Clifton CC Discussion Board

A place to discuss Mountain Biking: Organise rides or lifts, or just chat about rides, equipment or anything else.

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by ann.w Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:35 pm
I had my mountain bike stolen, so am now trying to replace it, I thought I might upgrade to a full suspension bike, as I find specialized's full suspension bikes are (just) small enough for me.
I have also looked at the Geometries of Scott, Kona, Marin, Trek & Giant: their FS bikes are all too big. I know when I tried out the Cannondale HT last year (petite size) it was too big.
The 2009 bikes I'm looking at are the Myka FSR Comp, Myka FSR Expert, and the Safire Comp. I went to Bob Trotters, they're only discounting the 2008 bikes they have in stock, which are both mediums, too big for me.
Has anyone tried the womens specialized bikes? What do they think of them?
Do any other local shops do them?
what local shops are good for after sales service, and mechanical work on the bike? (shops that stock specialized)
How can I get the bikes for less than full price?
will I really notice the difference in ride between HT and FS?

thanks

Ann

by Helen Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:57 am
Ann

My road bikes and MTB are women specific.
I'm a convert. I find the geometry of the frame works so much better for me.
Also the handle bar width and things like brake levers are right so you can buy of the peg.
If you use a local bike shop they will make the bike up for you and it's your
opportunity to be 'fussy'and make sure you are happy with the set up.
Cycleworks,CycleHeavon,Haxby Cycles (York) and CycleSense(tadcaster)
all have workshops and will make your bike up.

Helen

by tnwoolley Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:04 am
Hi Ann,

Sorry to hear about your bike being nicked. Every bike I have ever owned has ultimately been stolen and it never gets any easier to accept does it?

Anyway, my other half Rach started biking last year on a GT hardtail but later upgraded to the Specialized Myka Comp '08 (the nice brown one) and she loves it. Full suspension really does make a big difference, increasing comfort over long rides and enabling you to be a bit more adventurous with your speed/line choices.

The Myka frame ('08) is based on the old Stumpjumper and so the geometry is bang on for XC riding and although the kit is good value it's worth upgrading to lighter components in the future as it is a bit weighty. Having said that, Rach rides it like her Atherton namesake so it certainly won't slow you down excessively.

The new Mykas have the new Spesh rocker link like every other bike in their line-up which I'm sure works like a dream but I don't have any first hand experience of it.

Check the sizing guide in the Specialized brochure to find what will roughly fit you and then you can always switch to longer/shorter stem, different bars or slide the saddle back/forth to fine tune the fit.

I hope some of that was of help to you and lets us know which bike you go for!

PS Bob Trotters and Cycleheaven seem cool to deal with but I've had poor service from YorkCycleWorks in the past.

by tnwoolley Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:05 am
PPS that should read '2008' not a smiley face!

by ann.w Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:23 pm
hello Helen and tnwoolley

thanks for the replies, very helpful. Sorry for the delay in responding, I couldn't get the CCC website to load properly on either of my browsers, very odd. :?

Even though I keep losing my nerve (the expense), I've decided FS is the way to go.

next question: will I have to take out separate insurance for the bike? The bike stolen was under £1,000 in value so covered by my house insurance. The full suspension bikes are >£1,000.

What do other people do?

Ann

by barberj Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:52 am
You can usually still add it to your house insurance. We have it as a specified equipement. We do and have £1500 worth of cover. Never yet had to use it, but we do have a fortune in locks and cables (almost all gold rated). I also have a Abus floor brace which I lock everything to in our garage.

http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?ScreenLa ... 318271618f

by tnwoolley Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:07 pm
We've got three hefty chains (one gold rated) and have separate insurance through ETA as we took the bikes to Europe this summer.

by stevesavage Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:23 pm
Ann

I use Marks and Spencer home insurance. If you select Contents Away From Home it covers all items upto £4000 in value. You don't need to specially mention a bicycle unless it is valued at £4000 or more (we can all dream!).

by ann.w Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:20 pm
thanks everybody,

I have now ordered a bike.

Following Simon's suggestion (at work), I did check out both the Santa Cruz Juliana, and the Orange Five Diva. The Juliana was about the same size, and the Diva gave me 3cm more clearance, but they were both a bit more expensive than the Specialized bikes. I was also a bit puzzled by Orange's 'one size fits all' approach ( a 14" bike suitable for all women from 4'8" to 5'7"). So I've decided to go with a Specialized Safire model from the 08 range.

I still have to sort out the insurance, I hope I can cover it on the house insurance as a named item, as the separate insurances I've checked out seem to cost almost as much as I pay to insure my flat. I've e-mailed my sister (the house insurance is in her name, she's the executor of our late mother's will, I live in the family home....its complicated). I've passed on your suggestions (specified equipment, Marks and Sparks).

Thanks for the Abus link. I like the look of their lock and chains. I thought I'd keep the mountain bike in the house, so maybe I won't need the floor brace. However, I'm curious, how do you make the holes for the bolts in the garage floor? Do you have to get someone in to do that?

Thanks for everything.
Now all I have to do is work lots of overtime to pay for it.

Bye

Ann.

by barberj Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:12 pm
You need a good drill ideally pnumatic rather than hammer action(makes it a lot easier). Then you put in special bolts and then hammer ball bearings into the allen key hole of the bolts so they cannot be unscrewed.

I just go for the approach of making life as annoying for thieves as possible so they steal somebody elses bike. I have both u-locks and cables (all my u-locks are different types). When we go out at night both me and my wife use knackered old non-MTB bikes (still with decent locks). I also look to park them near cafes like outside Borders in town at night as both Borders and Betty's are open late or near the Italian ice-cream shop near the Minster.

by ann.w Fri Oct 31, 2008 10:03 pm
Is this the sort of drill you mean http://www.hss.com/g/2213/H-d-Combi-Hammer.html?

I usually don't use a mountain bike for anything but off-road riding. For work/town I use an old (17 years) 'sport mountain' bike, which is very heavy, and very small (26" wheels)...so not very attractive to thieves. A u-lock in holder will fit inside its frame. Unfortunately, the rear freewheel hub seized up on this, and as I was in the midst of desperately trying to revise for an exam, I didn't feel I could spare the time to fix it. Hence my daft idea that I would (temporarily) use my mountain bike as my general all purpose bike. Also unfortunately, there was no space within the frame to fit a u-lock, so I ended up using a (less secure) coil lock......well that's my excuse anyway.

I've been back in York, and parking my bike in town, for about 15 years now. This is the first time I've had a bike stolen. It just makes me realise, you can't do something a bit less secure, you've always got to do the most secure thing.

thanks

Ann.

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