yes to more single speed stuff (as a rider who has been single speeding for 21 years) and today's entry level bikes are pretty impressive. But I still mostly ride my 20 year-old single speed with a downhill fork. Should I be sending a pict of that to bike vault?
Yes, I would love to see entry level bikes and components getting shown and discussed on the channel. Father of three kids here, all of which started biking last year, and I had to follow along (happily). So, I basically have to buy everything four times, turning a generally expensive hobby into an eye-watering money sink... 😅 So yes, two of the kids now ride Canyon Neurons in different varieties, and the youngest is on a Propain Yuma, so these sound right up my alley. 😊
I was an elite endurance athlete for most of my life. I ran track, xc and road races from 5k to ultra marathon. I did bike touring and still have the Cannondale panniers from 1984. I raced tri's up to Ironman and mtb races up to 24hr events. I worked in specialty running stores, New Balance stores and then bike shops as a mechanic. The main thing I learned along my winding road was that most runners have small egos. Sure, the equipment makes a difference, but race times don't lie for amateurs. Cyclists see their bikes as car owners do. My bike reflects my money. If someone can afford to buy a BMW then they sure enough have the ego and money to spend 10k on a bike. Does the high end desire drive the bicycle industry? Ask the private investment funds who keep disrupting our industry with Silicon Valley pipe dreams. I own 3 Kona bikes and the crap they went through recently hurts my last few feelings. Make bikes more affordable with reliable tech and stop pushing tech just because you can. Not everyone wants, or more importantly needs to drive a BMW
Entry level bikes have always been the best value for money, the best bang for your buck and the best smiles for your dough. Thing is MTB is a bit like "affordable" Farrari's - yes a good entry level bike is probably all the bike 99.9% of people need, but lots of those people can afford and lust after the "affordable" more expensive stuff.
You have got to make a playlist for entry level bikes or budget oriented components for newbies to get into and watch for info. It would definitely be great help.
I think we fall victim to the idea that buying better will make us better. I would like to see you guys do ride and reviews of different brands to give us more insight.
I had a roscoe for 4 years and have so much fun maintaining / upgrading and riding all kinds of stuff Very cheap to buy, ride and maintain. Today i changed brake fluid successfully and thought to my self, what a great bike, i cant justify replacing it with another, it suits my riding style very good aswell.
Bougt one used this year (R8 2019 with Fox 34 140mm) and had no expectations towards it. And what should i say... it's one of the best bikes i ever owned. So playful on the one hand and so capable on the other. Taken it to the pumptrack, Street riding, Alpine tours with lots of pedaling and S3 Trails down, dirt jumps. It just performs everywhere. Not the best in each category, but so much fun everywhere. One bike to do it all!
Absolutely awesome looking steel bikes !!!! That hard tail downhill bike is absolutely nuts ! So cool looking and single speed . Love the idea of an actual hard tail downhill race . My next full suspension will be steel. So cool !
All of the improvements on bikes are definitely worth the money and truly do help everyone.This next thing to mention is not all that helpful to the bike industry as a whole, but with the end of COVID and all of the bike inventories being so high..,. it has been a good year where people can purchase bikes at a really good price because of all the large discounts. I know that may not be something to applaud, but in the end, it did help folks get new bikes with great improvements and at good prices. On another note, happy to see that Royal is back and hope that lots of people do get them as stocking stuffers!
My son joined high school mountain biking in the spring of 2023 on a hard taił 2022 Specialized Rockhopper. It was his first MTB. If I remember correctly it retailed just over $1k and we got it on sale for around $750. That hard tail taught him the skills he needed on the trail. And that would’ve been more difficult to learn on a fully suspended bike. Over the course of that 1st season we did upgrade his fork to an air sprung Rock Shox Judy and a dropper post. He got as high as 8th in his region & division and finished 25th at State. You don’t have to drop a lot of money to start, get out and have fun… and be competitive. (He did get a job at the local shop and save his pennies the next season for a serious upgrade. He trained the entire next year riding nearly every day, rain shine or snow, and had an incredible season hitting the podium every race this year… until he got hit by a car while he was on his way to school on his trusty old Rockhopper, ending his season 2 weeks before State. It tore two ligaments and destroyed that beloved Rockhopper. We frequently joke about a meme we saw that said: “Introduce your kids to Mountain Biking and they’ll never have money for drugs.” So true…) The point is, you can start out and have a great time at a reasonable price. And the skills you will learn on it will benefit you going forward.
