Fixing my bike or upgrade it ?

[RobertWhitehead]

Sorry, I thought you bought the bike new, my bad .

I went with the XT 11x46 through Chain Reaction and I've got just over 1000km on it at the moment. I cannot complain about it thus far, maybe I will have some or other glitches when I get to more km's  . I built my bike up so went with all new. 

My view: The 30T is going to be too light when you do some marathon riding 

I normally play around on this website to look at the gear ratios: http://gears.mtbcrosscountry.com/#29I399I5283 

 

Good luck with getting the stuff sorted 

 

Obviously the bike was very second hand when I bought it. I didn't say I worn the drivetrain myself during the 1000kms I did with it, they said it was 75% worn when I took it in when I bought it. Now it seems to be the only thing that works like a charm on this bike, so I might keep it that way for a while and fit the 1x11 on it later, but I know myself, I probably won't

I can still keep the old one on the side and put it back on when I sell the bike one day though

 

I heard a lot of criticism towards the shimano XT 11x46 cassette, I chose to go for 30T/11x42 cassette, the gear ratio on the easier gear is the same as what I currently have (26x36), am I making a mistake ? Should I go for 32/11x46 ?

 

I'm flying on thursday to europe for a week, and droping the bike today to have an opinion on the forks, so I won't be able to look at the brake levers unfortunately, but thanks for the link, I wish I had found it last week so I at least would have had brakes this weekend for our MTB trip to Greyton !

[Jbr]

Hi everyone, so I did replace my brakes, had my fourks and shocks serviced by Stoke, and the bike is working really well. Thing is now I'm more and more enjoying going flatout downhill and less and less focused on climbing super quick + my left hand went through several injuries and the 90mm travel fourks give me a bit of pain on long downhills, especially when it gets rocky and shaky... (it is supposed to be 100mm but despite all the love given from stoke, it still only gives me 90mm available)

 

I can't find information about adding some travel on the vipa, I'm thinking going for a 120/130mm fourks but obviously it will change the geometry ? I've been looking at maybe buying another bike more trail/enduro orientated and maybe keep both (or replace the vipa if I find something close enough to and XC/Marathon bike with more travel/comfort for fast downhills or even allow me to do a few shuttle days)... I'm a bit lost again...

 

Any recommendations for fourks upgrade on a VIPA ? Or else what replacement bike : Pyga recommended the stage max (around R70k    ), I'm not too sure on other brands what would suit my needs best, maybe the specialized stumpjumper ?

Edited August 28, 2019 by Jbr

[dasilvarsa]

There is a category called "All Mountain" eg Merida 140 that might suit your requirements.

 

Scott Genius 2020 is a sure winner.

Edited August 28, 2019 by dasilvarsa

[Quagga]

Hi everyone, so I did replace my brakes, had my fourks and shocks serviced by Stoke, and the bike is working really well. Thing is now I'm more and more enjoying going flatout downhill and less and less focused on climbing super quick + my left hand went through several injuries and the 90mm travel fourks give me a bit of pain on long downhills, especially when it gets rocky and shaky... (it is supposed to be 100mm but despite all the love given from stoke, it still only gives me 90mm available)

 

I can't find information about adding some travel on the vipa, I'm thinking going for a 120/130mm fourks but obviously it will change the geometry ? I've been looking at maybe buying another bike more trail/enduro orientated and maybe keep both (or replace the vipa if I find something close enough to and XC/Marathon bike with more travel/comfort for fast downhills or even allow me to do a few shuttle days)... I'm a bit lost again...

 

Any recommendations for fourks upgrade on a VIPA ? Or else what replacement bike : Pyga recommended the stage max (around R70k    ), I'm not too sure on other brands what would suit my needs best, maybe the specialized stumpjumper ?

If I was you I would get Stoke to service the whole bike.

 

Did you mention to him that the fork is only at 90mm?

 

You can run up to 120mm on a momsen, so if you like to get a new fork get a 120mm

 

The stumpjumper is HEAVY, compared to Pyga. Pyga stage and stage max uses the same frame with only the shock and fork being different.

So you could get a stage and replace the shock with the 130mm travel shock and stick a 140 mm or more fork on there.

 

I ride the stage with 110 at back and 120 front and love it.

[EbenJ]

Epic EVO Comp did it for me, 120mm up front and a dropper post

[mtbride]

Hi everyone, so I did replace my brakes, had my fourks and shocks serviced by Stoke, and the bike is working really well. Thing is now I'm more and more enjoying going flatout downhill and less and less focused on climbing super quick + my left hand went through several injuries and the 90mm travel fourks give me a bit of pain on long downhills, especially when it gets rocky and shaky... (it is supposed to be 100mm but despite all the love given from stoke, it still only gives me 90mm available)

 

I can't find information about adding some travel on the vipa, I'm thinking going for a 120/130mm fourks but obviously it will change the geometry ? I've been looking at maybe buying another bike more trail/enduro orientated and maybe keep both (or replace the vipa if I find something close enough to and XC/Marathon bike with more travel/comfort for fast downhills or even allow me to do a few shuttle days)... I'm a bit lost again...

 

Any recommendations for fourks upgrade on a VIPA ? Or else what replacement bike : Pyga recommended the stage max (around R70k    ), I'm not too sure on other brands what would suit my needs best, maybe the specialized stumpjumper ?

 

Merida 120 800, 120 back 130 front, unless you need 2 bottle cages, this frame barely fits a small bottle and that's with a side cage. I ride Camelbak so for me it's not an issue.

Edited August 28, 2019 by mtbride

[Jbr]

Thanks guys, so if I sum up so far your recommendations would be :

• Merida 120 800 / 140
• Specialized Epic EVO Comp
• Scott Genius
• Pyga Stage/stage max

OR upgrade my vipa with 120mm/110mm suspensions

 

I'll start browsing see what's out there at reasonnable prices, obviously I'm very attracted to shiny new bikes, but also I do love my VIPA for what it was made to do best <3