Differerence

[soren]

Hi
I am building the marauder from the book "Bicycle builder’s bonanza"
What is the difference between that and the marauder reloaded?
Is the reloaded a better bike and if that is so then why is it better?

regards
Soren

[jimFPU]

Rear suspension and adjustable BB. Those are what I see.

[trikeman]

What Jim said. Whether having an adjustable BB and rear suspension is "better" is kind of a personal thing. Personally, I don't have any need of suspension, since I ride on a paved rail trail and don't need the extra 10 pounds the suspension gives you. No one else rides my bikes but me, so I don't really need adjustable BBs, and instead go with an adjustable seat.

[theTman]

does the suspension seriously add 10 lbs?! that doesn't sound right.

[Radical Brad]

I would say the spring and pivot would add about 5 pounds or so. The other improvements in the new M2 are the adjustable BB and a small bug fixed when using rear freehubs with more than 6 rings. In the original M1, there might be a chain clearance issue depending on chosen parts.

There was such limited space and tight deadlines when doing the book, so it was nice to revisit the designs.

Brad

[trikeman]

does the suspension seriously add 10 lbs?! that doesn't sound right.

I haven't actually weighed a shock,spring, and the extra weight of the beefier rear triangle and pivot required to support it. Instead, I based my 10 pound estimate on the difference in weight of 25Hz's suspended vs non-suspended trikes, since he conveniently puts the weight of his creations on his website. At any rate, due to having the luxury of a smooth as glass riding trail, and being a closet weight weenie, bike suspensions are just extra junk to me :jester: One of the great things about rolling your own, is you can put what you want (or don't want on it).