Monday, 13 February 2012

What Bike...

OK, I know it's got to be a 29er, but what one, so many different makes, models, materials, and designs coming out over the last couple of years, and it looks like a lot more to come. I have been using my Scandal 29er for over 6 months now, and it's defiantly becoming my bike of choice, not to sure why yet, maybe because it nice to ride, or because it's the first bike I come to in the bike room, or maybe because my subconscious is telling me I need to get used to the big wheels. One of the important factors in bike choice is the need to carry the amount of kit, due to full suspension bike being cluttered with suspension bits I think a hard tail is the only way to go then I can fit my frame bag on without any hassle. So here’s my attempt to understand What Bike?

Let’s start with materials; choices are Carbon, Titanium, Aluminium, or Steal.

Carbon, probable the lightest choice and the design of the weave can have a large influence on the handling, comfort, strength, and style of the frame. I've searched the internet for long time to find a bike/frame that will be suited to My Tour divide, high in contention for a carbon framed bike has to be the Santacruz Highball.

Titanium, the best choice for comfort and after a couple of thousand mile I will be very glad of the comfort, the same comfort can be had with a carbon or steal frame, titanium is lighter than steal and stronger than carbon (considering they are both designed well) I have been waiting for a new On-One Ti 29er to come out, but i have also been looking at some other frames. Titanium is far more expensive that steal, and depending on the carbon frame builder can be more expensive and could be cheaper.

Steal, this is by far the cheapest option but defiantly not the lightest, in an environment when every gram counts I am not too sure the comfort gained warrants the weight increase, I need to do some more research on the weight of a steal frame, but looking at the new Ritchey's p-29er there is no denying it’s an awesome looking frame but at a similar price to the titanium and carbon frames I fail to see the point. But steal is still an option for the shear comfort.

Aluminium is used on the majority of frames on the marked at the moment from cheep £200 jobs to very nice race bikes, aluminium frames have a tendency to be very rigid and for me provide no comfort for My Tour Divide, so i don't think it will be a bike I am going to use.

When I talk about comfort on frames all frames have a bit of flex in them, but some materials and designs have more than others. So I need to do a lot more research to see what frame is going to be the best of all worlds, I need a frame that has a bit of flex to adsorb the small vibrations of the Tour Divide route also stand up to supporting all the kit I have to carry and be as light as possible.

Plus on top of needing the perfect bike for the Tour Divide I will need a bike for the races coming up for the next 12 months.

So in conclusion, I haven't got a clue what bike to use!!! But it's got to be a 29er.

My options so far:

Santacruz Highball (Carbon)


On-One Ti 29er (Titanium)
Sorry no Picture, because its not out yet (that's even if there will be one) :( but I hope it will be out soon.


Ritchey's P-29er 


Lynskey Pro29 VF (Titanium) 


Pipedream Ti 29er (Titanium) 

Niner 29er (Carbon) 


Plus many many more from Cannondale, Scott, and Specialized  :( 

You may have noticed that I have changed the layout and design of my blog, hope you like it :) any tips for improvement?
Posted by Neil Harwood at 21:38
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4 comments:

  1. Hey; I am also doing the 2012 TDR, hope to see you in Banff or on route.

    In any case I have bias but steel really not a bad choice.

    I think the weight difference in the frame is almost meaningless given that the bike with packs will be in the 35 to 40 pound range. When you compare the weight of quality steel vs. aluminum, carbon, and Ti you see that steel is only one or two pounds more.

    The divide is very hard on all bikes so regardless of material make sure you look for a model that is built on the heavy side. An ultra light bike may not be the best choice. With Ti and Carbon it is often harder to find a non-ultra light model because generally the stock models are focused on saving weight. More then a few ultra light frames have been broken on the divide. Regardless of material the bike will likely be fine as long as you select a model that is not the lightest in a given category.

    My TDR rig will be around 40 pounds (loaded). My frame will be steel at around 4.25 pounds. If you compare to an ultra light model the weight difference in the frame is around 1 pound. Rolling down the road me plus my bike is around 200 pounds and as such a one pound weight difference in the frame does not mean very much.

    Good luck with your choice; TDR is around the corner so make sure you get used to your bike ASAP.

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    1. Hi Mate,

      I'm doing the TDR in 2013 sorry, so I have plenty of time to pick a bike, but I hope it goes well I'll be following it again this year :)

      You have some good points but I'll need to save every gram I can save, to be honest the Santacruz Highball is looking the fav at the moment. The FeBikes look very nice though :)

      Very Good luck with your TDR :)

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  2. Ritchey looks sweet but consider sliding rear drop outs pros and cons over a long trip like this. another consideration is the space area in the triangle. The bigger the triangle the bigger the frame bag.

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    Replies

    1. I would be concerned about the dropouts too, would be better with proper dropouts. I ride a large or XL anyway so the is quite a bit of room for a frame bag, I've tested my frame bag with all my kit in and it fits in well, just a couple of tweaks needed to get it right :) (any excuse to do a bivvi ride)

      Delete

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