Mountain bikes

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coaldigger

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Jan 27, 2007
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Ok guy's I'm thinking of getting myself a New Bicycle. I figure I can use it for fitness & to hit some of the trails around my house. I've seen that a few of you guys are into mountian bikes & I haven't rode a bike in about 18yrs. I can get a Huffy 26" BlackWater Brand New for Free from work, what are your thoughts on these ? Any info please ! I hope this is ok to post here :o
 
coaldigger said:
Ok guy's I'm thinking of getting myself a New Bicycle. I figure I can use it for fitness & to hit some of the trails around my house. I've seen that a few of you guys are into mountian bikes & I haven't rode a bike in about 18yrs. I can get a Huffy 26" BlackWater Brand New for Free from work, what are your thoughts on these ? Any info please ! I hope this is ok to post here :o
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Free is hard to beat. Maybe you should get a basic bike and go hit the trails, just to get back in the swing of things. As time goes by and your skills improve, you can start looking at getting something a little more advanced.

I personally love my all mountain Specialized Enduro. It's full suspension, and has enough travel (about 5 inches, front and rear) to keep things cushy, but still fun to ride. Disc brakes are a wonderful thing, too.

Biggest thing is to get out and ride and have fun. Better bikes let you ride longer/tougher terrain, but just being out there is what's fun for me.
 
Like Mountainman said, it's really hard to beat FREE. I would take advantage of it and ride it for a bit to get back into the swing of things. That Huffy Blackwater is not going to perform as well, obviously, as a higher priced bike so don't let the performance of the bike (sluggishness of the components like derailers, brakes, etc.) frustrate you. I had a Trek that was given to me that was too big for me and had the wrong forks on it for what I needed and it frustrated the crap out of me to the point that I didn't want to ride. I then bought a new bike and love it.

I've got a Specialized Hardrock Pro with disc brakes and love that bike. I got it brand new a few years ago for about $600 and it has held up well. I do some urban riding too so bought a bike with that in mind.

Whatever you decide, just get out there and have fun. Keep the distance short at first especially on the trails. While 7 miles doesn't sound like much when you are on pavement, it's a totally different ball game when you are on the trial. Hills are another story :) I live in DE so I don't need to worry too much about hills...
 
Personally I wouldn't consider anything made by Huffy to be a bike. After spending the better part of a decade as a bike mechanic I see it more as a bike shaped object. It might be free for you to obtain, but I can almost guarantee that you will end up spending almost as much in repairs on it as you would just purchasing a half way decent bike to begin with. Most bike manufacturers have pretty decent setups that will start at around $300, and if you shop in the "off season" you can usually pick up one of those for close to half that price.
 
Free? Go for it, but be aware that the folks who assemble department store bikes might not have the expertise of a real bike shop. Make sure the brakes work and that the wheels are on tight.

I agree with the fellas above. Figure out if this is a sport that you want to continue and when you scrape up the cash to get a better bike that fits and is lighter and easier to maintain, ride a ton of them. Bike magazines like to test multi-thousand dollar rigs so they aren't always much help. Find a bike store that treats you right and go with one that fits you best. Pay what they ask, but ask for a discount on the extras when you buy it. Have fun!
 
Free is great! If that falls thru, search the local trader for an old Schwinn or something that was a quality M-bike years back.
I ride an early 90's Schwinn High Sierra thats all decked out in Deore XT components rooter to tooter. Back in the day, these components were top notch and are still around today. I paid $75 for the bike when i bought it used.
 
Well, a bike is a bike, and a free one is hard to beat.

But then again, there's always that saying, "I'd rather push my bike than ride a Huffy."
 
PB Wilson said:
Free? Go for it, but be aware that the folks who assemble department store bikes might not have the expertise of a real bike shop. Make sure the brakes work and that the wheels are on tight.

I agree with the fellas above. Figure out if this is a sport that you want to continue and when you scrape up the cash to get a better bike that fits and is lighter and easier to maintain, ride a ton of them. Bike magazines like to test multi-thousand dollar rigs so they aren't always much help. Find a bike store that treats you right and go with one that fits you best. Pay what they ask, but ask for a discount on the extras when you buy it. Have fun!
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Very good advice. I would only add that you don't have to scrap the entire bike for a new one all at once. Upgrade your components as you can afford to, and eventually move them onto a new (lighter, more comfortable) frame. Try to have someone help you learn to make the adjustments yourself. :thumbup:
 
vret said:
Personally I wouldn't consider anything made by Huffy to be a bike. After spending the better part of a decade as a bike mechanic I see it more as a bike shaped object. It might be free for you to obtain, but I can almost guarantee that you will end up spending almost as much in repairs on it as you would just purchasing a half way decent bike to begin with. Most bike manufacturers have pretty decent setups that will start at around $300, and if you shop in the "off season" you can usually pick up one of those for close to half that price.
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I agree. :thumbup:

Huffys are sub-par, and 90% of the time the boxstore idiot that puts them together does a shoddy job at best. Dangerous to take a bike that is subpar and potentially not put together right on true mtn bike trails. Ive been a mtn biker for 18 years, and have seen many many bad wrecks caused by weak components, and improper instalation. Check craigs list and ask bike shops if they have any bikes on consignment. Alot of really sweet steeds to be had on the secondary market for cheap right now.

