sherpaPeak

What makes a Bike - An Entry Level Bike? How do you define/categorize?

How many Levels are there? What defines these levels?

Anyone?

Thanks

Flak

To me anyway, "entry level" is the low end of most manufacturers lineup.

Specialzed - Hardrock Sport
Giant - Boulder or Rincon
Ironhorse - Maverick

etc

To be honest, i see alot of people calling $600 bikes, even $800-$900 bikes "entry level", and i think thats absurd. I think some peoples standards are too high sometimes.

timmhaan

it's a loose term. similar to food being 'gourmet' or hotels being 'luxury'. we'll never know for sure, but it's typically a bike that has at least the minimum features that allows it to be used for it's intended purpose.

sherpaPeak

this thread is actually inspired by one of your response to my comments. so thank you for that. but, you see, the issue is not as straight forward as I would like it to be.

in Specialized line, yes Hardrock is their cheapest bike, but if you consider more XC/trail oriented bike. Base Rockhopper is the starting point. So, although it cost $500 USD, it is their entrylevel XC.

Also, for Iron Horse, Some of their Maverics are better speced than some $500 bikes, and even better than Warrior Comp. so, you see the confusion.

But, we are not going to resolve the debate with this kind of examples from here and their. We need a standard set of guidelines for defining "entry level bike".

I am positive that the amazing amount of knowledge of the forum members will help us define the "entry level"....

sherpaPeak

I understand your point. I know its a vague concept. but, lets try to define it as clearly as we possibly can. like for luxury hotel, you have the star count, 1,2,3,4, or 5 stars, which gives you the idea of how potent the claim of "luxury" is. Also, for 'gourmet', there is a sense that its not drive through fastfood, or food out of a can. So, lets see if there is a bottom line or at least a sense of what "entry level" is.

Flak

Oh i welcome the discussion. I'd love to get a concensus on "entry level" too.

idleuser

How about thinking of "entry level" as something that works for the user to its minimal intent and purpose.

Entry level I think, is dependent on the individual's needs for that bike. I don't think it fair to include prices in the definition of "entry level". So let's say I only ride simple singletrack with no jumps/drops and only a few logs to hop over and not a very topographically interesting terrain, then even the lowest model Iron Horse would do the trick. And to me that would be entry level.

If I'm doing Freeride or something else, then there would be a different "entry level" for that category of riding as well.

And thus using price as a determinant for the whether the bike is "entry level" or not wouldn't work too well. That's my take on the topic.

Flak

Thats a good point.

An entry level DH bike could cost upwards of $1000, whereas an entry level recreational XC bike costs around $300-$400.

Portis

Here is a generalized statement: Most hard tail mountain bikes under $1000 are considered entry level.

Flak

...and i think thats rubbish.

Portis

Me too. But i think that is what most bike shops would tell you.

KrisPistofferson

I personally would say most hard tails at the $2-400 pricepoint are "entry level," and I probably wouldn't do TOO much wild **** on those bikes. But that's way cooler than road bikes which start at $600.

Pheard

This is allways what I assumed it was.

mtnbiker66

Do you think it's a basic bike for someone getting into the sport? To see if they really want to spend more money for a nicer ride. The Hardrock the you guys were talking about would be I think but my son rides one and he's been riding for four years. We have added a Fox Vannila and better brakes and a few other things but it's still pretty much a starter bike.

Chumley360

I have to agree that there are many levels or areas of entry level. You'd have to have, at minimun, one bike for each catagory of bikes. IE; FS, HT, DH or however you'd like them to be broken up. Then it gets even trickier when you start trying to firgure in cost on top of that. I mean what Cannondale might promote as their "entry level" bike could be two to three times the price of another manufacturers "entry level" bike. Now personally I have a lot more experience with the auto industry than the bike world, but it's no less confusing.

So I'm going with the idea that an entry level bike is affordable to the buyer, suits the buyer's purpose, and has at least the bare minimun components to hold up to the buyer's use.

sherpaPeak

I see that defining an entry level bike is really challenging. although, we use this terms so often. now it may be helpful to solve one category at a time. So, how about starting with

Entry Level Hardtail - For XC and Trail riding. Can we also add the All mountain Hardtail with this category?

Now, I would imagine that the following features may be important in defining this category.

1. Price Point
2. Components, Specially the drive train (suppose anything below Deore is entry level to some one)
3. Frame material (dont know how important it is) and geometry - is there any obvious feature that signals that a bike is entry level (I heard that the stem angle, head and seat tube angle can sometime give important clue)
4. ????
5. ????

add more if you wish.

I thougth it might be helpful. If not, I am open to different/new ideas.

thanks.

sherpaPeak

I forgot one more item - fork/suspension (travel/Brand/Features/construction)

sipes77

I think an entry-level bike is relative to the buyers/riders circumstances.
For example; 10 years ago I bought a slightly used bike in great condition, it was top notch to me, the best bike I could afford. The person that sold it to me was moving up in a XC race class, and it was his entry-level bike.
Perhaps entry-level is defined by each individuals desires or needs.

sherpaPeak

that does not make sense to me. could you explain, please.

Emory

If I had no intentions of doing anything beyond XC, a $1000+ HT is very high end, whereas for someone looking to huck and freeride would find a $1000+ HT very entry level. Thier desires dictate what they expect to get from thier hardware and therefore entry level is really dependent on what the owner wants to do. Or thats my interpretation at least.

C Law

ummmm...I would disagree.
Try maybe 3,000 plus

sipes77

Good interpretation of my statement! "Perhaps entry-level is defined by each individuals desires or needs."


edit: As shown in the previous posts, to one person a $1000 bike is very high end, and to another a $3000 bike is high end. High end as well as entry level are defined by the individuals perspectives.

leonardotmnt

When I was 7 my Huffy was high-end for me!

sherpaPeak

so what you guys are saying is - there is no range (price/component/quality) or set of standard for defining an entry level bike.

lets try narrowing it down a bit (going back to my previous thought). what is an Entry Level Hardtail (aluminium frame) - For XC and Trail riding - for an adult? does it help. or should we still hide behind vague clouds.

schnee

What's your budget?

Edit: the problem is, as a mature sport/pastime, there are far too many options to codify one 'entry level' bike. You have to provide some constraints.