O/T: Mountain Biking

J

jball1125

Joined
Aug 26, 2011
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Hey crew, any mountain/trail bikers on here?

Been meaning to get into it for a while but havent bit the bullet on a bike yet. I have done a bit of research and would say I probably want to go with a hardtail 26er. Full suspension sounds cool but to get a good one you have to fork over more than I am currently willing to pay for a bike. If the hobby really kicks off I can always get the full suspension later on. Most of my riding will be in trails with lots of turns so I think a 26er will suit me better, although the speed and comfort of the 29er is tempting.

Anyway, any advice? Feel free to share pics too :D

Complimentary Infi pic:

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You're on the right track. Unless you're riding a lot of rocky stuff, hardtail might actually serve you better. Full suspension bike are everywhere but honestly most people who ride them don't need them. There's always a weight penalty with suspension components. Plus with the money you save you can buy more knives. :thumbup: Speaking of which.....those are some nice ones!
 
I don't dislike my 29er, but there are times when I wish I'd stuck with 26". It feels like driving a really big truck.

Look for some 2012 models at a local shop or somewhere like Performance Bike. You can get great prices on previous model years. I got a GT Karakoram 1.0 for $600 by buying the previous model year.
 
I bought my first and last mountain bike back in 94. I got a Connondale 26" M700 with no suspension. Back then the most bikes were not suspension bikes. The M700 is very well balance, light and I feel nimble when riding.
In 2001 I bought my wife a Trek with a front suspension. Carry and riding her bike with the front suspension seemed sooooo heavy. Also when you quickly accelerate the first motion on a suspension bike is for the front forks to go down. I think you lose torque. To me it feels terrible.
One more thing is you can buy a older rigid ride bike off ebay for cheap.
Good luck and let us know what you do.
 
daug said:
You're on the right track. Unless you're riding a lot of rocky stuff, hardtail might actually serve you better. Full suspension bike are everywhere but honestly most people who ride them don't need them. There's always a weight penalty with suspension components. Plus with the money you save you can buy more knives. :thumbup: Speaking of which.....those are some nice ones!
Click to expand...

I'm in agreement here. I got back into biking a couple years ago with a 2010 Trek 6700 (hardtail) and it does everything I need it to. Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing any downhill racing with it, but it sees more than it's share of local trails and rock gardens.


jball1125, go to a local bike shop and try out different bikes.
 
Yea I definitely need to go to a bike shop and try some different models. Dave I never even thought of no suspension, I'll look into it.
 
I think the 29" absolutely rule. I had a 26" before, makes every rock look gigantic, compared to the 29". Front suspension is useful for all purposes, rear only for going downhill. It actually makes climbing harder.
If you want to do this for general exercise and exploration, get the hard tail in 29". If you just want to race down (easy to do in Europe, they have ski lifts running in summer for this :)), get mucho suspension. I would also do a lot of internet research on this, there's obviously tons of bike specific sites...
 
As a person that owns over 25 bicycles, I say get a quality one that is a few years old off of Ebay, get a front suspension as they have "Lock Out" now for hard peddling and going uphill. That will stop the suspension bobbing and get full power to the ground.
Also front suspension will enhance the enjoyment of your ride. You can and will want to go on longer hides and won't feel beat up when you get home.
Get the right size Frame....Get the right size Frame..did I tell you to get the right size Frame yet?
If you are right at that "Between" size, on a Mountain Bike go to the smaller frame.

A good shop will know some sort of "Fit Kit" or other sizing program. They should do a few quick measurements and tell you what size frame you need.
Do not let them tell you to "stand over the bike, now pick it up, Oh, that looks good" They can "Fit" you in minutes without charging you $30 bucks.
For a proper fit they need to know your thigh, torso and arm lengths. The rest of the fitting from there is moving your "Contact Points" 5mm at a time until you get close and then 1mm fine tuning.
(contact points = hands, seat and pedals)

Good luck...Getting "INTO" biking can be a very expensive hobby also... ;)

Edited to add.. I'm a 29r fan, people will say but it won't get up to speed as fast..to those people I say "Gearing" will make all things equal..
I just built from the frame up a Stumpjumper Expert 29r FRS with Sram XX and Easton Haven's/Scwalbe's and a Reverb Dropper, the front end is a Rock Shox Revalation XX with remote lock out. It is a pretty sweet ride, can't wait to get it out. My other main bike is a Stumpjumper Comp HT

Find out what I just said in the edit and you'll start to understand a bit more about "Mountain Bikes" ;)
 
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Thanks for the great advice guys. I think I'll be going to a bone ship soon to see what I prefer and get my measurements. Then I'll probably do my shopping on ebay.

1whobuys 25 bikes? You must have a big garage. :D Any brands you would recommend sticking to? Pics are welcome too :)
 
What he said /\

I'm a 29er fan too. Used to have a Ellsworth Truth with XTR. sold it for a Specialized HT stumpy that was a couple years old and bought a Cervelo S5 for my triathlons.
 
I agree with most of this, except that a GOOD full suspension bike is better for xc. Now if you dont want to spend that much by all means get a GOOD hardtail. Its much better to get the more expensive bike than to do like I did and upgrade 2-3 times the first year. I ended up with a Specialized Epic and havent needed to upgrade since :)
 
I would love to try it sometime but for right now I will stick to a good pair of shoes and my two legs. keep the info coming. Always good to learn.
 
I prefer hardtails, but I dont take my on too many trails..
29ers is way to go these days unless you are really short (5-4 or less).

I like scott scale, Specialized, Santa Cruz and few other brands..
 
Psyop said:
I agree with most of this, except that a GOOD full suspension bike is better for xc. Now if you dont want to spend that much by all means get a GOOD hardtail. Its much better to get the more expensive bike than to do like I did and upgrade 2-3 times the first year. I ended up with a Specialized Epic and havent needed to upgrade since :)
Click to expand...

Very sensible advise. Take whatever budget you had in mind and add just a little. You'll end up with a bike that will serve you better (better ride and less maintenance). And if you get into it you won't end up with bike envy after 2 rides....kind of like settling for a lesser knife. I've done too many "upgrades" before I learned.

These days just about every mtb comes with disc brakes but this is actually one area that you can save both money and maybe even weight. Disc is awesome and in muddy conditions, I would not trade it. There are a bunch of other benefits. But V-brakes, or rim brakes, does the job too and very well. Most first timers are shocked at how strong properly setup V-brakes are.

For the same amount of money, the simpler version of something is usually better than the one with more bells and whistles.
 
The last time I was on a bike I only rode on the road, but I wasn't thinking and went quite a ways on rugged terrain tires. It was not the easiest ride I've ever been on, but I did learn a valuable lesson about proper tires for the terrain on that ride.
 
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