Mountain Biking - I'm sold - now I need suggestions, please

All summer long I'm on my road bike, with only the occasional ride on the mountain bike. But come autumn, I only have eyes for the mtn bike. Well... I've been riding a GT Karakorum with is now 7 years old and starting to show it's age. So today I demo'd Marin's low end FS bike. I'm hooked! FS is the way for this aging corpus to go. Now I need some suggestions about what to pick.

I'm 5'6", weigh 145 lb, generally ride moderate single track with a lot of climbing. I don't want to race but I do want to keep up, and I'm not planning on hucking anything more than my lunch after a tough ride. I'm hoping to spend $1600 - $1800 US.

The Marin was OK. I'd have to go up a level or two. The Deore grupo was noticeably slower than my LX. I'm thinking about trying out a Jamis Dakar. What else should I look at?

Thanks in advance...

I've got a Giant NRS 2 which I really like. MSRP was 1500. The NRS 1 went for 2000. I'm not sure what the prices are now but are worth looking into. Lots of bang for your buck.
http://www.giantbicycles.com/us/030.000.000/030.000.006.asp?lYear=2003&bikesection=8817&range=107&mode=rangelist

I don't know prices but I can make suggestions. (Keep in mind I prefer Rocky Mountain, Giant, Norco and Kona or most other bikes).

1600 to 1800 american is gonna give you a great bike and some great choices. It will give you quality components with a good frame. Wish I was in your shoes for choices :)...

Rocky Mountain - http://www.bikes.com/bikes/bikes.asp?bike=element - The element s lightweight and strong - pretty much known as a good climber

Giant - NRS. As far as I have been told one of the best bikes to move to if you are coming from a ht. It is stiff with very little give when pedaling. I believe the NRS2 has the components you might want (switch the hayes mechs for Avids. Hayes blow). If you want plusher for drops the Ac series is my next choice (for myself) but again it is an 'all mountain' bike so is a little beefy.

Norco - haha - kind of kidding. They make tough bikes but I don't like any of them for pedaling or xc. They make great dh, freeride, trials and dirtjumpers.

Kona - My favorite by far. Time proven xc and freeride bikes. I do love them so I am very biased (that and my uncle is sponsored and races xc with them). MokoMoko is a great light bike. Second in command in the xc kona series. lx to xt parts. Lightweight and a great ride. And of course kona makes strong. :)...No discs with this one but really you dont need discs unless you freeride, trial run or dh. :)

Cheers and enjoy.

I'd stick with the lighter weight genre of FS bikes. A great bike for a great price is available right now at www.supergo.com it's the Yeti Kokopelli. I'm seriously looking at that same bike, except with the discs, for myself.

Other bikes that are worth a looksie, the Specialized FSR XC, the Gary Fisher Sugar 3, the Trek Fuel, and the Cannondale Jeykll. Also, all these manufacturers offer a women specific design.

L8R

Originally posted by Maelstrom


Rocky Mountain - http://www.bikes.com/bikes/bikes.asp?bike=element - The element s lightweight and strong - pretty much known as a good climber


I have an element and I love it. My cousin has the Instinct (same frame diff components) and loves it too.

I just got into Giants though - and must try those next.

Keep those two on top of your list!

I wouldn't trade my 2001 Giant NRS for anything. . . well, maybe a Specialized Epic. The NRS2 is a great value, as already mentioned, in the $1,500 range. Keep in mind the entire NRS line uses the same frame. The NRS3 shares its frame with the NRS Air.

I like the fisher sugar if i was to go full susp.

Originally posted by roadie gal
All summer long I'm on my road bike, with only the occasional ride on the mountain bike. But come autumn, I only have eyes for the mtn bike. Well... I've been riding a GT Karakorum with is now 7 years old and starting to show it's age. So today I demo'd Marin's low end FS bike. I'm hooked! FS is the way for this aging corpus to go. Now I need some suggestions about what to pick.

I'm 5'6", weigh 145 lb, generally ride moderate single track with a lot of climbing. I don't want to race but I do want to keep up, and I'm not planning on hucking anything more than my lunch after a tough ride. I'm hoping to spend $1600 - $1800 US.

