Mountain Biking - Newbie question for a new mountain bike

Good morning Guy's and Gal's I'm new to the forum and have been reading posts for the past few days. I find this to be a informative site and hope to gain alot more from it. I'll start out with before I even found this forum, common sense tells me that Wal-Mart bikes are junk. My ex-boss was really into road and mountain biking. He had a couple of Cannondale's and his friends had Specialized and so forth. I have rode good bikes and I know the difference. Unfortunatley I don't have that kind of money much less even $300 to spend on a bike. Summertime is around the corner and my girlfriend and I want to get into biking. We live in west Georgia where there is a nice bike track called the Silver Comet. I'm sure alot of you have heard of and use it if your from this area. Last Sunday we went and picked up two Roadmaster SX mountain bikes for $68 each and purchased a few necessity's. After bringing the bikes home and going over the entire bikes to tighten and adjust everything the best it could be, as opposed to the Wal-Mart bike afficionado, we went riding. As I figured the bikes rode exactly the way I thought, like CRAP, but for the mean time (2years?????) I will keep them until after I have purchased my house and get my financial situation straightened out (Divorce). Now for the question I want to ask you guys, they have a Schwinn aluminum model there that is 168.95. Yesterday I went and fiddled with it and tried to compare to the Roadmaster like I had purchased. The Schwinn seemed lighter and a little better built. I'm not sure if this is true or not. I know Schwinn's are not what they use to be back in the day from reading this forum. My question to you guys is, if you HAD to choose between the Roadmaster or the Schwinn, what would it be. This bike needs to last me about 2 years until I can afford, a good bike that I might spend $800 on. There is also another brand called NEXT which I have never heard of. Remember guys I can not spend over $200 and really need to choose between the two. Hopefully in two years or so I will get a real bike and post pictures for you and contribute more as I learn. I am looking forward to my new hobby, just hope my girlfriend will stay in it with me. I'll leave the three links so you can view the differences between the three, for those of you that will take the time to help me. Thanks in advance for any input you guy's give me. P.S. excuse the grammar, not a good subject of mine.


Schwinn Aluminum (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=1913345&cat=5304&type=5&dept=4125&path=0%3A4125%3A4178%3A4180%3A4183%3A5304)

Schwinn 2.6 FS (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=1913343&cat=5304&type=5&dept=4125&path=0%3A4125%3A4178%3A4180%3A4183%3A5304)

Roadmaster that I bought Sunday (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=1999611&cat=5304&type=5&dept=4125&path=0%3A4125%3A4178%3A4180%3A4183%3A5304)

http://www.nitrouspeople.com/powell.jpg

Well i had a nice response typed out but then hit my dumb mouse-back button. Anyways go with the Schwinn if it feels and rides nicer compared with the roadmaster. I dunno but a bike called roadmaster that's a mountain bike, sounds kinda sketchy. Have you thought about going with a used bike? If it's in good condition you could probably find some decent deals. Talk to your LBS about a used bike for under $200. They talk to plenty of people who have bikes so might be something to look into. Whatever route you go, you get to ride! Good luck!

AAAAAAAHAHA! GREAT PIC!! I wish this board had more funny pics like other forums I'm a member of :o



But seriously... get the Schwinn.. I know they aren't what they used to be, but Schwinn is better than any Walmart brand, and should come with better componentry.

I won't comment on the above picture, but WTF???

Anyways, have you considered buying used??? You might be better off with a good 5 year old used bike than a Next, Murry, Royce Union...etc.

I like the comment on the Schwinn Alum., ONLY WEIGHS 40LBS!!!!

Seriously, I'd ride the Roadmaster into the ground, save your money and buy a decent bike when the time comes. Keep checking back with you LBS and ask about used bikes. I know of several customers that sell their old bikes for pennies when they upgrade. I just had a customer ask if I knew of anyone wanting a Cannondale Super V 400 for like $350. Deals are available, you just have to be patient and look around. Keep the Roadmaster, but be ready to buy quality if and when you seriously get into the sport!

L8R

Originally posted by a2psyklnut [B]I like the comment on the Schwinn Alum., ONLY WEIGHS 40LBS!!!!/B]

I laughed at the same thing, but it is a little bit lighter than the others. I have been to one of the LBS and they cheapest used they had was in the $350 range. I will definatley look into used or new as I will probably put down around $800 when the time comes. Until then I want to save money and get into the sport. I did forget to mention that I will be riding about 90% of the time on pavement so there will not be a ton of abuse on these cheap bikes.

A neighbor just bought a closeout specialized hardrock for I think it was $219.00? It has no suspension fork but the fork on any $68.00 bike will be worse than no suspension fork IMO.(you didn't say it had a suspension fork but I am assuming it does as they just HAVE to put one on there to make people think they are getting suspension). The schwinn will be better than what you bought, NEXT is junk......tom

Raleigh M20s are priced around $200. I got one for my girlfriend and I wish it'd be a little bigger coz I wanna ride it. :p They come with some nice Shimano grip shifters and good Tektro v-brakes. They're a great budget ride and allow future upgradeability.

I'm in the market for a new bike. My budget's around $400, but like a2psyklnut said, there are deals available. Look on ebay for sellers in your area. I was looking at a Trek 6000 for $300 just the other day!!