I’ve lurched from needing a new road bike to needing a new mountain bike 29er.
Putting Giant on one side (somewhere over there in the corner), what can I get hold of here?
Half considering buying a frame online and building it up, although I’m presuming that components here are cheaper than back home - I’ve never gone beyond buying inner tubes in Taiwan, so never priced stuff up. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that quality stuff (wheels, chainsets etc.) is no cheaper than elsewhere. That seems to be the perverse fact of living on an island where so much cycling gear is produced, and then shipped overseas…
ps just seen 29er’s mentioned in PaddyB’s bike-quest thread, there might be stuff in there I should look at.
I forgot about this, had that last year. Why I’ll end up buying something from the UK or US.
Others to look into, dunno if any are on the ROC or not. This is where it starts to get crazy $$ I think:
Salsa Mamasita
Singular Swift 29er
Moots X 29er (north of $3,000 )
Riding a 29er feels more like sitting between the wheels instead of over them. My experience is with a fully rigid Surly Karate Monkey so I can’t really comment on a cush ride steed, if that’s your angle. It was a lot of fun riding off-road and when I switched it to a street bomber with slicks I had few complaints as well. Fast downhill, sluggish uphill, and excellent on the flats.
Watcha gonna use the 29er for? Unless it’s going off-road (fire roads and worse) I don’t see the point. Might as well buy a CX bike if all it will ever see is fire roads at it’s very worse.
You can pick up some stuff cheaper here, but not all. For example; Tyres, can buy them tax free from the U.K., pay the postage and come in a little cheaper.
Building a bike is a very nice thing to do. From experience it ends up costing more than planned! The end result if carefully chosen is great though.
Surprised you haven’t looked at the Salsa Fargo. A QBP dealer might be able to order you one and you might be able to get it before the end of the year, but if not you could always order the frame from overseas and build it up. Or yeah, Surly Ogre looks cool too if you want a rigid fork.
And On-One bikes from the UK seem to be popular in the "Adventure 29’er’ category.
But after all my research I decided a CX bike is better. I couldn’t imagine riding anything heavier than that or needing more than 37c tires. It is exactly what I was looking for when I started that mega-thread.
I’ve not been motivated to ride the last 6 months : bad weather and bored with local rides. The idea is get back on the bike, ride, then go and do something long next year like the ACA’s Great Divide Route. Doubt I’d do the race itself - that kicks off next weekend btw - but I fancy a bike-packing set-up on a 29er. Course I could always take the Long Haul Trucker with some 700x37, that handles dirt-track pretty well, but not sure I’d like 2,500 miles of it.
I think I need a test-ride or two, I’m back in the UK next month. Is it just the weight that makes the Karate Monkey sluggish up-hill? edit- it’s also Surly, didn’t realise that. Seems that it’s lighter than the Ogre though.
but the Salsa Fargo looks great! Sold staight away on the drop-bars, wonder if I can find one of those to test.
The Fargo is expedition to the wild extremes kind of bike. I like it, it’s had many good reviews and the opinion is off-road touring bike. Niche market.
Worth having a look at the Salsa Vaya, which (without checking) is going to a much lighter bike than the ones mentioned. salsacycles.com/bikes/vaya/
I agree that a cyclocross ride would be a good choice if you’re heading out on packed gravel or pavement like environs. For a while I was switching between my old single speed cx and the Surly on different trails. The KM was great for single track bombing and was cushy for all-arounding. The cx was ok on single track but friggin nimble on most everywhere else plus it had discs which are the cats meow. The 29er was sluggish going uphill for reasons I can’t really explain, I ran the same tires on both to test out the differences.
Steel 29er vs. alu cx: Steel smooths out the bumps a lot better
geared 29 vs. single speed cx: having gears gives you options on lazier rides
v-brake 29 vs. disc brake cx: discs are the answer for stopping in all conditions
riser bars 29 vs. drop bars cx: drops give you hand positions
29er vs. cx wheel base: shorter on the cx was a lot quicker, longer on the 29 was comfy
Both had the same size wheels and tires, for the most part. The KM could run big fat treaded tires where my cx ride couldn’t.
@steviebike - Good call on the Salsa Vaya. In an ideal world, that or the Casseroll is what I probably would have bought. Actually, I could have ordered a Vaya 3 here but it was a several month wait …and 50,000NT for a Sora equipped bike?..No thanks.
@flatlandr - I think tires are more important than frame material as far as comfort. Case in point - my Giant TCX, straight bladed alloy fork with 35c’s is waaay more comfortable on the nasty roads around Sanxia than the steel Garneau LGS-CT with 28c Gatorskins I rode in downtown Taichung. I haven’t had any problems with road vibration or “jitter”, even at max PSI (85) over any conditions I’ve ridden so far (except a stone slab walkway with big gaps, that sucked). I’m curious to see if my new 35c Schwalbe Marathon Racer semi-slicks make any difference.
With the same size tires, I’m sure a steel bike would be a bit more comfortable but I think I was making too big of a deal about getting a steel bike when I was shopping/researching. Enthusiasts seem to exaggerate even the tiniest of differences online. My alloy CX bike with its fat tubes and burly fork is much more comfortable than I thought it would be.
@nuit - LHT is a possibility but IIRC it’s 26" on all frames under 56cm. Not sure what size you are. Also, those bikes look anything but sporty. I don’t think I’d be interested in one unless I was doing loaded touring much of the time. The Crosscheck, however, is a much beloved do-it-all bike. Apparently quite solid off-road as well. I would have got one of those, but again, a several month wait (May-November).
Oh and if you get a Fargo please let me come try it! Those things are so rad!
My problem is that I don’t ride enough different bikes, I’ve only had 3 in the last 15 years. I’ve no real idea how different bikes feel or handle. And it would take me way more than a 5 minute test ride on tarmac to figure all that out.
I already have a LHT, here it is in loving sunlight on the Qinghai plateau. It’s been great for touring, but it’s certainly not light or quick, and whilst I’m sure it would handle several hundred mile of dirt and track, I’m not sure how I’d fare on top of it.
There’s talk elsewhere of cross bikes making the grade on those kind of rides, but the majority opinion comes back to the 29er.
Sadly, I can already see it’s going to be a budget issue. $50k NT for just Soma?? .
You might find that article interesting. He was using an InBred for singletrack touring in China. Seems similar to the Surly Ogre.
Out of all your riding, how much singletrack touring will you actually be doing? If you will be in Taiwan most of the time then an expedition 29er seems like ($50-60,000) overkill.
terrible name for a bike though, the Inbred. See his machine had a Rohloff - they’re pricey.
I’ve got to sit down (or better still, ride around) and work out if this buy makes sense or not. And it’d be more like $70-80,000, the more I look around at bikes, specs and prices. Spent a few hours last night, surfing and following links and getting generally confused over everything that’s out there.
terrible name for a bike though, the Inbred. See his machine had a Rohloff - they’re pricey.
I’ve got to sit down (or better still, ride around) and work out if this buy makes sense or not. And it’d be more like $70-80,000, the more I look around at bikes, specs and prices. Spent a few hours last night, surfing and following links and getting generally confused over everything that’s out there.
Is there a Salsa stockist in Taiwan?[/quote]
The only QBP dealer I know of is Famous Bike in Taichung. I’d be interested in knowing who carries their stuff in the Taibei area though (there must be at least a couple of dealers). Anyone?
