You are hereForums / By Discipline / Mountain (off road) / MTB Gear / Newbie advice needed
Newbie advice needed
Hi all.
I've recently discovered the Manly Dam trail and really enjoyed it. It's really well looked after and tricky but fun at the same time. I'd like to do it again soon and some of the other trails in the area, the only thing is my $200 Diamond Back, Big W special isn't up to the job.
I'm not loaded with cash and only have about $600 to spare. As I see it I have 4 options.
1) Go to local bike shop, hand over $600 and come away with a Malvern Star or low end Giant, Trek etc.
2) Find something on Ebay.
3) Save a few more $ till I reach $???? for a really good bike.
4) Buy the bike below that a mate is selling. He says he's not ridden it for 5 years so god knows how old it is, but the part seem good quality. (Out of shot it has Rock Shox at the front, Deore deraillier, etc. Price wise he said to make him an offer. The brakes aren't disc but I could upgrade them in the future maybe?
Any help greatly appreciated.
- Login to post comments
- Bookmark & share
How tall are you? If you are the right height, I may be able to help............
Roughly 180cm.
Hardtail or dual sus? Hardtail are cheaper and better value for money but dual sus are great for flow (though they cost much more)
The bike in the pics wouldn't be as good as a new low end Trek, specialized, giant etc. I have the model below that one and it hasn't aged well. You could buy it and add parts (www.wiggle.co.uk is awesome) but a lower end "big brand" bike would give you a lighter, stiffer frame (which is important for when you start to push your riding skills further). Look in the bike shops for last year’s bikes (2010), their always ready to do deals on them to get a sale (check out www.bikeexchange.com.au). Tell them your max price and see what they can do for you.
You should also look around on eBay or the classifieds. Word of caution though, only buy it on eBay/classifieds if you can pick it up and pay cash on pick up... I got stung for a few thousand late last years... Luckily PayPal refunded but it took about 6 weeks.
Personally i would save your dollars, around $1000 will get you going on a pretty decent hard tail (some shops even offer take home lay-by and payment options). That extra $400 or so dollars at time of purchase will be forgotten in a month or two but the quality of the better bike will be appreciated for years to come.
The entry level giant or malstar will get you out of trouble but you will soon be wanting to upgrade it and it will cost you much more in the long run. I would be looking for something with a minimum hyd disc brakes, brand name fork and deore/x5 components.
I would be reluctant to go for secondhand bikes unless you know what your looking for and have the skills and resources to upgrade it in the future. As far as your mates bike is concerned with out knowing specifics and seeing it in person, i would not pay more than a few hundred for it
Hope that helps a little
I tend to agree, that extra bit of cash would do soooooo much more in the long run
If buying new I reckon you are better to save up a few more bucks as $600 doesn't get you too far.
$1-1.5k gets you a fair bit of hardtail these days.
Giant is a good benchmark so at the $1k end you are looking at a Talon 1 or XTC at $1.5k
Plenty of others to choose from as all the other mainstream brands will offer similar packages at each price point but they will all fiddle the build slightly differently.
Second hand offers great value but you will have to do your own research into sizing etc and it can require a lot of patience waiting for the right deal to come up. If you have a mate that you trust to give you good advice then that would be a big help.
Hi Again Pete, I just sent you a private message. Cheers, Andrew.
I have a Cannondale Jekyll dually that will be up for sale shortly that will be in your ballpark price-wise. My only concern would be to ensure the frame size is appropriate for you, which a test ride would resolve. Have sent you a PM.
Hey Pete, i had the exact same dilema. Definitely go for option 3 and avoid my costly mistake. Put in the hard yards now and save up a bit more for a 2010 model hardtail. The bike i have now is second hand and i constantly find things that need to be replaced (eg pitted cones, derailier problems, etc). I paid $600 for it coz i couldn't be bothered to save for a new bike and for what it was it looked alright. Eventually it will be excellent, but the money i have spent and continue to spend could have been saved for a new bike.
Mate, as far as the mongoose goes, politely decline
I am also somewhat new to mtb riding and the hardtail is great, provided you get some decent forks.
Hope this helped and hope to see you riding in the near future, Josh
Pete.
I too am just getting started. I was in exactly the same situation about a year ago and for once in my life I chose to be patient and wait till I could afford a better bike. I ended up getting an Orbea hardtail, paid $1100 for last years model. At my level of capability I wouldn't know last years from this years model
. I am delighted I waited. Its a great bike, had it for about 6 months and love it. Got it from Belrose Bicycles (could have paid less soemwhere else but this is my local bike shop and that counts, in my opinion, when you need parts of servicing).
My advice.... don't rush it wait till you can afford something decent. The longer you ride your BIGW special the more you'll appreciate a great new bike!
Echo the advice to watch bikeexchange.com.au - there are often great run out deals on last years models.
Stu
I bought a brand new Apollo for $1000 from Belrose Bicycles a couple of years ago and it was the best thing i had done to start montainbiking ,it served me well for three years until I went back and bought a Comencal Combi S Dually. $1000 dollars buys a lot of bike and your local bike dealer can do layby which is how i did the Comencal. My old Appollo is now serving a freind of mine very well now .
