Mountain Bike Buying

[Jacket]

I've been in analysis paralysis for too long now; I need some help. Subzali had a good thread on this topic from 5 years ago, but I'll see what you folks think now about buying a mtn bike. Here's the basics for me.

- I had an older Trek hardtail that was given to me as a birthday present 10+ years ago. It spent a lot of time pulling a Burley around town while my kids were growing up. Plus a bit of riding around the front range, Boulder county and the like. I go through spurts where I'm really into it, and then I get distracted. The Trek got stolen last fall. I had a Specialized Rockhopper before that.

- I'm a pretty casual mtn biker. Middle-aged, all mountain guy that enjoys technical terrain and some climbing and downhills. Betasso, Marshall Mesa, and stuff like that around here.

- Seems like I want a 26", full suspension, decent travel up front kind of bike with a bias toward trail vs XC.

What to buy?

New vs used. I've been focused on a nice used bike with good components. I'd rather spend $1000 on a formerly $3000 bike with high end parts, then on a brand new bike with moderate parts. Does that seem right? I don't want a ragged out bike that someone has beaten up and then moved on from. Always a risk with used stuff, but I don't think I can afford the new bikes for what I think I want.

Models?

I've been eyeballing the Giant's, specifically the Reign or Trance. Something like this looks interesting:

http://denver.craigslist.org/bik/4539073151.html

Specialized, Yeti, Santa Cruz - stuff at the higher end of the mass market bikes. Not interested in Trek anymore. I'm not in tune enough to pay attention to the boutique bikes. Other brands/models I should be searching for? Does Huffy make sweet bikes now?

There are a lot of options. Search CL for a Specialized Epic, and there are dozens of bikes with all kinds of descriptions. Hard to know where to zero in.

Help me out...

 

[DaveInDenver]

Personally I wouldn't get a 26" MTB anymore. Otherwise what you're describing will be $1K. Blur, Remedy or Fuel EX, Trance or Reign, Stumpjumper FSR, Yeti 575, etc. IMHO at this point all the 26" trail bikes it's about the right price for something with decent components that isn't worn out silly since the current trend of technology is 650b/27.5" wheels that make a ton more sense (in fact Giant no longer makes 26" MTBs except for the very low end) for all mountain use. Even the hard core downhillers are going to the bigger wheels, so the writing is on the wall.

FWIW I went to 29er and even a hard tail and I love it. I miss my old Blur once in a while but mostly not.

 

[smslavin]

I'd rather spend $1000 on a formerly $3000 bike with high end parts, then on a brand new bike with moderate parts. Does that seem right?

Yes. Excellent plan.

I'm biased towards Yeti and 26". I have not ridden anything in 27.5 so I can't comment. Since Yeti is no longer making the SB66, you might be able to find some good deals on frames or demo bikes. Golden Bike Shop had some as did Sports Garage in Boulder.

I have heard nothing but good things about both the Reign and Trance so I don't think you could go wrong with either one of those.

There's an FB group called Front Range Bike Swap. Take a look. Lots of really nice bikes looking for a good home. There can also be good stuff posted on the TGR Sprocket Rocket forum.

Whatever you wind up with, if you need any wrenching help, let me know. More than happy to true some wheels and dial-in the suspension, brakes and drive train. If you're going to overhaul the fork and/or shock, I highly recommend a visit to Luby over at Dirtlabs. Great guy, highly knowledgeable and rides a KTM Adventure with a bike rack.

 

[smslavin]

Personally I wouldn't get a 26" MTB anymore.

But, but, jared graves is racking up the wins this year on his sb66. That kinda makes me chuckle since Yeti killed that frame last year. They are also no longer making a 26" wheeled frame.

Not really sure what to make of it. I absolutely love both my 26" bikes, trail and downhill. My SS is a 29" and it's fun to ride at times. It definitely climbs faster and rolls over stuff with way less effort. I guess riding 26 is like shooting film. There's an old school purist satisfaction in it.

 

[rover67]

I agree with Dave #26isdead...

BUT... I think that if you are looking to spend 1k, that it will be tough but I'd look at maybe 26" wheel bikes since they are getting cheap.. nobody wants them due to the 650b/27.5" movement (which I think is legit BTW) for longer travel bikes. SB-66, 575, Stumpy anything Dave says might be good. Remember that it'll be a lot nicer than what you had and who cares if it's a 26" bike.. it'll still work. just don't count on any sort of resale.

For Betasso/Marshal Mesa type stuff I'd look for a hardtail 29er. Reason being 1000 will get you a much nicer hardtail than it will a FS bike and have space to utilize 29" wheels (no suspension). I have never owned a full suspension bike though and a 29er was my first a few years ago so take it with a grain of salt. I want FS bike for stuff like Sourdough/St. Vrain and some of the Downhill type stuff around Switzerland tr. White ranch/heil/hall type stuff is where i am not sure what I want.

