New bike (mtb) suggestions

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Master Geek

#2201040 18-Mar-2019 20:11

Thanks for the replies re: wear.

I still wonder if the trend was started by a manufacturer trying to save money!! I certainly never saw any savings get passed on though :(

Batman

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#2201041 18-Mar-2019 20:14

they're a north american company (i don't know if canada or USA) so they start a trend like Apple, people like it, they push it on the pros, and people like them even more, so the momentum grows and now it's all 1x. as I said, fits me fine as I really only pedal hard on a few gears and I've managed to align my chainline to those handful of gears, but the chainline on the extremes are hard for me to swallow. I don't think they mean saving money, because they cost exponentially more! they mean save WEIGHT, not money.

the 12 speed chains by SRAM are so well engineered that people report minimal wear on them, maybe the tolerances are so tight as they are so narrow

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#2201081 18-Mar-2019 20:26

Batman:

It's a shame the expensive bikes come as 1x nowadays without much of a choice. I am not worried about chain wear (apparently the high end SRAM 12 speed chains never wear out according to the internet). But I do care about the crazy chainline. Seriously crazy. Someone with physics knowledge could calculate the vectors involved in power reduction just from the chainline angle itself? But every single pro use 1x nowadays so who am I to challenge that!

It's a really small amount, about 2 watts. Everything in cycling has been measured!

https://ride.diamondback.com/friction-profiles-1x-drivetrains

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#2201152 18-Mar-2019 21:06

mudguard:

Batman:

It's a shame the expensive bikes come as 1x nowadays without much of a choice. I am not worried about chain wear (apparently the high end SRAM 12 speed chains never wear out according to the internet). But I do care about the crazy chainline. Seriously crazy. Someone with physics knowledge could calculate the vectors involved in power reduction just from the chainline angle itself? But every single pro use 1x nowadays so who am I to challenge that!

It's a really small amount, about 2 watts. Everything in cycling has been measured!

https://ride.diamondback.com/friction-profiles-1x-drivetrains

Whoa! Crazy detailed article!

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#2201374 19-Mar-2019 09:25

Batman:

On my commuter use MTB bike I have an older style high end 3x10 (yup the older high end bikes were 3x10 !)

3x10?

Luxury. Back i the dark ages when I started MTB riding/racing they were 3x5, then 3x6 then 3x7. I can't actually recall whether my "current" (it's about 20 years old now) bike is an 8 or 10 speed cluster but as it was downhill aimed, it only had one front ring. I had to order parts for it from Chain Reaction Cycles in the UK as none of the retailers here had the bolt pattern for the chainrings.

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#2201448 19-Mar-2019 11:10

geoffwnz:

Batman:

On my commuter use MTB bike I have an older style high end 3x10 (yup the older high end bikes were 3x10 !)

3x10?

Luxury. Back i the dark ages when I started MTB riding/racing they were 3x5, then 3x6 then 3x7. I can't actually recall whether my "current" (it's about 20 years old now) bike is an 8 or 10 speed cluster but as it was downhill aimed, it only had one front ring. I had to order parts for it from Chain Reaction Cycles in the UK as none of the retailers here had the bolt pattern for the chainrings.

I've had 8 and nine speed (rear) bikes and they are a pain in the bum to change gears, spacing was too wide, chain is chunky and non fitting, not fun. 3x10 was bought on special. didn't go out on a limb to hunt for it. the number of gears i use, 1x10 is sufficient!

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#2201787 19-Mar-2019 15:34

Just spent 40 minutes at BikeBarn trying a few out in the car park. I told them I was looking for a hardtail up to $1500 for non paved roads, gravel, sand dunes, etc.

They suggested a 2018 Merida Big Nine 300 in XL for $849. It was really comfortable, felt very light and apart from the seat made of concrete I really enjoyed it.

He pulled out a 2018 Big Nine 500 but noticed the rear derailleur was only Deore and not the XT on the 300 so said it wasn't worth the extra $'s.

The Kona Kahuna was only a medium and there are no XL's in the country so I tried a Mahuna instead. I really liked the single front. There just seemed to be so much range in the gears but the shifter location was really awkward. It's the same as the Merida so we spent some time adjusting it but it just never felt the same. I'm sure a little fiddling would sort it out though. The clutch made a huge difference to the chain rattling and it felt much heavier and sturdier than the Merida.

The only 1x Merida they have is the Big Nine Limited but at $1699 I didn't see it being worth twice the 300.

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#2201836 19-Mar-2019 16:17

martyyn:

Just spent 40 minutes at BikeBarn trying a few out in the car park. I told them I was looking for a hardtail up to $1500 for non paved roads, gravel, sand dunes, etc.