The Marin was OK. I'd have to go up a level or two. The Deore grupo was noticeably slower than my LX. I'm thinking about trying out a Jamis Dakar. What else should I look at?

Thanks in advance...


Hi roadie Gal. I'm jealous...you live in mountain bike heaven. If I could I would move to Tahoe in a heart beat. I've made several trips up there and ridden Toads, Flume and another trail I can't remember the name of in W. Tahoe.

As for F.S. bikes...The Jamis is a great bike for the money....I think someone has mentioned the Giant NRS2. Also take a look at the Specialized bikes. If you don't mind spending just a little bit more than $1800 you should consider the Santa Cruz Superlight. Great all-around bike for the money.

One more suggestion...because you live in Tahoe and the descents can be very long I would recommend disc brakes. You won't regret it.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I tried out the Santa Cruz Superlight today. Nice bike! One of the local shops carries the Rocky Mountain. I'll try that one next. You know, usually I hate shopping. <g>

I'll have to wait for spring to try the Kona and the Jamis. The shop that carries those has sold off this season's demos. I guess the season is about over.

I was thinking of sticking with V-brakes instead of discs. It will save quite a bit of weight. And even thought the descents can be long, they're never wet. They may be covered with moon dust this time of year, but they are dry.

Originally posted by roadie gal

I was thinking of sticking with V-brakes instead of discs. It will save quite a bit of weight. And even thought the descents can be long, they're never wet. They may be covered with moon dust this time of year, but they are dry.

While Discs are not a necessity they are a great upgrade and do not add as much weight as you'd think. You're right, the trails in Tahoe are very dry but when you are on a very long descent you'll be very glad to have discs, plus they are much less maintenance once you have them set up. I've been running them for three years and would never go back to V's. *peer pressure* *peer pressure* ;)

Which ever way you decide to go you'll definitely enjoy the full-susp. bike. Good luck with your purchase...

DON'T GET HAYES. Sorry had to say it again. After my experience on the trail today I am not gonna do anything remotely extreme until I get hydros. Mechs are just plain dengerous (Locking up with no modulation). :)

Giant all the way. everything else is second rate.

Hey Maelstrom, clarify. Don't get Hayes mechanicals. Their hydros are great!

L8R

haha...Yeah sorry...sore body and not thinking straight. YEah hayes mechs blow. Hayes Hydros are what I intend to get :)

Alright heres my breakdown of it:

Giant- NRS is a decent system, it has it downfalls. While pedaling up hill if you break your candence the suspension will overcompensate and bob. Giant has high quality components, with good frames. Also with the NRS its not made for small bumps, you will feel all of those, the small to medium bumps are what it takes. Also it has 3 3/4 inches of travel, but it brake jacks, meaning that the rear suspension becomes inactive while braking.

Specialized. 4-Bar with the horst-link. The system is fully active at all times. It does not brake jack or bob. The frame you will probably get is an M4 frame, the last generation S-Works frame, nough said. I have the SJ Comp, with the fox forx. I love it, its active up hills which gives you more traction, its the quickest bike on the single track. Check out mbaction.com its Mountain Bike Action and the bike they race is an FSR and they have reviewed them. You get decent components for the money, nothing too lacking except for the seatpost and tires. It has 70-90mm of travel. Also mbaction said that the brakes on the FSR were almost as good as the mechs on the NRS 2.

Trek- The Fuel is rocker link. It is not 4-bar, so it does brake jack, but not bas bad as the NRS. Alsothe higher up you ride in the cog. the less active it is. Not too noticable. With Trek you get a lot of house components. Its a solid bike, but the travel is unadjustable, and it is not forgiving as the FSR. But Trek is smart about the way they speck their bikes, and obviously that goes for the Fishers as well.

Cannondale-Road bikes are good. The Jekyll is an old URT system (unified rear triangle), the same kind of system used on the Pacifics of the bike world. The suspension does bob, thats inherent, if you stand up to pedal, you will regert it. The headshocks are old technology and Canni is slowly phasing them out. You can look for yourself, I am not lying. Coda parts are not of the highest quality, they are notorious for breaking, and just being of weak quality in general. The brakes, they have a weird routing path, which causes them to be weak. The packaging deals are weak, often a Jeykll of 200$ more than a Fuel or FSR will still have weaker components.

