Mountain Biking - Follow-up to Newbie advice (150 bucks or less)

Yesterday, I posted a question for advice on a first mountain bike on a budget (<150 bucks). I do appreciate all the advice greatly and as a result, I'll be checking around for used bikes at LBS's and Pawn shops, but just an FYI for everyone...I will NOT be riding down hills, doing stunts, wheelies, racing, or anything else flashy. I will riding straight ahead on a finely crushed gravel trail. This is simply something I want to do for exercise. I couldn't give 2 craps about tricks. I don't know if that changes anyone's opinion on what requirements are truly crucial for a beginner, but I've got a friend with a K-Mart Huffy he's had for 3 years. He rides the same trail I'll be riding about once a month (10-20 miles each time) with the same intention (exercise), and he hasn't had any problems at all. Would a Schwinn Sidewinder, Mongoose EFX, Mongoose MGX, etc. not get me started? Is more of a bike up front, until I found out if this sticks with me, not potentially overkill?

Why couldn't you just post a reply to your first topic... ?

In case no one would revisit and maybe to get fresh opinions. Sorry if this is an unacceptable practice on the board.

Well, I'm guessing when Mael or Kona wakes up, they'll merge the threads and delete my 2 posts in it :P

I still think you'd be fine if you didn't do tricks and the like.
Are there any of those bikes with only one chainring in front? That's certainly a plus in my book. Chain dropping is a problem even with a 'decent' bike, like mine.

What's the point of excercising once a month?

Seperate thread worthy!

If all you are going to do is ride a gravel path and get introduced to the sport than I see nothing wrong with one of the BIG BOX BIKES. Schwinn is probably the best of the worst. Mongoose isn't too bad.

Just realize that these bikes are bottom of the barrel in regard to components. For the occasional gravel path ride they're all you really need. However, if you do get more involved in the sport and begin to hit some more aggressive trails, your bike may not hold up to repetative abuse. They're just not built that well.

Definitely, if that's all you are going to be doing, then a discount store bike will work fine. I still think a used bike made by Trek or Specialized would be better, though. And if you buy a bike at Walmart or whatever, you might take it to a bike shop to make everything is correctly installed.

Finally, some really good feedback! That was like pulling teeth. I guess it's my fault for not letting people know I wasn't looking to be Mr. Trickster.

In reply to "notfred", I never said I was only going to exercise once a month. I stated that my buddy rides the trail once a month.

Thanks again...sounds like if I can't find a good used one, I should get the Schwinn Sidewinder and get it checked out or tuned up.

I've been a bike mechanic for almost 20 years. I've seen my share of 'junk' bikes.

The problem that I see with the new "x-mart" bikes is that they try to put too much in for too little money.

If you can find just a front suspension bike you'd be much better off. Full Suspension cheap bikes, weight a ton, are horrible designs, and the suspension components are worthless.

If you buy a hardtail, the fork isn't going to be great, but it'll work for just riding a gravel path. Also, avoid disc brakes. They will be worthless on a sub $200 bike.

What WILL go wrong is that the shifting will come out of adjustment within the first month. Guess what? That happens on EVERY bike with cables. Even $7,000 Litespeed's. (Titanium Super Bikes). You'll have to learn how to adjust your cables, both shifter and brake. Besides that, if you do any type of jumping (you said you wouldn't) the handlebars will bend. If you land hard on the seat the seatpost clamp will strip.

Also, before you buy make sure the spokes criss-cross each other. I've seen "x-mart" bikes where the spokes don't. What I mean is that as the spoke leaves the hub, it goes over two spokes and then under the other one. Not just crossing, but over and under. Hard to explain, but look at a decent wheel and you'll understand what I mean.

If and when you get your bike, you're going to have to learn how to do some basic maintenance on it. There is a "bicycle mechanics" forum. Go there and do some reading. Also, there are some Barnett's Bicycle Repair Manuals that you can download. I suggest doing that regardless of what bike you buy (expensive or cheap).

Good luck.

You can buy a Giant Boulder. they are fairly cheap and ain't to bad or a used bike as mentioned in other posts

i still stick with my post, get a huffy, schwinn or mongoose. no full suspension and disc brakes, etc etc. simple is better

trust me, u will soon become very, very bored of gravel tracks and the like, i was once like you, and well, in the other thread you can get my point

I went to target the other day and saw a Next bike with disc brakes. I thought it was pretty crazy, those things really work on that low end of a bike?

no

trust me, you will soon become very, very bored of gravel tracks and the like, i was once like you, and well, in the other thread you can get my point
Why is it so hard for you to use full words? It's TWO extra keystrokes for ******* sake

because it saves .000003 seconds

because it saves .000003 seconds
Oy :rolleyes:

Why is it so hard for you to use full words? It's TWO extra keystrokes for ******* sake

I figured that was an improvement. 1 word out of a few. Gotta give some credit. Usually it is every other word.:)

I figured that was an improvement. 1 word out of a few. Gotta give some credit. Usually it is every other word.:)
I suppose so, he did spell it properly the rest of the time. there is such a thing as an edit link too.

