Mountain Biking - newbie needs advice (long)

Hello!!
I completly new to Mountain Biking and I am thinking of buying a new bike. I did have a specalized rock hopper when I was a kid. I belive it was 1992 version and I now relize that the sport has matured and things are very different now I am looking for a bike around the 400 dollar range. Now I realize I need to spend a lot more to get a really decent bike but I am new to the sport and I don't want to spend a ton of money. I plan on just biking around 2-3 times a week mostly on paved bike paths and minor off-road trails. Nothing extreme here for now. Maybe in the future when I get more advanced in the sport I will spend some more money and get a better bike. I think to start off a hardtail bike would be my best bet as opposed to a full suspension or downhill bike. What do you guys think? I have been looking on ebay at the bikes they have for auction there and it seems like you can find decent bikes at lower prices but getting a bike off of eBay seems risky. Now from all my reading on the internet I see that there are so many options and considerations I need to take into account that is very VERY overwhelming. What are the MAIN things I need to take into consideration as a first time buyer? I have read tons and tons of posts about this here on this very forum but it seems there are so many different opinions I need someway to sum this up if possible, maybe into 3-4 main things I need to seriously take into account
Also another question I have is:
What experiences have you had getting bikes off of eBay? Now I realize it might be better just to go to a bike shop and actually test ride a bike or two but if eBay is a realistic option I think I can get a better deal this way.
I am sure this is a repeat thread. I have went back and searched for answers to my questions already and they have helped but there is SOO much information I am still faily unclear as too what I should do.
Are there certain bikes or brands of bikes that would be best for me to look at? So far I have looked at Specilized, Giant, KHS, Trek, Mongoose, and K2 bikes but there are soo many different opinions on these brands that its very tough as a newbie to tell. On eBay I have seen a ton of KHS bikes for sale at what seems like decent prices but I don't want to make the mistake of buying a POS. I really feel I need to research this fully because even a 300-400 dollar investment is a lot of money for me and this is not even counting all the other stuff like helmets and other biking gear I am going to want to purchase

So far I have been looking up different bikes and then going to http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/ to see user reviews of the bikes. Is this a trusted site to go to and use fore mountain bike reviews? Any information that anyone can provide me with would be frggin GREAT!!! Thanx in adavance =)

GAHHH !! Pay no attention to all the grammar/spelling errors in my previous post. You would think I would actually spell check my post before posting but NOOOPEE!!! =( Sorry if its hard to read

If you don't want to buy a POS, then go to a couple good bike shops and let them help you pick out a good bike for the money you have to spend. You'll be able to test ride the bikes and be sure the bike fits you properly.

Don't buy from ebay unless you know what you are getting. Although you might get be able to get a good deal on a used bike, remember that it will have no warranty. Even a new bike may not have any practical warranty since the cost of shipping a bike back to the seller would get prohibitive unless the bike suffers a major failure.

If you don't want to buy a POS, then go to a couple good bike shops and let them help you pick out a good bike for the money you have to spend. You'll be able to test ride the bikes and be sure the bike fits you properly.

Don't buy from ebay unless you know what you are getting. Although you might get be able to get a good deal on a used bike, remember that it will have no warranty. Even a new bike may not have any practical warranty since the cost of shipping a bike back to the seller would get prohibitive unless the bike suffers a major failure.

Thank You!! Good point about the warranty. I did not even weigh that into my consideration. I suppose a good warranty could be invaluable.

Yeah, i would say that especially if you are newbie, go to a reputable bike shop. When you get really knowledgable, you'll be able to separate the wheat from the chaff at eBay (and even then, it can be dicey).. for now, don't get ahead of yourself. Go to a bike store and let them help you.

Yeah, i would say that especially if you are newbie, go to a reputable bike shop. When you get really knowledgable, you'll be able to separate the wheat from the chaff at eBay (and even then, it can be dicey).. for now, don't get ahead of yourself. Go to a bike store and let them help you.

Yeah good advice. I have been leaning toward the whole eBay thing but now that I think about it....It really sounds like a bum idea. I will head to a reputable bike shop and get some advice there. I guess I just needed another opinion to push me in the right direction

after picking an alumimum frame derailers are the most important to me

after picking an alumimum frame derailers are the most important to me

So I should be looking for an aluminum frame and derailers? How do I distinguish what is a good aluminum frame and good derailers from what is bad? What should I look for? I guess what I am worried about is that I am going to go to a local bike shop they are going to be more interested in just selling me something instead of helping me find the right bike for me

Read a magazine

Guess I will have to buy a MTB dictionary to understand all the terms used in the magazines I have looked at =)

ahh apparently I missed the "around 500$ MTB thread" Just read through all 27 pages of that!!!!
Excellent thread. It answered almost all of my questions. Much appreciated Raiyn. I also picked up a copy of "Mountain Biking Magzine" to help educate myself a little more!! Again thanx.

