Mountain Biking - Choices for a new bike

Hey <EDITED Please read again for list of bikes that are being considered>

I've done some research now and due to mtbr.com not working (tried adjusting my own privacy/security settings) and not showing me the actual reviews, w/out googling, I have found these bikes.

GT Avalanche 2.0 stock = 400 CAD. And with some haggling, GT Avalanche w/out suntour, but now has a EXR Comp for altogether 550 CAD (I know that GT is sold to pacifix, I think, but they're response to my inquiry was "Companies always get bought and sold and gt still makes their quality bikes").

Specialized Hardrock 450 CAD

Iron Horse Warrior disc 500 CAD (hard 2 find)

Norco Wolverine 479 CAD

And I forget the rest.

Oh yea

Marin Bear Valley 540 CAD

Kona Fire Mountain 540 CAD

Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc 630 CAD

Will add more as soon as possible.


I want an urban bike for the 400-700 CAD price range, but if that is not possible, I will want a bike that is strong enough to handle small drops, but will easily accelerate.

You should prolly check the sticky bro...

I did, but those bikes are far out of my price range and I'm talking CAD and they are talking about kona scraps, which are about 900 CAD here!! With tax thats over a grand!

You want to buy a hardrock (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=64052)
tassajara disc vs. hardrock disc (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=63825)
Are Raleigh bikes worth buying? (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=63088)
Selling your old bike and getting a new one. (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=62059)

How many threads about buying a bike are you going to start before you actually buy one?

I want to be educated well, as none of those threads had more of a specific topic and a specific group of bikes. And the raleigh thread was just there to ask if they were still good. Now I have a price range and have made my mind up, 99%. Not to mention I never got too many helpful responses, as I usually do in my other threads. Bikes are not decisions that you often rush into unless you have money burning a hole in your wallet (a2psyklnut lol). I need a lot of help. Can't seem to find a bike that best suits me.

Don't like GT
Don't like THAT ironhorse
The specialized is decent
I love the Norco hts

My choice is simple....

:D I love your judging mael.

Are there any ironhorses that you can suggest at this price level?

:)...at 500 cdn you don't have a lot of options really. Unless you look for a closeout. The ironhorse frame is not in the same caliper of the sasquatch/wolverine AT ALL. The hardrock has never appealed to me. The kona scrap is up there but expensive too.

Nothing comes to mind...get the wolverine :)

Just like in real life, the wolverine is small but a very feared predator, of the badger family. Well, at least I think that it is part of the badger. The bike is cheap, but I guess pretty nice. The LBS toldme it could go for 2-3 foot drops and not too much more before the frame would crack. I'll be careful. Also, does anyone know if I can unscrew/remove the suntour crankset, or do I have to hack it off? My crapmart bike has to be hacked off, I think. I know you need a sepcial tool but can suntour be removed at alll w/out excessive force?

Oh by the way, mael, you can delete all my other threads about selling bikes, as all they do is hog up space on the server. Well, if you can't Ill pm joe sooner or later about this.

Oh yeah...

I asked if you could but a RS boxxer on a shred. Mael (or konarider, I forget, sorry) said it could be done verfy easily. Do you think the wolverine will handle it well? I doubt it but hey, I've no knowledge of what these frames can handle.

you could alwys check out pinkbike.com or something they've always got nice deals on some used stuff.

There is only one hardtail that you won't get the dork label for running a dual crown fork on, and that is the Evil Imperial, unfortunately the frame by itself is more than any of those bikes you asked about.

Dork? Dork label? Err...I don't think putting a double crown thing on a stuff or and strong strong hardtail frame would look dorky. Oh well, I'm just asking IF it could handle it. Also, I see you've changed your little title from your Mmm...Olive Drab thing. What is olive drab?

Ask norco. They will tell you. Being able to handle and being warrantied are 7 different things :)

I haven't really thought about the fire mountain yet. It looked too skinny to be of good urban riding. Is it going to handle drops better than the wolverine? I doubt it but I'll ask anyways.

Bump :D

Also...As I said earlier, do suntour cranksets come off withthe special tool or do I have to hack it off. This bike, if good enough, will be upgraded a ton. So...suntour cranks ...do they come off?

Dork? Dork label? Err...I don't think putting a double crown thing on a stuff or and strong strong hardtail frame would look dorky. Oh well, I'm just asking IF it could handle it. Also, I see you've changed your little title from your Mmm...Olive Drab thing. What is olive drab?

Generally on any hardtail a Dual crown looks stupid. The only hardtail that looks good with a dual crown is the Evil Imperial.

Kona's dirt jump line was designed to work at it's optimum with a 4 or 5 inch fork like a dirt jumper or Z1.

The bikes you are looking at are xc bikes that were designed around a 3 or 4 inch fork. They will take very light urban and small drops, but by doing those it will put serious fatigue on the frame. A frame that is designed around a 3 or 4 inch fork can't handle a 6-8 inch dual crown. By doing what you plan on doing, you will shear the head tube off of the bike, and what ever company you select won't warranty it. So my answer is no it couldn't handle a dual crown.

And for the Olive Drab, it's the color of the 2003 Kona Stuff's.

STill..my crank question. Do i hack and slash it off or do I use a sepcial tool? My crap mart bike crank has to be hacked open .

Oh yeah...

I asked if you could but a RS boxxer on a shred. Mael (or konarider, I forget, sorry) said it could be done verfy easily. Do you think the wolverine will handle it well? I doubt it but hey, I've no knowledge of what these frames can handle.
i wouldn't even think about putting a $1000+ fork on a sub $500 bike. not to mention that norco's adventure series bikes - which the wolverine is one of - were intended to be cheap/buget bikes for light trail riding. thery're not really built for a lot of abuse. like konarider24 said, putting any sort of double crown fork on a bike like the wolverine would rip the headtube right off in no time. heck, the frame on my bike (the fluid 3.0) is a lot stronger than the wolverine's frame, and norco's warranty is voided if you put a dc on it.

honestly, for the amount of money you're limited to spending on a bike, you're gonna have a real hard time finding a bike that'll be able to handle the stuff you want to throw at it.

one suggestion i have would be to check out the fall blowout sale they're gonna be holding at the ex in october to see if you can find any deals if you haven't found a new bike by then... you might be able to find a good deal there.

here's the link to the site with the show's info: http://www.telsec.net/bicycleshow/index.html.

STill..my crank question. Do i hack and slash it off or do I use a sepcial tool? My crap mart bike crank has to be hacked open .

Special tool.

I know of the bike show. I'm porbably going to continue my search for a FR bike there. I'll increase my price range too. But that's a one day thing and I'm not going to post an entire thread about how I'm going to deal with the fest.

My eyes are now glued to the P2's and the Norco Sasquatch. Both about 1 grand. Ouch.

of the two, i'd suggest the sasquatch over the p2. it's got a better fork for the riding you want to do. it's also got a pretty good parts spec.

Unfortunately, it's acutally 200 dollars more expensive. More money you have the more you get. :-)

Stp2 mabye. I picked mine up for 550 usd.

Err...used or new?