Getting in to Biking!?

[Funky_Fish14]

Hey Folks,

I've always been into breaking my sportcheck bikes on DH and trail riding... doing trials in the city, etc... I've also enjoyed riding the skinny tires that i've tried.

This coming school-year I want to avoid parking fees and the use of my gas-guzzling SUV and pick up some sort of bike. I need a bike that is great on city roads (good or bad) but wont complain if I take it on the trail... ride off a drop, or find some nasty potholes.

Seems Devinci and Rocky Mountain bikes are good all around brands... I was in "Redbike" in town looking at some bikes a couple days ago. I think my price range is under $1000 (broke student being 'funded' by parents, lol) and that seems to restrict me to hard-tail (which I dont mind, i've ridden some nice ones). I was concerned about losing energy with a soft-tail but I guess good bikes can be adjusted so that does not affect it?

Depending on how this experience goes, I may branch into city or trail/DH bike more... this is my starting point to get away from the crappy sport-check bikes!

Anyways if anyone has any input or suggestions I really appreciate them! And if I should be going to a better store im all ears! The guy there was super nice though and very honest, and their service and 1 year free adjustments sounds good.

Thanks!

Chris

[Delphinus]

Are you handy at all? You may want to consider a gently used bike because you can save a lot.

The all-mountain bike category is getting better for versatility, I ride an AM bike as both an XC or light DH but not for heavy DH. The problem is for a full suspension ride it will be above your price point. If you're OK with a hard tail then there are plenty of good rides in that category. I like RockyMountains (I still ride my old 1993 Fusion as my commuter bike, I've logged several thousand km's on it and it still holds together) but they are expensive.

You should look into a Trek .. man I love my Trek. Nimble, light, and fast and plush enough to taste a little air.

My general recommendation though is that you should pick a bike based on what you're going to do with it. A one-size-fits-all is hard to do well. Jack of all trades = master of none. (This is why I have 4 bikes People always say "Geez man, how many bikes do you need?" and the answer is "ONE MORE, geez, duh!!!"). My DH bike for example is a Devinci 8flat8, 8" of travel. She does one thing well and that is descend: and she does it REAL well but at the cost of being hopeless for anything but. (I once pushed her down Moosepackers over here which is a downhill run in that you start at the top of a mountain and end at the bottom, but is really a XC trail in that there's a lot of valleys and climbs and plateaus and I can tell you I was ready to barf after an hour of it). That's what pushed me over the edge and I ended up with the Trek - my RM is a paved trail or pathway bike, my Devinci is for places with lift access or truck shuttles, and my Trek is for everything in between. Despite each being a "mountain" bike, the geometries for the 3 are different enough that it's uncomfortable riding any of them outside of their primary purposes.

For that reason you should sort of examine what you think you'll be doing the most, and focus on that kind of riding, and then rent if necessary when venturing outside that category (for example rent the DH bikes when you try DH). If you do the other stuff enough then look at buying a bike for that purpose (and trade up your other if need be, or keep it, or whatever works). A good commuter bike for example (no suspension) with skinnier tires will run circles around any mountain bike inside of the city. So there's something to be said about figuring out what your primary goal is and working out from there. Hard to gauge though, it took me a few different bikes before I found the sweet spot and it sucked selling off a few that weren't working quite right for me, but I guess that's like with anything. Try it out and evaluate and trade up if it's not quite there for you.

Check out pinkbike.com for a pretty large marketplace of used bikes.

[loveless]

Agreed! Pinkbike.com is the place for all mountain biking. Here is a pic of my trusty steed! Isnt she pretty.[IMG][/IMG]

[loveless]

If you would like to try the downhill discipline you are close enough to rabbit hill. Decent trails for the middle of the prairies and you can rent full suspension bike there as well. As for using my bike as a commuter. I would be very cautious how much i spend. Bike thievery is common place when the cost of the bike goes up. And as you siad the sprtcheck bike might not be a bad choice if you were to leave it out in the open all day for people to see. Not to sound like a party pooper. Outside of that I pretty much agrre with all tony has to say. I have my fully for the DH stuff and a hardtail for the cruising around stuff, and am looking at another.

Sorry for the ramble

[Funky_Fish14]

Awesome advice! Thanks for the info from everyone.

I guess I should put myself more into the category of XC than DH (in terms of my current interests). More likely to do DH on my unicycle than a bike haha. That is FUN stuff!

Well I went in again today and looked at some bikes... I guess it sounds like a really just need to try riding some stuff to see what I like best?

Also - two bikes that interest me in particular are a Devinci and a RockyMountain... the bikes have the same forks and similar components (same brands) but the Devinci has the newer or upgraded versions of the same components and lockout on the fork... The prices are the same. I assume if rideability was not a factor (or they both felt great), that I should choose the Devinci because of the better components for the same price?

Anyways I'll have to keep looking and try out some bikes. Thanks!

Chris

[Parker]

I'm with Tony on everything he said, although I don't have as many bikes as he does.

For XC duty I ride a Gary Fisher and for everything else I ride a Rocky Mountain Slayer, more of an All Mountian bike but it takes everything I have ever dished at it including a step down that I WAY overshot the transition on! I can ride the RM for XC duty but I have to change tires, it's amazing how much of a difference a tire change can make.

And since we are posting pictures.. lol

[muck]

What GF you riding Robb?

[Parker]

Originally Posted by loveless

If you would like to try the downhill discipline you are close enough to rabbit hill. Decent trails for the middle of the prairies and you can rent full suspension bike there as well.

Lovless, do you ride at Rabbit Hill often? Last year I didn't make it too much but the year before I was there at least a few times a week.

[Parker]

Originally Posted by muck

What GF you riding Robb?

Nothing fancy, a GF Advance. It was the first bike I bought when I got into biking and I kept it around.

[muck]

Originally Posted by Parker

Nothing fancy, a GF Advance. It was the first bike I bought when I got into biking and I kept it around.

Im running a GF Marlin hardtail with discs that has done me fine for the last number of years as well.
Haven't taken it DH though...