-alan-
pfm Member
Gentlemen of the PFM cycling posse..I would humbly request your assistance and counsel please.
I think the time has finally come to park up the (by now ancient) Cube Ltd 26" , and look for something a little more capable. The Cube has genuinely been faultless in over a decade's worth of use and abuse. A couple of sets of tyres, countless tubes, one broken chain replaced, and that's it - everything else was flawless. What finally prompted this was a run out on local trails last weekend, and the realisation that a decade-old hard-tail with limited fork travel - really - is not on a par with the latest generation of high-tech suspension-kitted stuff.
It's pretty much like this, albeit with slightly higher spec RockShock Reba forks, and 3 x 9 Shimano Deore XT:
spec here:
https://www.thebikelist.co.uk/cube/ltd-2012
I want to go 29 inch / full suspension, with preferably at least the same spec or better brakes and shifters. I dont want to go full downhill spec. as I need all the help I can get in terms of less weight. I'm about as far from a happy climber as you can get
I'd like decent suspension that can handle the 'rock-tables' as we call them in the middle of the downhill runs in Ballinastoe where we go. On the Cube, when I go over them I have to fight to hold onto the grips, my vision blurs, and the feet almost come off the pedals (I don't do clips off-road).
Looking around in the car park afterwards, and googling a bit since, I've taken a closer look at the Orbea range (a mate has one). Their entry level FSusp Occam model in particular comes in at around €2.5k. Not cheap, but having got 10 years out of the last bike, not ridiculous either.
https://www.orbea.com/ie-en/bicycles/mountain/occam/cat/occam-h30
I'd go that amount, (or less if I could) but don't really want to go much more. Any thoughts on the Orbea above - or pointers towards similar or better for around the same budget ?
I think the time has finally come to park up the (by now ancient) Cube Ltd 26" , and look for something a little more capable. The Cube has genuinely been faultless in over a decade's worth of use and abuse. A couple of sets of tyres, countless tubes, one broken chain replaced, and that's it - everything else was flawless. What finally prompted this was a run out on local trails last weekend, and the realisation that a decade-old hard-tail with limited fork travel - really - is not on a par with the latest generation of high-tech suspension-kitted stuff.
It's pretty much like this, albeit with slightly higher spec RockShock Reba forks, and 3 x 9 Shimano Deore XT:
spec here:
https://www.thebikelist.co.uk/cube/ltd-2012
I want to go 29 inch / full suspension, with preferably at least the same spec or better brakes and shifters. I dont want to go full downhill spec. as I need all the help I can get in terms of less weight. I'm about as far from a happy climber as you can get
I'd like decent suspension that can handle the 'rock-tables' as we call them in the middle of the downhill runs in Ballinastoe where we go. On the Cube, when I go over them I have to fight to hold onto the grips, my vision blurs, and the feet almost come off the pedals (I don't do clips off-road).
Looking around in the car park afterwards, and googling a bit since, I've taken a closer look at the Orbea range (a mate has one). Their entry level FSusp Occam model in particular comes in at around €2.5k. Not cheap, but having got 10 years out of the last bike, not ridiculous either.
https://www.orbea.com/ie-en/bicycles/mountain/occam/cat/occam-h30
I'd go that amount, (or less if I could) but don't really want to go much more. Any thoughts on the Orbea above - or pointers towards similar or better for around the same budget ?