Bires

Need to buy a new bike. Haven't in a long time.

Brands to avoid? Brands to look for? Cost is an issue.

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Five years...

baggio248

I think this is soley based on how much you want to pay. The other big factor is what features do you want? Weight? Gears? Suspension? A few good ones, but might set you back:
Cannondale
Specialized
Gary Fisher
Kona

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cheapie

i gotta know what you are willing to spend. i love biking and am in a bike shop 1-2 times/week so consider me an "expert."

Brands:

Cannondale is a decent/nice bike but you ARE!!!!! paying for the name. if you take a cannondale and compare it to a similarly priced offering it will not have as nice of components. imho

trek, klein, and fisher are owned by trek and are pretty much the same bike. kleins (i own one)are prettier and more expensive, treks are a good value, and fisher's are a decent bike but aren't really that different.

if you have a limited budget i would stay from a full-suspension bike. a cheap full-suspension bike will weight a freakin' ton.

specialized is a tremendous bike. great value.

as far as value, you gotta check out a Jamis. They are constantly rated a great value by all of the bike mags. a friend of mine has one and he's very happy with it. plus, when you go to a race, you won't just be another specialized, trek, cannondale, and fisher rider.

so....what's your budget? i'd love to do some research on this for ya.


OH!!!! i forgot your most important tool in deciding what to buy. www.mtbr.com it's to biking what edmunds is to cars.

EVERY mtb and component is review by people and posted here. i have checked every single bike and accesory purchase there.

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chrissy

Cheapie, you didn't mention GT. why not?

cheapie

i guess, and please don't take this the wrong way, they are below the price range i'm familiar with.

from the couple of guys i know that have them, they are a decent/good bike. i try not to be a bike snob so kick me in the pants if i sound like i am. GT mtn. bikes are built for the casual rider. if you are going to be on serious trails with any frequency they are a bit heavy and might not hold up to the abuse as well. but for 99% of bike riders, they are perfectly fine.

chrissy

yeah, donnie just told me that Pacific owns GT now and that they are exactly what you said

His is 12-13 years old and the only thing that is left original is the frame and cranks.

ray

Cheapie: I gave my cousin my old Trek bike when I moved to Cali a couple years ago. I plan on biking (for exercise) more often and would like something durable and relatively light (since I have to pack it into my Camry whenever I want to go somewhere to ride). My old bike was a Trek Mountain Trak.

If I had a budget of let's say $300-$400 what would you recommend? The majority of my riding will be done on paved streets/paths.

Oh, and I prefer mountain bikes rather than road bikes.

cheapie

ooohhh....get him this for father's day then



FSA Carbon Pro Team Issue Crankset.

cheapie

have you considered a hybrid? like a specialized sirrus? they are more comfortable than a road bike and are tons faster than a mountain bike.



here's one on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=58092

ray

gasp. suggested retail price of $1200! Since i'll be purchasing a residence this summer, I would rather not fork over that much for a bike. I'll take a look through the Specialized website later when I have some free time to see if there's something more in my price range...

cheapie

that's the msrp. it would be cheaper at the store. and cheaper yet if you get one on ebay. and that's the top of the line sirrus.

ray

Cheapie, what you think about this one?

http://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2004/...jsp#largerview

By the way, I think I found the Sirrus for $450 at a shop near me. My only question is, I don't want locking shoes. In fact, I don't want to have buy the bike shoes at all. Just a normal pedal works for me. Do the Sirrus' and/or the Trek's have that option?

chrissy

Ray, it's my understanding that you can buy universal pedals and they will work. But locking shoes are good to invest in. Find last years colors/style and you can get a good pair rather cheap.

cheapie, goodness, you do know I am not going back to work, right? He has been looking for a crank, I might beable to hide my "fun" money for a couple months. He does deserve it. That crank is actually just under $300 at performance right now.

cheapie

my wife has a navigator 400. LOVES it! the best thing to do is go to your lbs (local bike shop) and ride several bikes. that way you get a feel for the style you like. your lbs guy will be able to help you as much or more than anybody on the web will.

