without motors. So... I'm getting old, and fat, as expected and I've decided to take up mountain biking or something that will help keep me in shape. Anyways, I started looking at moutain bikes, and :o . $1K-$5K for a biccycle :o Did I miss something ??? What the hell happened ??? Any suggestions on a good heavy duty mountain bike that will last years ??? I'm not spending $1K on something that doesn't have a motor, and I'm not spending $5K if it can't go over 150 mph ;D I want something good enough to last for a while, comfortable enough where I don't dread riding it daily, and cheap enough that it's not outrageous. $5K for a bicycle ??? I know about the economy but damn.... :-/
I've looked at Trek and that's about it so far. Opinions or brand names please...
I really like Trek, you can get the 4000 series for around $400.00. The big difference are the components. This time of year they are going on sale. You should be able to get a good deal. The more money you spend the lighter the bike gets too.
It is good to get a good entry level bike because if it's junky you won't want to do it and eating ice cream sandwiches will sound like more fun. I really like the hydraulic disk brakes. Good luck
Stumpy
Yeah, take Stumpy's word for it. This is the guy that decided to skip Barber to go mountain biking... :o :o
Talk about having some screwed up priorities! The worse is that poor Heather had to put up with it all.
He can do that because he's #1.... ;) BTW.. congrats Stumpy :)
Hey numb.. where were you when I needed backup rubbing in Biaggi's "death" in GP to Reverend_Rice ???
;D
Back to our regularly scheduled program 8)
You didn't need my help. You did it pretty well on your own.
QuoteThe more money you spend the lighter the bike gets too.
Hmm...the most expensive of my pedal bikes also weighs the most at 33 lbs, and it's a size Small. Santa Cruz Bullit. ;) Of course, this bike has more rear suspension travel than any of my race motorcycles.
Plenty of reviews of mountain bikes here: http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/
For actual mtn biking consider:
Schwinn Frontier FS AL (~ $260)
Fuji Nevada (~$380)
Fuji Discovery 3 (~$495)
For street creds and the occasional off-road try:
Schwinn Voyager GSX (~$450)
Bianchi Advantage (~#400)
H.
Does "full suspension" make a difference at all if your just street/trail riding? I'm just asking because I'd like to be as comfortable as possible. is it worth the money, or just go with a hardtail, as Stumpy mentioned like a Trek 4000. I've put a cap on my purchase of no more than $800.00 for everything, including a couple small accessories.
???
QuoteFor actual mtn biking consider:
Schwinn Frontier FS AL (~ $260)
Fuji Nevada (~$380)
Fuji Discovery 3 (~$495)
For street creds and the occasional off-road try:
Schwinn Voyager GSX (~$450)
Bianchi Advantage (~#400)
ÊH.
I can't find the Schwinn Voyager GSX reviews ??? H-Man, to give you an idea, since your local, I'd like to ride around Metro Beach on the weekends, and on the weekdays take a morning ride from 8 mile and Gratiot to 8 and Van Dyke and back.
I have a Trek 820 that I bought for about $300.00 I made a few mod's for about $200 more and I have had the bike for 8 years. For the money... you can't beat a Trek.
Go with a hardtail.
The rear suspension, while wonderful on REAL downhills sucks up power on uphills, and really isnt necessary for most people's riding.
I raced a completely rigid cheap ($350) Specialized about 3 years ago. There was a local series that ran every Wednesday. Bike never failed me in a race, and did it's job. I took care of it and kept it clean. Won the series in the Teen Class.
Stopped racing those, and was for a while on meds with a weight gain side effect, and in turn gained 40 lbs. >:(
Well, these are my goals:
1. Quit smoking FOR GOOD (working on it, still smokin' though, just not as much as before. 4 cigs a day now, as opposed to a full pack a day)
2. Get my lungs back into shape (been smoking for 12 years)
3. Trim excess body fat (visible body fat. I have a spare tire off a moped, but I wear a 30 waist and weigh in at 165 as of today)
4. Gain mass (goal 210 lean muscle mass)
Now, i've been working out for a while (since Dawn called me scrawny, whenever that was) and today is my first day back to working out after my 2 week "off time" to let my body recoup. So, I'm a lazy bastard, and my biggest problem is if it's not comfortable to do, I don't do it. For instance, I don't do squats with free weights because having the bar on my shoulders isn't comfortable to me, and instead of concentrating on the weight on my back, I concentrate on the "uncomfortableness" of the bar. So, I don't do squats, and do lunges in their place. Anyways, that's the thing with the bike. I don't like sitting in the gym on a exercise bike watching TV. I'd rather go out and ride a bicycle, but only if it doesn't make me uncomfortable. I haven't ridden a bicycle honestly since I was 14. I got a Yamaha Razz for my 14th B-Day, and that was the end of pedal bikes for me. Motors only 8) Anyway, I just want something I can tool around on without coming back home a couple hours later with a sore ass and back. Back in the day, I had a Philly Flier, and that thing was the greatest thing in the world. Worked all summer to get it cutting grass, and the thing was like $300.00 but the baddest thing on 2 wheels. Now, with all these bikes, I really don't know what I'm looking for anymore, and the bike shops don't really help. It's hard to tell how it's going to be until you ride it for a while. I don't mind spending the money, but I don't want another "fixture" in my garage. The one bike I liked, come to find out when I asked for the "total out the door" was almost $3,000.00 :o Yeah, I don't think so is all I could say. It ain't got no motor ???
