Mountain Biking - Finally...budget bike...lol

I had been waiting for a long time for this bike. I couldn't pay a lot for this as my budget was only 300 CDN, so I saw this bike sale so I bought it. Nothing great but will do for a few years, then I'm going to get some serious upgrades.

26" Schwinn 210-FS, front suspension mountain bike
Steel hardtail diamond frame with oversize tubing and RST front suspension fork
Shimano Tourney front and rear derailleurs
21-speed SRAM MRX indexed grip shifters
Pro Max alloy V-type brakes
Alloy rims, stem, seat post, pedals
Kenda K816 26 x 2.1" tires
20" frame
Blue colour

What kind of steel is it? Do you know if the frame will take more than a 7 spd cassette, and will the rear hub?

I truly don't know. I know it's High-Ten steel, and theres a seven speed cassette in the rear and a 3 in the front

That will be tough to upgrade. More than likely you will be stuck with 7 spd which is virtually impossible to find.

Actually...the main upgrades would be the shifters, front shocks,saddle, rims and brakes. What I need NOW is an xc fork that will work with my bike which is under 250 CDN and has a decent amount of travel (over 1 inch).

You must realize.. that once you spend all the money on upgrades, it is simply more cost effective just to buy a new bike from your LBS.

You must realize.. that once you spend all the money on upgrades, it is simply more cost effective just to buy a new bike from your LBS.

That's what heppened to me.

I bought a Trek 4300, and now I have spent about $600 on upgrades since I bought it 4 months ago. Woulda been cheaper if I bought a higher-level bike, but if I had done that, I owuld not have really gotten into mountain biking and would not have the knowledge I have now.

-Garrett

Good thing about upgrading apart from experience is the fact you end up with a parts bin for getting you out there if you break components and need to get them replaced.

see, I'm 15 and my parents are kinda defiant, so even if i spend 600 bux on parts, they don't want me to get a new bike whatsoever. So all I need now is advice to get an xc fork. Under 250 CDN. PLEASE?!?!

I know how that goes...I'm 16 and I started riding about a year ago first on a Trek 4500, then I bought a used KHS Alite 1000 with XT for 400 bucks and I've just been upgrading continually, the only original part on it now are the cranks, fork, and headset, its not even a KHS anymore, its a Schwinn Homegrown.

But to answer your fork question, I made a post in the fork thread answering it, but I'll copy it here just for fun:

Most any fork that uses oil will lock up like that in cold weather, you need to get heavier (right?) viscosity oil for it.

250 CDN=about 200 USD right? For that you can get a decent fork, Pricepoint.com has the Manitou Skareb comp on sale for 180 USD, a Rockshox Duke XC for 190, or if you wanted to spend a little more, a Manitou Black Comp for 210 USD. They're all decent forks, the Skareb (3' Travel) is more lightweight then all of them, but there have been stories of them breaking a lot. The Duke (3-4' travel) is a good fork, has all the bells and whistles (U-turn, etc), and makes a good all around fork, although there have been some breakage issues with that one as well. The Manitou Black Comp (3-4' or 4-5' travel) is a general do anything workhorse, from what it sounds like, that would probably be your best choice.

Here's the link: http://www.pricepoint.com/thumb.htm...&sort=styleName

That's what heppened to me.

I bought a Trek 4300, and now I have spent about $600 on upgrades since I bought it 4 months ago. Woulda been cheaper if I bought a higher-level bike, but if I had done that, I owuld not have really gotten into mountain biking and would not have the knowledge I have now.

-Garrett

Same with me, I started with a Trek 4300 too, I've spent alot more then you though :) Right now the only things on it that are stock are the derailers (which are going right away) and the frame and handle bars, the rest is all upgraded.

What's the U-Turn feature on forx!?!? I don't get it. Plus...I can't quite get the fork right now as my parents are not letting me even get a freaking Judy TT for 80 somethin USD. I'm going to do what they did to me. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Grounded. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging. Nagging.

My RST fork is USELESS. Doesn't take much at all!

Return the Schwinn and get that other bike that you mentioned in the other post. 2 Years worth of tune ups is a $200 value easily

hooligan......