They suggested a 2018 Merida Big Nine 300 in XL for $849. It was really comfortable, felt very light and apart from the seat made of concrete I really enjoyed it.

He pulled out a 2018 Big Nine 500 but noticed the rear derailleur was only Deore and not the XT on the 300 so said it wasn't worth the extra $'s.

The Kona Kahuna was only a medium and there are no XL's in the country so I tried a Mahuna instead. I really liked the single front. There just seemed to be so much range in the gears but the shifter location was really awkward. It's the same as the Merida so we spent some time adjusting it but it just never felt the same. I'm sure a little fiddling would sort it out though. The clutch made a huge difference to the chain rattling and it felt much heavier and sturdier than the Merida.

The only 1x Merida they have is the Big Nine Limited but at $1699 I didn't see it being worth twice the 300.

Yes both the 2018 or 2017 300 model is good for you.

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#2203370 22-Mar-2019 13:46

Sorry in advance for the hi-jacking, but I am also in the same boat and tossing up about the exact same bikes.

With the '18 Merida Big Nine 300 ($849) vs 500 ($999), I see the forks are also different: Suntour XCR vs Manitou Markhor Comp. So you lose the XT rear derailleur, but gain (supposedly) better forks. I've only ridden the '19 Big Nine 500 which I really liked, but I haven't had a chance to compare the two back to back. My usage will be mostly commuting, with room for a little bit of light off-roading.

I feel like it is a case of 6 of one, half a dozen the other and I probably won't be able to tell the difference either way, but might as well ask before i put down any cashola.

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#2203377 22-Mar-2019 13:56

ShinyChrome:

Sorry in advance for the hi-jacking, but I am also in the same boat and tossing up about the exact same bikes.

With the '18 Merida Big Nine 300 ($849) vs 500 ($999), I see the forks are also different: Suntour XCR vs Manitou Markhor Comp. So you lose the XT rear derailleur, but gain (supposedly) better forks. I've only ridden the '19 Big Nine 500 which I really liked, but I haven't had a chance to compare the two back to back. My usage will be mostly commuting, with room for a little bit of light off-roading.

I feel like it is a case of 6 of one, half a dozen the other and I probably won't be able to tell the difference either way, but might as well ask before i put down any cashola.

I tried the pair of them earlier in the week and couldn't tell the difference riding around the car park. The 500 was only an L and not XL but I doubt that made too much difference.

The bloke was adamant the 300 was the better bike simply because of the XT rear so I went with that and bought the 300 about an hour ago. The money I saved paid for a new helmet, gloves and bottle holder :)

I really dislike the lime green highlights on it to be completely honest and so I looked at every other option up to $1200 but I couldn't find anything comparable.

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#2203395 22-Mar-2019 14:35

Sorry I don't know if one fork is better than the other. More expensive yes. Better don't know, haven't seen the specs for either. If one has more knobs than the other then most likely better yes.

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#2203399 22-Mar-2019 14:49

What I found when researching the shocks was a minefield. Everyone has their own opinion and it was far from conclusive.

In the end I settled for Manitou being better than Suntour with the three Suntours being XCT (for terrible), XCM (for medium) and XCR (for racing !)

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#2203403 22-Mar-2019 14:57

At the low end the One with more knobs and if same number of knobs the one with more adjustment clicks usually better at the low end.

It's only at the high end that people actually do bother to test and compare.

To me all the low end ones are bad. But yes Air better than spring because of weight and they actually do something.

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#2203405 22-Mar-2019 15:01

martyyn:

What I found when researching the shocks was a minefield. Everyone has their own opinion and it was far from conclusive.

In the end I settled for Manitou being better than Suntour with the three Suntours being XCT (for terrible), XCM (for medium) and XCR (for racing !)

You'll also have your old-timers (like me) who have a very firm Manitou vs Rockshox view.

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#2203415 22-Mar-2019 15:25

Handsomedan:

martyyn:

What I found when researching the shocks was a minefield. Everyone has their own opinion and it was far from conclusive.

In the end I settled for Manitou being better than Suntour with the three Suntours being XCT (for terrible), XCM (for medium) and XCR (for racing !)

You'll also have your old-timers (like me) who have a very firm Manitou vs Rockshox view.

Rockshox was kind of the Apple of the bike suspension world. :-p

I was definitely in the Manitou camp, though ended up with Marzocchi and Fox.

Suspension, I think, is significantly personal preference. What feels good to someone may feel rubbish to someone else. Until you give it a god workout in the types of terrain you'll be mostly using it, it's hard to tell.

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