Show off your Mountain Bike!!!

We will be arriving the 6th. First actual day in Moab will be the 7th so we will just be missing you!

 

We'll enjoy man I know we are going to

 

same to you and safe travels!

 

I want to get into MTB riding, but need help picking out my first bike. I live in Southern California and plan on doing mostly trails and a little pavement riding. So I am pretty sure I want to get a hardtail as my first bike. I can buy a full suspension later on. I have been looking at the Santa Cruz and Specialized bikes. Anyone have any other brand suggestions? Prefer to keep it under 2000. This will be my first bike. The one that intrigues me the most is the Santa Cruz Chameleon. Just don't know the pros/cons of all the parts associated with the bike. Also, since I will do a little pavement riding, can I have two sets of tires to accommodate both conditions?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

You can definitely have two sets of tires....but swapping out the tires on the wheels will get old fast. Like after the first time fast so you'll need/want two wheels sets....but that gets pricey. S/C are very nice bikes and do cost a bit. I don't own one so I can't tell you what they average but I do know they are pricey.
Specialized are a great bike. Some people don't like them and think they are over hyped blah blah. I have one full suspension. It's a tank. I've had a hard tail as well with the same results. For your price range, 2 G's can get you in a great specialized hard tail for your first bike. I highly recommend the fuse comp 6 fattie.

 

Yeah I meant that I would have two sets of wheels/tires. How bad is it to ride the stock tires on pavement? How long do tires last?

 

They'll last you a while.....and fine on pavement although a street tire is optimal. I'd imagine hard core downhill would definitely limit a tires life but I don't think you'll be doing that. At least not yet.

 

Yeah no downhill for me yet! lol

 

and 2 sets of rotors (not really expensive) and 2 cassettes (can be expensive depending on which cassette you are running).

different tires last different amounts of time, but a general rule is that the stickier or grippier they are, the less they'll last, especially on pavement...not to mention that knobby tires just plain suck to ride on pavement. there's so much rolling resistance and you sound like a swarm of bees.

 

My thoughts on the subject, since you are in SoCal, Santa Cruz support may be more accessible than it is elsewhere in the country. The big 3 are always a safe bet and have similar specs and value: Specialized, Trek, Giant. Minimum drivetrain spec I would go with is Shimano SLX or SRAM GX (NX may be ok if other parts are right). For the fork, at a minimum you want an air spring (not coil), Rock Shox or Fox. Once they step up from coil to air, you are getting the better internals and performance. The cheap coil forks are dangerous, IMO. For a hardtail, those are the two areas I look for to identify the minimum, and right now you may be able to find in-stock closeouts on older year models. Go for a 29er and maybe some Maxxis Ikon or Crossmark tires (or something similar, with lots of small, short knobs) and you will probably be fine in SoCal trail conditions with a single wheelset. Maybe not ideal on pavement, but not bad.

 

I'd say you're spot on with this. If you go into a shop with this criteria you will walk out with a reliable bike that will get the job done for a while.

As far as tires go, I'd say stock tires on most hardtails will be fine on pavement. Just add more air if you plan on riding pavement and you'll be good to go! If the tires wear out from riding on pavement too much you've probably already decided to add a road bike to your collection! haha

 

Thanks for the replies. Do you guys think the Santa Cruz Chameleon is a good starter bike? Just don't know if the upgraded model for an extra $500 is worth it.

https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/chameleon

 

Yeah, I don't get the price difference with only minor changes in spec. I wouldn't say it's worth the extra $500, and that base model is a great deal. Go for the plus tires, fat is where it's at!

 

Custom built single speed rigid. I love this thing! Perfect for Houston trails.

 

We need to ride then, I'm in Houston area too............

 

a good chunk of that price difference is the fox fork. the rest is the wheels. definitely stuff that can be upgraded later, but retail cost will always be higher on parts like that than manufacturers are charging you for in a complete bike. imho, it's normally better to pay for the upgrade in the build if you are wanting to upgrade or will want to upgrade that stuff later.

 

Dig the single speed!!! I have a Kona UNIT myself.

 

Yeah it looks like the price is in the forks......Its a sweet ass bike though. My next bike will probably be a Salsa or a Santa Cruz myself.

 

I just got a Bronson but have a bike hard-on for an orange p7. Steel frame and under $2k. My next bike will be this.

 

The Bronson is such a nice bike.....don't know much about orange but they look sharp as hell.