NB the Comencal was on special for a bargain $1600 .
Just to add my experience for what its worth. About 2 years ago I was in a similar dilemma, wanting to get back into cycling after a really really long break, owning a old road bike I can't part with. I thought about what type of riding I wanted to do? As I live on the Northern Beaches, thought trail riding would be cool for a bit of fun and fitness, and I was freaked out by Sydney traffic wanting to stay off the roads. I bought a Specialized Rock Hopper (hard tail), got it for $1200. Was really happy with the thing. Before long I was not only using it to ride Manly Dam, but commuting to the city, (conquering my fear of Sydney traffic). I was having so much fun, but the bike had limitations, I considered upgrading the wheels and forks. Then by a freak of nature I hooked up with a commuter brother who is mad keen on MTBR, that fueled the passion for adventure, started getting into harder and longer rides and race events. Within 12 months of my initial purchase I bought my first dually (she is unbelievable), I wont tell you how much I spent, price became less important in the scheme of things (your gonna find the cash or opportunity if you want it hard enough). The Specialized now has slicks on and is never used on the trails anymore, its purely used for commuting, going to the shop, road training or just incase. To summarise think long and hard about what type of riding you want to do and where you want to take it. If you get bitten by the bug like I have and all my NoBMob brothers, the equation N+1 will (pleasantly) infect your life. What that means is, I now spend my idle time looking at all manner of bikes, planning my next purchase/s (long term planning to say the least). Drives the kids mad!! I believe this is not unique, but a widely experienced phenomena for 40+ males!!
I say flog that bike to death....! learn how to fix things as they wear out or break, that will teach you about your bike, talk to other riders about their ride. You will get an idea of what would be suitable after a while. Hardtails are a good thing and yes, about a grand will get you lots of bike. Remember to enjoy the wonderful world of mountainbiking.Welcome....
I second that notion of flog the existing bike whilst saving for a decent hardtail. I did many laps of the dam on my fully rigid Giant Boulder whilst I was getting together my current bike and, whilst a bit scary at times, it wasn't a problem.
There was a comparo in one of the MTB mags earlier this year on sub $1000 hardtail (from memory the Talon [best bike] and the Malvern Star [best value] rated well), that was retail pricing so they should be available a fair bit cheaper than that as last years model etc.
Thanks for all the great advice.
I recon that keep saving is the best plan. I have a look in the loft for stuff I can put on ebay!
Till that point I'll keep going on the bike I have.
Hopefully see some of you soon at the dam. Look out for me arriving in a blue holden ute riding a red diamond back.
Thanks again, Pete
A least you have a Holden ute, you wont have to update that one....EVER........vc
There is a 4th Option,
I was in the exact same situation with that same budget.
I just purchased a Specialized Hardrock disc 29er for $599 brand new.
Lifetime warranty on Frame, mech disc brakes (pretty good) and most of the other running gear is good.
I will upgrade these parts as I need at a later time.
I just did Manly Dam for the first time on Sunday with it. Went fantasic. I have also done 1 comp (Mt Annan) and Loftus tracks. Great bike for the price and you get to have bigger wheels than anybody else.
My only comment is that if you're buying a bike at that price point then you are much better to thrash it and buy a new one rather than blow money on 'upgrades'.
The upgrade money is IMO much better spent buying a higher specced model to start with.
newbies should always buy new. I think whenever someone starts up, they will get most of their info from the local bike shop dude, it won't always be correct info, but it's better than getting half a million tidbits of advice from punters. Get down to the lbs, tell them how much you have and what you want it for and go from there. Do this at a couple of LBS's to get the best deal.
there is nothing wrong with 2nd hand, it's just that it is a gamble
Don;t get to worried about the brand, or even the bits and pieces on the bike, if you really get into it, you will be looking for an upgrade very soon i promise.
I've been doing some moreresearch and spoke with my brother who had a similar quandry.
So, taking in all the advice, the new plan is to save up $1000 and get something around that price. Hopefully then I won't be wanting to upgrade so soon.
The bikes I'm looking at are Felt q820, Giant Alias or the Malvern Star xcs 7.0. I'm leaning towards the Felt as it seems to have the best spec and in my opinion looks the best. Does anyone have experience with these bikes?