I rediscovered mtb after i found a killer deal on hardtail, it had full deore, rockshox revelation 140mm, dt swiss wheels and a frame with great geometry, all for 700£. It's amazing how good bikes you can get now
It's the same as 20 or 30 yrs ago, entry level bikes are not what most kids, and grown up kids, dream about but they're the gateway for most of them, mention to Marin for putting wild color schemes on their entry level bikes, they understand 😂
Must see more entry level bikes and gear. I find I get as much fun out of entry level, and with the price of some bikes out there entry level is more usable, I'm not frightened to use it, as its not going to cost me several thousand notes to replace if I wreck it, far more fun as well when I fly past someone on a far more expensive gear.
#quiz - controversial question - if you are referring to the Aheadset (threadless Headset) in '92 - the company at that point was still called Dia-Compe USA (after it split from the Japanese ownership) - it didn't become Cane Creek till '95 - so it would have to be the Thudbuster seatpost in '97.
@JamesGoddard-i7s you know if @owenthebikenerd is off next week there will be a load of winners with 'the Aheadset in 92'... and they will have missed this dive into Patents and what the company was actually called at the time... 🤣
@JamesGoddard-i7s you have to put a name on a patent as 'the inventor' . Even if it is owned by contract to a company... and having sold products to Apple, I can tell you that sometimes a product is fully developed before you finish the patent application...🙃
You can take out travel spacers on rockshox recon and still leave bump stops in place ive done it on an old recon gold got an extra 30mm travel works perfect
I bought 160mm cranks because I though it would be better for my shorter height (at 168cm and 780mm inseam). Any wow what I difference it made. Made it climb better and I have more movement in my hips. Haven't noticed there is more pedals clearance as the pedals are still low to the ground at the end of the stroke.
you should definitely do more entry level stuff it will get more new people intto mountain biking and therefore bring more people to your channel ,also there needs to be no brand snobbery when doing it there are some great entry level bikes by Carrera,voodoo,boardman,cube,polygon ,etc etc
I noticed you dont seem to get differnt set ups anymore and you just get a solid bike, i want 3 bikes, i bought a second hand fuji team road bike and looking to get a canyon spectral! And i want to build a second hand DH bike, but only get one wheel set for the spectral and DH bike and was thinking an enduro front wheel and a DH rear wheel and just wheel swap! DH bike are too much hence get it second hand and the forks second hand and get them serviced
With some smart shopping you can assemble something high end for fairly cheap. I built up a 2017 Sworks nos Epic frame. Full xt drivetrain from Aliexpress. Fox 32 stepcast bought on sale. Ended up only spending about $2,800 total. Weighs 25.2 lbs and it rips. Full Ritchey cockpit. S works 2.35 Fast Traks. Hand built Sun Duroc 30s. No compromises on parts either.
Cane Creek has made loads of innovative products over the years, but I think the most important has got to be the threadless “Aheadset” that came out in the early 90s. The first couple of years still had the Dia Compe name on them. The bearing sizes have changed a bit, and the external cups started to mostly disappear in the mid 2000s, but we’re still using the same basic system 30+ years later. Pretty remarkable, considering how radically almost every other component on mountain bikes have changed in that same time period.
There need to be more bikes like this for this price and slightly less. Entry level aluminum frames should also be sold for less than the price of the entry level bike. Shouldn't have a buy a whole new bike if all the parts you have will just transfer over. Why can't I buy a modern geometry entry level frame for 1k?
Rockshox recons officially support travel adjustment through the removal or addition of spacers in the air tube. It’s all in the instructions for the fork and rockshox sell a spacer kit for this purpose exact amount of travel adjustment depends on what model year but the most recent ones are adjustable down to 80mm and up to 150mm. I know the recons are considered a low end fork so probably not that interesting for you but come on guys do a bit of research for those of us who don’t have such a big budget
I think £1500 is a great price point for getting a super capable bike. I bought a Titus Fireline 29er hardtail from Planet X for £1500…titanium frame, 130mm Rockshox fork, Eagle groupset, dropper post, great cockpit, Maxxis tyres, modern hardtail geometry….a Ti frame back in the 90’s was proper bedroom wall poster stuff, now it’s considered budget which is unbelievable. £10K bikes are awesome but it’s diminishing returns after a certain point.
