WT

Hi @Andymann From your previous post you mentioned the brake is much worse since you changed the brake pads. Did you bed those pads in? It can take a bit of time for new pads to bed in properly. Won't fix the squishy lever tough, that unfortunately sounds like a bad bleed. Apologies if you knew this already, I forgot this fact this weekend after excitedly upgrading a rear brake. Landed nicely on my rear end in the street after trying to manual with those new and very unbedded brake pads🤣 Highly suggest picking up a bleed kit and a small bottle of mineral oil and just do it yourself. Actually not difficult at all and saves a bit of cash in the long run. DISCLAIMER: Shimano does recommend a gravity bleed which is better in the long run. I have though (with great success) done bleeds from the caliper by removing brake pads, adding a stopper between the pads and then using a syringe to pash oil from the caliper op to the lever. Then when the nice clean oil starts to come out at the top, simply close the caliper bleed nipple and lever bleed port. Put brake pads back and you're done. Again not the best practice in the long run but it is at least something you can try😁 Hope this helps!

@mynameisluka An essay for an essay hey😅 Haha in all seriousness this is why I thought to write it down. I learnt so many things along the way that I wish I knew to look out for when buying (or possible building) my first bike. Nice to (hopefully😅) help someone else with my experiences. Please do, if someone else can learn or benefit from my old mistakes that makes me feel a bit better🤣 Have a great weekend!

Hi @mynameisluka As someone who used to be a local at Wolwespruit and enjoys more gravity bases riding here are my 2 cents (it ended up more like 2 rands in the end😅)... Off the bat: HT (More specifically a rowdy trail HT 😁) all the way if you are starting out! I will state my case as follows (apologies if you already knew some of this stuff) 😜 1. Riding location NOTHING at Wolwe or Grootfontein is unrideable on a HT. I did it myself for a long time. In fact most of the stuff you will likely end up riding are flow trails where a HT can actually be more fun because it is more efficient to pump (more on that later😁). For these locations though, I will suggest a trail HT and NOT an XC anything. Both Wolwe and Grootfontein have some proper jumps that as a beginner you might end up casing a few times. You don't want to be concerned about your bike's health the whole time. A light XC hardtail is built to be light and pedal easy NOT neccesarily to handle big impacts. In conclusion here, buy the bike for the trails you are GOING to ride 95% of the time not for the ones you MIGHT ride 5% of the time. 2. Price Mentioned before a couple of times in this thread a HT is quite a bit cheaper to maintain than a fully. Like @droo has mentiined, pivot bearings and rear suspension services don't come cheap unfortunately. Spending less money on your bikes also frees up some to spend on something else no-one I have seen has mentioned before. GET SOME LESSONS! Which brings me to point 3... 3. Easier to learn on HT don't change their frame shap subtly when you manipulate the bike into a wheelie, manual or bunnyhop. This means it is easier to learn these skills on a HT and turn them into second nature (again go for lessons from the start). Learning to pump the bike is also easier because you get more direct feedback and results. Lastly a HT teaches you to move on the bike, so you need to learn to use the suspension in your legs to squash and pump the trail. If you can make this second nature, when you do move tot a fully, you will actually get your money's worth. @Jono also alluded to this earlier. Learning proper skills early on will make your riding so much more fun and a whole lot safer. ending off... So my suggestion would be have a look at the rapide tigre frame. Really good proper steel frame at a very good price. https://www.rapide.co.za/ offer some of the best service you will find anywhere and it's alocal company. Their stuff is also affordable and tough enough to last you quite a while. Their wheels are also great value! Then get a dropper post (PLEASE don't start riding without one) and other components (get amp series of you can) from https://www.on-lynecomponents.com/. Again solid reputable local company. Fork, I suggest a DVO diamond. DVO is travel adjustable which means you can keep the fork of you change to a fully frame at some point. Drivetrain: Shimano linkglide 10s. Dirt cheap and really solid (I just put the M5130 shifter and derailleur and the LG400 cassette on my bike and really happy so far, entire groupset was cheaper than the freehub body I had to replace to fit the cassette.) Brakes: hydraulic disc brakes (4 pot if you can) with 180mm rotors (203mm at the front if you are a bit heavier). Honestly brakes are a personal thing but starting out, Shimano is cheap and will stop. Lastly if possible, try to build the bike yourself. Knowing how to do the basic bike maintenance will save you a lot of money and time in the long run. If you got to the end of this essay, I hope it was useful to you in some way and may you have a kick-ass time on whichever bike you choose! Please feel free to drop me a DM if you want any more advice or some contact info for lessons (and no, it won't be from me😅)