 

[rover67]

also, what size are you? Small? Medium? (if you can call that sizing)

Allison has a Small Epic S-Works with a cheaper build kit FS.... and Zach has an SB-66.... Small also.

Both suffered broken frames that got factory replacements so they are fresh frame wise.

 

[treerootCO]

I got this.... A bicycle should cost $500. Anything beyond that is insane!

I walked over to buy a mtn bike last year and could not believe how much they cost. I wonder if they offer financing because cars don't cost what they are asking.

 

[rover67]

enter dirt bikes. They have motors, VERY advanced suspensions, don't constantly need attention, AWESOME brakes, are updated every year, and well.... you don't have to pedal them. They cost about what a high end Bicycle costs.

I still don't get it..

 

[Jacket]

I'm a medium/large. 17-19" range depending on the bike and what I'm doing.

There are no 27.5" bikes out there in the used market. Probably everyone is unloading their 26"ers to upgrade. I've got an 18'"er on the back of my KTM - seems to do just fine...

I dunno. I'm sure I could get a lower end, new 27.5 bike for around what I want to spend, but I don't need to be on the emerging market here with my (lack of) commitment to mtn biking. But it would suck to have a 26" bike in my garage worth nothing in a few years because everyone is chasing the 27.5's.

Maybe I get something cheaper and ride it for a couple years to see where the market goes.

 

[rover67]

get a 26" FS bike used, or a 29'er hardtail used. Plenty of fun can be had on a 26" wheeled bike, they work fine and you can take advantage of the market trend. I think that's what we were saying... In a few years maybe S or E can use it anyways.

 

[DaveInDenver]

26" bikes were the bee's knees for decades, it'll work fine and it's definitely a buyer's market for them used! I just wouldn't spend money on one new, that's all I was saying.

I'd be a little finicky, get something with Fox forks and shocks for example. There's a logic for this, Fox tends to make changes slowly and even 10 and 15 year old ones are rebuildable. PUSH Industries up here in Loveland is where I have mine rebuilt and tuned, but parts are easy to come by. You will have no trouble finding something, like the Blur I sold to Lars last year for significantly less than $1K. It was a Blur LT, 140mm Fox Vanilla, all XT or X.9, DT wheels.

 

[smslavin]

keep in mind that some frames for 26" will work with the 27.5 wheel. santa cruz and i think pivot make frames that'll adjust. just a thought...

 

[J Kimmel]

enter dirt bikes. They have motors, VERY advanced suspensions, don't constantly need attention, AWESOME brakes, are updated every year, and well.... you don't have to pedal them. They cost about what a high end Bicycle costs.

I still don't get it..

I'm with you...friend is looking to spend 8 grand on a new mtn bike...that's a brand new KTM 300!

 

[subzali]

The 30 hp on your ktm doesn't hurt either

I don't see performance bike shop selling as many 27.5 and 29" tires as 26. Are they missing the boat on this craze?

 

[DaveInDenver]

I don't see performance bike shop selling as many 27.5 and 29" tires as 26. Are they missing the boat on this craze?

Are you talking about replacement tires? Couldn't say about the 650b and 29" tires, particularly 29" since they are not exactly rare, but everyone still sells 26" tires because there are tons of bikes out there. The 26" was the only thing going for 30+ years after all. If they're not selling bigger wheel bikes they are missing the market trend, at least at the mid and higher end.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/650B-For-All-Giants-Elite-Level-Mountain-Bikes.html

Giant USA released its 2014 bike lineup to the press and it comes as no surprise that mid-sized wheels play a large role in the brand's upper level mountain bike range. We were surprised, however, to discover that Giant will up-size all of its most important 26 inch all-mountain and dual-suspension trailbikes to 27.5 inch wheels, as well as down-size its 29er XC-racing hardtails and short-travel dual-suspension bikes to 27.5 as well. Giant will still offer its key 29er XC racing bikes next season and the Reign-X and Glory will be 26-inch only - for now - but the writing is definitely on the wall at Giant USA.

Many mid-size-wheel naysayers insist that 27.5-inch wheels are an industry-driven fad being pushed upon customers who never asked for it. After two years in the mainstream, though, the growth of 650B points at an entirely different scenario. While there is significant push-back from existing mountain bike owners, new-bike customers seem perfectly happy to buy in to 650B. Traditionally, cyclists readily accept significant, but incremental improvements in drivetrains and frame design. Rather than inciting a revolution, apparently, the 650B wheel is being accepted similarly - as a worthwhile performance enhancement to the basic mountain bike. I believe that Giant USA has done its homework on this one and could be poised to take a leadership role among North America's 'Big Three' brands.

Does This Spell the End of 26-inch Wheels For Giant?

