Mountain bikes?

I'm wanting to get into mountain biking and I went and looked at bikes today. i narrowed it down to the specialized rockhopper or the cannondale f7. Just looking on some input on which is better. Also any other recommended similar to these bikes would be great appreciated. thanks for any input.

 

the specialezed is a nicer bike. they both come with sram components, but the specialized comes with higher levels. as for the brakes, that is up to your prefference. the specialized comes with hydrolic brakes whereas the cannondale comes with mechanicals. in general, hydrolics are stronger, but the mechanical brakes are much easier to adjust and fine tune with minimal knowlege.

 

i've always bought treks...i just get hooked on brands when they treat me well had a trek fuel for quite some time, had to sell it due to hard times but it was fantastic. i've never had hydrolic brakes before, i always just got mechanical and a bigger front disk for them mean downhills. anyhow, based on the two you mentioned i would go specialized for sure!

 

Based upon what you wrote, you are looking to spend between 5-600 on a bike? In my opinion, try looking on Craigslist for a used bike. I can guarantee you that you will get a better bike for that price then if you bought a brand new one.

Keep your eyes open for a good strong, sturdy light frame with Shimano components. I would probably look for a hardtail with hydrolic brakes, either hayes or avid. There are lots of good brands out there, I would not be sold on just the name. GT, Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, Kona, Giant, etc. So many to choose from. Find a frame you like and then it's all about the components.

Good luck.

 

i ride a specialized rockhopper and ironhorse warrior. i love the specialized. ive beat the snot outta the thing since 04. great bike. its nice and light. now i do have a considerable amount of $$ in to it but you should expect to spend $$$ for mountain biking.

 

I like Giants. They ride well and they have great components. Plus if you do a little research, Giant makes a lot of the frames for most of the companies out there. So when you buy a Giant your getting the same frame at a lower cost cause there's no mark up, and you get pretty much the same components. as all the others. I really like my Giant. But honestly you can't go wrong with a Cannondale.

 

Rockhoppers are good bikes to start out with. hydraulic brakes take a lot less effort to use meaning less fatigue. Really with a bike it comes to feel. Just like a car go for a test spin see if you like it. Keep in mind that all the contact points can be swapped to something more comfortable (seats, handlebars, grips, pedals, cranks.)
check out http://www.mtbr.com/ or http://www.mbaction.com/ME2/Default.asp