With some componants costing the same as frames etc, just wondering on opinions of..........'What makes the bike ?......as in the ride

I've always thought the frame......but with really nastly stuff on can you still enjoy the ride (ie poor brakes and gears)

or can a generic frame have ride put into it with top class componants ?


As this will apply to new and old bikes i put this in general.

The heart of the bike has got to be the frame.

Poor components on a really good frame will ride better than the reverse.

Frame then hand built wheels.

Both

G

The old adage was always, if you put expensive components on a cheap frame it will never be a good bike. If you put cheap components on an expensive frame, it will still be a good bike

given x,y,z ascending:

fZ+cX=cool
fX+cZ=pose
fY+cY=ride

if X,Y+Z are available for use then X,Y+Z must be tested in various combination for result totally determined by individual tester.

The c range between X to Z must not exceed DX-XT. Ac(era)-XTR would not be compatible with higher or lower f range.

cC(amp) if in the range cZ is usually reserved for fZ

fZ will catch the I of Hu > 25yrs
cZ will catch the I of Hu < 25yrs

cXYZ will wear and be replaced with +1XYZ if bi(lls) = low
fXYZ will be upgraded to +1XYZ if Hu>25+bi=low and w(where applicable)=nonthewiser

Given the law B=n+1 then f+c=XYZ can all be taken into account considering bi allows for cake and coffee, w=inthedark and RBmember=true


Exception:
if f=K then it's all about the P
if B=y+e+t+i it's equal to BoTM

LOL

The reason why i put this up is there are so many generic alu frames out these days........is it the diff bits that makes them feel diff (or just look diff ) to each other.........perhaps it's all in the bits regards most modern alu hard tails ???

sus frames ride so different to each other i'd say it's deffo the frame regards them..........

think most steel frame feel diff to each other old and modern...

I have ridden some Alu frames that feel like steel, some steel that feel like Alu, Carbon that feel like steel, blah, blah, blah.

Geometry first. Material second. Components third. Generally speaking.

Take off narrow cyclocross tyres and stick a set of balloon tyres on any frame and there is a night and day difference. It won't stiffen up a bb or chain stay though, so the frame is really central to the whole thing.

Quite precise on the first two, pretty vague on the third...

The frame is the bike!
Wheels and forks either complement the ride or don't.
The rest is just gravy.

The bit I get a little vague on is the forks on a hardtail. Lots of people would call them components while others would consider them part of the frameset.

The forks really make an enormous difference.

What he said

NO, its the whole thing.

I often muse that pretty much every part on a bike is a crucial part (of course). Without xx it wont work etc.

The ride is then what you make of it (often). An example i have used before is that i enjoyed dh on my rts 3 with deore lx parts and a dodgy pivot and brakes that barely wokred more so than my club roost with 8'' either end and disc brakes/x9 gearing.

So it was the RTS frame that made it special/tolerable ?
Exactly; it's the frame.

Always the frame, by and large its the only part you choose because it fits you (if you know what your doing of course). The rest as long as its in keeping with the design of the bike you can live with.