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Best complete race bike for ~$3k

bdamschen

bdamschen

Turbo Monkey
Nov 28, 2005
3,377
156
Spreckels, CA
A buddy of mine has about $3,300 he wants to spend on a new bike. He wants something more DH oriented rather than FR (like single front ring and low and slack, wants to buy it complete rather than build it, and he wants it new not used.

Looking around online so far I've found the Kona Stab, Sunday Expert and EC-D. He's a huge guy, so a larger/more durable bike would be better, I know there should be other bikes out there that I've missed, but work has fried my brain today. Little help?:lighten:
 
norbar

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,376
1,612
Warsaw :/
EC-D has the best build for the price definately but Stab and Sunday have better, more agressive geo numbers. It depends what's more important for your friend - A good frame from which he will eventualy build up(Sunday maybe stab) or if he isn't to keen of upgrading the bike and just likes to buy it once (ECD)
 
bdamschen

bdamschen

Turbo Monkey
Nov 28, 2005
3,377
156
Spreckels, CA
yeah yeah, I figured definitions would get tossed around, whether or not the three I listed are or are not really "race" isn't what I'm after. What I want to know is what else is out there in that price range?
 
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bdamschen

bdamschen

Turbo Monkey
Nov 28, 2005
3,377
156
Spreckels, CA
I still don't get it, which one of the three is a "race bike" and why aren't the other two?

If I had to pick one that was completely ready to race out of the box of those three, I'd pick the EC-D.
 
J

Jonny5

Monkey
Feb 13, 2007
502
0
Norco atomic. Buy some decent tyres and chainguide, spend the rest on travel to races.
 
W

WBC

Monkey
Aug 8, 2003
578
1
PNW
Jonny5 said:
Norco atomic. Buy some decent tyres and chainguide, spend the rest on travel to races.
Click to expand...
If I didn't already order my DHR/40 combo, this is what route I would have gone for sure - and this is coming from someone who has always had too nice of a bike.

The Atomic is everything you need, and is at a ****ing amazing pricepoint
 
bizutch

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,929
24
Over your shoulder whispering
My teammate has the Sunday Expert and it is a BEAUTIFUL bike in person. I had the 07 Sunday Elite in '07 and the '08 Expert is no pushover. the 888 is stout & so is the rear Roco. The rims are heavy duty and he is not going to be able to bend anything on that bike, cranks, pedals, stem, bars. I would say that the Expert could easily last a full season without much of a tune-up at all.
 
norbar

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,376
1,612
Warsaw :/
When I've looked at ECD geo I'm even more sure ECD is the best shot. 14''BB 64.5 HA That is nice. It has a bit more travel than sunday so sagged the BB should be fairly similar. Go ECD.
 
M

mullarks

Chimp
May 9, 2008
33
0
I have a friend that just picked up a 08 Sunday Team brand new for $3200, which is a smoking deal. Great frame, good build kit.
 
R

Ryan Jackson

Chimp
Jun 26, 2008
6
0
norbar said:
When I've looked at ECD geo I'm even more sure ECD is the best shot. 14''BB 64.5 HA That is nice. It has a bit more travel than sunday so sagged the BB should be fairly similar. Go ECD.
Click to expand...
I worked at a big Specialized dealer and I always loved their bikes, but the prices were always a little high. I spent time on an EC-D and Demo 8, and the EC-D was not even close to the Demo for traction. I thought it was pretty poor in that respect, but it is a good looking bike and pretty cheap. For the money I would look at something with a less URT like suspension.
 
rigidhack

rigidhack

Turbo Monkey
Aug 16, 2004
1,206
1
In a Van(couver) down by the river
The one issue I can see with the Sunday is that as of 2009, IH will no longer be using the DW link, so parts and service may be hard to come by if anything goes wrong. I have not spent any time on the ECD, but it looks pretty damn good to me. The large is even my size!
 
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