There's evidence to sugest shorter cranks use the middle part of the muscle rarher than the max and min stretch, anyway BM (RIP) said the optimum was 140mm, cut and retaped to 150mm, 170mm now are horrobke to ride. ❤
Entry level: perhaps its a matter of perspective. Financial or Bike Specifications. A very capable Hard tail MTB is available at £500 in UK, with amazing Hydraulic Brakes, Shimano Drive train, and adequate wheels & tires. Geometry; important as it cant be upgraded, however a humble entry level Hard Tail is easy to upgrade and maintain. Best Budget upgrade, almost a necessity, Serious Flat Peddles !
Bought the entry level Turbo Levo, enjoyed it for a coupe of years, just adorned it with (take off from new bikes) a fox 36 and fox float x for some very good value money. It’s like riding a new bike.
#quiz Cane Creek invented the Aheadset for threadless steerers and direct mount stems, apparently in '91, but I didn't hear of them until about 94. Pace did the opposite and integrated the stem and steerer with it preloaded and clamped tonto the RC30 fork crown, possibly in 1990?
I've seen lots of reviews about MGU bikes & at first glance they look ace. My LBS is a little sceptical saying such things like, " just more to go wrong" & the smaller companies "won't have good after sales service". On 1st point, surely this could be said about all eMTBs? Are they just safeguarding their territory or should we be wary? TIA
Historically the bigger the company (I’m looking at you Specialized and Trek) the worse the entry level bike is. To a certain degree it still happens, pointless fork, QR wheels and shoddy (Microshift) drivetrain. BUT! There are brands lesser known for cycling (Sonder & Caliber included) that have been able to push their budget and get a fantastic product out there for people to buy. I will add, Vitus, Planet-X, YT and Canyon include great affordable bikes too, but you have to be extremely lucky to find them in stock when you want one. If I needed a budget bike I’d be happy to buy from most of these brands.
#AskGMBNTech I just did 1200 km on my Trek Rail, according chain checker my chain is on zero wear. I have no idea how this is possible, but my bike mechanic reccomend me to change chain anyway... what I did. My question is, it is really neccesary to change chain after certain distance, no metter the chain wear?
Totally agree with the £800 - £1500 range for pukka mtbs. OK, you can definitely get some really good mtbs for £400 odd but they're desperately needing at least a fork upgrade. But a Voodoo Bizango for £750 is a serious mtb, needs nothing really. Yes, lots of great bikes in your price range.
#QUIZ I am going out on a limb and say Double Barrel Shocks in 2005. They make a lot of stuff and could be any other products including Titanium Cranks.
Geometry has always been my big beef with the industry. I've talked to frame builders in the past, asking for longer slacker geo. Their response was always, "The bike won't handle well". Not only that, you couldn't buy a stem that was shorter than 90mm without it being a brick or bars wider than 720mm. Hell, 720 was considered a DH bar. It drives me nuts that it took the industry over 30 eff'n years to pull their head out of their a$$. Actually, if you go back to the klunkers, their geo was more modern than 10yr ago
About entry level bikes An good entry level bikes can do the same thing a high end bike does And back in the day they didn't, or at least the the quality of the bike did not recommend it 😂
Slack frames- even on pro bikes- only came about as courses changed, and riders became more strictly 'lift serve' (or shuttle) only. Riding a 40lb., slack frame, big wheel full suspension bike uphill or around town *sucks* - just as much as riding a $1000 Walmart bike downhill does.
There will not be a next bike for me, unless I totally trash my 2017 Giant Fathom 29er with Shimano XT, the full setup is perfect for the conditions here in the Philippines, I'm 71 an ExPat Brit - Total cost inc upgrade to XT 90,000 Peso about 1,200 GbP
I used to buy entry lvl then upgrade the parts as they broke, i had a GT avalance 4.0 and some snob had a 1.0 and said my bike was crao when it reality mine was better as i broke the parts and i had top the range maxis rear wheel with a halo super drive hub, hope race disc brake xtr bb barings and fox suspension 😂
Acknoledging the origins of mountain bikes, For the everyday bloke what are mountain bikes for? Not everyone is fit enough or mad enough to ride a bike at break neck speed down a mountain. many of us like the overland of road capability of mountain bikes. To go where there are no roads
🤔 wow that much, current ride £5 Carrera frame most expensive parts decent puncture resistance tyres £80 loads of free cheap stuff say £250 tops! Good enough for me at 69 think I've done a 100 miles so far this week and it's only Wednesday 😂🎉
@Clive-z3u i've bought my Specialized Demo 8 at 600 bucks, old tyres but good enough to use for a while, the guy knew the bike had been neglected as it had been stopped for a year, so he offered to patch any big issues that showed up, wich got me a new chain since i realized mid ride that the old one was opening and got lucky enough to go downhill all the way back down to home. Three years later the rear shock blew and i swapped it for a Fox DHX2 Factory Series Kashima that was sold used for 200 bucks in great condition, a renthal fatbar, pedals brakes and a few other goodies had been added since. I've spent about 1000 bucks without counting wear items as the chain, brake pads and tyres, i love the bike to death and refuse to get rid of it until the frame fails
If you are saying an entry level bike is between 800 and 1500$ you must be talking about hard tails. The only companies i know of that make an entry level full sus bike in this price range is polygon and gt. Every bike manufacturer should be doing this. Bikes are way too expensive and the cheap ones aren't upgradable because the frames are so poorly designed. Not current geometry or wheel spacing. Also... why can't we buy just a frame from a reputable brand for less than the fully built complete entry level bike? Why does a trek frame cost more than the cheapest completely assembled bike of that model?
