[disturbed]

Trek 6700

Probably the only good bike I could find here. The frame is aluminum (measly 9 kilos

). My last frame was almost 15 kgs(dont ask).

Ahhh happy days are here again.
I thought headphones were expensive

Future Upgrades: Disc Brakes

 

[CD44hi]

Talk about two expensive hobbies. That's a good, agressive looking MTB, ride hard

I have to admit, that more than once, I've got into my bike room and considered selling one of my mountain or road bikes, to get more audio gear. But I love biking soo much..... so, so far I've resisted
I've seen to have stricked a balance...... so far

As for the Disc brakes, unless you'll be doing some serious off-roading, you'll be fine with the V-brakes (you have LX/XT now?)..... for a while, until the "upgrading" bug bites again.
If I may say something, I would avoid hydro-disc brakes for a while and consider the Avid mechanical disc brakes, they have a great rep,

Congrats and enjoy,

CD44hi

 

[disturbed]

I want disc brakes so I can do some psycho riding on crowded pedestrian walkways with my buddies. We calll it 'pedestrian racing'

The V-Brakes dont stop fast enough ... or maybe I shoud get etter tyres? ARRGH!

I believe its LX I've got.

Why not hydro disc brakes?

 

[bangraman]

I used to do a lot of biking. Over the last couple of years, not so much, although I did get new gear last year. That bike probably weighs less than some of my DH frames

Discs are nice even if you don't ride aggressively or offroad, purely for one reason: Consistent braking. However unless you're a good / aggressive / heavily offroad rider, I doubt you'll need anything more than the Avids mentioned previously. If your riding is primarily concrete, try the BMX-tread tyres coming onto the market.

 

[wallijonn]

I'd like to get one with a shock absorber behind the seat and two shock absorbers in the front. Target has one for $100. but it is a little heavy. how do you feel about them?

 

[stymie miasma]

As Cd44hi suggested, mechanical disc brakes are probably a little easier to live with than hydaulics, purely from a maintenance standpoint. Hydraulic brakes require bleeding, and can have problems associated with fluid expansion with increased temps. Troubleshooting a mechanical system is considerably more straight forward by comparrison.

Avid mechanical discs have received a lot of postive reviews. Given that they have been avaialble for a few years now, without showing any problems, makes them an attractive option. In addition, they are very well priced. Don't forget that you will need to rebuild your wheels - replacing both your front and rear hubs with disc-specific hubs. That will probably be the most costly part of the upgrade!

Anyway - cool bike. Sounds like you will have a great time riding it!!

 

[wallijonn]

stymie,

the first one has disc brakes, Disturb's unit doesn't; it has the "plain olde brakes".

the question is one of rear suspension. (and why isn't there a spring under the seat instead of on the rear frame?)

since i'm 5'7", chances are that i'd have to buy a 24" bike. I've been looking to 26" bikes with the chopped rear frame (with the shock absorber unit) with enough room to lower the seat to a 24" height just so that I can take advantage of the larger wheels for a smoother ride.

 

[CD44hi]

disturbed,

In my experience with Hydr. brakes, above 95 F I feel that their performance is somewhat compromised. My guess was that where you reside, it is not hard to hit that temp. That's why I think it may not be the best choice in this case. In addition as stymie miasma pointed out, they require quite a bit more maintenance work, which depending on your mechanical inclinations, might actually be not a problem.


wallijonn, lol, where's that target?? Actually, you should buy two of the upper one in your post , keep one and resell the other on ebay for $3K

Have fun!
CD44hi

 

[disturbed]

Quote:

Originally posted by CD44hi disturbed, In my experience with Hydr. brakes, above 95 F I feel that their performance is somewhat compromised. My guess was that where you reside, it is not hard to hit that temp. That's why I think it may not be the best choice in this case. In addition as stymie miasma pointed out, they require quite a bit more maintenance work, which depending on your mechanical inclinations, might actually be not a problem. wallijonn, lol, where's that target?? Actually, you should buy two of the upper one in your post , keep one and resell the other on ebay for $3K Have fun! CD44hi

Oh YEAH! It gets HOT HERE MAN. I MEAN HOT.
I feel as if I'm melting sometimes when I bike *insert melting smilie here*

Ahh well tell me what upgrades should I look into as time goes by? I looking for meaningful upgrades ...

