Anyone built/got a Kinesis Maxlight?

Looking for some feedback. I may have reached the point where I need to get myself a new bike and finally retire my Marin rigid. I fancy building one, probably using a donor bike for most parts and buying frame/forks and brakes.

Looking at the options, Orange cost too much, Cotic looks over the top for what I want, I don't like the On One frames and again they seem ott so the Maxlight seem to fit and I like the look of them. A simple XC hardtail capable of doing reds is all I need and not something that will take 160 forks for big hits, I doubt that I need that.

I can't seem to find much in the way of reviews for the newer frames i.e. the XC3 and only a few for older frames, so views/feedback/pics most welcome.

I'll settle for any views then, particularly on it's suitability to trail riding rather than XC. Outfitted with the proper forks, that is.

i had the kinesis maxlight xc120 and i used to do black runs at llandegla coed ye brennin gizburn dalby anyway you get the picture it is more than capable and flys up and down the hills. i only sold mine cos we started doing bigger stuff and my knees needed a rest hope this helps

Yes it does, thanks. What forks did you have on it at the time?

i had some revelations with a u turn 100-130mm

Nice: I think they'll be out of my budget though.

yea i picked them up cheep you could look at a set of pikes second hand. or a set of tora forks they are a good quality budget fork

I might go the 2nd hand route. Forks are something I'm only just learning about so the above is noted. I'd heard the Tora were a good budget fork.

well if you want any forkin advice you know where we are

I built my wife a Kinesis Maxlite female frame Maxlite KM something or other one last Christmas as her present
Built with lightweight wheels and 100mm air forks. Shimano XT/XTR bits.
She loves it, it's as solid as the day it was built.
We mostly do XC stuff through out the lakes so we get some decent rocky downhills. We live near Whinlatter in the Lake District and it's done the Red route there one or twice without any hitch and the blue run a zillion times.
not sure what your after, but hers seems fine.
Jeff

Heh. I'm not sure what I'm after either. I guess I know they make good xc bikes, I'm trying to decide if they also make a good xc/trail bike with the right forks and wheels/tyres. I don't want a pure xc bike. I've done a lot of reading since I posted this thread though so I'm feeling more confident I know what I want and that Kinesis make a frame that will do it and the Xc130 is looking good.

We were in Whinlatter a few weeks ago and Grizedale. That's when I decided my Marin rigid was getting long in the tooth for trail riding, especially when I'm trying to keep up with the kids, I could do with a better bike which forgives me a bit more.

just come across this thread, built myself a nice maxlight xc2 up last year, put a rigid fork on as the intended use was for canal path, old train lines, that sort of stuff, but am looking at changing the forks to do some of the rougher stuff on it, rate the frame, really light and solid.....my only fear is that when i do get it fixed up.....the whyte won't get out the shed !!...let me know what you decide on Crackle

I've got an XC2. Frame was ridiculously cheap. The subsequent models have a longer top tube, I think, but this one suits me very well. I've got a (100mm) Reba dual air fork on it, and flat bars. It climbs like a mountain goat. I don't ride trails very often, but it has coped happily with most of the stuff at Afan Argoed and Glyncorrwg. The only negative is that the paint chips off very easily, but I think I read somewhere that they sorted that with subsequent models.

Ah, interesting. The paint chipping I didn't know about, so I'll check on that. The XC3 is the one I'm looking at or maybe the XC130. Both of those have shorter top tubes than other Maxlights in the range , which are more pure XC but I don't know how they compare with the XC2. I don't want too short a cockpit, I don't like that but I don't want to be as stretched as on my current bike because I can't get any leverage on the bars to get the front end up, negated to some extent now by fitting a riser stem. I think the geometry will be fine, I've been and mooched around other full bikes with a similar geometry because you never know when you just buy a frame.

I'm reasonably sure I'll get the XC3, maybe the XC130 because they do that in black (how sad to choose it on colour, I know). Air forks will be on the list, probably handbuilt wheels and the rest will be provided by fortune. I'm only waiting to get the dosh together really. It's not going to be a quick project anyway.