and chrissy is right about the pedals. the bikes you are looking at will come with regular platform pedals, not clipless like you're worried about.

btw, these are mine.



mtn. bike


road bike

ray

I don't want to have have different shoes to ride a bike. I would rather have the convenience of wearing regular sneakers and having a regular pedal.

psycho-

I'm gonna be the one stepping out on a limb and completely disagreeing with what Cheapie says. In fact I think he's totally wrong in reccomending one brand over another. I know he's the resident G|A mtb person here, but people who know me also think of the same when it comes to MTB knowledge. (you can ask leon)

In any case, I ride a Cannondale Jekyll. It was more expensive, had the worst groupo for it's price, and didn't look as cool. yet, I know it's the best bike for me because that's what I felt best on. How do I know? I rode it and compared it to other bikes.

Trek, Marin, Giant, Cannondale, Jamis, Iron Horse, etc. etc. ....who cares what Cheapie thinks is good. in fact, throw all your personal preferences away too in regards to components, frame types, etc.

What you actually need to do is the following:
1) know what brands are currently considered decently good.
2) Know your price range.
3) Go to 2-3 bike shops and ride different bikes from each shop in that range
4) Compare bikes...find the one that feels the best riding on that range.

You'll find that more often than not, the components are relatively similar in a similar price range, and if not, then you need to know why. Ask the bike shop person the reasons, and in most cases, they give very honest responses.

The bike shops usually also give very honest responses in regards to frame, design, and build qualities of various bikes that they sell. Never ask them to compare it to a brand they don't sell...that's where the bias will be a bit more present.

Make sure you are fit correctly.

Bottom line- You ride a bike that you want to feel comfortable on..not one based on a brand ...go bother a professional bike shop...test ride 5-10 bikes of various brands, spend 20-30 minutes on each on various surfaces, etc...find out about each bike....

...then.....do it all over again at another shop.


....just make sure you don't let brand biases get into it.

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Victor

cheapie

wow. don't know what to say. he asked for opinions and i gave them. you agreed about the cannondale and about him needing to go to the local bike shop and test different bikes.


so what your saying is opinions don't matter but he should find out which brand is considered decently good? i thought that's what i was helping him with.




also, brand bias is important. i don't know about you but my bikes are the two most important things i own. i am proud of them, the components, the brand, and what they say about me. a bike isn't just a piece of machinery. a commodity that any bike manufacturer can replicate. one of the best things about being a biker is the "club" that you join once you are a biker. you get together with other bikers and endlessly debate and discuss different brands, frame types and materials, and how to make your baby lighter. maybe it's just the guys i hang with tho'.

psycho-

We're talking about a sub 1000 dollar bicycle. It really doesn't matter for a sub 1000 dollar bike. At that point, it essentially is a commodity.

I know brand snobbery is a big thing among bike owners...and among many friends I have many who do that too...but this is a reccomendations for an inexpensive bike, not a 2k-6k bicycle.

cheapie

i bought my mountain bike for $750 on eBay

Whack

I think you're being trolled. Nothing you said was biased at all. I've got a Giant (somethin') btw. Chrome-moly. The frame is properly sized for hills 'n dales, but I'm mostly a path guy anymore.

kimchicowboy

heck, when i lived in LA, i even rode my bike with flip-flops! it was awesome!

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aggieSlaughter

There's this bike section in this local store near where I live(I dunno if you've heard of it, it's called Wal-Mart). They have some pretty smooth bikes for UB3R CH34P. Fo real yo.

I got me a bike for $99 straight up, no rebates.

It even had some uber cool shocks in the front, and I could jump it off stairs and all without getting hurt that bad. PLUS!!you get to wear regular shoes with this bike, it comes from the factory with regular plastic pedals, how could you ask for anything more.

It comes with 24"s!!! you'll be rollin in style.

It even has a reflector on the back so you can install the black light above it and get that tracklighting effect. AMAZING!!!

You should check it out yo.

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cheapie

prolly weighs 50 lbs. and has brakes adjusted and installed by a 16yo w/no knowledge of bikes.