Thread: thoughts on this bike

So I am looking for a little affirmation or possibly some "what were you thinking" type comments, I'm not sure what its going to be yet.

A little background, my dad has stared to figure out that if he wants to see his son on weekends he better brake out his skis or mtn bike. My dad is riding an old hardtail early to mid 90's FUNK (not sure if anyone will know of that brand), with a "front air shock" having maybe 2 inches of travel (old school, you pump it up with a syringe like air pump) . After a bunch of rides this month my Dad just felt super beat up during and after the down hill sections of rides. I told him a full suspension would help a lot with that, and after talking with another guy his age and being told how a FS bike changed mountain biking for him he decided it was time to get a full squish. This was a big deal for him I have been trying to convince him that FS mtn bikes were not as heavy and awful as he thought, but he was stickin to his hardtail ways. He soon there after called me and put me in charge of finding him a bike. He is light 150 pounds and about 5'10" and this will be his trail bike riding 70% front range stuff 30% other probably twice a week or so. No downhill for him, won't be racing just wanted a bike that pedals well and makes riding downhill smoother and takes less of a tole on his body. Figured I would look for something with a little slacker angels, easy to pedal, and smooth on the downhill. Been checkin ebay, craigslist, and the like and this morning came across this a....

rocky mountain slayer

wasn't a whole lot of time left so I couldn't read up tons on it but I had a friend who rode this bike and loved it and I have ridden a few rocky mountains and been impressed with their frames so I pulled the trigger. I did read that they had a few issues with the chain stays cracking, have to keep my fingers crossed that doesn't happen (my dad is pretty light and won't be ridding it hard, no drops or anything wild) my main concern was the fork. I generally hold the rule that the only forks worth buying are Fox or Marzocchi but reviews on MTBR were mixed time was running low so I went for it.

Thoughts? Should I replace the fork? My dad won't be pushing this bike hard is this fork ok for general trail riding? I like the travel adjustments on my TALAS 36 and this has travel adjustments as well...I don't know...just tryin to get my dad on a machine he can have fun on....any feedback would be appreciated...

All the components look sick. He should be stoked.

I wouldn't just chuck the fork just 'cause.... if it's not working great, then yeah. Great build on that bike though.

not sure if you won that but .....

maybe something in the 3-5" travel range and sub 30 pound?

similar to what you found.

take a look at some of the closeout new sites too, really good deals over the years at

www.jensonusa.com (jamis)

www.wheelworld.com (kona)

^^^yep won it, now just need to figure out if I keep it - guess thats why I was asking for help. Seemed like a great price on a sweet frame with a awesome build minus the fork....thanks for your feedback so far.

I looked at both jamis bikes and a kona dawg but this seemed like as good of a deal as any I thought

That is a great deal with a great build. Crazy it went for sub 1,000.00 IMO. Score...

lets see some pics of the FUNK!!!

^^2 votes for funk. 2 hooray for the slayer.

^^^Ha sure I'll throw some FUNK pictures up in the next day or two. My Dad helped start the company back in the early 90's with Darryl so there are a few of them hanging in the garage I'll get some pics of both.