Mountain Biking - got any info on my new ride?

I recently got a Diamond Back sorento. it is a low end bike but it's all I could afford.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me about it's longevity(sp?).
will I be able to slowly replace parts and make it a better bike over time
or will it slowly become a pile of junk.

like if the forks start to get squishy could I replace the forks w/ something better?
this would probably meen replacing the stem also...?

can the crank arms be replaced once they start to round out or will I have to
replace the whole bottom bracket setup when I replace the crankarms?

etc.......

thanks for any help.

oh yea, I plan on riding it in the city weekdays and maybe on some trails on the weekends. just riding off
curbs and stuff. doing wheelies and small jumps.
probably less than 50 miles a week.

Welcome to the forums PNJ. You can replace the forks, chainrings, bottom bracket, cassette, chain etc. as they wear out. But they should last for quite a while anyway. Nothing wrong with the bike you bought. As far as longevity, there's no way to tell how long the components will last. It just depends on how hard and how much you ride it.

cool. it seemed like a decent bike and i'm happy w/ it but i know stuff will start to wear out.

thanks for the info

I can't speak from personal use, but I remember reading on the net from people who beat the daylights out of this bike, and it seemed to be holding up rather well. I at first was thinking of getting one, but I shelled out the bigger dollars and got a Fisher Tassajara that I'm very happy with......anyway good luck.

yea for under $300.00 it's not a bad ride.

i'll let y'all know how long it stays that way.

Heck, for $300 it's a great bike, if it gets you out there using it. Don't concern yourself with "Velosnobs", that think if it's not $3000 and full XTR then it's a piece.

I've had more fun on my first "low end" mountain bike than on any others I've owned since then. The best times I've had are when I was hitting new trails for the first time. Learning how to adapt my BMX skills to the mt. bike, like the bunny hop and log jump. Stream crossings were a refreshing blast back to childhood! Riding with friends who didn't know what they were doing either! Bending forks, breaking parts, falling (sometimes painfully hard!)

Go out and RIDE! Replace parts as they break or wear out, but all in all remember to have FUN!

L8R

thanks for the encouragment!

I'm definitly not afraid to ride my a** off. the way I look at is, if the bike can't handle it, replace it.

the only problem with that is that I don't have the cash to replace it right now. that's why I got the low end bike....:)


I looked at some of the parts that I will probably be replacing next (forks and stem) and those alone are going to cost as much as the bike itself, it looks like.

oh well, for now i'm just having fun. I'm so out of shape I can't really hurt it too bad.

or can I ?;)

Yeah, I didn't have the money to buy my new bike either. That's why it's on layaway till I can sell my camera and snowboard, lol.