GT- Thank god they are coming back, I know their bikes aren't ready yet, but when they are. It will be nice.

Jamis- Their Dakar's are good bikes. While the suspension desgin is I believe sign pivot with a link, its still good. The quality of their bikes is very high. They pack a high level of performance in a small package. It still brake jacks, and other traits that are associated with single pivot.

Kona-Like Jamies, but a different system, and these bikes are geared toward the hartier and of people. They are made to be ridden hard. The system is like the Fuels, (it may even be 4-bar) but it gets more travel. Again, a good bike.

Santa Cruz- The Superlight is a great bikes, solid frame, component spec, geomerty. But I believe it may be out of your price range. Once again its single-pivot and not fully active like the FSR.

Rockey Mountain- If you can look for an ETS-X, I hear those are good bikes.


Finally first and formost find a bike that fits you right, everything is second rate.[B]

Originally posted by Cdude
Alright heres my breakdown of it:

Cannondale-Road bikes are good. The Jekyll is an old URT system (unified rear triangle), the same kind of system used on the Pacifics of the bike world.
[B]


Just a quick correction, the Jeckyll is NOT a URT design, just a single pivot bike. URT's are what the old Gary Fisher Joshuas used in which the bottom bracket was on the swing arm.

No man, I am sorry you are mistaken. It is a URT design. Check out the information.

Originally posted by Cdude
No man, I am sorry you are mistaken. It is a URT design. Check out the information.

Ugh...why do I let myself get into this discussion. Sorry to bastardize your thread Roadie gal.

Cdude, check this link, read down about URTs and see what an URT really is. Is the bottom bracket on the swing arm on the Jekyll? If it's not then it's not a URT.

http://extreme.nas.net/articles/suspension.shtml


Here is another on URT:

http://www.math.chalmers.se/~olahe/Bike/Rear/urt.html

just got a 2003 fuel 90. i thought it might bob a little, but have been pleasantly suprised by lack of it. it absorbs the roughness and allows me to concentrate on riding. i will probably upgrade the bontrager stem and seatpost, and possibly the bar as well. for now i'm just enjoying the heck out of it.

GIANT!!!!! if you don't like Gaint, get Kona, if you don't like Kona, get Rocky Mountain, if you don't like Rocky Mountain, get Santa Cruz, if you don't want Santa Cruz, get Specialized, if you don't like Specialized, get Gary Fisher, if you don't like Gary Fisher, get Trek, but never, never get Cannondale. They are way over priced.


PS. Welcome to the dark side!!! ha ha. :eek:

Originally posted by shutterbiker
just got a 2003 fuel 90. i thought it might bob a little, but have been pleasantly suprised by lack of it. it absorbs the roughness and allows me to concentrate on riding. i will probably upgrade the bontrager stem and seatpost, and possibly the bar as well. for now i'm just enjoying the heck out of it.

CAnnondale is an overpriced piece of s#!t.

A $500 Giant is better than a $800 cannondale.

Cannondale jack up their prices because they claim to be an american company. There still made in china like every thing else.

You couldn't give me a Cannondale. I hate Cannondales so much that when i see someone riding on one, i run them off the road.

Kinda mean but:eek:

Originally posted by johndoe
Cannondale jack up their prices because they claim to be an american company. There still made in china like every thing else.

are you for real??? i thought they were "hand made in the USA"

is this what you think or do you have solid proof?

While I do not like canondale and still find no use for their higher prices with similar quality parts (or less but that would be another debate) I find it hard to believe they have been this successful by lying. Someone somewhere would have made this very public thereby seriously hurting the company.

Sorry I would need some serious proof to believe that donkey dung. Not just 'I have a friend online who works for blah blah and know blah blah'.

BTW If you are American you should know everything you say or post on forums is held accountable in a court of law(In the US). Just in case you felt like trying to obtain false proof.

