[BIGHITR]

Okay, I moved this thread to here to try and get a few more responses and I am now in a hurry due to a new crack.

A buddy of mine wanted to try out mountain biking so rather than toss my old bike, I couldn't get anything out of it, I decided to keep it in case a friend wants to go. But rather than let it fall apart, I decided to buy new cassette, crankset, chain, derailer, shifters and some disk brakes.

Recently I started thinking new rims, I have a new fork lying around, so I started thinking, new frame, why not.

I want to take all the new stuff off the old bike and put it on a new frame. I want full suspension but don't want to break the bank. Longer travel is my interest too. So when I found this bike on JensonUSA, I thought I'd ask you guys what you all think. It's price is the right area, around $500. Anyone have suggestions as to what I might be able to get for around that with 7 inches of travel with shock? Is this a nice frame? Never heard of Jamis before. I would even consider a slightly used frame on Ebay but want more bang for the buck. Anyone know of this company? Is it good quality?

P.S. Now I even have more of a haste to get another frame. Just found a small crack on the weld where my shock mounts to my rear frame before I started riding today. So now I need to get a frame a lot faster than I wanted to and don't have the time to be picky and find a good one on Ebay. AARRG!!!.

Help please!

 

[BIGHITR]

I did get two answers in the freeride section, one said the chainstay has a tendency to break but they have good cs. The other said the head angle wasn't too good at 67. My current old bike is 71. Anyone with suggestions please suggest a full suspension frame or your thoughts on Jamis or this frame. I need to make a decision quickly. Thanks for your help.

 

[jonKranked]

Jamis does make some good bikes, but I don't know about their (older) DH/FR stuff. Their new DH stuff looks promising, and they are actually a primary sponsor of Diablo.

The one legit comment I have is in regards to the shock. The swinger series have a tendency to blow out, and that is due to how they are designed. It is a platform damped shock, which means your compression damping is position sensitive (its an air spring/piston that closes and increases damping as the shock is compressed, and the air spring is what has a tendency to fail), not speed sensitive. Its basically a 5th Element made by Manitou. The good thing is, the shock can be easily converted into a speed sensitive shock, and it will make a WORLD of difference. There are even a few places out there that will do the conversion for you if you are not comfortable working on a shock, for a price (Craig at Avy does a really awesome conversion for $180, but he does a lot of work on the shock, its detail on the Avy site).

 

[jimmydean]

If I recall, the Diablo was respectable and the price is damn good.

 

[MMcG]

Have you perused the Ridemonkey.com classifieds for possible deals on slightly used frames?

You are an eastcoaster and have never heard of Jamis bikes/frames? Jamis makes quality frames at affordable prices and has good customer service. Not sure what type of CS you'd get though buying the frame from an online retailer like JensonUSA though.

 

[Wumpus]

The chainstay issue is old. I had a 2004 Jamis Dakar that the chainstay broke on. (Bought online from Richard's Bike) They fixed it with no issues. I then cracked it at the seattube junction. I wasn't going to worry about warranty since I had gotten a lot of riding out of it and it would be a hassle to et to a dealer so I picked up a 2006 Dakar(rode it for over a year with no issues). Noticed one of the reps was a monkey so asked him about the older frame and told him the closest dealer was over a 100 miles away. He got me in touch with the warranty department and they hooked me up with a new frame direct.

 

[dhmike]

my friend jamie rides a diablo and it's a pretty sweet rig . so +1 for the diablo .

 

[BIGHITR]

Have you perused the Ridemonkey.com classifieds for possible deals on slightly used frames?

Yes I have checked the classifieds on Ridemonkey last night. No luck finding a good used frame full suspension for a price like the Jamis. Ebay was no luck last night either. Haven't ever heard of Jamis. Nor Diablo but after breaking my skewer today tightening it, I went to grab my new king Fisher. And once again, Bontrager left me hanging. The bottom bracket is starting to creek, aka grinding upon torque uphill. I could just scream! Which leads me to another thread I'm putting up tonight. Look for it. I'm pretty pissed about Bontrager parts.

 

[Bicyclist]

BB creak = is loose or needs locktite 99% of the time.

This thread is somewhat confusing, in the original post you didn't mention what kind of bike you broke (you mention a crack in your post)? Then you mention a King Fisher, so is your King Fisher cracked in multiple spots, or something else?

Sounds like you need to head over to your LBS, have them show you how to tighten a skewer, and warranty your frame...

 

[BIGHITR]

BB creak = is loose or needs locktite 99% of the time. This thread is somewhat confusing, in the original post you didn't mention what kind of bike you broke (you mention a crack in your post)? Then you mention a King Fisher, so is your King Fisher cracked in multiple spots, or something else? Sounds like you need to head over to your LBS, have them show you how to tighten a skewer, and warranty your frame...

Sorry for the confusion. The frame crack is on a '98/'99 Trek, and thus the need for a new frame to swap the new parts. The GF was the new warranty bike. I found an old rear on Ebay and brought back my old Trek from the dead for a buddy. The skewer on the Trek was the original Rolfe. Metal fatigue. Nothing wrong with the way it was tightened.

King Fisher creak in another post is not loctite. I know the sound of a BB that is about to go.

But I'm getting the idea that the Jamis is a really nice big hit style frame and for the price it's a good buy.