However free is a good price anyway you look at it. Just be aware of its limitations. If it gets you out on 2 wheels, it cant be a bad thing.....
 
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If you find you like the sport, I will reccomend goin single speed. Ive been riding single speed for 5 years now, and will never go back as long as my knees allow. The 29ers are pretty sweet too. Redline monocog is a great bike for a very good price. Full rigid singlespeed 29er. :cool: Those bikes are fast and tight in the turns. I just helped out a coworker who wanted to get into mtnbiking. A stright newbie, hadnt been on a bike for years. We went and looked at several models. Singlespeeds, 29rs, full suspension rigs, ALOT of bikes. He chose the Redline Monocog, and absolutely loves it. Just be sure when you are in the market, you look at all the options. Bikes are very personal Ive found. I personally love my Specialized. It was a great bike bone stock, and even better now. ;) Im currently building a Surly Karate monkey frame, and restoring a vintage singlespeed for my wife.

Motobecane is also a great company, as well as the bikes offered by Misphit Psycles out of Canada. I bought all of my drivetrain componants from them, Peter is a great guy.....Man I could talk bikes on and on... Almost more then knives!! :eek: But Ive been a biker for longer then a knife knut. :o

If you do end up with the huffy, take it a small local shop and get it tuned up, and get a fitting done. A proper fit makes biking WAAAY more enjoyable, and guarantees quicker recovery times after rides, and makes the bike easier to controll. Plus, it supports your local bike shop which I am all for, and the smaller bike shops offer a wealth of knowlage on maintnance, local rides etc...I love working on them and building them. Its addicting.

Oh, and wear a helmet. :thumbup:
 
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Thanks for the info guys. I didn't think the Huffy was a "Real Mountian Bike" .
Since this will be the first time back on a bike in about 18yrs:p It'll be on the Blacktop for a while untill I get back into the swing of things. The problem for me is there are NO bike shops around here ! Bikes in my are are mainley used by kids & they come from Wal-Mart. So I really have no help. We had one canondale (Spelling?) shop here & they only lasted about 6months :( & lack of business shut them down. I also have a Mongoose mountian back sitting under the shed behind the garage. one of the teeh on the back cogg is bent & the derailer is out of adjustment (thats how I got the bike, no one would fix it so it was given to me) Now I don't have anyone to fix it so its just sitting & has been for about 5yrs now, everything on it looks like a new bike !
Oh Well :o
 
coaldigger said:
Thanks for the info guys. I didn't think the Huffy was a "Real Mountian Bike" .
Since this will be the first time back on a bike in about 18yrs:p It'll be on the Blacktop for a while untill I get back into the swing of things. The problem for me is there are NO bike shops around here ! Bikes in my are are mainley used by kids & they come from Wal-Mart. So I really have no help. We had one canondale (Spelling?) shop here & they only lasted about 6months :( & lack of business shut them down. I also have a Mongoose mountian back sitting under the shed behind the garage. one of the teeh on the back cogg is bent & the derailer is out of adjustment (thats how I got the bike, no one would fix it so it was given to me) Now I don't have anyone to fix it so its just sitting & has been for about 5yrs now, everything on it looks like a new bike !
Oh Well :o
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If you are going to start out on pavement, and your Huffy is an off-road "wannabe"- the first upgrade you may want to do is get some road or hybrid tires. If the ones that come on your bike are full-lug, it will greatly increase vibration and fatigue- especially on a non-suspension ride. Find some road tires or at least some lugged ones that have a solid center rib. I used to commute on my old RD Coyote and learned this the hard way. :foot:
 
I'll go against the grain and say "no" to the Huffy. I know it's free and that's hard to pass up, but they're such bad bikes that it may frustrate you to no end and turn you off to cycling. I have seen that happen more than once to someone who started with a cheap bike.

I would be willing to bet that Mongoose you have is a far better bicycle and it wouldn't be hard to fix it up. If you're even semi-mechanically inclined you can do it yourself. The cassette (rear sprocket) will involve buying some tools to take apart/install a new cassette/freewheel, however you could just take the rear wheel to a shop (yes, I saw you'd have to drive to get to one) if you don't feel like tackling it. Another option is to try to bend the bent tooth back...it might not work, but even if you break the tooth off it may not have much effect on things. The derailleur is easy to adjust and doesn't take any special tools.

