TuCsaT

Hello all,

I am new to the forums and have recently gotten bitten by the mountain bike bug. My current bike (an el cheapo from a dept store) and I have been taking turns breaking each other lately and I realize that I need to step up my equipment in order to keep riding and progressing. that being said I have been to a couple of local bike shops and have narrowed it down to one of the these three bikes (i'm trying to stay about 500ish):

2008 Haro flightline sport (16 in.) 450.00

2007 Fuji Nevada 1.0 (17 in.)495.00

2008 Gary Fisher Wahoo Disk (15.5 in.)549.00

I do ride pavement but have found myself going in to the woodline more and more and would like to continue to do so. Any input or experience you all have towards this decision will be greatly appreciated.

TuCsaT

rankin116

The specs are basically the same. So whichever is more comfortable to you....

But the Fuji and the Haro are 31lbs. Wow. Not sure about the Wahoo, couldn't find a weight anywhere.

TuCsaT

thanks for the quick reply

By Wow I'm guessing that 31 lbs is a little on the heavy side? I'm pretty limited by the amount of choices I have where I currently live but if those don't seem like workable bikes maybe I could hold off.

kramnnim

Have you considered buying a used bike? $500 could get you a pretty good bike from craigslist...

DirtPedalerB

i like the Haro ... the fisher may have a better for though.

NitroPye

It is a little heavy but not unwieldy at all.

ZeCanon

In that price range, look for something used.

31 lbs is heavy for an xc hardtail (which is what those are trying to be) but a few upgrades down the road can drop that number quite a bit. I'd still recommend looking for something lightly used in that price range though, as you could likely pick up a bike that msrp's in the 800-1000 range, which will be a HUGE step up in component quality - most importantly the fork and wheels. The forks on the bikes you posted are damn near useless.


*edit*
The fisher looks to be the nicest of the 3, though

TuCsaT

maybe I should think about upping my amount that I am willing to go. I have looked around craigslist and some of the local reader boards but the area I am in is rather rural alabama and there isn't many offerings in the used department.

*edit*

any opinions on the Haro Flightline Comp ?

ZeCanon

much better fork on that one.

Ebay? there are tons of bikes in that range.

BlueTrain

that haro looks like a decent ride. i'd like to see that one in person. the paint is ill. but honestly, if you are just starting out, the wahoo disc is a good start. it will do fine on the paths and for light trail use. i have a hard time recommending that folks new to the sport go the used bike route. being new, they don't know what to look for and have little/no knowledge. this makes them ripe for being ripped off.
i'd say go for the haro or the fisher and get it from your lbs.

DirtPedalerB

Rural alabama ,, good luck finding any used bikes.. this one looks ok and is about 20 minutes or so north of Bham, I'd offer 50 to 100 bucks less though.
https://bham.craigslist.org/bik/589954751.html

some of the "play it again" sports places may have some bikes. I had thought of selling mine, but I want to buy another one first.

I'm in AL too, you need to share some ride locations as I am getting tired of oak mountain.

oh yeah .. I ride a 31 pound bike it's not that bad. If your looking for a real cheap bike dicks sporting goods has some diamondbacks and iron horses that don't suck too bad.. good to start out on.