kuhla

Hello everyone. Just found this forum via google in hopes of getting educated on bikes and bike technology. Forgive me if I sound like a newbie, I am but I have tried to do some research already. Here is a super-quick history of me and mtbing, in case that helps some of you answer my questions farther down

I live in Southern CA, ~6 year ago I got myself a Giant Iguana SE, and a friend and I used to mtbike every weekend. He moved to another country about a year after I got the mtbike so you can imagine that hobby stopped quickly with none of my other friends into biking. I didn't have the motivation at the time to go out on my own. Well now I'm starting to get back into biking since I really need to get out more (damn computers ). The local Black Star Canyon trail is also partially to blame for rekindling my interest


So now for my questions thanks ahead of time for any responses.

(1) Reccomendations on a new bike?
* Brands to look for / avoid?
* Price range ~$600 but willing to spend more if quality is a major issue in this price range.
* Riding "style"? (I prefer technical trails + climbimg vs. simple'n'flat, very little road biking)
* With my "size" (6'5", 210lbs, could stand to lose a few ) should I be shooting for ~19" or >20" frame size?
* Disc brakes? (I have found my v-brakes to be useless after a few mud puddles....hoping disc brakes wouldn't have that problem?)

(2) Building my own?
* I hesitate to ask this but I always find myself building and/or modifiying my cars/computers/etc. and wonder if I should try my hand at bikes too.... (if you ask about my computer prepare to be bombarded with specs )

(3) Hardtails?
* I have only tried riding on a front/rear suspended bike twice and found myself loosing a huge amount of climbing power, am I crazy in saying I prefer hardtails to fully suspended?

(4) Stores in my area you can reccomend?
* My "area" Southern California, Orange County.
* Stores I have been to in my area: JAX Bicycle Center (bad experiances), Two Wheels One Planet (good experiances)

leonardotmnt

Do you still have the Iguana? It might just be fine to start back up again on it.

mtnbiker66

Sounds like you will be happy with a hardtail.You can get a decent HT for 600.On the disk brakes, look fo avid mech.,I dont thingk your gonna find a bike with hydro's in that price range.As far as brands try Specialized,Iron horse,Kona,Trek and Giant. Those are a few but there are a lot of good bikes out if you look around.Hope this gets ya' started,

scr1be

i'd like to know the computer specs. i build computers for myself as well. =P

(pm me or something if you don't want to clutter your thread)

hammer4

Probably avoid a bike from a sporting goods store or x-mart. Another brands to consider is Gary Fisher
Also, you may think about buying a gently used bike that would otherwise be over $1000. Sometimes this approach solves the price / performance dilemma.

kuhla

Yea I still have the Iguana. It works "fine" but a couple of things that are bugging me about it at the moment:

(1) Like I mentioned, I'd like to move to disc brakes.
(2) The gear shifters have some quirkes to them and everytime I go to the local bike shop they tell me they can't get replacements for them, that I would have to get whole new shifters.

Not to mention I got the itch to upgrade...

Hydro's? Sorry, I don't know what that is.

I already am replying to this thread for other reasons, might as well throw this in here

AMD Opteron 165 Processor (OC'ed to 9*266 = 2.39ghz)
EVGA 7800GT video card
2GB OCZ Platinum DDR400 Memory (OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K)
Cooler Master 450w Power Supply (partially sleeved)
Antec Super Lanboy Case (modified)
Cooler Master LHD-V07-UK Black CoolDrive Hard Drive Cooler
Western Digital 36.7gb Raptor hard drive (waiting on 300GB ordered)
DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D Motherboard
Razer Copperhead Gaming Mouse (Tempest Blue)
Saitek Eclipse Keyboard (shopping for a new keyboard)
Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Ultra speakers
Audio-Technica ATH-A500 Headphones
Creative X-Fi Xtrememusic Soundcard
NEC ND-3550A DVD/CD-ROM
Thermalright XP-90 cpu heatsink with 92mm Panaflo fan on it (FBA09A12M @ 30dba, 40cfm)
2*Cooler Master 120mm UV Green case fans (SUF-S12-G, 22dba, 42cfm)
AC Ryan UV Blue SATA Cable
Vantec Premium Silver UV Blue IDE Cable
Dell 2005FPW 20" Widescreen LCD
Logisys UV Cathode Kits (2*12" and 2*4")
Sunbeam Fan Controller

Yea I don't plan on going near x-mart or sporting goods store, learned that lesson a long time ago the hard way (right leg, knee to ankle, first few layers of skin, mechanical problem @ 20mph). My sister-in-law has a Fisher but she never rides it such a waste imho. In terms of buying used.... I dunno... I just don't want to...

Pheard

Get the kula lol (kuhla/kula) teheh.

kuhla

Haha! That would be great. The novelty factor alone would be worth it since my real last name is related to my forum name. Its a bit out of my price range though (~$1000)

Portis

Welcome to the forums. Here is a good place to start.

scr1be

kuhla, are you a gamer? nice gaming specs.

me:
p4 3.2 ghz HT
2 x 120 GB HD striped
240 GB HD
6800 GT (which i hate, maybe i'll try the 7800)
1gig corsair
asus mobo
sb live
creature speakers
saitek keyboard (blue backlit one, forgot model)
mx518 mouse (best mouse, ever)
lian li black aluminum case
UV cathode + blue cathode
450 watt pws
plantronics headset
fata1ity fatpad
samsung 19" crt, (not home, forgot model)

okay sorry for changing subjects. back to bikes now.

(if you happen to play CS, 1.6 not source, pm me)

kuhla

Yes I did read that thread in its entirety and it was enlightening in some aspects but I like to think I fall into a bit of a grey area that it doesn't cover, which is why I started this thread. Although I am shooting for $600 or less, I am absolutely willing to up my price range if quality is a real issue. Another aspect I hope to have covered in this thread is if I really should upgrade. On the one hand I do want a new bike with some better-stopping-power disc brakes and parts that the LBS can actually find replacements for but on the other hand my Giant Iguana SE, even with it's current quirkes, has been very faithfull to me rarely breaking down. Simply put will spending $600-$1000 get me a real upgrade from what I have now? Should I just upgrade my Iguana?

Yes I am a gamer. PM sent.