I got a kick out of the censorship software editing Van Dyke Road ::)
Dan, look into "Rails to trails". It's a national project that converts unused railroad easements/paths into bicycle and pedestrian trails. In our area, there's a great trial (or so I've heard) from Pontiac to Romeo on to Richmond.
H.
I ride every Wednesday, and I am planning on riding on Mond. and Fri. starting this week. We hit Maybury and Hine Drive. Soon I hope to make it to Island Lake.
I recently bought a Trek Bruiser II, for under $800. Awesome bike - disc brakes, solid frame, frt suspension with springs, not elastomers, triple butted rims. This bike rocks, and I didn't pay anywhere near $800, this is the time to deal.
I would consider myself an all out mountain/trail rider yet, but I abused my last bike, so I thought it was time to upgrade.
For a starter, pay about $450-600 and you'lll get a bike with good geometry, good to excellent components, and possibly the little nice-ities that will allow you to upgrade in the future. If you like it and break the first one, then consider something more expensive. My rule for bicycles - break it, then buy something better. However, it's pretty hard to damage anything more than the wheels, but that's a start.
"Triplt butted rims", eh? Hmmm... :-[ Now that's a candidate for censorship:-X :P ;)
You'll like Island Lake. Some folks I know who are into mtn biking go there often. I like it for it's beauty and hunting. Their rules for the firing range is for the birds (no pun intended).
H.
I'd say that Sean's bike is way cool.
But here's the flip side too.
I used to ride road bikes a whole lot. So, I was in Denver for a motorcycle race and we visited the Denver Spoke. On thing led to another, and I had the build me a quick Italian road racing bike. It was $1400 in 1990, but I still have the bike. A good bike IS a good bike. I could have spent more, but I didn't need that. But for a reasonable investment you can have something reasonably close to a pro level bicycle. And they don't get too outdated. Yeah, my Pinarillo might not have the cool new Campy shifters, but it's still very cool. Michelin slicks and all... ;D
QuoteIf you like it and break the first one, then consider something more expensive. My rule for bicycles - break it, then buy something better. However, it's pretty hard to damage anything more than the wheels, but that's a start.
Depending on how you ride, it's worth looking at the warrenties that the bike come with. Some are lifetime (Trek), others are limited, and some companies have a crash replacement policy were they will sell you a replacement frame at cost.
I've bent a Cro-Mo lugged and brazed Trek (they wouldn't replace it cause it was "crash damage") and cracked a Gary Fisher Sugar (frame replaced and upgraded under warrenty). My 50 year old father has had two Trek Cro-Mo frames fail in fatigue (one lugged and brazed the other a high end triple butted frame).
I got tired of braking stuff and built up a Cove Stiffee FR (beefy aluminum hardtale ment to take big hits) with a 5" fork (Z1 freeride), very stout wheels (Sun 36 hole SingleWide rims laced with 14ga straight spokes), 2.4" downhill tires, Hayes hydraulic disks, and XT drivetrain. It's a little heavy for a hardtail (34lbs) but can handle almost anything. Including downhilling at Sunrise ski resort.
For CC, now's the time to buy as all the 2005 models will be in the stores soon. Get a 2004 on sale. Unless you want to do really techincal bit hit stuff, stick with a hardtail, you'll get more bike for the money, and hardtails teach you to actually ride instead of just plow stuff over. Unless you're riding in a lot of mud or really steep downhills, disk brakes aren't worth the weight, cost, or maintance hassle, go with rim brakes. You should be able to find a good bike from a reputable manufactuer for $500 or so. If you want more performance in the future, your local bike shop will be happy to upgrade all the components, the sky's the limit.
-z.
Thanks guys. :) Ended up picking up a bike today. It's 2 "model years" old, but it's brand new. 2003 Trek XC 8000 Hardtail. Got a great deal. I figured I'd better stick with a brand name I heard of, because some of them I'm not too sure about when it comes to value and quality. Looks like this. Now I just gotta go ride it 8) Hey Dave, what compound Michelin's you runnin on that bike of yours? ;D Think I'd look stupid wearing an Arai on this bike ??? ;D
(https://www.ccsforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trekbikes.com%2Fimages%2Fbikes%2F2003%2Fmountain%2Flarge%2F8000.jpg&hash=4263f70be44d26152e6745a96eecc44a0935552d)
Given where you say you'll do most of your riding, I'd say you'll want to swap out those knobby pretty soon. Just to smoothe out the ride and reduce friction (make the pedeling easier).
Have you been down 8 mile lately ??? Need all the traction I can get ;D :P Just kidding. Can I opt for the Michelin slicks like Dave has ??? 8) Maybe S2 front, M2 rear so I have good grip in the corners ??? ;D
Nice choice! That bike is very upgradable also, not that its not a good bike. But for disk brakes and such. I just got some Kenda Karisma tires, Great tires with low rolling resistance, I do have Michelins on my road bike though. You would be surprised at how much faster a tire can be. I just got a indoor trainer that connects to the bike, works sweet. I gotta bring my biking to the indoors soon, unless I stud the tires :)
Stumpy
I hear ya. It's cold down here too. I'd say I want to go to FL, but no thanks. Hurricane Dan will stay in Detroit and stir crap up around here. ;D
QuoteI just got a indoor trainer that connects to the bike, works sweet. I gotta bring my biking to the indoors soon, unless I stud the tires :)
Stumpy
What fun is riding a bicycle if you can't drop off big rocks and stuff ??? ;)
That's why I live somewhere it doesn't snow ;D
-z.