Mountain Bikers, Newb needs suggestions

[Trike Kid]

I bought a beater huffy from my dad yesterday, I'm already hooked just from screwing around the property ( couple short down hill trails, some trialish stuff). It's a full ridged 18 speed, lee chi brakes, shimano shifter and derailures (front doesn't work for s**t, I have to shift it into low with my foot ). I don't know what I should look for in a decent bike. I need something I can pick up for cheap used. By cheap I mean cheap, like sub 200 bucks if possible. I don't know what kind of ride I'd want though, about the only MTB term that doesn't confuse me about bike type is single speed, because, well they're single speed. I'm a BMX rider, so a 30+ lb bike doesn't bother me, neither does maybe only having one speed, this 18 speed wears me out more than my super tall geared BMXer on hills and what not. I would be riding down hill stuff, a fair amount of trials type riding and a little jumping. Anyone care to shed some light on what I should look for in a bike?

[rckjeep]

just save your money till you can afford $400.

[radishkid]

Warrantied Frame
Decent Suspension Fork (coil & oil minimum)
Double Wall Rims

Everything else will break eventually...

[Trike Kid]

I'm looking to pick the bike up used, would the warranty on something like a Giant Boulder (or Boulder SE) carry over?

[nathan_454]

no i dont think the warrenty carries over. if your looking for a decent entry level bike. I have an almost complete haro escape 8.1 with a decent rock shox psylo fork on it that will be for sale soon. it fits your price range

[Trike Kid]

I don't have any cash right now (waiting on Bday money from grand parents) and I owe my dad some cash.

[BrandonWatts]

the haro is actcully mine my roommate posted it on there. yeah it is going to be almost complete and is in really good shape. i just need to know how tall you are the frame is for someone that is about 5 feet 8 inches to about 6feet 3 inches. here are the specs

haro ecsape 8.1 meduim frame
rock shox pyslo sl forks. personal i love these forks and have good adjustment
fsa cranks and bottom bracket
truvativ handle bars with stock haro stem
canecreek zero stack headset and stock haro seatpost
all this for 300 worth more though definently

what you would need
shifters if yon wanted to run gears or you could do a single speed set up
wheelset you would have to get a wheelset with a 20mm front axle and with disc brake compatibllity
brakes a set of disc brakes are cheap it think you can get a set with out levers for around 60 bucks with levers it would be about 80
tires and pedels i have some grip i will through in too a chain and seat
that is about it

[radishkid]

Go to a bike shop and buy a Trek 4300 or a Specialized Hardrock or low end Rockhopper. Don't buy used unless you want to get used. Myself and several others on here have been in the bike industry for quite a few years. Buy used only if you know what you are doing and have parts on hand. If not, expect to add roughly 10-20% of investment cost to new parts.

[kramonut]

The above is great advice^^^

Buy used if you know what you're looking at/for. The Escape for sale above might be a good deal, that's a great frame...but if you don't know how to put together the bike, may not be the way to go for you.

Save yourself a few hundred for your first bike. Dept. store bikes just won't last, period. A cheap (say sub $200) full suspension from Wally World will probably have you disliking mountain biking & will only hold you back.

A hardtail would be a good choice for you. Specialized makes really nice bikes w/ a great warranty. I've always thought you got more for your $$ w/ a Specialized over Trek. Haro makes nice bikes too & IMO are underrated in the MTB world. I ride one & love it.

For gearing, unless youre really into XC or lots of road riding, go for a dual ring in the front w/ a bashguard. I'm real happy I went that route, actually I may go to a 1x9 drivetrain soon, I almost never use the granny ring. But I love the protection from the bash ring going over logs & such.

For somewhat more affordable bikes look at Iron Horse, Specialized, Trek, Haro, GT. You should be able to find an entry-level from one of those companies for $3~500.

Check out www.mtbr.com & look in the reviews section, lots of good info.

[Trike Kid]

I have a shatload of parts, sadly, very little if any will work on a mountain bike. I put bikes together from my parts when I get bored, thats where my mini trialer came from (a little sketchy with a coaster brake) I do all my own bike maintinence and I think I'm pretty good (5 min to change and patch a tire on my Mosh/Giant BMX ride, at least when I was in a more high speed mechanic mode, probably lost a little of my touch since throwing HD tubes in) I was thinking about picking up a rockhopper then upgrading parts as they break. I already busted the bash ring off the Huffy today between riding over a beam and then dropping the front end early riding up and over a foot and a half tall rock. It was going fine till the back end started sliding out from under me because of the rain, I couldn't yank the front end up (the huffy is a pig and the frame is a little tall for me, even with the seat all the way down I have a hard time moving around the back of the bike) and crack, busted plastic to add to the junk pile.

[BrandonWatts]

i would have to agree with what you guys are saying. there are so many good bike for a begginer out there and the deals on them right now are even better. all of the 06 bikes are coming in and all the 05s are being sold very cheap. one thing to consider is to stay away from a full suspension in that price range. you are not going to get good components, bad suspension and bad wheels.i would go with a hardtail for sure. you will have a much higher quality of bike.
if you have anymore questions you might want to talk to the guys on www.mtbr.com there are alot of helpful people on there.

as for buying used there is nothing wrong with doing it. i got a great deal on my cove g-spot frame i only paid 500 for it. in 2003 the frame was 1500. if you do buy used you have to ask lots of questions and get lots for pictures of whatever your buying. ask how hard the product was rode how much the rider weights, what he used it for. and if it was taken care of. if i sold you something and you werent happy with it i would take it back and return you money i have no problem with it. it is just being honist and honist people are getting hard to find now a days

[Trike Kid]

I acctually really hate riding full suspension bikes in the conditions I ride. My general impression from all of the ones I've ridden (most recently torture testing a friends mongoose, aluminum frame 7 speed, for under a 100 bucks, it was dead in 2 months), they just feel dead to me, I like knowing what my back end is doing all the time and every full suspension bike hasn't given me that.

[BrandonWatts]

there is a big difference in your friends mongoose and a 2000 dollar bike and there suspension desize trust me. the rear shocks have up to 6 way adjustments same with the forks. you wont get a good full suspension for under 700 bucks and that bike still isnt to great. there are guy out that are doing huge jumps and drops out. also there are 7 inch travel full suspension bikes that ride way better then hardtails

[radishkid]

Originally Posted by BrandonWatts

also there are 7 inch travel full suspension bikes that ride way better then hardtails

So how about my seven inch travel hardtail?

[Trike Kid]

Originally Posted by BrandonWatts

there is a big difference in your friends mongoose and a 2000 dollar bike and there suspension desize trust me. the rear shocks have up to 6 way adjustments same with the forks. you wont get a good full suspension for under 700 bucks and that bike still isnt to great. there are guy out that are doing huge jumps and drops out. also there are 7 inch travel full suspension bikes that ride way better then hardtails

Did we say anything about 2000 dollar bikes anywhere in this thread? I'd be willing to bet there are some with quite a bit more than 7 inches of travel. I'm not out to do 50 foot gaps or 20 foot drops, I just want something a little tougher and better performing than the huffy. I'd take a full ridged rock hopper for what I'm doing.