Bike Choice Question (GT vs Kink)

Ok so by "mess around" do you mean anything that involves you leaving the ground and coming back down? If so, I would make sure to have as much Chromoly as possible in the frame. In anything that will be bearing weight as you land, you need that.

If by messing around you just mean riding to and from work/school, or to just hang on at the park, I guess Hi-Ten would be alright, but I really can't say that I would ever by anything where the frame is Hi-Ten...I would atl east try to get a Chromo front triangle

Of the 2 bikes mentioned...the GT sounds better because it is Chromo.

If you get a good Chromo frame, and then get more into doing tricks, you can just replace cheap parts with good ones. I always tell people to make sure that the skeleton of the bike (frame;fork;cranks and pedal axels) are full Chromo. Second would be double walled rims...

what is your budget?

How much are you getting them for? There could be better deals for the price.


Out of those two, I'd go with the GT.

It's actually not full chromoly, it has chromoly main tubes (Which I assume means just the top tube & down tubes?) and seat stays, but that still beats the Kink's full hi-tensile steel frame though. Plus it has a fully sealed cassette hub as opposed to the Kink's "semi sealed" which means it only has 1 sealed bearing in it and the rest of it is unsealed.

The only thing I'd be weary of is the GT has a 32h front wheel (as opposed to 36h), not a big deal, but if you ever want/need to replace the rim or hub, you'd have to get a whole new front wheel as good 32h rims aren't that common.

Very few chromoly frame completes are as good as an aftermarket frame. I'd suggest trying to up your budget and getting something better. Most completes are a false economy as you'll need to upgrade just about everything over time anyway.

Semi sealed hubs have no sealed bearings, they market them as semi sealed by putting a dust cover over the bearing but the bearings themselves are still loose.

Those bikes come with drastically different toptube lengths.

What's your budget? I'm sure we'll be able to suggest something more suitable

Thanks for everyones insight.

grumpySteve wrote:

Very few chromoly frame completes are as good as an aftermarket frame. I'd suggest trying to up your budget and getting ...more

grumpySteve wrote:

Very few chromoly frame completes are as good as an aftermarket frame. I'd suggest trying to up your budget and getting something better. Most completes are a false economy as you'll need to upgrade just about everything over time anyway.

Semi sealed hubs have no sealed bearings, they market them as semi sealed by putting a dust cover over the bearing but the bearings themselves are still loose.

Those bikes come with drastically different toptube lengths.

What's your budget? I'm sure we'll be able to suggest something more suitable

...more

False on the semi sealed thing, I've had countless ones apart and they all have loose ball bearings and 1 sealed cartridge bearing just behind the driver in the hub shell.