New mountain bike, need some advice?

C-Burg

C-Burg

Active member
I am going to get into riding more and I need some advice on brand, type, ad anything that will help. I am planning on doing mostly trail riding so I want a bike that is good for uphill and down.
 
Totally all depends on your price range. If you're willing to drop $1000, go with a used Rocky Mountain. I got a used ETSX 30 last year for $1050 and the things a tank everywhere I take it. Its about 28 pounds too - wicked light. I take it trail riding a lot (just did today actually, I know, its february haha) and its even good for downhill.

Anyway, best thousand bucks I've ever spent. I highly recommend it. Rocky Mountains are, IMO, the best bike brand.
 
trek fuel, specialized stumpjumper, scott genius are all solid choices. by the sounds you won't need much more travel than that and it'll keep it light enough.
 
I had a Santa Cruz Nomad and Blur XC, both are awesome but I definitely recommend the Nomad over the XC. You can also look into Marin out of california, they make nice stuff that is pretty high quality. I used to race both DH and XC so if you have any questions feel free to PM me
 
If your just getting started you should first decide full suspension of hard tail. I would recommend hard tail if you are just trail riding. But as mentioned before Trek and specialized are always reliable.

Also check out the buy/sell forum on Pinkbike. A lot of great deals on there.
 
I ride done stuff that has pretty steep downhills and uphills. I'm riding on a bone stock Norco Katmadu and it's pretty awesome. Good "first timer" bike.
 
You never really told us your price range and skill level, but if it turns out you don't ride too crazy and enjoy climbing and decending on singletrack and some rock....that's about what I do!

I bought a Specialized Rockhopper a few years ago for riding Falcon Trail after classes at school. It's a 13 mile loop of long climbs and sweet decents with a few tough obstacles along the way (I still haven't figured out how to clear the rock staircase without walking down after all these years, it's pretty tough). It's been a simple and durable bike for me and I've been really happy with it. Hardtails are nice if you want to climb a lot as you don't lose power to the suspension when your pedaling straight up a mountain like you often do on the trails I ride. If you think downhill will become your thing though, it might be worth it to put some more cash out there for a full suspension bike.
 
you're fucking retarded. There are so many different types of "trail riding", "uphill", and "downhill".
 
everything is trail riding to a non mountain biker. even within mountain biking it's a pretty general term.

anyways @OP, get a hardtail for sure. ride that for at least a year. there is NO WAY you will be riding anything that requires a full suspension right off the bat, and riding hardtails builds bike handling skills like no other. your first bike for this should NOT cost over 700$, especially if bought used.

tl;dr (lean to read) get a hardtail. don't waste money on bike you'll never use.
 
Ok so what kind of trial riding are you doing? If you don't mind carrying a few extra pounds up and getting a way funner descent go with a six inch travel bike. Something like a Specalized Enduro or if you are a high dollar spender a Santa Cruz Nomad. If you want more emphasis on the up hill shift towards a 4 inch travel bike like the Trek Fuel series. Keep in mind 4 inches can be the full on cross country race bike so these will excel at climbing. 5 inches will give you a nice trial bike as well like a Santa Cruz Blur LT

ps if you plan on hitting any small to medium jumps or drops just go six inches the extra weight is worth it. I can peddle my 6 inch bike anywhere just a little slower
 
i wouldn't bother spending less than six or seven hundred on a bike, especially if you're buying it new. in action sports more than anything, you get what you pay for and you want to be confident in your gear. i've seen cheap bikes legitimately fall apart in the middle of an intense dh ride, and it's not pretty. a good starter hardtail would be a Trek 4 series, i still use mine for cross country/trail riding. it's a good, reliable bike that isn't very expensive. however, your best bet is to go to the nearest bike shop and ask them, they'll tell you exactly what you want and they'll set you up. some shops will even do small repairs/part replacements for free if you bought your bike from them.

DON'T GO TO SPORTS AUTHORITY, DICKS, OR ANY OF THOSE BIG CHAIN STORES. most of the time they don't know what they're talking about nearly as much as real shops do, and a lot of the time the product isn't really what it says it is.
 
norco is a sick company from canada and there bikes are solid as fuck and well priced. i have a 2005 norco aline 9 pro edition with the 888 rc, fox dhx 5.0 etc. it has the vps technology which is all the rage these days, when it comes to downhill. and i bought it 7 + years ago , still rides rock solid , just basic maintenance. and i ride hard , mostly down deeply rutted Dirtbike trials with features built of the sides off in the back woods haha. but seriously take a look at the norco line, its changed up a lot since my day but damn man they have sick bikes at killer deals, just a lil heavy is all
 
haha, yeah, not so heavy any more on the newest bikes, but my 08 a-line is every bit of 44 lbs, absolute tank though, taken it off a 17 down 15 out to relatively flat landing with no issues.
 
Read again, "relatively flat" is not the same as flat, it's relative to what a landing for the size of drop should be sloped like. You're a dumbass.

Heres the cliff, takeoff is the big rock top left and the landing ends up being next to the pile of logs on the left. it's Relatively flat.

314687_2300774075071_1120759315_32726608_1817281103_n.jpg


 
hahaha 15 ft. my ass. how about you produce a picture where you can actually have some perspective but that looks 10 and that's being very generous.
 
oh sorry, 17ft. you claim as it being that high... BULLSHIT. but hey kids overestimate drops all the time in skiing and in biking.
 
because a kid who says his bike handles 17ft. drops to flat with no issues is lying and shouldn't be giving any sort of bike advice... especially when he rips on rocky mountains which are some of the best rigs you can get. and man i don't see a tape measure anywhere in that picture so again, how about you post something up that backs up your claim? i hate claiming gapers, sorry, it's a personal issue that i've got to work on.
 
I was thinking more along these lines. A hardtail is more diverse opposed to a full suspension triple crown fork monster that you most likely wont need starting out.

If you want multiple opinions it wouldnt hurt to stop by a local bike shop and talk to someone there. They probably have a decent amount of knowledge on what would best fit the type of riding you're going to be doing.

Depending on your price limit, just buy something youre gonna like maybe even try to demo a few. Good luck!
 
oh look, a claimer that has been called out and his only response is a meme... very original. from now on, OP, I suggest you don't take any of this gaper's posts seriously from now on. he has no clue about what he's talking about.
 
Coming from someone with the name fucking and less than 80 posts it's quite difficult to take your rage seriously. Mom forget to cut the crust off your PBJ today?
 
you clearly don't know shit either. for trail riding, what the OP is looking for and seems to not be very experienced at, a 29er would be perfect. the only issue is that turning is all so slightly more difficult but otherwise 29ers slay general trail riding.
 
I have worked at a bike shop for four years my man. What I was saying is 29ers are never going to fully replace 26ers.
 
ah sorry, and yeah they won't but on the XC circuit, they're certainly gaining a lot of fans. a few people i know who have ridden 26ers their whole lives now swear by their 29ers.
 
word. 29ers are a ton of fun. For the xc trails in my area though a 26 inch Norco Faze SL is sick, and it nicely compliments my RMB Slayer SS 396 along with my Block 8 Journeyman Dirt jumper:) haha too many bikes.
 
bump.

My back brake has been gone for a while and today my front brake died as well.

I'm looking for a new bike that can do single track, cross country, is hardtail, and is under $1000

anyone have advice?
 
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