Mountain Biking - Officially bought my first real mountain bike, how did i do?

Well i spent a good time doing some research and decided given the amount of money i had i would need to buy used. I spent a good bit of time looking through craigslist and i pulled the trigger on one last night.

I bought a 3-4 year old Trek 4500. They guy said he only rode it about a half a dozen times due to the fact he likes riding his road bike with his wife more. He wanted $300 for it.

The bike looked to be in GREAT shape, no scratches at all, no cracks or anything in the frame or welds either. But what does worry me was the largest sprocket in the front had like 3 or 4 teeth that were rounded pretty bad and 2 that look like 1/2 of tooth is missing. I wasnt sure if this is common or if this is going to be something i will need to fix soon. before i bought it i took it for a ride and went through all the gears, and didnt seem to have any problems.

I ended up getting it for $270, did i do ok or am i in trouble with the teeth?

P.s. came with an after market seat (oasis) which looks like it cost around $50.

Hard to say about the gear teeth without pictures. Some of the teeth on the gears are shaped differently to aid shifting, could that be what you're seeing? If not, then perhaps the guy bashed the front sprocket against something really hard. Gears typically don't "round" when they wear (the gap between them wears which can round one side of the tooth, but not the top of the whole tooth), and they shouldn't break off. If he bashed something hard with the bike then you may need to replace that cog.

ill try and see if i can figure out how to post pics....

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?139470a4df.jpghere is a picture of it

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.139470a4df.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?139470a4df.jpg)http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?139470a4df.jpg

those looks like they are for shifting


CLEAN THAT CHAIN!

If the rest of the bike looks like the one pic thats showing up on my screen, I think you did real good for $270. Do you have a full pic of the bike? How about posting it?
I tried the Trek site to identify the year of the bike, but I could not get the archive to work correctly.

i will post more pics of the bike in just a sec

I did find out what year it was using bikepedia.... its a 2000, so the guy plainly lied to me, kind of dissapointing. It has pretty low end componantry compared to the 2004 version i thought it was... (Acera levers, altus C90 front derail, Alivio rear derail, and Rock Shox Jett, 2.5")

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?Year=2000&Brand=Trek&Model=4500&Type=bike

dont those teeth look pretty messed up though?

I think i will ride it like it is till i get some more experience, i have a ways to go before im doing things hard enough that i will actually need all of those teeth.

in the end i think i got a bit of raw deal but i will survive, next time ill do a bit more research :P

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.5b4cbc6259.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?5b4cbc6259.jpg)

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.1ffbfa8195.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?1ffbfa8195.jpg)

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/th.0226b3fb5d.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?0226b3fb5d.jpg)

Ha ha Dude! clean your garage! Looks like a good find! I do suspect one of those teeth to be a tad shorter than it should be. Shouldn't cause any trouble though. What tires are those? they aren't Velociraptors or Mythos, maybe old smoke/dart combo?

lol not my garage, its my father in laws. He has TONS o crap in there.

anyways the tires are the original ones i believe they are:

- Front: 26 x 2.10" Bontrager Jones, Rear: 26 x 1.95" Bontrager Jones

i thought they would be in way worse shape being 8 years old though lol

I had seen one of those old "Jones" front tires before come to think of it, but never saw the back one.
Any how enjoy it man!

I had nearly the same bike, only with a different color scheme and slightly better components. Put probably 4k miles on it before giving it to a friend. Now he's riding it. Those are indeed the original tires, my old bike still wears that same front tire, but the rear wore out long ago. I kinda liked that rear, not a great tire but not awful. The frame however is, as near as I can tell unbreakable. Heavy as a boat anchor (but that's what you'd expect at that price point), but solid.

I wouldn't worry too much about the big ring in front, I only use my on the road. And even then I don't use it often.

Looks real good for $270....

Maybe you can work for your inlaw and clean that garage for some $ for upgrades.. put those coolers on ebay

haha no can do those coolers are used for his boy scouting mountain climbing group. He takes them out and mountain climbing and repelling about once every few months and they got a lot of use. The garage in reality isnt that cluttered its like a 5 car garage that is just a small space of it that is slightly cluttered, ill put up a pick of the whole thing so you have a better idea a bit later:D

I feel much better now that you folks are telling me i got a decent deal, its now time to start learning this new sport!

I suspected your bike was older than 3-4 years when I saw the pictures. Not a bad deal, but the seller was clearly not honest with you. Ride it and enjoy it until it is time for an upgrade!

I think you did well. Ride it until the teeth wear out.
Now go add a Cane Creek Thudbuster Suspension Post (http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Suspension_Seatpost/product_23209.shtml) and some clipless pedals are you're in business!

I think you did well. Ride it until the teeth wear out.
Now go add a Cane Creek Thudbuster Suspension Post (http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Suspension_Seatpost/product_23209.shtml) and some clipless pedals are you're in business!

Why are you posting this particular piece of advice everywhere? Suspension seatposts work for some people. Apparently it did for you. But the reality is that a lot of people dislike them, and they do not perform, like you claim, like a real full suspension bike.

I think you did well. Ride it until the teeth wear out.
Now go add a Cane Creek Thudbuster Suspension Post (http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Suspension_Seatpost/product_23209.shtml) and some clipless pedals are you're in business!

I think the OP got a decent bike at a decent price.He should just slap on a helmet and get on the bike and he's in business. He'll know what he needs to add/change with a little bit of time on the bike.

I think the OP got a decent bike at a decent price.He should just slap on a helmet and get on the bike and he's in business. He'll know what he needs to add/change with a little bit of time on the bike.

Well said.

Thanks for all the encouragement guys, thats exactly what i plan on doing. Gonna grab a helmet and go riding. I figure maybe after i get the basics down i can grab some clipons, but for now im gonna try and learn what the heck im doing lol:D.

