I am looking for a good starter bike. I am planning on riding a few trails but mainly (at first) be on walkpaths unless I really like the trails. I haven't rode a bike since I was a kid but it seems to be the way to stay in shape if you want to ride motocycles. I am looking for a bike that won't cost me an arm and a leg but I want something that will last. I went into the trek store today and looked at the 820 real quick. It seemed like a nice bike but I don't know what I am looking at or for. I did come across a trek 3500 on craigslist for $300 and it has never been rode. What do you think? I am clueless.
What do you guys think of this bike. I have read alot of reviews and they are all pretty good. http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/motobecane_600HT07.htm
Nice find! Looks like a good value. May I suggest a 29er hardtail if you can afford it. The big wheels make it seem like it has ore suspension than it really does and they roll faster and smooth out small trail bumps. A BRAND NEW Marin Alpine Trail 29er. $785 I've been doing some research and this is da bomb. MSRP is $785 and it's a hard-tail and comes with a nice build kit. It's no beginner bike.... this is a serious bike and being a hard tail you can do som eroad rides on it with ease. Big wheels work well on the road.
bike l think the 29r would be a good choice if you plan on doing bike paths, if not go with the treck or lighty used bike stick to a hard tail in that $$ range
Well I found a bike that should work good for me. I went with the Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc. I really liked the Rockhopper but it was out of my price range. I got them to knock a little off of the bike plus a $30 in store credit so I feel I did ok. I think this thing is going to really help me get back in better shape. Sorry for the crap picture, all I had was my cell.
I don't know Brian. I used to think I was in decent shape but after taking a hot lap around the block, I have alot to work on :lol: . Thanks for the invite.
bike nice buy l did the 16 mile ride yesterday and my legs hurt today, l need to ride more 27th 28th ?
thanks for the info. i am looking for a starter bike myself to try and keep me occupied between trackdays. thanks for the help!
Okay, so I just found out last weekend that there's a pretty good 8ish mile MTB trail just a couple miles from my house. I need an off season hobby, and also to lose about 25 lbs, so I figure, perfect! The thing is, I have no idea where to look for a bike. New is kinda out of the question for me, but where does one look for used mountain bikes? Craigslist is letting me down, and I'd really like to find something decent for a good price, especially since the wife is out of a job currently. Thanks fellas.
I'm thinking a hardtail, and I'd like to keep it under $150 for a used one, if at all possible. I know that limits my options pretty hard, but for a used bike, you'd think I'd be able to find something... As far as size, I'm not sure of that either. I have a 35 inch inseam, does that help?
For the sake of curiosity, what am I going to be missing going with a Big Box Store brand bike (Huffy, Mongoose, etc) vs. one of the brands mentioned above, for a starter bike?
big box l would stay away from the big box stuff, for the price you need to spend at a big box place to get anything decent you be better of buy used first rule, buy a good framed bike that fits you, you can always upgrade the parts once the wear out on a cheap bike the fork is going to be the weakess link but can be upgraded later ( look for close out deals )
bike looks ok, find out what shock it has and look it up online to see what they are selling for new today 18 speed is old stuff if you can manage 400-500 bucks it will save you down the road and you could find a good used bike with winter coming around
I always recommend that people buy a middle-of-the-road bike first to find out if mountain biking is for them, then sell that bike and invest in a full-on mountain bike should it be something that appeals to you. For what you're describing, that Giant Rincon on Craigslist looks perfect. It is certainly enough to ride paved paths with, and will allow you to ride trails to such an extent that you will know whether you want to pursue the sport beyond what that bike's capable of or not. Sure, you're not gonna keep up with a guy on a full-carbon, full-suspension 29'er, but if you're not out there to race, that bike will allow you to have a good time and give you a taste of what awaits you should you take that next step to a more expensive ride (at which time I'm betting you coul;d sell that Giant for the same price you paid)... Happy searching!
Thanks for the info and the replies, fellas, I appreciate it. I basically just need something fairly competent that's gonna hold together for a year or so while I figure out if this is gonna be something I continue to pursue, or just a phase for me. I have a feeling it'll be the former, from listening to some of you guys.
If I may add something here... a n00b to mountain biking myself. I just picked up the sport and it's very addictive. My original intent was to ride trails to get back in shape, but heck this stuff is fun. We have some great trails down here (Brown County Trails). I bought a used top of the line Dept. store bike for $150 on CL. It was a schwinn S-60 full-suspension. That thing is heavy, it's a good work-out when your climbing, but a lot of fun when you're riding down-hill. The Full-suspension eats all the bumps for you, and IMO it handles better while riding down hill. It started squeaking and rattling after a couple days of trail-riding. Nothing a WD-40 can't fix. So, then I bought a hard-tail Trek 8000 ZX, very light compared to the Schwinn. To be honest, I hated the hard-tail ride down-hill. Then, a couple weeks later, we had Trek at the trails letting us demo some of their fancy Carbon Fuel Full suspension bikes... Man, that thing is just from another world. I can ride on that thing all day long... The price tag was $4K, but I am thinking about selling my car to buy one of those... Anyway, I guess what I am getting at is, if you could get a used top of the line dept. store bike, like a Schwinn, or a Mongoose, it wouldn't be too bad to start out. They're not absolutely evil. EDIT: Cam mounted on the back of my Schwinn. Removed the audio because all I could hear was squeaking from the suspension, which I fixed later with some grease http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=153197547688&ref=share