What is your budget? Thinking new or used? Reckon you could pick up something used that would be a lot better than buying a new 35 silver. For example I have an old DVO sapphire that is gathering dust at my folks place that could maybe be a better solution? Feel free to pop me a DM if you are interested😜

1000% agree! Dropper post is an absolute no brainer (insert BIG LYNE components dropper post recommendation here😜).

Escpecially if said hardtail is a steel hardtail(Steel is real)😝 Making me miss my Mercer frame now, got caught trying to keep up with the Jones's and got a full squish (Love my Pyga though😁). Rode some gnarly stuff on the hardtail(Well I thought it was gnarly at least😅, other will probably disagree) and I always felt cool doing it on a hardtail instead of a fully. There is more suspension travel in your legs than a full squish bike anyways right😜 Only tip I can think of is consider a burlier back tyre and/or an insert maybe. The lack of rear suspension is a little harder on rear wheels and tyres. Hope you enjoy whatever you are getting!

Maybe a good idea to consider DVO forks (Sapphire or Diamond) then, they can be travel adjusted without needing a new airspring or airshaft. Might be a better long term solution for you? FYI, I have an older DVO Sapphire 32 that I might be looking to let go of (Currently at 140mm travel can easily go down to 120mm)😜 Good luck with it! Suspension upgrades are super fun!

I remember looking at the stride a few years ago and one of the FAQ's was actually in as many words "Can I put a 140mm pike on it"😅 The answer was NO in case you were wondering😝 Generally the rule of thumb is no more than 20mm increase in fork travel when changing forks. More than that you are starting to raise the BB a whole lot. You are also slackening your seat tube angle so like @Me rida my bicycle noted it will make it much more uncomfortable to climb. Just remember that bikes are designed to work optimally with a certain amount of suspension travel. It is like putting a 3.0l engine in your 1.5l car. You could possibly get it to fit but you gearbox will hate you😅 What do you mean your fork feels dead? Maybe a setup issue? Alternatively you could see if you could upgrade the damper and/or airspring? Cheaper than a new fork maybe? Or sell your bike and get a "trail" hardtail😜 Hope that helps!

But clearly this one is black and therefore clearly worth it😜 Plus you also get peace of mind knowing it survived being personally stress tested by the seller. Clearly an extra security layer that even Spez themselves dont provide! With all included, this clearly a steal!😜

To add some Friday fire fuel😝... Was reading through some of the articles yesterday and saw (from some armchair experts😅) that it appears that if you bought the bike in the sale just before they went insolvent you get no bike and no money back (I.e. hope you payed with a credit card and not a debit card so you can get your money back or join the queue of people we owe money to now😬). What appears to be even worse is that because they are insolvent but not (yet at least) to be liquidated (for now), they can keep trading Meaning if you bought the bike just after the insovency declaration, no problem, it can be shipped to you as only everything before the declaration will form part of the court order and will be frozen. Not sure how accurate any of this is but imagine you got that email (and worse... paid with a debit card) and your buddy buys a bike after and gets his no problem... That has got to stink! Really sad to see bike brands going through this! Anyways happy Friday everyone😁!

Awesome looking bikes and very well priced too🤘🏻🤘🏻 Well done @Titan Racing Bikes! Hope to see many of them on the trails soon!