Howdy Pete, welcome to the best sport in the world. I got into mtb biking after I bought a television during a promotion at a local retailer and they threw in a mountain bike as part of the deal....go figure. The bike was a Sykee and a more shite bike has never been built. Google it, your computer will melt. Everything on it was cheap to the point of being dangerous. I perservered with that pig for about 12 months and tried to upgrade it where i could, but it was pointless and to be honest the crapness of the bike detracted from my enjoyment of the sport. Not being overly flush with funds at the time, I purchased a Giant Alias and from that point on, my enjoyment and more importantly fitness levels improved dramatically. I did not have to worry about stuff falling off or breaking anymore, I did not have to spend half an hour trying to fix the brakes, the gear, etc etc etc and could just get on the bike and ride. I did over 5,000kms on that bike in 2 years and it did not miss a beat. The wheels never once went out of true, and the brakes and gears always did their job. Any bike needs to be serviced regularly to make sure she purrs and things like rings, cassettes and pads need to be replaced from time to time, but otherwise the Alias was bomb proof. At the time I looked at GT, Mongoose, Haro, Kona and Scott at around the $1,000 mark and Giant were pretty hard to beat regarding specs, but it really just came down to how it felt when I sat on it. Sit on a heap of different bikes, like Harry Potter's wand, the bike will choose you, not the other way round.
$1000 is a great starting point. Go into all the bike shops, tell em how much you have and what you want it for then go with the best deal (they may throw extra's in to sweaten it. At the $1000 mark each bike is fairly similar. You might get better brakes with brand x or a better set of wheels with brand Y but at the end of the day they are all pretty similar. It is actually less about the bike and more about the rider just having fun. You could spend the next 10 weeks debating which bike is better and why, at the end of the day if your online researching bikes and not on the trail riding them it is a fools errand.
enjoy.
Great thought, that. Nothing beats the test ride for the moment of truth.
Hi Pete,
I'm in the same boat except I have $1000 and I don't know what to do. I have only recently entered the sport of cycling itself and have a lovely road bike which I use at least 2-4 times a week to ride to work and I have also been lucky enough to use my flatmates MTB on trails on the odd weekend, I love MTB riding but worry at how committed I am therefore should I spend the money. lately I have been leaning towards buying a cheap second hand bike (I’m lucky that I have a few people around me that know what is a good bike and what isn't, so I’m not too worried about getting ripped off). I figure if I do get a cheap one and start to really get into it I will build my own bike over time and make it to the way I want. It’s just another option.
Some bikes to check out for ideas:
You should be able to get a couple-few hundred off in a bike shop.
$2200 http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-AU/bikes/model/...
$1600 http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-AU/bikes/model/...
$1100 http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-AU/bikes/model/...
$600 http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCProduct.j...
$880 http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCProduct.j...
$1900 http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCProduct.j...
From Here: http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/forumdisplay.php... : I don't know what size you are
$1400 http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/showthread.php?2...!!!
$1600 http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/showthread.php?2...
And how about these cell bikes, they look very good for the price:
$800 http://www.cellbikes.com.au/Mountain-Bike-Cell-M...
$1500 (9.5 KG!!!!) http://www.cellbikes.com.au/Mountain-Bike-Cell-M...
$1600 http://www.cellbikes.com.au/Cell-2011-XC-2?sc=21...
And bike exchange:
http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/
What ever you get, I think you need to like the way it looks. It helps the bond. Good luck.
Maybe ring this bloke offer him $1200 (says he will take $1400): http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/showthread.php?2...
Great set of links there Noel, thanks. Definitely food for thought.
The Cell bikes certainly do look great value for money but they seem too cheap to be true - maybe the frame isn't so good? If I get a chance in the next week or so, I may call in the shop to have a look.
I'm still saving up at the moment but getting nearer my target
That Cell dually XC bike is outstanding value.
The reason for the "cheap" price is the elimination of a couple of layers of middleman, brakes are last generation (but still very adequate), the shock isn't that sophisticated and the forks are entry level air, or coil sprung. Still a great first dually.
After a few weeks of researching, saving and test riding I've decided on the Felt Q820.
I test rode the Giant Talon, Specialized Rockhopper, Trek 6000, Merida Matts 500 and the Felt. In my opinion, the Felt looked and felt (no pun intended) the best.
So tonight I'm going back to Inner City Cycles to pay and find out when I can pick it up.
Thanks for all your help and advice everyone and I hope to see you on a trail very soon.
Pete
Well you tried lots so thats good, so this is it? : http://2009.feltracing.com/09-catalog-australia/...
Same model but 2011 version:
http://www.feltbicycles.com/Australia/2011/Mount...
Pretty much the same but different front deraillier and different fork.
Can't wait to pick it up from the LBS and get it muddy!
Bike picked up tonight from Inner City Cycles. Special mention for Damo there for his helpful and impartial advice.
First ride will be to work and back tomorrow then hit a trail on the weekend
I reckon you made the right decision waiting until you could buy a decent bike. You'll definitely enjoy your riding more for it. Make sure you take advantage of any free servicing if they offered it.
Enjoys the trails hope to see you flying around them sometime
Photos, or it didn't happen!
I'll get some better photo's when I get home from work this afternoon in the daytime.
Even just riding the 7k's to work this morning, it felt a million times better than my old bike. I even knocked 6 mins off my travel time without even trying! It's just so much easier to ride. Really looking forward to hitting a trail this weekend now.
nice looking ride ,love the wheel reflectors
Money very well spent
Looks faaast
Remember to colour code any upgrades
Oh, and remember to shout 'track' before you fly past the punters at the dam lol