Tell me more about the probs with hydro brakes in higher temperatures how is the braking compromised?.... are the mechanical disc brakes really better than V-Brakes?

*ahh upgardetitis*

 

[Mr.PD]

Bikes are cool.
I've had a few Treks. Low end to mid range models.
I currently have a Giant aluminum frame. I can't remember the model.
I rode it once last year. None the year before. It's at least 4 years old. I should sell it.

 

[wallijonn]

CD,

dang. no way they had a Trek for $100. I should have clarified that the type of suspension was going for $100.

you got me.

well done.

 

[vwap]

Wallijohn: Personally, I'd never buy a bike from Target. The ones I've seen generally have really crappy parts.. Not only that, but the salesmen generally have no clue about bikes, and you're not going to get a very well adjusted bike. If you go to a Local Bike Shop (LBS), while the bikes they sell sometimes may be more expensive, they'll be able to fit you to a bike, let you try out out outside, have better parts, be able to maintain it for you, and overall, just give you better quality bikes and service.

Also disc brakes != good bike. Suspension, front and rear, != good bike. I've seen and ridden some pretty shoddy suspensions, and there are some that do nothing but look pretty.

disturbed: make sure your bike has rear mounts for a disc brake. Most front forks generally come with dropouts, so all you'll need is disc hubs [like someone said already], but if you don't have a rear disc brake mount, then it's pointless

This is probably the only reason I don't have discs on my bike, though...

 

[screwdriver]

i dont know if it is a good bike but i bought one of this before and used it for a year - then i recently sold it to get gear - for head fi.


diamondback DBR XR-4

 

[stymie miasma]

wallijohn,

In terms of a bike that is going to be enjoyable to ride, $100 is not going to get you very far! Sure, you can buy a bike from Target or KMart for $100, but it is going to be heavy (not fun to ride), be spec'd with cheap and unreliable components (not fun to ride) and will have a good chance of falling apart (impossible to ride!).

As was suggested above, try and find a good local bike shop, where you can test ride a few different brands and frame sizes. There are a couple of old threads discussing bicycles, in particular mountain bikes. A lot of people chimed in and offered some great advice. The bottom line is - decide how often and where you plan to ride - that way you can make a choice b/w a road, mountain or hybrid bike (hi MacDEF!!

).

Focus on spending your money on a quality frame and components. Rear suspension will probably be out of your price range (at least, rear suspension that works and doesn't weigh the bike down and make pedalling HARDER rather than easier). If you are keen on getting a plush ride, a suspension seatpost is probably a better way to go.


disturbed,

the problem with hydraulics and hot weather is that the heat (not only ambient temerature, but also the frictional heat from applying the brakes) will cause the hydraulic fluid to expand. This can result in the brakes dragging, or worse still, actually locking on when you don't want them to be on. This happened to my friend quite frequently - he was using an early set of Coda (Cannondale) hydraulics. They spoiled many a good ride - he now runs LX V-brakes!!!

At least with mecahnical brakes, you can adjust the cable length etc with nothing more than an allen key. That way, if you do run into problems on the trail, you can usually attempt a fix to get you out of trouble.

 

[bangraman]

Heat affects Hyd discs? I've done down sweeping DH trails trying to keep my speed down, dragging Hope brakes so that you can actually see them getting hot. Let go however and there was instant release.
The reason for this is there are two main types of hydro disc brakes... Open and closed. Open systems have a reservoir which accepts expanding fluid and allows relatively drag-free rotation. Hopes for example use DOT5 which resists expanding in any case. This type is ideal for DH and freeride use. Closed systems allow you to adjust the pad distance, but they are affected by heat to a degree. Systems using mineral oils are more prone to this, but still, current closed systems aren't that affected by heat buildup. With either system, dragging brakes at whatever temperature is more a sign of incompetent bike set-up than problems with the brake system.
Many claims are made about the advantages of mechanical disc brakes. But really, it's about cost given a regular rider. If you're normal, you're never likely to approach the limits of what a system like the Avid can offer you, let alone Hopes or Hayes. The reliability argument? Theoretical and totally moot provided your bike is set up correctly to begin with. Despite the fact that I'm very rusty these days, I'll stick to my hydros.