Brad01

I have a very interesting situation- I have access to natural freeride areas where I hang out with my friends after church and on Mondays, but the trip is 5 miles, on road via bike (Not old enough to drive).
I currently have a slightly upgraded 2005 GF Wahoo and I avoid the technical stuff (Edit- I meant I avoid jumps and drops).
I am at a skill level where I could do it easily, and it does bug me that I have to borrow my friend's freeride bike.
I think it bugs him too, but he's a good sport.

If I were to build a freeride bike with parts I have aquired very cheap (I.E. 5 bucks for Deore front der, rear der, shifters, brake levers and Tektro V brakes, lightly used and some other stuff) I would start with a Soul Cycles Titan frame.
If I were to raise the seatpost on the Titan to a high position for road riding (Lowering it for the jumps) how would the ride posture and quality (neglecting weight) differ from my Wahoo?
Thanks in advance for any help!!
Brad

Raiyn

Significantly. The frame geometry isn't really designed for long stretches of nothing. You will notice a decrease in speed due to less efficient pedaling. However for a five mile stretch it's not that big of a hardship. Although what are you defining as technical?

Brad01

In this case I refer to things that my Fisher can't/shouldn't do- small drops, 5-foot jumps, and the like.
It's sort of a shame I got into freeride and jumping right after purchasing a light XC bike.

troie

Technical is different from freeriding. Am I reading the question wrong?

Brad01

Nah, I'm just a total newbie and probably have my terms goofed up.

Many apologies.

Would the Trek Bruiser 1 have better road/XC capabilities?
Brad

troie

Try to think of XC as trail riding. Flowy singletrack, not stunts or obstacles and minimal drops or jumps.

Freeride is a more extreme type of riding. Lots of stunts, jumps, drops, northshore type obstacles.

I think the Trek Bruisers are designed for urban assault aka skate park type stuff but I could be wrong.

ridehard

Well what kind of bike is your frind riding? Switch bikes and see how you like riding it to your riding area, and if you do, maybe thats what you should be looking into.

Brad01

It's a 20-inch freeride BMX bike.
I like it only within a 100-foot radius of the jump.
No fun to ride distance on.

alcahueteria

do you already have this titan frame, because if not you should look around. I was going to get a giant stp (street trail park) but I ended up getting an azonic steelhead frame built up. I rode it twelve and a half miles today standing up and it's a singlespeed so I wouldn't really worry about 5 miles.
Extending the seat post will get you there but it will just not ride anything like the GF Wahoo, so if all it needs to do is get you there go for it.

jc1

A quality free ride, with good components will do 6 mile of rode as good as your average comfort bike.

Get a bike more specific to your desires and with good quality it will be a good enough cross over.

I recently picked up an STP1. I liked the screwing around, technical stuff, but wanted the ability to cover a 12 mile MTB trail and the ability to hang with the family on a 10 mile paved path. I had the same concerns as you.

My findings are that a decent quality bike will cross over into another useage and be better than a mediocre quality bike. I can cover 10 miles of bike path on my STP much better than I could on my low end LBS hybrid.

6 miles is nothing on the street, seat down and all.

So my suggestion is to lean toward the bike you really want, don't comprimise on the gear and you will be fine.

dirtbikedude

Take a look at the all-mountain/trail frames. They will give you a good cross between xc and freeride since you are not going very big (10' + drops huge jumps). It is possible to hit stunts, drops and jumps with a xc oriented rig, it just takes a different style. Before I bought my first full squish I used my full ridged xc race bike for what we all term as freeride now.

Also, if you have a good amount of standover with your current frame try lowering the seat (slam it all the way down) and put a shorter stem with a riser bar on it. That will help set your weight farther back and you should be able to hit the jumps and drops without any problems (although you made need a new frame sooner ). This will also save you some cash so you can save up for a decent fr bike later. But if you want both bikes the Titan will work well and from what I have heard it is a good frame and not having higher end parts on it will save you money when you break them

As far as posture goes, a bike set up more towards fr will have you sitting up straighter, weight farther back and a lower center of gravity. As Raiyn said, you will loose pedaling efficincy which may or may not be a problem but for 5mi. there should be no probs.

Brad01

Dirtbikedude, I really can't afford a squish-squish, as much as it would be perfect for me.
Right now I have 40 bucks in my pocket and I work off my allowance...

Perhaps I should go another route- Buy a used Genesis geometry hard-tail frame (That geometry is perfect for a lanky guy like myself) and weld gussets to stress areas... Would that works or does a light alu frame require more general beefing up than a few gussets to be a good jumpin' bike?