Mountain Biking - New to MTB?

Im going to be straight up.
I didnt use the search button to look for threads about what im about to ask.


Basically, i dont even know if im in the right part of the forum.

But i was at a local Sports Athority(sp?) yesterday, and i decided to ride one of their mtbs that they had in the store around, since you know, everyone else was doing it. I had alot of fun, and ive always wanted to get a mtb that i could do some trail riding on, and maybe some small jumps.

I ride bmx, and im quite familiar with those types of bikes, and i do alot of trail riding, but mostly dirt jumps, which, because of thier size, i wouldnt feel too comfortable doing on an mtb.

Basically i just want a decent mtb that i can mess around on, ride through the woods by my house, and maybe hit some of the smaller jumps at our trails...

I dont want rear shocks, only front.
And i like disc brakes(they work 100x better than my u-brakes on my bmx...), but i dont know if i need them...

Help me out?

Thanks alot.

-Taylor.

Well, when you do find a bike, check out MORE's Places to Ride in NOVA (http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=25) if you're near there.

One thing I'd definitely reccommend is going to a real bike shop, not a generic sports store. If I remember correctly, The Bike Lane (http://thebikelane.com/index.cfm) is a great shop in Burke.

You could always get a dirt jumping bike.

+1

P.1, P.2, STP, Chase, 125, or trailorpark.

P.1, P.2, STP, Chase, 125, or trailorpark.

Translated:

Specialized P.1 or P.2
Giant STP
Cannondale Chase
Transition Trail-or-Park

That should help you find them ;) But wtf is a 125?

Norco(Dorco) 125

Norco(Dorco) 125

Thanks.

Norco(Dorco) 125
:D teheh

Im going to be straight up.
I didnt use the search button to look for threads about what im about to ask.


Basically, i dont even know if im in the right part of the forum.

But i was at a local Sports Athority(sp?) yesterday, and i decided to ride one of their mtbs that they had in the store around, since you know, everyone else was doing it. I had alot of fun, and ive always wanted to get a mtb that i could do some trail riding on, and maybe some small jumps.

I ride bmx, and im quite familiar with those types of bikes, and i do alot of trail riding, but mostly dirt jumps, which, because of thier size, i wouldnt feel too comfortable doing on an mtb.

Basically i just want a decent mtb that i can mess around on, ride through the woods by my house, and maybe hit some of the smaller jumps at our trails...

I dont want rear shocks, only front.
And i like disc brakes(they work 100x better than my u-brakes on my bmx...), but i dont know if i need them...

Help me out?

Thanks alot.

-Taylor.

Well, I presume that you know that Sports Authority is NOT the place to look for a quality mountain bike. Good, now we can get to business.

Go find a few local bike shops. Tell them what you would like to do. The "Urban Assault" brand of MTB is catching on now and you should be able to find an MTB with a strong frame that you can do a little jumping on. The most basic thing to do on a budget would be to buy a Specialized Hardrock as those frames are real tanks.

First time I've posted in this subforum for a while :p

You already have a BMX for your trails, you should get more of an XC bike I think. Like a hardrock or rockhopper from specialized...

I rode street and stuff with my MTB for a long time until I realized I wanted a BMX, and have ridden my MTB for a total of probably less than 3 hours in the past 4 months. When I want and can afford another MTB I'll be getting something around 20lb, probably rigid or like 3 inches of travel and single speed. A cheap mountain bike set up for light freeride isn't too great for climbing hills on trails, and it's definitely not as easy to do tricks as a BMX.

Disc brakes are pretty good, but the lower end bikes with disc brakes usually have crappy ones, the best mechanical ones are the Avids.
The v-brakes that come on a lot of bikes are decent, although the levers are sort of crap. You can sand the rims and tune them and they'll work pretty well.

dude, 26" wheels are awesome for dirt jumping. there are a ton of bikes pointed out already for dj'in. I roll a p2, and i started from riding 20" bmx bikes my whole life. now i'm hooked on 26" and thats pretty much all i ride now. but i've had so much more fun jumping my p2 than any 20"er i ever had

Well, when you do find a bike, check out MORE's Places to Ride in NOVA (http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=25) if you're near there.

One thing I'd definitely reccommend is going to a real bike shop, not a generic sports store. If I remember correctly, The Bike Lane (http://thebikelane.com/index.cfm) is a great shop in Burke.
a good source in central Va. is www.cyclingcentralva.org for stuff like that and has the ability to link into other areas of Va. for more sources

Well, when you do find a bike, check out MORE's Places to Ride in NOVA (http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=25) if you're near there.

One thing I'd definitely reccommend is going to a real bike shop, not a generic sports store. If I remember correctly, The Bike Lane (http://thebikelane.com/index.cfm) is a great shop in Burke.
Thanks for your help, but i really dont like The Bike Lane...
Long story...


I had a feeling that the bike i was riding at Sports Athority(sp?) wasnt the greatest, but i still had fun, and i cant tell the difference...

Is there any sort of MTB mailorder or catologue, so i wouldnt have to get one from my local bike shop, since they are super overpriced, and my friend that worked there got fired for giving people like me stuff for cost...(to the best of my knowledge)


Translated:
Specialized P.1 or P.2
Giant STP
Cannondale Chase
Transition Trail-or-Park
That should help you find them ;) But wtf is a 125?
How much do the bikes above range? Giant seems to be at every local bike shop here, are they good for MTB? Because their BMX stuff sucks.

If you live in a bona-fied city, you should have more than one LBS. Are they overpriced? Well, that all depends on how much of your own work you can do.

Your friend got fired for giving stuff away at cost? What do you expect. Pretty much everyplace has an employee discount. And it's generally acknowledged that you do not steal from the establishment by applying your discount to things that would otherwise be profit.

Yeah, everyone DOES do it ... but there are limits. You have to limit extending your discount to merely your CLOSE friends as opposed to everyone you know.

If you live in a bona-fied city, you should have more than one LBS. Are they overpriced? Well, that all depends on how much of your own work you can do.

Your friend got fired for giving stuff away at cost? What do you expect. Pretty much everyplace has an employee discount. And it's generally acknowledged that you do not steal from the establishment by applying your discount to things that would otherwise be profit.

Yeah, everyone DOES do it ... but there are limits. You have to limit extending your discount to merely your CLOSE friends as opposed to everyone you know.
Haha yeah...

And i do have a few bike shops around here, just none that i want to do business with.

Are there any MTB mailorders, like i had asked before?