there goes that .000002 seconds that he saved by using that edit link! Therefore he can't use it.

oMg, yOoH gUyS sUxKzz!! dUnT yOooH gUYz kNow dAt iSh wAs lAsT yEar tHanGG, nOOw iSH aLl bOuT aLt cAPz N oTeR cRaP. lOlz hEs A nOob

Oooo Vey!

oMg, yOoH gUyS sUxKzz!! dUnT yOooH gUYz kNow dAt iSh wAs lAsT yEar tHanGG, nOOw iSH aLl bOuT aLt cAPz N oTeR cRaP. lOlz hEs A nOob

good luck fixing that, raiyn :roflmao:

I've always had something to say, but never found the place to say it. Heres the place. I have a CCM REvenge, a department store bike. My friend rides a Mongoose dual suspension. Surprisingly, my current front SIS derailler shifts better than my alivio. Big Box bikes aren't as bad as most people think, that's the truth. Saying one (a new one that has been checked to make sure that everything is assembled alright) will just break down on a simple trail is a complete lie. It's just that bikes at your LBS are more suited to the sort of riding and are overall more comfortable and efficient to ride. My friend caught 5 feet of air off a ramp, screwed up and all he had to do to fix his bike was to tighten some spokes.

Of course, I wouldn't reccomend doing something like that. But seriously, department bikes (in Canadian tire and zellers in my case) aren't as bad as you would think. The only thing I could find bad with them is the assembly (of course components, but that's how its like for under 300 bucks for a new bike). And it was the simple assembly, so it wasn't hard to fix. Big box bikes are what you need if you're not going hardcore. Why go overkill on something your never go use the limits of. I Got my scrap because I knew I would be ripping sooner or later and I needed the bike. For my rides to the grocery store, I just use my CCM Revenge.

haha, my CCM shifts better than my scrap overall. No chain skipping, no chain breaks yet. No screwed up driver train yet. (Just the rear derailler's hangy thing at the bottom wasn't straight so all I had to do was knock that into the right place. It wasn't something I regret buying.

hooligan, i thought you had a kona shred or something, not a 'ccm revenge'

Read his post carefully, he says that he's got a scrap..

And your canadian big box bikes must be pretty good, the UK equilvelent is ****

even the american department store bikes are pretty good..

I think they'll do fine for gravel roads and sidewalks and stuff... Assembly is almost always a joke, so you're better off going over the assembly with a fine-toothed comb and making sure everything's tight. Just don't expect to do any technical singletrack or big jumps with one. :)

oMg, yOoH gUyS sUxKzz!! dUnT yOooH gUYz kNow dAt iSh wAs lAsT yEar tHanGG, nOOw iSH aLl bOuT aLt cAPz N oTeR cRaP. lOlz hEs A nOob


Oh my Goodness. You gentlemen perform oral sex on wildebeast! Don't you fellows realize that internet shortcuts was in vogue last year and are no longer considered fashionable? Now to be trendy in the modern illiterate adolescent world one should use capital letters in inappropriate ways and other such nonsense. l must laugh at his naivity in this matter.

good luck fixing that, raiyn :roflmao:
Recognize *************http://img74.exs.cx/img74/7937/owned3.gif

wow i didnt know such words could be translated from dorkese :p

:lol: :roflmao: :lol: good one!! hahaha

*bows to Raiyn*

Thread on the verge of getting edited/deleted, but must give Kudos to Raiyn. Very Funny!!

look... in my opinion if you´re going to do that kind of biking you can be fine witha sidewinder from *mart or maybe a schwinn comp that´s made from 6061 alu...(one of my partner´s choice) but please do not look for the mgx or efx from mongoose... they are heavy and they do not work as well as the others... i got my bike at a spinning gym/bike store and it was a good choice for 150 bucks....

i still stick with my post, get a huffy, schwinn or mongoose. no full suspension and disc brakes, etc etc. simple is better

I have to agree...I just purchased a new Trek myself, but a good friend of mine wanted to join me for some road/exercise riding but not take it off-road at all, so we went down to Academy and picked him up a pretty darn nice Mongoose hardtail for $140 I think it was. Not too heavy, and not SUPER cheap components like some others.

Oy :rolleyes:
i think you gotta problem with gramatic or something? then pliz stop making bad comments about how do other people writes... the point is that you understand what they´re trying to say and i think that one of the forum´s characteristics is that´s flexible i mean we are not writing a book or something

i think you have a problem with grammar or something? then please stop making bad comments about how do other people write... the point is that you understand what they´re trying to say and i think that one of the forum´s characteristics is that´s flexible i mean we are not writing a book or something

The problem is, poor english, aolese etc...all make it very difficult to read. Thats why we have rules in place to keep them under control.

I can't even fix your sentence it is so messed up. We can understand people from across the ocean mispelling and misplacing words due to english being a second language, however, people who know english who butcher the language, that even drives me batty.

Dude, my CCM revenge isn't that bad. I'm going to lube up seatpost and eventually get an altus rear derailler and some decent shifters but really, it's not bad. 3-4 foot drops. Nice commute/light trail tires. Only problem is that it weighs quite a bit.

edit: an exaggeration.