# specialized P.2 & Heavy trials??



## square1 (May 30, 2006)

*Specialized P.2 & Heavy trails??*

I've just bought a P.2 sorta on a whim. Has a new Dirt Jumper 3 on it along with some other upgraded goodies and figured it was a great deal....

'05 Specialized P2 
dirt jumper III 
sealed cane creek headset,
giga pipe dh sealed 
Hayes cable disc, 
rhino tripple wall wheelset with sealed hubs,
tru vative hussafelt crands with chain guide
deore drivetrain
holy roler tires 
$400

To the point.

I'm much more concerned with XC/ Climing regular mountain biking stuff than I am with hitting up the skate parks....

In your opionins do you think that I have a set up that would be acceptable for the trails.??? Am I going to get boo'ed off, or mocked at for having a dirt jumping bike on some sacred XC trail???

Yes definite noob here... I've been riding 24" bmx for the last 6 yeras straight and finally took the plunge into the world of mountain biking...

I've taken it on the trails everyday since i've bought it, but I just don't know if I'm in terrirtory where one these bikes don't belong...?

As far as the the clip-on shoes and spandex shorts I know that I will never be able to bring myself to do that. But I atleast want to have a respectable ride.

It seems to me that it does ok on trails, I can work my way up the side of a mountain ok... and all (tires are definitley street tires,) I'm just not sure how much easier it would be on a bike that was built for that. Vice doing it on this bike (that's built for urban ect.). Problem is I don't have any experiances to compare it to. I know when heading back down hills this thing rocks! Too much fun!!!

Well let me know what you guys think, and if you guys ever take your bikes up and down your local trails?


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## Hosehead (May 4, 2005)

Excuse me while I zip up my flamesuit......... 
 
Ok, now that I have that taken care of, my trial rig is a P.2. Its no-where near stock though. I've been trial riding for 15 years +, so I know what I wanted, what would work for me, and built the bike accordingly. Here is an older pic, since this I have changed the chainrings, stem and brakes, but you'll get the idea:









As far as what components you should upgrade to make it into a better trail bike I'd say the only MAJOR problems with it (other than the tires which you mentioned, and keeping in mind that you come from a BMX background) are the gearing, and seat/seatpost.

If you want to stay with a single ring in front you want something with about 30-34 teeth, which will give you lower gearing to get up the steep sections easier. Better would be a double or tripple with full gearing. You'd have to add a front derailleur and shifter for that and get rid of the Boxguide.

I'll bet a nickel that the stock seatpost isn't long enough to give you full leg extension, which is cutting down the power you are able to transfer to the pedals, and you might even hurt yourself trying to put the power down. I'm about 5'7", the post on my bike is a 410mm, and I couldn't make do with the more popular 350mm posts. Also as you continue riding you will probably find that the seat is too fat for serious pedaling.

Don't worry about what the other riders on the trail think. Bikes and riders on the trail have become a-lot more diversified over the past few years, so it is doubtful that anyone will stop and laugh at you. As you keep riding and gain experience the P.2 may or may not end up being a good trail bike for you, but in the mean time keep riding and have fun!


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## i like downhill (May 15, 2004)

*duh*

he said trails not trials


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## i like downhill (May 15, 2004)

misread sorry


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## Hosehead (May 4, 2005)

Excuse me for transposing a few letters, would you like the phone number of my 5th grade teacher so you can let her know I still don't spell that well?


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

Well, of course, what you'd want to switch out are the tires. Seat post, stem, bars, maybe make it lose some weight(make it climb better) I'd also change the fork to something lighter, I'd suggest maybe a rock shox Pike, I've heard they are the bomb, drop the fork down to 90mm to climb like a champ, and put it back up to 140mm for the descent. I hope I was of some help.


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## square1 (May 30, 2006)

Cool.. starting to feel better.

Nice rig..BTW It's cool to see another P.2 rider out there with the same things in mind.

Being 6'3" I'm definitely looking at making a few changes just to compensate for the difference in my height and the PO height. Stem, seat mainly.

I'm going to check out the gearing a little more deeply... I'm really curious how much farther I could get on some of the tougher technical stuff if I had a lower gear ratio to mess with.


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## todd_freeride (Aug 9, 2005)

I ride mine almost stock, ecept a different fork and front tire. I do everything with my P.2, mostly AM, FR, light DH, park, street and Dirtjumping. you'll be just fine with that setup, ecept one thing, the fork will really suck for trail. its great for street, park and DJ...heavy as hell, but it'll perform. I originally had an EXR comp on my P.2, that thing sucked, so I swiched to a manitou stance static, its cheap, super plush and very stiff. so far its the best feeling fork i've ever ridde, ecept a pike. but any P.2 can do trail riding, because if I manage to get my 6'2" body up a hill, with only 8 gears and a 36tooth chainwheel in the front, then anyone can do it. especially because I run on some 70mm of travel too :thumbsup:


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## square1 (May 30, 2006)

one word:

WORD.


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## square1 (May 30, 2006)

Todd... Do u usually sport your seat that low? I have always kept my 24" BMX bike with the seat lower, but it seems as though in the MB scene ppl always have it so high. I raised mine as high as it could go today and it did seem to make a good difference in my pedaling abilities.


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## todd_freeride (Aug 9, 2005)

square1 said:


> Todd... Do u usually sport your seat that low? I have always kept my 24" BMX bike with the seat lower, but it seems as though in the MB scene ppl always have it so high. I raised mine as high as it could go today and it did seem to make a good difference in my pedaling abilities.


its usually lower, I raised it an inch or so, so that people would know I actually have a seatpost. but if i'm doing trailriding, its usually raised up maybe 6 inches. usually not much higher than my stem. its because I really dont enjoy decending with a seat way up. but park, street DH and FR, its always around as low in the pic. but for AM and trail whare there is more climbing involved, you'll seed a little bit of seatpost.


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## square1 (May 30, 2006)

Gotchya.. I luv the bike! I wish I could post a pic of how my bike is setup but.. wifes got the camera at the moment. 

I always feel more comfortable with my seat lower.. I don't know why? I think it's from all those days cruisen on the old 20"er that are stuck way back in my mind.


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## rush340 (May 22, 2006)

I do all sorts of riding with mine. I love it.










I always keep the seat down as well. I usually only sit when I'm cruising on the road.

By the way, how do the holy rollers do on the trails?


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## i like downhill (May 15, 2004)

Hosehead said:


> Excuse me for transposing a few letters, would you like the phone number of my 5th grade teacher so you can let her know I still don't spell that well?


i said MISREAD SORRY. and if you got your 5th grade teachers phone number that kinda odd...but i mean ill give her a call if you wanna give it to me. pm me the # sweet cheeks


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## square1 (May 30, 2006)

Well they're not too bad. I'm definitely going to put some dirt tires on there pretty soon, but mean while they do the job. When heading up incline I occasionally loose traction and spin out on stuff I'm sure I otherwise would have just blown past. 
I am surprised that I haven’t completely shredded them yet. I have been hitting so many sharp edged rocks and things like that I am convinced that I'll have to walk the bike back to the trailhead. But surprisingly they just keep on pushing. 
I want to swap them, and then just keep these for when I plan on doing a major street ride or something like that. OH yea.. nice bike!


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