Well, FWIW it's worth, I've got a Maxlight XC and I think it fabbo. Having said that I know next to nothing about mountain bikes! Built mine about 4 years ago and it has had little use although I used it last weekend for the Gorrick Series race at Crowthorne. It aquitted itself well, but the rider was rubbish.

I particularly like it because of it's shorter top tube, not being very experienced I find it more controlable and comfortable. Works for me anyway. No issues that I've noticed of paint falling off.

Photo attached. I need to dump the bar ends, more a liability than a help, or at least shorten them dramatically.

Not sure about the new models, but I remember going for the XC2 because it was less stretched-out than one of their higher-end models (which I think was the XC Pro 2 - we might be talking 2009?). I have a short stem on it anyway, but that's just compensation for it being designed for more typical male proportions. I've dug up a couple of pics of it, albeit before I put the Rebas on it. It's grubby, but then I live in Swansea...

Oh thank you, that's excellent. What size frame have you got? Just trying to judge proportions.

That stem isn't so short by modern standards. The hire bike I used over the weekend had a stubby stem with big wide riser bars. The KM810 and XCpro3 are the ones in their current stable which are pure XC, longer top tube and lower front end, so that chimes with your recall of their lineup when you bought yours.

Mine's an 18". I guess they call that 46cm these days...

After browsing this site over the past few months, I have just signed up especially to give you some feedback!

I have a maxlight XCpro3 - I built it the begining of last year and I love it. Super light, fast and climbs like nothing I've ridden previously. Very nimble. I built it with an XT Groupset, RS Reba 100mm Fork and DT Swiss X1800 Wheelset.
Not the lightest of builds but then I'm no whippet!

I had read about the paint being thin and chipping off prior to buying and considered fitting frame protection. I didn't bother in the end and a year on, with lots of riding on stoney tracks and gravel paths and the down tube is perfectly O.K. I believe the earlier frames were not laquered, or so I have read. The three frames that I have handled certainly are and well. Maybe this was the problem and it was corrected, of course there is the chance that I ride too slow!
Paint finish is good, and the frame is very nice with the squared down tube from BB, formed to a triangular shape where it meets the head tube.

A more important problem to take note of than that of the paint, is a problem that affected some frames with rear wheel alignment. There is some info on the net in regards to these issues. My frame was perfect; my brother also has a XC pro 3 and there were also no alignment issues here either.

I have a 50cm frame with a 110mm stem and EA70 Mid rise bar. I'm 6' 2.5'' it's plenty long enough for me. The frame dimensions are actually pretty much the equivilant to a Specialised Rockhopper 21" frame so the Pro 3 are long in the top tube for the frame size.
My previous bike was a trek 6700 19.5" and this doesn't feel too disimilar, but it has streched me out a little bit more.

I'm not sure what your previous/current bike is like but it took me a while to get used to the responsivness and how snappy the turn in was when I changed rides. I had read reviews [Not Maxlight] where the tester had commented on steering response and thought to myself really it's that noticable? But that was one thing that really stood out. That and the abillity to climb hills. The power transfer from pedal to wheel was for me very noticable compared to my 4 year old Trek. Both these things are supprising really considering how much forgivness is in the frame. The whole frame seems very 'supple' and allows for considerable twisting, smoothing out the harshness when the trails get unforgiving.

No complaints from me and would happily invest into another frame if anything ever happened.
Here are some Piccys!!





Hope thats of some use to you.

And it's much appreciated and is definitely of some use. The geometry of my current frame is a little similar to the XCPro3, in that it's long and low. I'm probably not going for the Pro3 but the xc130 or xc3 because I want a bike for using on built trails, so I want a more upright position with a shorter stem. However all the feedback on quality, power transfer, steering response is very useful and re-assuring and one of the things I was wondering about was how forgiving the frame was compared to my current chro-mo frame, so to hear you say that it feels forgiving on rough stuff is a comfort. I thought a lighter alu frame might just compromise in that area.

I like the look of your build, I think the Kinesis frames look superb and the components all suit that frame very nicely.

Thanks