Mountain Biking - Finally...

Well, I decided that it is finally time for me to stop abusing my poor XC bike and get a real DJ/Urban/FR bike.

My plan is to get a good(great?) frame and build it up with(mostly) deore(or some other lower-level componentry) and a good fork and wheels.

I need to know what you guys think of this idea. It seems reasonable to me that a jump bike should hold up fairly well as long as the frame/fork/wheels/cranks are strong. Is this reasonable or unreasonable?

I'm also looking at frames. My price range for a frame would idealy be under $500, but I can stretch it all the way to $800.

Also, if you're wondering where I'm getting all this money, no I am not selling myself on street corners. I work with my uncle and as I recently helped him acquire 4 new customers who bought a grand total of $300,000 worth of pond equipment and fish from him I got a nice fat bonus :D

edit: and yes, I am saving some of this $$$ for college.

edit#2: I forgot to add, I currently weigh 145lb and am 5' 5" tall. My largest drop to date has been a 6'.

Check the FR ht thread. OR the thread recently on someone else looking for the exact same thing.

aaaarrrgh!

I forgot about the sticky...

thanks mael.

Im in college too, and beatin my XC ride up on FR too :D But I just lucked out and landed a job at the LBS, so now I have a Dirtbag in my future.........agh I need a towel........sorry.........

Transition Dirtbag....

If so...Droooooooooooooooooool

Snakehunter, I'm not actually in college yet, just saving up some money for when i get there.

As for the transition dirtbag, it looks like a nice bike but I'm looking for a hardtail. Nothing against full-squish bikes, but for some reason I'm craving a hardtail.

Mael, you can close this thread or leave it open for some discussion if you want. I'm going to post in the sticky.

Bah, we can talk about the dirtbag now....:D

I got two ht's and a mid travel dually. PErsonally I need a bit of everything. I could never live with one and not the other.

try out the kona shred, my bud just bought one, nice and light nice and strong

Evil Imperial hehehe

evil imperial -- around $700-800
kona cowan frame -- $400
specialize p.3 frame -- $550
(all in usd)

There's a lot of options out there but I would go with the Evil Imperial like city boy said.

if your wanting to build something up, I would look at the azonic steelhead, steel frame with horizontal dropouts and pretty cheap. That's about the price range I'm looking at and I can't decide if I want to get an stp or try to build up a steelhead. I would prefer to build, but I can't find the stuff cheap enough.

evil imperial -- around $700-800
kona cowan frame -- $400
specialize p.3 frame -- $550
(all in usd)

There's a lot of options out there but I would go with the Evil Imperial like city boy said.

If you are getting the evil frame that cheap in cdn funds....grab it. Thats ridiculously cheap.

800 is cheap for a frame? Yikes...

Mael was talking $800CAN for the evil imperial, which is around $800US.

Still dang expensive... my bike hasn't even cost me 800 bucks total yet :P

800 is cheap for a frame? Yikes...
for a evil imperial frame yes, all you need to know is the best frame deal is and azonic steelhead $200 bucks for one, thats a good deal for a frame thats tuff as nails.
-evil doc frame= cool+cheap
-azonic steelhead=cool+cheaper

Still dang expensive... my bike hasn't even cost me 800 bucks total yet :P
canadian money. its about 650 us. this is a good deal for an evil imperial which is a ridculasly expencive ht frame.

i hear good things from the Azonic steelhead frame. Cost is $150 from beyond bike which is local to us. Or you can do what I did, I got a trek bruiser 1 for $350 and it was enough to get me rolling and thrashin the local stuff and leave the XC for the easier less harsh rides. I'll upgrade as a go. The main weak point on the bike has to be the rims, they come un tru often, but I'm also 200lbs. The cheap fork holds up well, i've done a few 4-5ft drops to flat without bottoming out. You can get a Giant STP3 for $400 which is good for DJ's and Urban riding and upgrade from there. I hear they have weak cranks though. If you can shell out $600, u can get the trek bruiser 2, STP 2, P1 (single speed), or kona shred. All come with mech disc brakes and Marz MZ comps forks or simular.

What about Soul Cycle frames?
www.ridesoul.com Loki or a Titan?

The titan is a mean looking bike:
http://www.ridesoul.com/content/titan.html (Linked)

The titan is a mean looking bike:
http://www.ridesoul.com/content/titan.html (Linked)
It sure is.

Linked. (http://www.ridesoul.com/content/titan.html)
Fixed. ;)