Mountain Biking - component level performance & suspension

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XzEn54321
12-01-04, 11:38 AM
Two questions...

1. How much real world difference is there betwen Deore, LX, XT, & XTR, besides weight?

2. Look at this bike and its frame...
http://www.ibexbikes.com/Bikes/APG-LX-Details.html <- the bike
http://www.ibexbikes.com/Bikes/APG-FRM-Details.html <- its frame

The linkage is similler to specialized FSR, but the rear piviot is on the seatstay vs. the chainstay.
I understand this design is essentially a single piviot and suffers from "brake jack" is this all or are there more disadvantages of this design?

Thank you, X-Zen

Maelstrom
12-01-04, 12:05 PM
Not much imo.

And no it isn't like the fsr. It is missing one key feature. The horst linkage. Which is required to be in front of the dropout and below the dropout. Changing the position of this changes the riding characteristics drastically. It will perform like a single pivot. The biggest problem with it is going to be, under braking, the suspension will lock. This will, during braking, turn the bike into a ht for time. That said, sme people don't notice so it isn't as big a deal for them.
PWRDbyTRD
12-01-04, 12:24 PM
I thought they were all the same minus the materials used to build them....

Maelstrom
12-01-04, 12:49 PM
The on major difference besides material was xT uses a bearing system on the cogs instead of a bushing. Didn't make a difference in shifting to me...but it spins nicer :)
XzEn54321
12-01-04, 02:45 PM
Thanks, and do any of you have an opinion on the bike?