I think the OP got a decent bike at a decent price.He should just slap on a helmet and get on the bike and he's in business. He'll know what he needs to add/change with a little bit of time on the bike.

+1

The bike will be great to go out and have fun mountain biking. If and when the time comes to spend money on the bike, it will be to replace parts that broke or wore out, but a Thudbuster is one of the last things I'd spend my money on.

while it's possible that what you're describing is a chainring meant to 'grab' the chain when shifting under power, i've never seen such a component group on a midrange bike.

more likely someone bashed the chainring on a log or rock and used a dremmel to file down the bent teeth--it'll still work... just not that well.

lol i said clipons... sorry i meant clipless pedals, was thinking of clip-on for motorcycles at the time i was typing:P

Ha ha Dude! clean your garage! Looks like a good find! I do suspect one of those teeth to be a tad shorter than it should be. Shouldn't cause any trouble though. What tires are those? they aren't Velociraptors or Mythos, maybe old smoke/dart combo?

As far as price goes ... Caveat Emptor. He paid too much considering that similar or superior quality new bikes can be had for about $300. These would have come with warranties and likely free checkups. The bike should have cost $200 or less. For anyone else reading, go shopping before you buy a used bike.

The missing half-tooth is intentional, it's there for shifting. And if it wasn't intentional, it will help shifting.

In general, the bike looks to be in good condition. Do, clean the chain ASAP and use a dry lube to oil it. While the big ring looks to be in good condition, the dirtiness of that chain would suggest wear to me.

Another posted AGAINST Thudbusters. What I have found is that some people love them and some people hate them. If you are super finnicky about where everything is, the Thudbuster might annoy you as it does change the orientation of you body vs. the cranks. If you can "go with the flow" Thudbusters are great as they allow you to stay seated rougher terrain which lessens fatigue.

The missing half-tooth is intentional, it's there for shifting.

Here is a middle chainring,(deore) excellent example of ramps, pins and "special teeth". No where on it is a tooth as short as the third one down from the chainstay, on the OP's picture.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NOyyUPnJL._SS400_.jpg

Here is an big chainring from and LX setup. Again the special teeth are no where near as short as the one I'm reffering to on the OP's bike.
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/imgWrapper.aspx?img=/cg/cg407a12blk10444t.jpg&type=3

ya i dont intend on buying a thudbuster. I have a while before i can spend any money on the bike to be honest unless something breaks. I will definetly clean the chain though didnt realize that was very dirty... how often should you be cleaning your chain?

ya i dont intend on buying a thudbuster. I have a while before i can spend any money on the bike to be honest unless something breaks. I will definetly clean the chain though didnt realize that was very dirty... how often should you be cleaning your chain?
The answers you seek are here (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html)

As far as price goes ... Caveat Emptor. He paid too much considering that similar or superior quality new bikes can be had for about $300. These would have come with warranties and likely free checkups. The bike should have cost $200 or less. For anyone else reading, go shopping before you buy a used bike.

So you think i would be better off with a 3700?

I wrote the guy an email who sold it to me and he basically said he had no idea it was that old and he payed well over 500 for the bike and plus aftermarket seat, so in the end he spent $600+ supposivly 4 years ago to buy it. In the end of the email he says " so in mind I was selling a practically new bike for half the cost. Again, not sure what I can do to make it up to you other than apologize again, but if you can think of anything please let me know."

so should i ask him to take it back and then go buy a 3700?

what you guys think?

You have a fine looking and working bike that you didn't pay too much money for. go and enjoy it.

So you think i would be better off with a 3700?

I wrote the guy an email who sold it to me and he basically said he had no idea it was that old and he payed well over 500 for the bike and plus aftermarket seat, so in the end he spent $600+ supposivly 4 years ago to buy it. In the end of the email he says " so in mind I was selling a practically new bike for half the cost. Again, not sure what I can do to make it up to you other than apologize again, but if you can think of anything please let me know."

so should i ask him to take it back and then go buy a 3700?

what you guys think?

I looked at Trek's website and apparently they are still putting those integrated Alivio 8 speed combo shifters on $580 bikes. Sounds like your deal is done and you came out ok. I would not buy a 3700 since it is only 7 speed.

So ... the guy is right from that standpoint. Though, I seem to remember when I bought a Giant Yukon (with disc brakes) for $430 four years ago that the $550 Pricepoint would have gotten me a bike with Deore level shifters. Looks like prices have gone up since then. I build my bikes now and I really wouldn't even consider touching any bike in that price range as there are so many throwaway components on them (like EF-50 shifters). You have to spend money up front to save money.

you could have saved a bit more and bought a Specialized hardrock sport $350 in a local lbs new!(they have closeouts too you know...)
I got a 03 trek 4300 from craigs for $180
and a specialized hr 06' for $170


get your money back!

I think your Bike is a 2001, because I have the exact same one. That is the only year that color was offered.

I just read the rest of the posts. I have a 3700 that is two years old. It is a hell of a lot heavier. If you were closer to me in Cleveland, Ohio I would trade you even up for my newer 3700. I loved my 3700 until I got the 4500. I also have two Y3 full suspension bikes from Trek, an 820 and a 930. The 4500 is a damn good bike.

dude, random question... are you in Roanoke or the surrounding area? That is literally almost the exact bike, just in a different color, I bought for the same price and it came with the Oasis seat (mine is a 2004, yours looks like a 2002 BTW). They had a whole fleet of them for sale. Get rid of that Oasis, it's crap. I have never had more taint pain than with that seat, it's just too wide on the "nose" part of it to be comfortable for more than 5-6 miles on a trail in my opinion.

It's a deore...
It's decent.