All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

yea i started on a similar bike in like 2015. still have it and replaced everything except the seat post and saddle, but thats on the list for sometime this summer maybe

i will always recommend that style of bike for an absolute beginner.

just be aware its more of a cross country bike, less for technical trails at speed.

 

What types of trails are around you? While this is not the case for everyone, it seems most people end up trading up to a full suspension after a year or so. If you have groomed trails and a lot of climbing, a hardtail may work perfectly and never need to be upgraded, but once the upgrade bug hits you may really start looking for full suspension.

 

excellent choice. I've had other friends start off on the marlin. can't go wrong with it for a starter bike for the price. Ride it and see how much you like/dislike biking and decide how much you want to invest afterwards.

 

you'll be set with that bike then.

if you ever want to try something more aggressive, you could rent something at spider mountain near austin. i think they have full suspension bikes to rent and the lift would make things a lot easier as well

 

fuck that, spend at least $5000 on a brand new full suspension. then realize you dont like biking all that much, and let it gather dust and rot in your garage for 8 years.

 

This. Have a coworker that has referenced his "old mountain bike that he never rides" a few times at work and we finally bullied him to come ride with us after work last season. Shows up with a full Yeti enduro build that's like 3 years old.

 

this is the way

 

lolol. that could've been me. went 3k into a YT Capra on my first bike. Luckily I got hooked and now have more money in my bikes than not. lol.

this is the way.

 

New bike day. Fezzari Cascade Peak. A lot of bike for the price

 

I love these guys.

I've had a ton of guys come into my old shop and drop $10k on a bike just to keep up [financially not physically] with their friends despite having barely ridden a bike.

I had one guy come in with a Giant Rincon. His buddy had a pretty decent road bike and he wanted one too. We just happened to have a Cannondale SuperSix with Sram Red Etap and Zipps. I forget the tag on it.... $14k maybe? He didn't bat an eye at the price when we showed him electronic shifting. He needed it.

We swapped his crappy flat pedals from his Giant onto the Cannondale and he was on his way. Just left his Giant behind for us to do what we wanted with.

Probably rode that weekend and never rode again.

Rich guys are wild.

 

Totally. Can't help but think they're a big reason the industry exists though. Meanwhile I'm using ripped shirt tire plugs, welding frames, and hammering derailleur hangers straight lol

 

This is pretty much how we've kept our normal customers rolling through the shortages the last two years. Ha

 

Okay so you're a bike shop guy sounds like. I've got multiple pairs of the ill-fated early Sram Guide brakes I've pulled off multiple bikes. The ones where the reservoir/bladder expands in hot temperatures? I'm not sure what their issue is but they all suck. Anyways, is there a fix to these things or are they toast?

 

You can try replacing the plastic piston/plunger with a metal version. The issue seems to be the plastic swelling up.

 

Plastic plunger in the lever assembly swells and effectively applies the brakes is the issue. Known warranty fix is to replace the lever/plunger with an updated (metal?) version.

 

sounds like Ben Affleck in his new Deep Water movie (spoiler, its not about under water oil drilling like I though. Nor is it about a lake or ocean or anything. I wouldn't recommend it)

https://www.reddit.com/r/gravelcycl...n_affleck_riding_a_gravel_bike_on_the_set_of/

his "mountain" bike lol

 

If you can warrenty them that's the best bet. But the ones affected are a few years old. Now. You can update the internals. We mostly just get customers to move on to something else.

We do have one mechanic that loves (like really loves) working on hydraulics and can get them working. He has the patience most don't though. We mostly lose money getting him to fix them though. Ha.

Tl;Dr