Mountain Biking - *Suggestions, please!*

Alright, I've been riding a Trek 800 mountain track for...about 9 years. You would be correct to assume I'm not a hardcore biker. The bike has served my needs just fine. I've been riding a little more lately, over moderate to rough terrain, and I've found my nads are bigger than my bikes ie; it gives out before I do. I've took two pretty good falls in the past week. The second one was off a 8 ft. drop off, in which I managed to bend one of my barends to where its almost touching my handle bar, and I'm pretty sure my derailleur is toast.

The point of my little story is I'm just not sure the 9 year old bike is worth fixing. It currently needs brakes and a derailleur, along with either taking off or replacing the barends. Not to mention the whole bike feels a little "loose" after the last fall, despite tightening of everything with an allen wrench.

I think what would be better for me is to "upgrade" (ha) to a newer, although cheaper bike. My budget is my number one concern...<$200. Most of my riding will be trails, and I am fairly hard on a bike. It doesn't need to withstand huge dropoffs or anything too technical, until I fall off one again.

I found a Mongoose Revolution mtb for $129.99 w/ free shipping and wanted get some feedback about it. Laugh all you want, but I am nearly broke ;). I'm not expecting very high quality components here, but I would appreciate it if some of you more knowledgeable would care to share some strengths and weaknesses of the bike/value.

I would appreciate any and all input, here's the link if you would take a look.
http://dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1202669&cp=713103.887561.886959&page=2&pageBucket=0&parentPage=family

Check out you local bike shops and pawn shops for a good used bike. You'll get more bang for your buck if you shop carefully. I ride past a local pawn shop near my office and I see decent bikes parked out front all the time. People buy mountain bikes then don't ride them like they think they will plus our economy stinks around here so I'm seeing more bikes lined up out front. I'm also seeing more used rides in LBSs, they are taking some trades to stimulate slow business around here so cash in hand perks them up on a used ride they don't want hanging around. If you get one from a pawn shop, have your local PD run the serial number before you purchase to make sure you don't end up with a hot bike.

To be brutally honest you're not gonna find anything for under $200. And i highly doubt you did an 8' drop and only bent a bar-end. If you want a bike that will realy do the trick you need to pony up some money

Wipeout, you can get a really decent bike if you can cough up an extra $100. Work some overtime, mow lawns, babysit even, but never and I mean never buy a bike from a dept store!

And i highly doubt you did an 8' drop and only bent a bar-end.

I wasn't upright when I landed. My body hit the ground before the bike. I landed on the right side, hence the right bar end and messed up derailleur.



I found a new mongoose inferno full suspension bike with a judy tt front fork that says it lists for 599.99 on sale for $270. ??

I'm on my way out now to check out used bikes.

The $129 bike you found will probably take much less of a beating than you old Trek. I couldn't find anything about the inferno on the Mongoose website, but most full-suspension rigs under $1000 are usually too heavy with too poor of specs to be worthwhile. Not having seen the inferno, however, I won't pass judgement.

Probably the best way to go is to go, as suggested, is to look for a used hardtail. The Specialized P-series can really take a beating

Found a used GT aggressor, didn't look long enough to see whether it was a 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0. Price was $200. Front suspension was SR suntour (sp?) and rapid fire shifting.

Other than that, no used bikes in my area worth looking at.

Any opinions of GT mtb's? I've been researching a lot but personal experience is much more useful.

I have a gt aggressor.It was my first mtb.I thrashed it pretty well and it is still going strong.The suntour fork is nothing special but i had no problems out of it.Mine was made before they had 1.0,2.0,3.0.If it' cheap enough,rides good,and you like it i say go for it.

wipeout, I think that he was implying that your frame wold be in more then one peice after an 8' drop on a rigid hardtail like yours.

Personally, I would stick with the old Trek Mountain Track. Those old steel bikes were better than a lot of bikes these days, and for the type of riding you say you do, I don't see any reason to have to buy a new bike. Sure, things are going to need to be replaced after 9 years, but the frame is still most likely pretty solid. For $195 you can buy a new lx derailleur (~$40), new avid v-brakes (~$25), new barends (~$15), new cables (~$15), new cassette and chain if needed (~$50), and a professional tune-up (~$50).

If you did that, your bike would thank you, and you would have a much better ride than if you spent that same money on a $195 Mongoose.

Then again, there's always that thrill of getting a new bike. If you found a decent used bike for $200, that would be a good idea as well.