Pinkbike asked Giant USA's Global Product Marketing Manager Andrew Juskaitis a few questions about the switch to 27.5-inch wheels:

Is Giant USA eliminating 29 and 26-inch wheels from its XC, Trail and AM models for 2104?

· No, not entirely for 2014. Reign X and Glory remain 26 inch for 2014 and Anthem X and Trance X will still be offered in 29-inch. But that story will change in the future….

So, there are no 29er XC racing bikes for 2014?

· Anthem X 29er, XtC Advanced 29er and XtC Composite 29er will still be offered.

Will Giant follow this path throughout its DH range next year?

· Can’t answer that question directly, but you can imagine that if we believe so strongly in 27.5 for the majority of our range in 2014, you can guess what might happen in our future…

Can we expect to see 29 and 26-inch wheels eventually disappear in Giant's consumer-priced bikes in the near future?

[size=+2]· 26-inch for sure,[/size] but 29-inch will be dependent on market feedback. That said, if the market progresses the way we believe it will, 29-inch will be phased out in approximately two years....again, totally dependent on market feedback.

Maybe it's a fad, I dunno. The 29'er is perfect for me but I know that for smaller frames the geometry can get wacky with them so it was never going to be /the/ standard. The 650b gives some of the advantages of the larger wheel but still in a manageable size across a whole catalog of bike types and sizes. I definitely see the logic for the majors to settle on it. Since I think Performance sells a lot of Giants I can't see how they'll avoid it for long if they're still selling mostly 26" bikes.

 

[LARGEONE]

Matt...if you were taller, I'd give you my 26" stumpy FS. I'm really in the market for a new 29" FS, but I'm just really not willing to pay what they are asking these days. As others have stated above, it is ridiculous the price on these bikes...absolutely no reason for the markup.

I see a ton of medium 26" FS bikes on CL for less than 1000. You'll likely need to do new cables, cogs, chain, but the rest is typically good. PUSH In Loveland or that shock shop next to the Boulder Valmont bike park have both done a great job with my shocks.

 

[DaveInDenver]

As others have stated above, it is ridiculous the price on these bikes...absolutely no reason for the markup.

Something that's important to mention is that your local bike shop doesn't really make much money on bikes, their margins are pretty slim. They make money on service, parts and accessories.

I'm not sure where the money's going uphill, but I built my Gunnar 2 years ago for about $2,500. This is a made in the Wisconsin steel hard tail frame, made in California Fox F29 shocks, made in Japan Shimano XT 2x10 drivetrain. I felt the cost was plenty appropriate for what I was getting. It doesn't look like much, but think about how many steps it took for raw iron to become a collection of highly specialized steel tubes in a bike frame. There were a whole lot of people and processes involved, it's pretty cool.

Those carbon wunderbar ultralight race bikes that cost 6 grand got to be making someone a ton of money. I mean the frame isn't 2x as hard to make and being done in China there's no EPA rules to blame. They run XTR, which is expensive but not $3,000 more than the XT I used. I just dunno. I think the ironic thing with bikes is more money buys you less bike. So you hand over increasingly heavy piles of cash for stuff that approaches featherweight.

 

[LARGEONE]

The markup is pretty decent, even for the LBSs. Whenever I've been lucky enough to get a pro-deal on a bike, it is at least 25% off. Ya, that's not great margin if your the manufacturer, but it's decent for retail sales.

I think the Shimanos and SRAMs are the ones making bank! As you've said...much of this stuff is made in Taiwan.

Even if the parts are worth it, it's just really difficult to look at a bike and say, "That's totally worth $5k!" You can buy a very decent used car for that price!

And, why does a bike tire cost nearly as much as a car tire!

Sorry Matt...I've turned your I want a new bike thread into a rant about overpriced bike parts!

 

[Phrog]

Mountain Bike

I'm doing a similar search - I've narrowed it down to a hard-tail 29er. (For those of you not into mountain bikes, 'hard-tail' means front suspension fork but no rear suspension system, and '29er' refers to the diameter of the tires in inches).

I've found two promising online options:

bikesdirect.com
I bought my road bike from them a few years back and it turned out to be a great deal.

fezzari.com
No personal experience but they have lots of positive reviews, a slick web site, and good components for the $.

I've also found that Bicycle Village here in Boulder has some sweet bikes under $1k, including a Trek 'X-Caliber 8' for $850.

-Phrog

 

[mcgaskins]

enter dirt bikes. They have motors, VERY advanced suspensions, don't constantly need attention, AWESOME brakes, are updated every year, and well.... you don't have to pedal them. They cost about what a high end Bicycle costs.

I still don't get it..

$1500 buys you a lot more motorcycle than it does bicycle. That's dumb. And it's probably why I have 4 two wheeled motorized vehicles and only one human powered one