Mountain Bikes....

i want this... anyone wanna buy it for me?!? no? no takers?

well.

I'm NOT spending 4,000 bucks on a bike anytime soon.

but it sure is pretty!

 

You can buy it for me

 

no way! you got the rich parents man! GET THEM TO GET US EACH ONE!

^^^CONVOY!

 

very funny.....

I wish that would/could happen

 

i know!

 

Theres a Trek though that is made out of carbon fibre and it costs $8,000.00

 

That is sex on wheels!
But it's almost as good as this:

Santa Cruz Blur LT. (this one could be the LT2) But even at a more affordable 5 grand, it's too expensive.

 

IS Santa Cruz good? Are they TOP quality stuff

 

heh...only 8K? how bout this:
"Delta 7 Sports is now taking orders for its custom, hand-built Arantix Mountain Bike, at prices starting at $11,995 (USD)"


It uses a crazy frame design of woven carbon fiber and kevlar, called Isotruss, that only weighs 2.6lbs!

 

I wouldnt dare ride that haha

 

Used is definitely the way to go if you're working with a budget.

I just bought one of these locally



It's in near perfect shape, this bike was about $4K here in Canada new and i picked it up for under a grand. The money i saved from buying a new bike (was going to buy a Trek Remedy...$5,000 MSRP) is going to a set of cross country tires and wheels, and some minor upgrades, and some bank for Tacoma mods.

Just keep an eye out and you'll find deals.

 

You mentioned a lot of different riding styles, but the biggest factor other than components and frame thicknesses from a cross country to downhill to dirtjump to commuter bike is geometry.

You need to take into account what the MAJORITY of your riding is going to be. If 90% of the time you're going to be doing in town cross country, and commuting/bar trips, then get yourself a decent hardtail with a bit of slack in the headtube and seat tube angles. It'll give you better "footing" for jumps and light all mountainy kind of riding.

Last year i got back into biking and bought a Scott Aspect 10 Hardtail ($1300) Very good component spec, and is basically touted as an "all-mountain" hardtail. It went on countless cross country rides, 4 trips to big ski hills (i live just outside the canadian rockies) for full out downhill trips, and a ton of freeride/all mountain style riding.

At the end of the season, i sold my Scott with the intention of buying a full suspension cross country bike and building a purpose built DH bike. When new year's rolled around, i figured i could "do it all" with just one frame so i researched the shit out of geometries in comparison to how the Scott was. The Jamis i bought is fully the do everything bike i need, but i never would've known if i didn't baseline my riding and the type of components i like and need for my type of riding.

What type of trails does AL offer? I would suggest find yourself a good used hardtail, plan on spending a bit of money getting it tuned and replacing cables and chain, and ride as much as you possibly can till winter. You'll then have a great idea of what you're missing, and make up for it by doing either a second bike (Xmas gift - ask for a full suspension frame to build over winter), or upgrading your hardtail with lighter parts, beefier parts, etc. It all depends on you, there is no such thing as a one bike does it all for every person and every type of terrain.

Hope that helped and made sense.

 

Here are great deals near you
http://auburn.craigslist.org/bik/1057131175.html
http://auburn.craigslist.org/bik/1038601245.html

 

check out the differences in geometery

dirt jump bike


Hardtail cross country


All mountain full suspension


Downhill

 

Now, you can use any of the above bikes for any type of riding, in theory.

But look at that DH bike, probably weighs 35+ pounds and you'd pedal bob to no end trying to get it up a hill.

That dirtjump bike would be scary as hell descending for any length of time where your center of gravity is.

The X/C bike would also be sketchy doing full DH on with the stretched out riding position and skinny rake on the headtube, but would handle sharply in twisty singletrack.

The all mountain bike? Pretty heavy and spendy for running around town in.

The point is nothing is perfect, but you can do anything with one bike. Just determine what more than 50% of the time how you'll be riding and make your decision on that.

You've also got to count on $$$ for service and parts. Full suspension bikes have bushings, sleeves, and pivots that all require regular maintenance and possible replacement. Hardtails are much more simple, and less moving parts = cheaper and easier to maintain.

 

Yeah, that's not a $700 bike!!! If so, I want 3.

 

I have a 2005 Gary Fisher Tassijara that I paid around $800 for. LOVE IT!!!

Personnally, I would stick w/ Gary Fisher, Trek, Specialized, Giant, Kona, and Canondale. Stick w/ the brands that you can get from your local bike reputable bike store. For your price range, you'll be looking for a hardtail.Most bike guys/girls that work at these like to talk bikes, so go there and drill them w/ questions.

Make sure that you get fitted, it's a body measurement riding style process. If they don't do them or know what your talking about; go to another bike shop that does. It's worth it. The correct size bike and setup is just as important as the bike itself.

Ohh, and IMHO get the best frame that you can for you price range. You can always mod it down the road.

Ohh, and you may want to consider getting a 29er as opposed to the tradition mt. bike which is a 26 inch.

Here's a good review website: http://www.mtbr.com/

 

Mr Wiggles and Spaghettiedy, you both do an excellent job at describing to Lentsnh what I was trying to get across at the begining of this thread but as I've read on it seems that he is doing exactly what I advised him not to do and that's getting something based on how cool it looks or whats popular. Perhaps I'm wrong but thats how I read it. I guess what really is important is having a bike that makes you want to go out and ride and if it's cool or popular so be it. I like the cool, high end stuff too. I'll post some pics of some of my bikes I've had later.

 

I would be careful buying a used full suspension bike. There are definitely some good deals to be had, but re-building the rear suspension is almost always expensive, the more linkage, the more bushings. If your gonna buy used, take it to a good bike shop and see what they have to say about it. It could save you a bunch of money in the long run! If this is your first bike acquisition, a hard-tail would probably suit you better. You can get a much better hard-tail bike for the same money compared to a full suspension.