2008 26" Eastern Nighttrain Review...

[Iridemtb]

First off, ahead of time... I have no pictures, I do not own a digital camera, and cannot find the cord to my parents camera.

Ok, I know a lot of people have been asking about the eastern nighttrains. Here's the spec list:

FRAME: Eastern NightTrain 26", Full Crmo, Spanish BB, Internal Headset, Removable Gyro Tab Holes (even though no gyro).

SIZES: 21.5" T/T, Chainstay: 14.7" slammed/ 15" to center, 72 degree headangle

FORK: RockShox Argyle 318, 80mm, 20mm thru

HEADSET: Internal Headset

CRANK SET/ CHAINWHEEL: Eastern Stealth Crank/ Medusa Light 25t Sprocket

BB-SET: Eastern Spanish BB

HANDLEBAR: Eastern Chromo 1.6t

STEM: Eastern Choker

GRIP: Eastern Rib Grips

HUB FRONT: Sealed Bearing 32H , with disc mount, 20 MM axle

HUB REAR: Eastern MTB single speed cassette hub 135mm, 14mm axle, 36H, 12t one piece driver, with disc hub mt.

RIM: Kinlin DDT, 32h

SPOKES: 2.0mm Stainless steel 14G UCP, black, with brass nipples

FRONT TIRE: Kenda Small Block 8, 26x2.35

REAR TIRE: Kenda NPJ 1052, 26x2.10

REAR BRAKE: Avid Juicy 3, 6" Rotor

BRAKE LEVER: Avid Juicy 3

CASSETTE: 1 Piece 12T Driver, 6 paw

CHAIN: KMC 510HX

SADDLE: Eastern Pinner

SEAT POST: Eastern Aluminum

SEAT POST CLAMP: Intergrated

PEGS: 1 Eastern Byrd Peg

PEDALS: Eastern Dual-Concave Pedals, loose ball bearing

COLORS: White or Black

EVERYTHING I have on that bike is according to stock. I wanted to order a black one, but they were out for 3 months, so I got the white, let me tell you, it is much cooler in real life, and draws some attention.

I am 17, 5'8", and 135 lbs, just for size. I have a local bmx track, a skate park 45 minutes from me, and FDR skate park in Philadelphia 50 minutes from me, some dj trails, and a lot of street with a lot of other bmx people. So I have had a variety of terrain to ride on.

I came off a diamondback assault http://www.matchvideozine.com/db-assault.jpg
which is a little bit of a beffier hardtail, and I was looking for something smaller. I went to 180 this bike in a parking lot test and almost 360 tire tapped. :biggrin:

Jumping: The bike is pretty easy to jump, it wants to take off by itself for the most part, but it rides a lot like a bmx bike with a 22-22.5 inch top tube. It's really easy to whip around in the air, and with the low top tube, I almost learned 1 footed cans the second day I got it.

Manualing: This bike has a little higher of a bottom bracket, and short chainstays, consequently, it is easier to manual. It's really easy to keep the front end up when you bunny hop to manual a ledge or manual to hop to manual a ledge. I was at the bmx track, and it felt like a bmx bike, I was manualing multiple rollers and 2 jumps and the spaces in between, both of which I could not do before.

The bike is smaller, and feels closer to a bmx bike than a mountain bike. It is easy to manuever, easy to spin, and really easy to do tire taps on. Also, the low top tube helps for doing tricks. The seat is really close up though, closer to the head tube than most bikes, and I've nailed my butt on it hard more than once. But I have adapted, and it's not really a problem anymore. The setup it comes with is solid, and the only thing that went wrong so far is the usualy creaky cranks, or loose parts that just needed to be retightened in the "break-in" period.

I have had this bike for 2 weeks. If you have ANY questions about it. feel free to ask, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

[newrider3]

Sounds great. The spec list is a bit confusing though, it says something about an Argyle fork and disc brakes?

[mattmatt86]

Originally Posted by newrider3

Sounds great. The spec list is a bit confusing though, it says something about an Argyle fork and disc brakes?

What's confusing? They come on the bike.

[newrider3]

Nevermind, I was lost for a minute there, thinking of the Traildigger 26.

[mnovy]

Hey I was jsut wondering if you knew the exact weight of the eastern night train? I'm thinking of getting one but want to know how mucht they weigh first. Cheers

[Salty4X]

Wow, I guess they ran out of names for bikes so they just bit off of an old FBM frame. Now thats original, kinda like their frame design. lthumbsdown:

[manimal]

Originally Posted by Salty4X

Wow, I guess they ran out of names for bikes so they just bit off of an old FBM frame. Now thats original, kinda like their frame design. lthumbsdown:

yeah, no kidding....they should reinvent the wheel or something. maybe a monocoque front end that looks all curvy and stuff right? dude, it's a mtb dj frame, not much left out there that wouldn't infringe on some previous design. it's little details and CS that make one mtb dj frame different from another.

[dexter]

whats the bb height?

[Strauss]

that seems a little low.

are you measuring to the center of your BB spindle?

[brycexlighthall]

I have this frame, and I love it. Pretty sure the TT is 21.5, the Thunderbird/Nighttrain/Black Betty are all 21.5, pretty much the same geo according to the guys at Eastern. So far this company has the best Customer Service out of any BMX/MTB company I've ever dealt with, with the exception of the personal attention Chris Moeller gave back in the mid-90s.

[dhmatt]

I am am starting to get that mid winter itch, so I am looking into a hartail that I can ride at Rye Airfield in NH. I did not want to spend loads of cash on anything as I have another build going and most of my money is going into that. The question I have is will a traildigger 26 be a good beginner bike? I am looking for a review on the bike or any info at all would be a great help.
Thanks

[Iridemtb]

Go for the night train.

My friend just got a 2009 traildigger. It is a lot harder to manual on due the the low bb (which means caching coping on pipes easier too). It feels less secure in the air, and you don't have a front fork (depends what you like).

I would throw up the extra casha nd try to fine a lightly used ns suburban, an eastern night train, or even check out thunderbirds.