I'd like to see biking to be more affordable to the masses, not exclusive. You should see the prices of bikes here in Malaysia and how exclusive this sports is getting day by day. Sad actually
Yes, all of your staff should be primarily riding entry to mid-level bikes, something that is even remotely attainable by us mortals. And I mean really ride it, not as "one off" for a video or 2, but actually make it their daily go to that is the only way to change the perception of the masses that "you need an ultra-expensive bike to even consider riding" or "this cheaper stuff is trash, not worth considering"
I think you guys are living in your own special little world if you think that £1300 is an entry level bike. Entry level bikes are about £500 and they are perfectly ridable for 90% of cyclists. This channel completely ignores what are the real entry level bikes, it's like they don't exist. For all their flaws at least GCN acknowledges and covers entry level bikes to some degree.
Best 2 upgrade ditch shimano for shram i hate shimano as i have a lot of torque in my legs and as a result i dont gear select properly and over estimate and need to jump 3-4 gears at once and shimano is crap for this! I tried a 12 speed on an orange at FOD and i hated that to give me a 9/10 speed and a rear wheel with better engagement
Do you want to see more single-speed stuff? What do you think about entry-level bikes now?
Single speed okay, fixed gear hell nah 💀🤪
Definitely need tensioners not to cost double of derailleurs. I understand low demand - high price situation, but it is simply outrageous.
Definitely u have a specialized rockhopper elite up graded a few bits cracking bike
Yeeees. More single speed please!!!😂😊
yes to more single speed stuff (as a rider who has been single speeding for 21 years) and today's entry level bikes are pretty impressive. But I still mostly ride my 20 year-old single speed with a downhill fork. Should I be sending a pict of that to bike vault?
Yes, I would love to see entry level bikes and components getting shown and discussed on the channel. Father of three kids here, all of which started biking last year, and I had to follow along (happily). So, I basically have to buy everything four times, turning a generally expensive hobby into an eye-watering money sink... 😅 So yes, two of the kids now ride Canyon Neurons in different varieties, and the youngest is on a Propain Yuma, so these sound right up my alley. 😊
Of course we want to see more entry-level bikes reviewed here. There´s where new people will get engaged
I was an elite endurance athlete for most of my life. I ran track, xc and road races from 5k to ultra marathon. I did bike touring and still have the Cannondale panniers from 1984. I raced tri's up to Ironman and mtb races up to 24hr events. I worked in specialty running stores, New Balance stores and then bike shops as a mechanic. The main thing I learned along my winding road was that most runners have small egos. Sure, the equipment makes a difference, but race times don't lie for amateurs. Cyclists see their bikes as car owners do. My bike reflects my money. If someone can afford to buy a BMW then they sure enough have the ego and money to spend 10k on a bike. Does the high end desire drive the bicycle industry? Ask the private investment funds who keep disrupting our industry with Silicon Valley pipe dreams. I own 3 Kona bikes and the crap they went through recently hurts my last few feelings. Make bikes more affordable with reliable tech and stop pushing tech just because you can. Not everyone wants, or more importantly needs to drive a BMW
Entry level bikes have always been the best value for money, the best bang for your buck and the best smiles for your dough. Thing is MTB is a bit like "affordable" Farrari's - yes a good entry level bike is probably all the bike 99.9% of people need, but lots of those people can afford and lust after the "affordable" more expensive stuff.
You have got to make a playlist for entry level bikes or budget oriented components for newbies to get into and watch for info. It would definitely be great help.
I think we fall victim to the idea that buying better will make us better. I would like to see you guys do ride and reviews of different brands to give us more insight.
Always good to see Martyn. One of the best presenters ever.
