhaps in a few years we'll be able to do this for a reasonable price. :)

[Mountain Biker]

I like the cove hustler... but I don't know how many 12ft'ers it would take...

[big ben]

how about the new brodie gigolo 7" of travel via air shock and sherman breakout plus8)

[spookymilk]

Originally posted by switch
The new G-Spot is strong.

You'd want an SPV shock on the Switch and G-Spot to make them a good pedaling bike. A coil one at that, if you're doing 12 foot drops.

Personally, I wouldn't consider any of those bikes an "epic" bike as they're all fairly heavy. I'm not sure of the G-Spot frame weight, but the Switch and Chaparral are around 9.5lbs.

You want to do some big drops, so you'll need some strong rims and good tires, which will degrade the ease of pedaling.

You want the bike most everyone wants, which doesn't exist yet... ;)

it's possible, just mucho bling

[TheGiggler]

as much as i'd like to see it, i doubt i we will get such a bike anytime soon.

a bike that weighed say in the low 30s for your 6hr epics and that could also hit real 5-6" footers all season on the Shore (read ugly non manicured trannies) is a pretty tall order... it's doable today but then it's a question of how many months til your frame fails.

two bikes just makes infinitely more sense IF you want to do epic/xc riding.

[Loopie]

I'd build a Devinci Ollie type frame and just use "light" DH wheels for epics or better yet, have two sets of wheels:D

[switch]

Originally posted by Mountain Biker
I like the cove hustler... but I don't know how many 12ft'ers it would take...
Not very many.


Originally posted by Loopie
I'd build a Devinci Ollie type frame and just use "light" DH wheels for epics or better yet, have two sets of wheels:D
Which brings to mind the Bullit. It's the closest thing I can think of that can be built fairly strong, yet still be in the 35 lb. range.

[TheGiggler]

bullit *might* do it if you have a decently light build AND a second xc wheelset with xc tires. even then, with a DC and a not so light build it'd end up being a lot of weight to push on those 4hr+ rides.

being under 150lbs always helps too... i wish i only weight like 120lbs i could ride xc bikes off drops :)

[thewwkayaker]

What's wrong with having more than 1 bike? Unless you travel lots with your bike or you pick trails with big jumps and long XC grinds. Two bikes means that if one has a major mechanical problem you have another to ride (saved me several times). Of course you could have a whole set of replacement parts for the one bike - but then you'd be thinking - if I had another frame I could build another bike!!! :-) Or perhaps it's taking up too much space in the garage? If that's the case, leave the lawn mower outside or sleep with your bikes - I mean that's who you really love anyways...mmmm bikes!