I'm still in the camp of sticking with my Rockhoppers (26" and 29").

However, there is a used (but almost new condition) Felt Nine 05 for $900. Carbon hardtail frame, low/mid components (Deore). MSRP was $1500-2000?

Is this a lateral move for me (in terms of RH 29")? Or better bike? I think I can get about $500 for my RH (although 2 years ago I put in about $600 upgrading many components when I got it used free).

I'm thinking it's lateral. Other than it would be new with perhaps better components. Any benefits would probably be lost on me given how I ride.

I think I'm just in a 'want' something new phase to give me some encouragement.... I need to suck it up - what I have is more than good enough.

But just checking for opinions.... I don't really know anything about bikes. So complex these days - when I was younger, one would just buy a 10 speed in the right size. No brands, models, etc.

It's only interesting because of price - I've never had a $2000 bike before and this is in the realm of my typical budget. Even used Al stumpjumpers are $1500+ (next step up from RH?).


ETA: after doing considerable more reading, the Felt seems like it's just a lateral - be spending money w/o any practical benefit. It does seem like it might be a little better geometry for my usages - I don't need stability at speed and would actually like a little more agility. The RH feels a little cumbersome at slow speed. And I don't really go that fast - up to about 25mph when going downhill as I don't trust bikes (I had a bad crash when I was young because of a mechanical failure). Reviews actually suggest that the RH is a really good bike for the price - good geometry from which to upgrade w/ components. And robust build to take all kinds of abuse.

I am interested in these new bikes with single ring up front and more rings in the back. Seems like that would make shifting easier instead of having to work through 3 front rings / 8 rear rings to find the right gear.

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quote:

Originally posted by goose5:
Your right I got into my carbon bike for about 2,400. Cannondale has my style but in a aluminum frame for less. Performance wise there is not that much difference. I upgraded my wheelset and did notice an improvement.

The wheelset/rolling resistance is the most significant factor.

I prefer a single chainring in the front and wide range cassette to still get good speed and ability to climb hills. The narrow-wide single chainring I have on my Giant Anthem (1x10) has never dropped its chain and I’ve ridden it HARD.

Now on the flip side I have the exact same Giant Anthem with a triple chain set and it’s MUCH faster because of the ability to switch between a 22,33 or 44 tooth chainring. The downside is that if I ride it very hard downhill it will occasionally lose its chain. It’s only done it twice but that is two times more than my 1x10 has lost its chain.

Both of my Giant Anthems are basically beater, expendable bikes so I don’t exactly baby either of them.

Everything is a compromise though, when riding around the neighborhood or on my 2 mile ride to the entry of the trails I live near the triple chain set and especially that 44 tooth chainring is nice. The smaller 32 tooth chainring on my other bike lowers it’s top speed and cruising speed but provides better ground clearance. Single chainrings with narrow wide profiles hold the chain onto the chainring really well but each choice will have its pros and cons.

Depending on your crank set you might have the ability to switch out single chainring sizes with minimal effort. That ebike I built has 4 bolts holding on the chainring. I swapped out the 32 tooth ring for a 38 tooth and it made a noticeable difference in top speed as well as the ability to pedal along with my electric motor which assists in extending the range.

Man I wish carbon bikes were still starting around $2000-3000. My Scott Spark (the base model) with its aluminum frame is $2899. The carbon frame Sparks are well north of $4k. I am hoping to have the Spark paid off sometime this summer. Since they were selling FAST I put money down on one a few months ago, I have another that’s been on order for over a year and might not come in this year. I’ll probably cancel that previous order soon and apply that money towards paying off my Spark a little sooner. The bike market is just nuts right now.

Interesting. I hadn't even considered chain drops. I think I need to read up more on pros/cons of single vs multiple front ring systems.

My impression: there is considerable overlap/redundancy in the gear ratios using multiple front rings. This makes it more inefficient and cumbersome to find the right gear when needed - I'm clicking through both front and rear rings to find the right gear.

But it sounds like the single front ring systems may not support the full range afforded by multi-ring systems - this is more critical for me going uphill than downhill. I need to lookup what my bike has.

Bike prices are ridiculous for what I seem to get.

If your main concern is climbing steep hills a single chain ring in the 32-38 tooth range coupled with a wide range cassette is absolutely the way to go. Many of the newer set ups have huge back cogs and when coupled with a smaller front chainring in the 32-36 range the end result is a bike that climbs hills with ease. There are TONS of hills where I ride.

My most recent build is a do everything bike that can handle jump parks, trails and basically anything you throw at it. It has a 32 tooth chainring (1x12) and a 11-50 tooth cassette so other than being a heavy bike built with oversized 4130 Chromoly tubing it can climb hills surprisingly well.

You would probably love something set up like this.


12 speeds and a huge range.

Thanks. Yup, I was just doing some analysis on this.

Assuming a 32T front ring, seems like an 11-50T rear cassette (available from Shimano so confirmed that products are available) would work for me if I move away from the 3 ring front (comparing to gear ratios I have today on my rockhopper 3 ring front, 8 in rear cassette).

Based on my usages: I think 32/50 is key for uphill, 32/16 for flat, 32/11 for downhill are the key points (downhill is least critical - I self limit to < 25mph).




ETA: Reading some more - since I'm not really aware of which brands are good (I know some popular brands, but not sure which brands really prioritize quality and sturdiness), I'm leery of carbon fiber. I don't know which brands / models are high quality and sturdy and I don't know how to check for damage and it seems there are increasing number of catastrophic failures which have spurned a niche legal industry specializing in suing for damages from bike failures. But as usual, seems like big corps have isolated themselves from liability. No surprise, a giant company from Taiwan is mentioned a number of times.

I don't trust people. I'm suspicious when people sell new-ish bikes for a decent price - damaged carbon bike? Seems like Al bikes can also suffer from fatigue over time if used like I see in the amazing youT videos. I have no doubt that many of the used bikes being sold are probably damaged / at the end of life and people are selling so that they can buy a new one. But at the hazard of the poor sucker who buys the failing bike.

Yea, I'm probably paranoid. But I've had many bouts w/ Murphy over the years. As I have dependents, I'm more risk averse now. I'm just going to have to bite the bullet - save up for a new bike someday (looks like it'll be in the $3000-5000 range if I want a material step up). That someday may be years away though given how the left has tanked the economy and with the market down 20% this year.

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