Thank you Dude.
Agreed - He's a Legend!
I had a roscoe for 4 years and have so much fun maintaining / upgrading and riding all kinds of stuff
Very cheap to buy, ride and maintain.
Today i changed brake fluid successfully and thought to my self, what a great bike, i cant justify replacing it with another, it suits my riding style very good aswell.
Bougt one used this year (R8 2019 with Fox 34 140mm) and had no expectations towards it.
And what should i say... it's one of the best bikes i ever owned. So playful on the one hand and so capable on the other. Taken it to the pumptrack, Street riding, Alpine tours with lots of pedaling and S3 Trails down, dirt jumps. It just performs everywhere. Not the best in each category, but so much fun everywhere.
One bike to do it all!
Absolutely awesome looking steel bikes !!!! That hard tail downhill bike is absolutely nuts ! So cool looking and single speed . Love the idea of an actual hard tail downhill race . My next full suspension will be steel. So cool !
Healing vibes for Owen
He sounds like he gonna be sick within a few days 🤧
I like Martyn but where’s Anna ❤
I want some Ashton/Royal special adition gloves.
I've been riding for forty years and it's refinement and reliability that blows my mind with modern stuff
All of the improvements on bikes are definitely worth the money and truly do help everyone.This next thing to mention is not all that helpful to the bike industry as a whole, but with the end of COVID and all of the bike inventories being so high..,. it has been a good year where people can purchase bikes at a really good price because of all the large discounts. I know that may not be something to applaud, but in the end, it did help folks get new bikes with great improvements and at good prices. On another note, happy to see that Royal is back and hope that lots of people do get them as stocking stuffers!
I just got my new Merdia Big trail yesterday only been on it once but I love it already.
My son joined high school mountain biking in the spring of 2023 on a hard taił 2022 Specialized Rockhopper. It was his first MTB. If I remember correctly it retailed just over $1k and we got it on sale for around $750.
That hard tail taught him the skills he needed on the trail. And that would’ve been more difficult to learn on a fully suspended bike.
Over the course of that 1st season we did upgrade his fork to an air sprung Rock Shox Judy and a dropper post.
He got as high as 8th in his region & division and finished 25th at State.
You don’t have to drop a lot of money to start, get out and have fun… and be competitive.
(He did get a job at the local shop and save his pennies the next season for a serious upgrade. He trained the entire next year riding nearly every day, rain shine or snow, and had an incredible season hitting the podium every race this year… until he got hit by a car while he was on his way to school on his trusty old Rockhopper, ending his season 2 weeks before State. It tore two ligaments and destroyed that beloved Rockhopper.
We frequently joke about a meme we saw that said:
“Introduce your kids to Mountain Biking and they’ll never have money for drugs.”
So true…)
The point is, you can start out and have a great time at a reasonable price. And the skills you will learn on it will benefit you going forward.
I rediscovered mtb after i found a killer deal on hardtail, it had full deore, rockshox revelation 140mm, dt swiss wheels and a frame with great geometry, all for 700£. It's amazing how good bikes you can get now
It's the same as 20 or 30 yrs ago, entry level bikes are not what most kids, and grown up kids, dream about but they're the gateway for most of them, mention to Marin for putting wild color schemes on their entry level bikes, they understand 😂
Must see more entry level bikes and gear. I find I get as much fun out of entry level, and with the price of some bikes out there entry level is more usable, I'm not frightened to use it, as its not going to cost me several thousand notes to replace if I wreck it, far more fun as well when I fly past someone on a far more expensive gear.
#quiz - controversial question - if you are referring to the Aheadset (threadless Headset) in '92 - the company at that point was still called Dia-Compe USA (after it split from the Japanese ownership) - it didn't become Cane Creek till '95 - so it would have to be the Thudbuster seatpost in '97.
@JamesGoddard-i7s patent was '90 which then got accepted in '92. Was is still the global Dia-Comp in 90?
And it still wasn't strictly speaking a 'Cane Creek invention either way.