Do you have an after school/weekend job? If not, I would suggest getting one to pay for upgrades and what not. That way it is your own money and not your parents that your spending!

During junior high and high school I worked weekends during the school year and 40 hr/wk during the summer. Even at minimum wage that was enough to pay for all the extra goodies I wanted.


Good luck!

U-Turn is a feature on some Rockshox forks that allows you to twist a knob to change the travel...Manitou and Marzocchi both have something that does it as well on some forks.

Btw, don't get a Judy TT, it won't be much better than your RST. I'd either save for a midrange fork like you were thinking, or return the thing.

*choke* *agh*

Dang canadian tire has a *no refunds* but...I managed to refund quite a few things there, plus I have good short term social skillz. I'll TRY to refund the Schwinn...as it's in repair...ALREADY...2 Weeks and in repair. Bent rims, locked out shocks, clicking noise when the chain drags on front derailleur. I'll complain bout service. And alos...before I even bought the men's schwinn, there was a tag on the box saying "mens" so I got it and opened the box (unassembled) only to find a womens bike, I had to return that and buy a MENS schwinn. Thankfully I got that and ended up waiting for repairs after 3 times use, not on ne trails, but on a small hill and on real CANADIAN snow.

My plan: Complain bout service, attempt a refund, then finally...Wait for ur guyz comments to help me find some bike shops around town (Toronto) and get a decent bike for around $300 CDN. I know it's not much but at least better than that piece of schwinn crap.

hey, try bicycle spokesman in richmond hill for a bike under 300 dollars. They are going out of business and they have to move out by jan31. I got my old judy lying aorund somewhere. If i find it you could take it.

Or online. eBay or mtbr.com classifieds would be good...Its where I got my first real bike.

Parents ain't takin me to richmond hill... :( And what if my refund goes unsucessfully :(:(:(:( I am going to ... I-I....I hate canadian tire..

ride what you have and have fun with it. My first bike was a CCM from Canadian Tire. Rode it into the ground then bought a hardrock frame and built it up from there. Forget what your riding and enjoy the ride.

thats good advice mindbogger...I truly never thot of that since I thot of it as a shabby bike. plus...This is MY SECOND BIKE :(!!!! AND MY OLD BIKE WAS ****!! This one's okay...

I agree with mindbogger. Just ride and have fun, remember though, it is a very low budget bike so don't ride it too hard or you'll find it is in the shop most of the time. Only upgrade what you brake or bend.

The second thing I would recommend is trying to get some kind of a job and earn your own money to spend. You'll learn a lot that way. The first thing you would learn is to really appriciate what you have. If you worked to get it you'll be more likely to take care of it.

When I was too young to work, I did yard work for my neighbors.

there are a bunch of good bikeshops all around toronto. you just gotta figure out which one's closest to you.

duke's on queen (http://www.dukesonqueen.com/) is a good shop, they're located at queen and bathurst.

cycle solutions (http://www.cycle-solutions.com/) is another good shop. they've got two shops, one downtown and another in scarborough.

i bought my first bike from ideal bike (http://www.idealbike.com/), they're down by queen and leslie.

and if you're willing to wait until spring, the toronto bike show's (http://www.telsec.net/bicycleshow/) going to be in march. they're sure to have some pretty good deals on stuff there.

I can't really get a job, so I get like a 7 buck allowance a week :(. Why can't I get a job? My parents are making me take french, swimming and martial arts...too bize!

Everyone can get a job (even if it's only a few hours a week). I made about $3600 this past summer working at Wonderland.

Of course, living across the street helps.

Well...

If canadian tire don't repair my bike in like 2 weex, Im gonna complain bout the awful service...(i had gotten a women's bike instead of a mens because it was in the box, and the box said it was a mens, but actually it was a womens) and the poor quality and why the hell it takes so long to replace a fork and a rim and tune up friking front derailler which the chain drags by on my 7 th rear gear.

Then, Im going to get like a decent bike which would cost about 300-350, tax not included from my LBS, cuz my parents are paying 100 bux, and I gots like 300 to spend.