Hi everyone,
I am sure that you get these posts all of the time, but here goes anyway.
I used to ride heaps. My Craftworks Slalom Pro (Now known as a "Rail" - www.craftworkscycles.com) was my prize posession, and I used to ride it everywhere. Then I got my license and a car, and since then I never really rode much at all (For about 3 years).
Now I am working in the city, and it is much easier for me to ride in every day, and I am really enjoying it, however I want to upgrade as my bike is getting a bit old, and it would be nice for a change.
I typically ride "street", slalom, and a little bit of tame downhill. There is also a lot of riding done just commuting.
Anyway, at the moment, by bike has triple clamps, and I feel that that this is just unnecessary weight.
The frame that I am really interested in is the Jamis Dakar XLT. Aside from it looking great, it seems to be on a good angle, kind of how my current frame is. I really like this sort of geometry. I rode one not long ago, and it seems to be great on the flat, as you don't lose too much of your pedal, but also excellent off road, as it really soaks up the bumps.
I do ride fairly hard, and don't really like the look of the rims, and front fork that the Dakar has. I also want a chain guide too. Essentially, there are a lot of parts on the Dakar that I wouldn't want, or would want to upgrade anyway, so it seems a bit of a waste to buy them.
I was thinking, that the sort of parts that would suit me are on the new P3's. In fact, I was going to get a P3, it's just that I want some rear suspension, and I hate the paint job on those things! (Matt white? are they mad, they are impossible to clean!)
How do you all think the P3 parts would go on a Dakar XLT frame? Do you think they would make a good street/slalom bike? Would the frame be able to take hard street riding (my street/skate park riding is probably more harsh on the bike than my shabby downhill riding?
Basically my aim is to get a strong street/slalom bike that is still not too hard to pedal.
Sorry for the long post!!
Cheers,
Jase.