@JamesGoddard-i7s I'll accept that (even if Cane Creek don't.. )
@JamesGoddard-i7s you know if @owenthebikenerd is off next week there will be a load of winners with 'the Aheadset in 92'... and they will have missed this dive into Patents and what the company was actually called at the time... 🤣
@JamesGoddard-i7s you have to put a name on a patent as 'the inventor' . Even if it is owned by contract to a company... and having sold products to Apple, I can tell you that sometimes a product is fully developed before you finish the patent application...🙃
You can take out travel spacers on rockshox recon and still leave bump stops in place ive done it on an old recon gold got an extra 30mm travel works perfect
@@DanWebb8080 yep even shows you how in the manual
I bought 160mm cranks because I though it would be better for my shorter height (at 168cm and 780mm inseam). Any wow what I difference it made. Made it climb better and I have more movement in my hips. Haven't noticed there is more pedals clearance as the pedals are still low to the ground at the end of the stroke.
you should definitely do more entry level stuff it will get more new people intto mountain biking and therefore bring more people to your channel ,also there needs to be no brand snobbery when doing it there are some great entry level bikes by Carrera,voodoo,boardman,cube,polygon ,etc etc
I noticed you dont seem to get differnt set ups anymore and you just get a solid bike, i want 3 bikes, i bought a second hand fuji team road bike and looking to get a canyon spectral! And i want to build a second hand DH bike, but only get one wheel set for the spectral and DH bike and was thinking an enduro front wheel and a DH rear wheel and just wheel swap! DH bike are too much hence get it second hand and the forks second hand and get them serviced
Crane creek re-invented the headset with he Aheadset in I think 1993
The new VooDoo full sus is looking pretty good as well for decent price
Hey Stevie, have you returned enough bottles for $ to get a mountain bike?
I’d focus on completing your 5th grade hmwk first
😂😂😂
With some smart shopping you can assemble something high end for fairly cheap. I built up a 2017 Sworks nos Epic frame. Full xt drivetrain from Aliexpress. Fox 32 stepcast bought on sale. Ended up only spending about $2,800 total. Weighs 25.2 lbs and it rips. Full Ritchey cockpit. S works 2.35 Fast Traks. Hand built Sun Duroc 30s. No compromises on parts either.
Cane Creek has made loads of innovative products over the years, but I think the most important has got to be the threadless “Aheadset” that came out in the early 90s. The first couple of years still had the Dia Compe name on them.
The bearing sizes have changed a bit, and the external cups started to mostly disappear in the mid 2000s, but we’re still using the same basic system 30+ years later. Pretty remarkable, considering how radically almost every other component on mountain bikes have changed in that same time period.
And yes… I realize threadless headsets had been around MUCH longer than that, but that was the first time we saw them on mass produced bikes. 👍
My wife has a Polygon SIskiu D7, it's an absolute beast of an XC bike for $1200.
There need to be more bikes like this for this price and slightly less. Entry level aluminum frames should also be sold for less than the price of the entry level bike. Shouldn't have a buy a whole new bike if all the parts you have will just transfer over. Why can't I buy a modern geometry entry level frame for 1k?
Polygon makes such good bikes for the price point!
Rockshox recons officially support travel adjustment through the removal or addition of spacers in the air tube. It’s all in the instructions for the fork and rockshox sell a spacer kit for this purpose exact amount of travel adjustment depends on what model year but the most recent ones are adjustable down to 80mm and up to 150mm. I know the recons are considered a low end fork so probably not that interesting for you but come on guys do a bit of research for those of us who don’t have such a big budget
My new bike is a prior gen and my local bike shop knocked off almost $1000 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻 thank you!
Good choice I ride microshift advent x drivetrain utter great
I think £1500 is a great price point for getting a super capable bike. I bought a Titus Fireline 29er hardtail from Planet X for £1500…titanium frame, 130mm Rockshox fork, Eagle groupset, dropper post, great cockpit, Maxxis tyres, modern hardtail geometry….a Ti frame back in the 90’s was proper bedroom wall poster stuff, now it’s considered budget which is unbelievable. £10K bikes are awesome but it’s diminishing returns after a certain point.
Cane Creek, 1995 invented threadless headset.
There's evidence to sugest shorter cranks use the middle part of the muscle rarher than the max and min stretch, anyway BM (RIP) said the optimum was 140mm, cut and retaped to 150mm, 170mm now are horrobke to ride. ❤
I still maintain that cable pull V-brakes like Shimano's linkage style on ceramic rims is a better solution than hydraulic disc- *on the rear* .
Entry level: perhaps its a matter of perspective. Financial or Bike Specifications. A very capable Hard tail MTB is available at £500 in UK, with amazing Hydraulic Brakes, Shimano Drive train, and adequate wheels & tires. Geometry; important as it cant be upgraded, however a humble entry level Hard Tail is easy to upgrade and maintain.
Best Budget upgrade, almost a necessity, Serious Flat Peddles !
Bought the entry level Turbo Levo, enjoyed it for a coupe of years, just adorned it with (take off from new bikes) a fox 36 and fox float x for some very good value money. It’s like riding a new bike.
