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Recommendations for noobs
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
Been developing quite a legion of noobs to MTBing of late and one of them has asked what he should get as his first dual suspension.
I'm some what cringe at the notion that he said he wanted to get one off ebay but it aint my stoush, so i told him to go with a Stumpie over a Giant Trance, both 4 years old.
Question is... is ebay ever a good place to get your first rig? And does anyone wanna offload an old dual suspension rig for around $800?
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I have a kona dawg for sale if he's interested
If he has a good idea of what size frame to get, I think he can get good value for money buying used name brand bikes on fleaBay. With a little guidance from you he could end up with a real good bike for not a lot of coin.
My two 'dales were eBay bargains. I love both of them. However, you do need to be patient. You also need to be self-disciplined about your upper limits. He needs to bear in mind that some customisation of the cockpit (bars, stem, seat) is usually required, and to leave some in the budget for that and for early replacement of consumables like drive train components and brake pads.
The key dimension is horizontal top tube length. Get him to try yours and a few mates bikes and see how he looks/feels on them and go from there.
We got a fair idea on the specs he requires for it as he's had a few goes on our rigs.
About a medium sized rider he is but he's almost convinced that he needs to blow away a grand straight away and rush it on ebay cuz there may not be another like it. I do like the Stumpie which may go for under a grand but he was also keen on the Giant Trance.
I agree, being patient is the key but alternatively if any nobmobbers are wanting to offload anything sucking up dust in their garages, please feel free to PM me.
Christine is selling her Specialized Epic Comp. Currently on eBay with 2.5 days left (See the original post http://nobmob.com/node/12800)
Have a butchers at the eBay listing: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem... starting bid $800.
I'd say this would be a great bike for a noob.
be a great bike for a noob but just be aware that "medium" in one brand can be a large in another.
My 'dales are both large, but have a slightly shorter horizontal top tube than Jacojoco's medium Giant Trance X1.
Given that there is only one photo on this listing, the number of bids is likely to be low so I'd suggest it could be a very good buy.
Just make sure your friend does his homework on the horizontal top tube length that is right for him. This is the only measurement that is consistent between all brands of bikes.