No bike lingo here - I leave that to my kids... Definately go to a bike shop - or 2 or 3 of them. Check out all the different bikes in your price range, and the shop's policies RE repairs, discount pricing on parts, etc. Check out, also, the shop's bulletin board for info on rides - the more on the board, I feel, the better the shop treats it's customers... and if you plan on upgrading down the road, you want a shop where you have a dialog with the shop folks, not some place where they just take your $$ and show you the door.

No bike lingo here - I leave that to my kids... Definately go to a bike shop - or 2 or 3 of them. Check out all the different bikes in your price range, and the shop's policies RE repairs, discount pricing on parts, etc. Check out, also, the shop's bulletin board for info on rides - the more on the board, I feel, the better the shop treats it's customers... and if you plan on upgrading down the road, you want a shop where you have a dialog with the shop folks, not some place where they just take your $$ and show you the door.


Whooaa!! great advice about checking the shop's bulletin board for info on rides. I will make sure I do that when I head to the LBS!! Yeah I plan on going to ALL bike shops with in a decent range of where I live. I feel its very important to get ALL my options and then way out the pro's and con's. Again thanx for the advice!!!!

ahh apparently I missed the "around 500$ MTB thread" Just read through all 27 pages of that!!!!
Excellent thread. It answered almost all of my questions. Much appreciated Raiyn. I also picked up a copy of "Mountain Biking Magzine" to help educate myself a little more!! Again thanx.
No problem.
You want terms try here
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=83350

No problem.
You want terms try here
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=83350

GREAT!! =) well I have found a MTB gold mine of info on this forum!! Again thanx for all the great information everyone. YEP!! again that post helped me out big time Raiyn. Now I am making sense of all the "MTB lingo" I am reading about in the magazine and on these forums

Just buy a new Rockhopper, they're about $450.

http://www.giantbicycle.com/us/030.000.000/030.000.000.asp?model=11040

Have a look at this. Its one of many choices.

Just buy a new Rockhopper, they're about $450.

After reading a ton of post on Specialized :love: I have decided to really look hard at either a Hardrock make or a Rockhopper make. I am also going to look at as many other brands as I can. From what i can tell one of the most important aspects of getting a bike at the $500 dollar level is the FEEL of the bike as opposed to the components etc. Not that these other things are not important is just if you really want good components your going to have to spend a lot more money. Besides I am just a n00b getting into the whole MTB scene and I want to test the waters before I jump in head first. I did like my 1992 rockhopper and I love the look of the specialized bikes and with all the rave reviews for them on this site I doubt I can go wrong. I am sure i will get a better idea of what I like after I test ride a bunch of different bikes. I am headed to all the LBS on Tuesday of next week. I can't wait!!!!

http://www.giantbicycle.com/us/030.000.000/030.000.000.asp?model=11040

Have a look at this. Its one of many choices.


That bike looks nice!! I have read and heard alot of good things about Giant Bikes I can't wait to test ride one and compare it to a specialized bike!! Thanks for the link!!

Well I could not wait untill Tuesday to go out and start testing some bikes so I went out today. It did not take long to find a bike I loved. I went to the LBS and tried out a bunch of different Treks, Specialized, Giant, and Garry Fisher. I really, really like the Geometry of the Gary Fisher bikes. They felt the best to me but on four seperate times the front derailer failed and tangled up the chain and I almost fell flat on my ass. This happend on several different makes of Gary Fisher bikes. Its to damn bad because I really liked the Geometry of the bikes and they felt sweet. I could not get past the front derailers failing on me though. I tried serveral different makes of Trek and I really did not care for them. I am not even sure why but with my body type ( long and lanky) they just had a bad feel. I tried out numerous different makes of specialied bike and I loved all of them. None of them had as nice of geometry as the Gary Fisher's in my opinion but it was very close. The one thing the specialized bikes did have was a very very nice feel to the brakes and overall shifting of gears. (forgive me for my lack of using better MTB terms for this) The specialized bikes just had a very nice SMOOTH overall feel to them. I decided on the Hard rock Comp Disc and the Rockhopper. Both felt great and I was very torn between the two but I ended up with this:
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=9339

They did not have a 19" bike in stock for me so I will have to wait until Tuesday to go get my bike. Its like Christmas when your 5 years old all over again. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Congratulations. Be sure to post pictures up in "Poet Your Rigs"