#quiz
Cane Creek invented the Aheadset for threadless steerers and direct mount stems, apparently in '91, but I didn't hear of them until about 94.
Pace did the opposite and integrated the stem and steerer with it preloaded and clamped tonto the RC30 fork crown, possibly in 1990?
I've seen lots of reviews about MGU bikes & at first glance they look ace. My LBS is a little sceptical saying such things like, " just more to go wrong" & the smaller companies "won't have good after sales service". On 1st point, surely this could be said about all eMTBs? Are they just safeguarding their territory or should we be wary? TIA
Worst part about getting a modern enduro bike with 4 pot saints…. My hs33 on the trials bike feels stone age 😂😂
I'm amazed at my 4 pot XTs. Awesome brake.
I remember XT V brakes being mind blowing to me 🤣
I liked the LX models.
I am amazed at my new XT 4 piston brakes though. Amazing power and modulation even with my preferred resin pads.
@@johndef5075 I have those XT 4 Pistons on every MTB I own...and I love them so much
Historically the bigger the company (I’m looking at you Specialized and Trek) the worse the entry level bike is. To a certain degree it still happens, pointless fork, QR wheels and shoddy (Microshift) drivetrain. BUT! There are brands lesser known for cycling (Sonder & Caliber included) that have been able to push their budget and get a fantastic product out there for people to buy. I will add, Vitus, Planet-X, YT and Canyon include great affordable bikes too, but you have to be extremely lucky to find them in stock when you want one. If I needed a budget bike I’d be happy to buy from most of these brands.
If BK achieve a world cup I'll buy his pricey pants on sale, of course 😉
Crane Creek question: The Thudbuster seatpost? About 2114? I had one on my Specialised Rockhopper and loved it. Then some scroat stole my bike.
Polygon gives great value!
Quickest I ever got to a video. Uploaded 33 seconds ago
Cane creek: Headsets - and they were great. Mid 90's I think (that's when I got one) so, 1995.
You guys should go to Gee Milner’s workshop and do a tour there😂(that just came to my mind)
#AskGMBNTech I just did 1200 km on my Trek Rail, according chain checker my chain is on zero wear. I have no idea how this is possible, but my bike mechanic reccomend me to change chain anyway... what I did. My question is, it is really neccesary to change chain after certain distance, no metter the chain wear?
Totally agree with the £800 - £1500 range for pukka mtbs. OK, you can definitely get some really good mtbs for £400 odd but they're desperately needing at least a fork upgrade. But a Voodoo Bizango for £750 is a serious mtb, needs nothing really. Yes, lots of great bikes in your price range.
#QUIZ I am going out on a limb and say Double Barrel Shocks in 2005. They make a lot of stuff and could be any other products including Titanium Cranks.
I paid $2100CAD for my 2023 norco fluid, it was $1,000CAD off on sale, does everything my friends bikes can do that cost 2 times as much!
The problem with entry-level bikes is that bike producers don't send these bikes for testing... only best or nearly the best specification.
Entry
Geometry has always been my big beef with the industry. I've talked to frame builders in the past, asking for longer slacker geo. Their response was always, "The bike won't handle well". Not only that, you couldn't buy a stem that was shorter than 90mm without it being a brick or bars wider than 720mm. Hell, 720 was considered a DH bar. It drives me nuts that it took the industry over 30 eff'n years to pull their head out of their a$$. Actually, if you go back to the klunkers, their geo was more modern than 10yr ago
The headset! I don’t know what year though 🤔 and I’m not gonna cheat and look lol
Has any brand bike ever used the twin spar frame and swingarm❓
Like a dirtbike.
I know the Honda mtb is the closest thing I can think of
Mountain Cycle San Andreas used in back in the day!
Cheers
Owen
Cane creek reinvented the headset to thread less I think
About entry level bikes
An good entry level bikes can do the same thing a high end bike does
And back in the day they didn't, or at least the the quality of the bike did not recommend it 😂
Yes, more single speeds and more hardtails.
In 1992 Dia-Compe USA became Cane Creek and released Aheadset
Stainless bolts being a nice little touch? That's bare minimum! Aaaaaand that is how entry level is at 1k mark.
Its a nice touch as despite stainless steel bolts making a huge amount of sense for a product thats going to get wet aren't all that common!
Slack frames- even on pro bikes- only came about as courses changed, and riders became more strictly 'lift serve' (or shuttle) only.