Here's an article on how to work on the sprocket and one on the derailleur. Make sure you check out the whole site as there's a lot of good info there.
 
Since there's no bike shops around you, first thing to do is buy a copy of Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance. I like Zin... Road Bike Maintenance better since it is less specialized and covers most mountain bike topics. But these books will help you identify if there is a problem, figure out what it is, and how to fix it. You may be able to fix it yourself or you might not. No matter what, that bike will need some adjustments and that book will help.

Now, you should figure out if the bike is the right size for you. There's people that can help you on this thread to figure out if you're in the ballpark if you give us your height and inseam, as well as the size of the bike - usually on a sticker just above where the pedal shaft goes through the frame.

Now, whether or not you should use it. If it's near the right size, that's a good thing. But keep in mind that this is a sub-optimal bike and will not give you the ease and joy of riding that a better bike will give you. The bike itself might cause you to not enjoy riding. If you decided to buy a new bike the question comes down to how much you want to spend and how bike obsessed you want to get. I'd be happy to help you if you PM or e-mail me.
 
Coaldigger, I have the tools you need to do that if you want. Bike tools are pricey if you get park tools. Me? Id rip the gears off that mongoose and convert it to singlespeed, provided the frame is in good shape. Bike nashbar has some amazing closeout prices on certain parts.

That site blackhills linked too is a wealth of knowlage, especially on fixed gear/singlespeed...Sheldon Brown was an expert, an icon in the cycling world, and an inspiration to me. His site helped me SO much when I was building my first singlespeed. Its too bad he passed away. He is missed. :(
 
j williams said:
Coaldigger, I have the tools you need to do that if you want. Bike tools are pricey if you get park tools. Me? Id rip the gears off that mongoose and convert it to singlespeed, provided the frame is in good shape. Bike nashbar has some amazing closeout prices on certain parts.

That site blackhills linked too is a wealth of knowlage, especially on fixed gear/singlespeed...Sheldon Brown was an expert, an icon in the cycling world, and an inspiration to me. His site helped me SO much when I was building my first singlespeed. Its too bad he passed away. He is missed. :(
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I would love to make the Mongoose a singlespeed bike, I always thought that shifting gears on a bike was a dumb idea the Wallyworld bikes I had growing up never really seemed to change gears good or didn't last very long.
How hard would this project be to convert to MonGoose into a single speed.
The bike itself is a BrandNew Bike that my Bro. had purchased several years ago, it had a bent tooth on the sprocket from the factory (we think) he only rode it a few times when he noticed it. So he gave the bike to me, I tried to straighten it out but no luck.
Can you help get me started on making it a single speed ? :p
 
Super easy man.

Here is the kit you need. It comes from misphit psycles, and is the best made one I have ever found. This will take care of your rear gear. A great price, shipping is from canada so its a bit higher, but its worth it. The components are really good quality.

http://www.psyclestore.com/products/Conversion-Kit-COMPLETE.html

The front gear. Well there are a few options. You can use the existing cranks and chainrings, and leave the front deraileur in place, and remove just the cables and levers, to hold the chain since the chainrings are ramped to allow the chain to move from sproket to sproket. Or you could pull the cranks and add a new set with a single chainring. This is the way I reccomend, but it will cost more $$. Its totally possible to use the existing chainrings and crankset however....

More then likely the mongoose has vertical dropouts, so you will need a conversion kit with the chain tensioner like the one I linked too, or you wont be able to get a perfect chain fit. It will be too lose. Ive heard of "magic combos" of front chainring size and rear cog size that made a perfectly tensioned chain with vertical dropouts, but I tried a bunch of combos and could never get it right w/o a tensioner.
 
As far as the actual process, you need to read ALL of this....

http://sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html

It will explain with pics about the gear ratio selection, differant kits, and how to do it. Loads of info there....

It also explains why singlespeed is better. :p


Something else. You will probably wanna upgrade the skewers(quick release) on the wheels. The factory ones arent tough enough when you strip the gears. Alot of added pressure on em. I thrashed my stock rear one very quickly. I replaced mine with Hope skewers...
 
j williams said:
It also explains why singlespeed is better.
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Ha ha. I think a singlespeed is fun but I can't imagine having one as my only (or even main) bike. I like my gears too much.

I do have a SS....it's a roadie though.

DSCN07762.jpg


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j williams said:
Super easy man.

Here is the kit you need. It comes from misphit psycles, and is the best made one I have ever found. This will take care of your rear gear. A great price, shipping is from canada so its a bit higher, but its worth it. The components are really good quality.
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You're assuming, as am I, that he has a cassette on the back of the Mongoose. While that's most likely the case it's possible it's a freewheel, in which case that kit won't work at all.
 
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