freemay2003

I am new to Mountain Biking (about a week). I have a Mongoose XR Comp from Wal-Mart it already squeeks and rattles. I was hoping that anyone could recommend a good bike that is not going to break the bank. I am looking for a dual suspension bike. My biking buddy has a GT Force, but I cant spend $2500 on a new bike.

Any suggestions are helpful

mystolenbikes

Take that bike back to wall mart get your money back and go to a local bike shop you should be able get a decent bike around $400.
What's your budget anyways?

bikinfool

What can you spend? Why does it have to be full suspension?

freemay2003

Well, I just got laid off and my budget is pretty tight. I paid $400ish for the Mongoose. As for the full suspension my butt gets to hurting pretty bad (I have only been doing this for about a week). Also, we have some crazy rocky/rooty trails around here (Northwest Arkansas) and I seem to come close to killing myself almost every time I go out. I would like to be atleast able to sit and rest between my attempts at survival on the trail.

I should go compare the soft vs hard tail bikes. I personally think the rear suspension makes the bike feel "squishy" and more difficult to jump.

We have an awesome bike shop in the area (Lewis & Clarke), but many of the $400 bikes in there are...well...not that good. I should at least take them for a test ride. Once I get a replacement job that will really determine my biking monetary situation. So far lets say my budget is around $500.

WannaGetGood

Go used.

yellowjeep

What brands does Lewis & Clarke carry?

ed 

BIKES

* Scott
* Giant*
* Schwinn
* Kona
* Cannondale*
* GT

* www.scottusa.com
* www.giant-bicycles.com
* www.schwinn.com
* www.konaworld.com
* www.cannondale.com
* www.gtbicycles.com

ed 

$400 full suspension bike will be frustrating enough to cause you to quit biking. If you stick within your budget and buy a $500 hardtail, you will have a lighter, tougher, more efficient bike that will inspire you to want to ride trails. It will shift properly so you will want to stay on the bike during the climbs. It will not fall apart like the X-mart bike. You won't have to rest as often b/c it's more efficient and easier to get up the hills.

Learn to stand on the rooty stuff and you'll be okay.

My hunch is your butt just ain't used to the saddle time...dual suspension won't solve that issue.

Major Dutch

If your budget is $500 I would stay away from dual suspension. I would get a nice hard tail like a Trek 4500 or something.

junkyard

Right, so you bought a Walmart bike?

ed 

The irony...

MODWR

My God - they sell bikes at Wal Mart for $400?

jon-w9

$497.00
Shipping Weight (in pounds): 46.0

https://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ct_id=10927851

I would for sure do my best to take the Mongoose back!
I bought a Specy Hardrock Comp Discfor less than that last weekend!

Zooropa

ever notice how many of the wal mart models aren't even listed on the mongoose website?

Duce97

None of them are listed at all. I even tried getting assitance for replacment parts for a friends bike and the guy on the phone told me we dont support the bikes bought at the big box stores, we dont carry parts for them nor will we even look at them past the 90 day. They also said not one of those bikes was made for offroad use they are all show. If you read the owners manuals he told me it even states it there.

My buddy cut up the bike with a sawzall and dropped it off at the customer service dept of walmart and said thanks for selling me this pile of crap you can have it back now.

jjbod1

That was my exact first thought also. $400 can get you a really nice used hard tail, or a brand new starter hard tail bike from a shop. Hell worst case scenario, go to Dicks sporting goods, in that price range you can get a Diamond Back, still not high end by any means but 10 times any bike Wally World sells.

jjbod1

In some of the Wally Worlds I have been in, they have warning tags hanging from them in BOLD RED LETTERS, stating not ment for off road use. One of these days if I can find one really cheap at a garage sale, I just want to buy it, take it out for a day and see how fast I can break it. Might be fun to SS one, that way you dont have to worry about the non shifting, and just try to crack the frame.

Duce97

They state thats the down hill bike ....hahaha thats just to funny

Here is mogoose's real DH bike...hmm anyone else here notice a diferance?

https://www.performancebike.com/bikes...:referralID=NA

yellowjeep

Oh yeah DiamondBack Response series of bikes are pretty sweet.



https://www.sportsauthority.com/produ...LAID=356686021

+

Code : TSAR49 (good though the 11th)

=$445 out the door.

Or you could go for the non disk model and it would be $345

mzeffex 

Wow. On one of those walmart mongoose "DH" bikes, it has carbon wrapped bars. . I guess everyone needs a light weight handlebar for super aggressive riding, right?!

j944

Its good you started somewhere now test ride some real bikes and determine which feels comfortable to you.

Ka_Jun

https://www.konaworld.com/09_lanai_u.cfm
https://www.konaworld.com/09_firemountain_u.cfm
https://www.cannondale.com/bikes/09/cusa/model-9FS9.html
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/...in/2282/32070/
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/...in/2280/32123/

I gotta ask, what were you looking at, at the LBS, that "wasn't that good" in comparison to the 'Goose you ended up buying?

junkyard

What I want to know is, what team is riding that?

freemay2003

Notice in junkyard's pic how the cables are ran over the top of the frame? Well I went biking the other day and did a small jump (about 8" nothing more than a curb really). I hit the ramp at an odd angle and my knee hit the aluminum hydroforged frame when I landed where the cable is attached...well needless to say I have about a 1/8' deep 2" long gash that I should have gotten stitches for. Luckily my blood clots easily. So that seals the deal...I am either going to try to file a claim with mongoose for selling unsafe POS's or Wal-Mart for being so selfish money mongering idiots that they overlook safety. I guess there is a reason many name brands stopped selling at Wal-Mart when they were required to cut corners to save manufacturing cost.

freemay2003

Cannondale makes Mongoose? I would never have guessed.

https://nw-ark.com/stuff-central.com/...php?topic=18.0