Oh and 'like everything else'. I sure hope you aren't refering to other companies. I know of a number of canadian bike companies who wouldn't be to pleased by that statement. Rocky Mountian and Cove to name but two make their bikes in Vancouver. Unless you are refering to the tubing itself and not the actual design and building of the bike...well thats a different storey. :)

Uuum, the Cannondale plant in Penn state, and there was an article in a recent Bicycling magazine that toured the C'dale plant, and had pictures of the welders and assemblers. I'd like to know where you heard that C'dales are made in China, you can't go blowing false info or biased opinions based on false info and personal dislike around. And I don't think running anybody off the road is a good idea.

Originally posted by johndoe


Cannondale jack up their prices because they claim to be an american company. There still made in china like every thing else.

C-dales frames are made in the US. Now the parts that are put on the frames come from China...but that's a different story.



I hate Cannondales so much that when i see someone riding on one, i run them off the road.

Kinda mean but:eek:

What kind of statement is that? Especially from someone who is supposed to be a cyclist. Run them off the road? Are you like 12 yrs old?

Originally posted by Joe Pozer

What kind of statement is that? Especially from someone who is supposed to be a cyclist. Run them off the road? Are you like 12 yrs old?

Uhm, don't take everything said in life so seriously. Try not to bust a vein will you.:eek:

Hey JohnDoe,

I ride a Cannondale! My wife rides a Cannondale! My friends ride Cannondale's. Come on down and ride me (or us) off the road and see what happens to you!

Cannondales are "Made in the USA". And damn fine bikes! They spend a lot of time and money on research and design to make sure of that.

Take your rude statements and Cannondale diatribe somewhere else. I've seen too many bikes from a wide variety of manufacturers fail to say that ANY bike from a reputable manufacturer is crap!

Bring it on!:mad: :crash:

A2, we all know you love cannondale, hell we all know you probably orgasamed the first time you saw the scalped. Why dont you just post something that says "everything you ever say about cannondale i will respond to with something defending them" i mean cannondales are crap and i get sick of you pushing cannondale every chance u gethttp://216.40.241.68/contrib/sarge/Axe_anim.gif

I'm sick and tired of everyone bashing them!

I'm not saying they're the best bike out there!

I'm just saying that the "Cannondales are crap!" statements are unjustified. I would make similar arguments to comments made about GT's Giants, Kona...etc.

BTW, I get really pissed when people say they run people who ride them off the road!

Maybe I'm just tired today and got a little hot headed, but this kinda crap is not welcome here!

I'll make you a deal!

Stop bashing a specific brand, and I'll stop defending them!

L8R

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
I'm sick and tired of everyone bashing them!

I'm not saying they're the best bike out there!

I'm just saying that the "Cannondales are crap!" statements are unjustified. I would make similar arguments to comments made about GT's Giants, Kona...etc.

BTW, I get really pissed when people say they run people who ride them off the road!

Maybe I'm just tired today and got a little hot headed, but this kinda crap is not welcome here!

I'll make you a deal!

Stop bashing a specific brand, and I'll stop defending them!

L8R



I'm with you A2. It's so funny how everybody jumps on the bandwagon and starts bashing a manufacturer because it's the "Cool" thing to do. Every bike manufacturer has bikes that fail, whether they be C-dale, Giant, Kona, Rocky Mountain, Trek, etc.
Bike preference is a personal thing but bashing a brand because you've heard from Betty Lou's cousin, who heard from a kid down the street, who heard from his third cousin twice removed, who heard from thelma Lou in Arkansa that someone in Europe cracked a Cannondale frame is pretty dumb. Unfortunately most people like to repeat things without having first hand experience of whether those rumors are true or not.

I'm not saying C-dales are the greatest bikes in the world but my Raven has served me very well over the past three years. I own a Gary Fisher, a Giant, and even a Cortina along with my C-dale so I've ridden enough bikes to know what I like and what I don't like. My Raven, which supposedly cracks if you even breath on it, has held up for over three years and over 7,000 miles of off-road use and it's still going strong. Of course, I use this bike for it's intended use, pure XC. I don't go around hucking this bike but what I use it for it doing 5 hour rides with over 6,000 of elevation change. That is its intended purpose.

Alright roadie-gal, if you don't tell us what you got we (all us cool people in the MTB forum) we will not be responsible for our actions..Such as name calling....;)