Old Guy says bye to Hard Tail- what Full Suspension do I buy?

Hey~~~~~~

48 year old-school mt biker. Ready to retire my 15 year old Klein
Attitude hard tail for full suspension.

I am more of a cross country racer than a pure downhiller these days.
So what is the best light weight relatively low cost bike? Or how many
years back used/ off ebay do I go and still get decent, modern rear
shock performance/ pedal lock out, etc...

Thanx, bros!

Except for a year's difference in our ages, that sounds like my story.
If you like light xc, you might look at a Racer-X. To stay with
Klein, folks tend to like their Palominos. Riding buddies around here
are biting the big one and going for longer travel squishes, such as
the Yeti 5.75, the Intense 5.5 or new 6.6, Ventana x-5, Switchblade
(moi) those types of rigs.

Have fun coming home to roost on a double boinger.

CDG

wrote:
Hey~~~~~~

48 year old-school mt biker. Ready to retire my 15 year old Klein
Attitude hard tail for full suspension.

I am more of a cross country racer than a pure downhiller these days.
So what is the best light weight relatively low cost bike? Or how many
years back used/ off ebay do I go and still get decent, modern rear
shock performance/ pedal lock out, etc...

Thanx, bros!


I really like the Specialized Epic. I was a longtime hardtail holdout
too, and the Epic is a nice blend of traits from FS and HT bikes. Take
one for a test ride if you can. The really cool feature of the bike is a
shock that will automatically lock out on smooth sections, making the
bike handle like a hardtail. Then, hit a bump and the shock opens up to
give 3.5" (I think the new ones have 4") of rear travel. It really works
and now feels very natural to me and I don't notice the transitions from
locked to open. It just feels like the right bike whether I'm climbing
out of the saddle or bombing a chattery DH.
There's also a lot of other XC FS bikes out there so ride a few and see
what suits you the best. Good luck!

Matt

wrote:
Hey~~~~~~

48 year old-school mt biker. Ready to retire my 15 year old Klein
Attitude hard tail for full suspension.

I am more of a cross country racer than a pure downhiller these days.
So what is the best light weight relatively low cost bike? Or how many
years back used/ off ebay do I go and still get decent, modern rear
shock performance/ pedal lock out, etc...

Thanx, bros!


I don't know what you consider low-cost, but I would buy new. Just wait
for the deal. I'm riding a Trek Fuel with a carbon-fibre frame and am
very happy with it.

James

Probably as many different responses coming up as there are
participants...;-)

If it matters, I'm exactly your age and ride exclusively XC, although I'm
limited to weekends and such. I switched to a FS a couple of years ago, and
found a screaming deal on a local '02 Klein Adept (Race). Nice light frame,
good geometry (at least for me). With the original Rolf wheels and V's, it
was probably 26 lbs or so. I just swapped the fork and now have mech discs.
It is probably 28-29 lbs now because of the discs and the inexpensive
wheelset on it. To me it still feels nimble and close to a hardtail -
especially on climbs.

They are cheap on eBay. Add some $ for fork (stock Manitous were SX or
SX-R) and you still come in about half of LBS retail.

My wife rides a classic 2-year-old Stumpjumper. Kind of a benchmark in
4-bar suspension. She loves that too.

Neither of us race or notice a ton of bob in the rear, so lock-out has not
been a feature we've looked for.

Have fun with the search. Ride em all and buy something NOBODY suggests ;-)
My $.02, I narrow any eBay search to local bikes. Seeing and touching is
really believing.


wrote in message
oups.com...
Hey~~~~~~

48 year old-school mt biker. Ready to retire my 15 year old Klein
Attitude hard tail for full suspension.

I am more of a cross country racer than a pure downhiller these days.
So what is the best light weight relatively low cost bike? Or how many
years back used/ off ebay do I go and still get decent, modern rear
shock performance/ pedal lock out, etc...

Thanx, bros!

Paladin wrote:
Except for a year's difference in our ages, that sounds like my story.
If you like light xc, you might look at a Racer-X. To stay with
Klein, folks tend to like their Palominos. Riding buddies around here
are biting the big one and going for longer travel squishes, such as
the Yeti 5.75, the Intense 5.5 or new 6.6, Ventana x-5, Switchblade
(moi) those types of rigs.

Have fun coming home to roost on a double boinger.

I've had a Palomino for three seasons now and still like it. My wife
has a Specialized Epic that she likes as well. Lots of choices and it's
only money ;-)

Shawn

wrote:
Hey~~~~~~

48 year old-school mt biker. Ready to retire my 15 year old Klein
Attitude hard tail for full suspension.

I am more of a cross country racer than a pure downhiller these days.
So what is the best light weight relatively low cost bike? Or how many
years back used/ off ebay do I go and still get decent, modern rear
shock performance/ pedal lock out, etc...

Thanx, bros!


If you're racing, look no further than a Titus Racer-X. Go for the
Isogrid custom model if you have disposable income.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

James wrote:
I don't know what you consider low-cost, but I would buy new. Just wait
for the deal. I'm riding a Trek Fuel with a carbon-fibre frame and am
very happy with it.


Until it breaks. Carbon fiber has a tendency to fail without warning.
OCLV = Oh Chit, Lookout(here's another)Victim

JD

"JD" wrote in message
ups.com...

Until it breaks. Carbon fiber has a tendency to fail without warning.
OCLV = Oh Chit, Lookout(here's another)Victim

JD

Where did you hear this? I always thought if it was properly designed and
built it was very strong.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hey~~~~~~

48 year old-school mt biker. Ready to retire my 15 year old Klein
Attitude hard tail for full suspension.

I am more of a cross country racer than a pure downhiller these days.
So what is the best light weight relatively low cost bike? Or how many
years back used/ off ebay do I go and still get decent, modern rear
shock performance/ pedal lock out, etc...

Thanx, bros!


I would look at one the FS bikes from Giant. They offer allot of bang for
your buck. Maybe an Anthem or a Trance. Good designs, good specs and
warranty.