Mountain Biking - What Bike To Buy ???????

I am basically looking for a mountain bike to withstand anything my heart desires as this is my first bike i am struggling with what to get.

i am currently looking at the commencal combi disc http://www.commencal.com/bike/mtb/index_en.htm
or the trek jack 2 http://www.trekbikes.com/int/en/bikes/2008/mountain_hardtail/jack/jack2/

if anyone out there has any good advice on whats a good bike to get as a first bike
or any helpful info i will be stoked

thanks cheers

Tell us more about the kind of riding you want to do, your budget, etc..

i am looking to ride to college and back as well as to meet up with my mates on the weekend and cruise around the awesome urban enviroment of Johannesburg outh africa.My budget is around $500

i am looking to ride to college and back everyday as well as cruise around with my mates in the awesome urban enviroment of JOHANNESBURG,SOUTH AFRICA .My budget is around $500

cheers

I only ride offroad MTB, so let the urban style guys check in here.

It sounds like you would be mostly on roads, sidewalks, paths, etc. so I would think you wouldn't need a full suspension ride. But that's just my opinion. Test ride them if you can, and buy what feels best.

get mongoose xr-200 cheap, and good.

get mongoose xr-200 cheap, and good.

The OP has $500 to spend, and can afford to get a decent bike. Don't tell him to get a throw-away piece of crap bike that he will later regret buying.


brixton-

Are the Trek and Commencal bikes you linked available at a local bike shop? A good shop would be a valuable resource for you.

the commencal would be availble at a local bike store but the thing is i know the owner and i dont know if his advice would be honest as to which is better because he would have to order the trek and he seems to have some deal going with commencal if you know what i mean...
thanks for all the info so far thou...

Most bike shops specialize in their favorite brands. This is not a bad thing. It actually save them money because they only have to get training on a few brands compared to employing people to service all the brands.

What brands does your local bike shop sell and service?

Commencal looks like it has good support in South Africa. And it looks like a totally awesome bike with lots of use on the professional biking circuits.

Just discovered Trek has great support in South Africa too. You just gotta find a bike shop that sells Trek so you can compare you can compare Trek support with Commencal support and compare the different bikes.

and compare the different bikes.

Yeah, by riding them.

get mongoose xr-200 cheap, and good.

That's a Wal Mart toy. Not a bike.

i am looking to ride to college and back as well as to meet up with my mates on the weekend and cruise around the awesome urban enviroment of Johannesburg outh africa.My budget is around $500

With your bugdet, Commencal is way out of the question. They are about as expensive as you can get.

i have looked at commencal and they really arent that expensive i am not lookin at the full suspension obviously

cheers people you have all helped alot better that www.mtbr.com (http://www.mtbr.com)
SWEET

What is the price of the one that you are looking at?

sorry its taken so long to reply
i have been looking at the commencal combi disc and it retails for about R5500 so i think it works out to about $500 .I am really leaning towards getting it, to me it just seems like an all round solid bike
http://www.commencal.com/bike/mtb/index_en.htm i would really value your opinion wannagetgood so please take a look if you have a chance
cheers thanks

coudlnt get a look at the 08 but the 07 seems like a well specced bike for the price. I 've been looking in the same price range for my wife and the commencal is better speced than any I can buy here for the price. Now you need to ride it and see if it suits you, spec isnt as important as fit and feel. My haro was a cheapie compared to my kona but I still miss the haro. You need to ride it.