I am inclined to agree, it does seem a little steep for a trial oriented hardtail. Like @Headshotmentioned, the rear does not compress with the front and you end up with a steeper head angle when the fork compresses. The Trek Roscoe which should be a fair comparison for example has a 65 degree HA. Or maybe we are just used to running our suspension too soft... no compression no problem😝 Regardless, super stoked to a locally designed trial oriented bike!! Long overdue of you ask me🤘

Really sorry to hear about your situation OP. Unfortunately I cannot relate at all though. I have only had reliable and professional service from them every time. They even upgraded some ordered brake rotors to the next tier once for me at no cost, because they had no stock of the part I actually ordered. Always found them to be one of the best online bike part retailers in SA. Anyways, hope you get it sorted out soon!

Good looking bike that! Enjoy the Good Times you are going to have on it!😁

Saw this. Might just survive a jump or two as well😅 https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/dual-suspension-bikes/662459/titan-skyrim-trail-plus

Okay, here is a guess as to why things are rusting. Consider that your older bike (Giant Talon) was quite a bit more pricey than your current Silverback (actually around double the cost ona quick google search). I would venture the components on the Giant were quite a bit better than those on your current bike. Seeing as your Silverback is an alu frame (quick google again) that would make for quite a bit of the purchase price. So the only way to keep the bike cheap is to use cheap components. How do you make cheap components? You use cheap materials that are not very corrosion resistant. This could mean that small things like putting your bike in the garage straight after washing (i.e. bike still wet) could cause rust. This is all just a theory though😁

I don't think it will make any difference whatsoever but I was in the Pretoria store the other day, and that was one of the thinnest top tube designs I have ever seen.😅

There may just be another explantion for the rust. Random question: How close do you stay to the coast? Depending on your answer I may venture an hypothesis🤔

I don't think there really is a specific travel or HA number that defines an aggressive hardtail. It is more of a purpose driven idea (to me at least). My mind just generally goes to the figure of 140mm as a guideline😅 To me an aggressive hardtail is a hardtail built for the same trails a trail or enduro category bike would be. So basically exactly the examples you gave😅 i.e. Trek Roscoe and SC Chameleon (which is one of the most coolset looking bikes I have ever seen😁). Talon looks like a purpose built XC bike (well at least according to the Giant website).

Very cool Not really my idea of an aggro hardtail though but a good bike none the less😅 By aggro hardtail I meant something like a Nukeproof scout or Commencal Meta HT. Loads of travel (140+ mm) on the front and very slack HA. If you do XC though that is probably the stuff of nightmares🤣 All the best in your search! Hope you find that cushy XC racehorse soon!

Which aggro hardtail did you have? Just curious😁

More gnar = more travel = more better right?😝😝

🤘

I will add my 2c I have to agree with the "rather get a hardtail crowd" At R15k you are going to get bottom of the barrel components and very likely something that isn't up to the newest standards (like boost spacing), making future upgrades difficult as well. I don't know what kind of riding you do (maybe let us know😁) but if you are looking at riding some rough stuff, a nice steel or alu frame aggro hardtail will do that very very well (I say this from personal experience). Also remember that full-sus bikes are a quite a bit more expensive to maintain. You have a second shock and pivot bearings to look after as well. Just my opinion though, whatever you end up getting, hope it bring you much stoke🫡

@candyfloss Worth mentioning (if I missed the fact that someone already else has) is that Titan racing are a local brand with some pretty good support (If the reviews on the hub are anything to go by). Always nice to know you are in good hands when something does go wrong. Still sad they don't make some trail and enduro bikes. Would be nice to see some more local budget friendly options there but I guess there just is not enough market for it. 🥲 Just be careful buying at the budget end especially on full squish bikes. You could end up spending a lot of money on groupsets wearing out very quickly. As some other pointed out the classifieds here will probably be a very good place to go bargain hunting. Whatever you get, may it bring you hours of creak and puncture free joy!