Riding a 40lb., slack frame, big wheel full suspension bike uphill or around town *sucks* - just as much as riding a $1000 Walmart bike downhill does.
There will not be a next bike for me, unless I totally trash my 2017 Giant Fathom 29er with Shimano XT, the full setup is perfect for the conditions here in the Philippines, I'm 71 an ExPat Brit - Total cost inc upgrade to XT 90,000 Peso about 1,200 GbP
Diacompe head set compression cap.
imagine "winning" a contest and these guys send you 200 squids
I used to buy entry lvl then upgrade the parts as they broke, i had a GT avalance 4.0 and some snob had a 1.0 and said my bike was crao when it reality mine was better as i broke the parts and i had top the range maxis rear wheel with a halo super drive hub, hope race disc brake xtr bb barings and fox suspension 😂
#quiz
Crane creek are most known for there headsets
And the year i have no idea
150/160mm is short travel now? Whaaat?
9 out of 11 of my bicycles are single speed.
Acknoledging the origins of mountain bikes, For the everyday bloke what are mountain bikes for? Not everyone is fit enough or mad enough to ride a bike at break neck speed down a mountain. many of us like the overland of road capability of mountain bikes. To go where there are no roads
Definitely more entry level, I’m poor…😬 Owen, the fact that you iron your jeans speaks volumes… it’s against all my jeans wearing principles.
Radon CRAGGER & Slide Trail best bikes for €
more hardtail stuff
I have a better one for you: why my next bike WON'T be over 1500$:
I buy used and right now i don't intend to buy
🤔 wow that much, current ride £5 Carrera frame most expensive parts decent puncture resistance tyres £80 loads of free cheap stuff say £250 tops! Good enough for me at 69 think I've done a 100 miles so far this week and it's only Wednesday 😂🎉
@Clive-z3u i've bought my Specialized Demo 8 at 600 bucks, old tyres but good enough to use for a while, the guy knew the bike had been neglected as it had been stopped for a year, so he offered to patch any big issues that showed up, wich got me a new chain since i realized mid ride that the old one was opening and got lucky enough to go downhill all the way back down to home. Three years later the rear shock blew and i swapped it for a Fox DHX2 Factory Series Kashima that was sold used for 200 bucks in great condition, a renthal fatbar, pedals brakes and a few other goodies had been added since. I've spent about 1000 bucks without counting wear items as the chain, brake pads and tyres, i love the bike to death and refuse to get rid of it until the frame fails
@Ferrari255GTO don't blame you ride it till it's not repairable 💯
If you are saying an entry level bike is between 800 and 1500$ you must be talking about hard tails. The only companies i know of that make an entry level full sus bike in this price range is polygon and gt. Every bike manufacturer should be doing this. Bikes are way too expensive and the cheap ones aren't upgradable because the frames are so poorly designed. Not current geometry or wheel spacing. Also... why can't we buy just a frame from a reputable brand for less than the fully built complete entry level bike? Why does a trek frame cost more than the cheapest completely assembled bike of that model?
#quiz headsets
I'd like to see biking to be more affordable to the masses, not exclusive. You should see the prices of bikes here in Malaysia and how exclusive this sports is getting day by day. Sad actually
Nope just checked my next bike is going to cost around £8100
Where's Anna, what's happening with her, is it another one bites the dust, like Issac Munday 😮
Yes, all of your staff should be primarily riding entry to mid-level bikes, something that is even remotely attainable by us mortals. And I mean really ride it, not as "one off" for a video or 2, but actually make it their daily go to that is the only way to change the perception of the masses that "you need an ultra-expensive bike to even consider riding" or "this cheaper stuff is trash, not worth considering"
Compe e ive
I think you guys are living in your own special little world if you think that £1300 is an entry level bike. Entry level bikes are about £500 and they are perfectly ridable for 90% of cyclists. This channel completely ignores what are the real entry level bikes, it's like they don't exist. For all their flaws at least GCN acknowledges and covers entry level bikes to some degree.
Best 2 upgrade ditch shimano for shram i hate shimano as i have a lot of torque in my legs and as a result i dont gear select properly and over estimate and need to jump 3-4 gears at once and shimano is crap for this! I tried a 12 speed on an orange at FOD and i hated that to give me a 9/10 speed and a rear wheel with better engagement
@@Yhoda.PsyTrakked sunrace do an excellent 9 speed wide range derallieur 11-51t capacity with clutch rdm900 if thats any help
Plenty of people can and do afford higher end bikes despite all the whiners here, so don't apologise for talking about them.