hodie21

Going to buy a mountain bike and can go up to $3000. What do you guys recommend in that price range.

I live in Southwest Virginia area.

Think of Asheville, NC type trails.

Not sure if I go HT or FS? 26er vs 29er?

thoughts?

scyclops

26" full suspension.

ed 

You may be able to get into a SC Butcher for that.

There will be a link posted soon. LOL

johnMATX

What ever you feel comfortable on is what you should get, just make sure before you drop that much money you ride a variety of deferent bikes and sizes. As a rule I am a medium, but not every medium fits me well, for example on some brands like GF, the small is a perfect, and their Med are a bit too big. I have gotten on others brands where I need a large. Spending that much money you are sure to get a quality bike, but a quality bike the doesn't fit or you don't like the ride of is not a good investment. The good folks as specialized allowed me to take out the 10K specialized S-works Epic Carbon 29er for about a hr and 1/2 on my home trail. All I ride are 29er's anymore, but as nice as the bike was it was not for me, I found for my riding style the SJ 29 fit me and felt a lot better.

Opinions on bikes are like that certain part of a anatomy that everybody has one but no 2 ever seem to be the same.

Good luck on what ever you get and post a pic!

scyclops

As "forum narrator" (according to ed) I thought I should provide a link.

https://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?Item=100048019

Oh, and ed is a lawless crazed looney.

zandoval 

A $1000.00 mountain bike and a $1500.00 Road bike and a $500.00 Commuter and a BEATER on the side...

Don't take anything in the field you can't afford to loose...

dminor 

Yeti 575 with the Enduro build kit.

https://www.yeticycles.com/#/bikes/575/1

Thread closed.

bones_mcbones

Kona Honzo.

https://cog.konaworld.com/archives/7997

BlueRaleigh

Build your own hardtail. A Surly 1x1 frame, a Rohloff hub in the rear, and a nice Fox fork up front. You might be able to do that under $3000.

dminor 

Guy has 3K to work with. Why in the hell would he want to settle for a hardtail?

BlueRaleigh

"settle"

Ha!

Zephyr11

If you really want a hardtail...

Go on Craigslist and find one for $250. Then spend the other $2750 on a full-suspension.

electrik

What you riding now?

Don't buy too much bicycle. When you have cash around the rule is buy what you can ride, not ride what you can buy!

rothenfield1

Apparently; if you buy a 26”, you will automatically be considered a know-nothing loser; or, a stuck-in-the-mud geezer these days. If I had $3000 to spend, I’d go all in with a full suspension 29er. If you decide, years from now, that it was just a flash-in-the-pan; you will still get the best resale value. For real, if I had that caish, I’d buy the best 26” HT I could get my hands on, and spend the rest on something for my wife, just caus' that's how I roll.

BlueRaleigh

Definitely. $2997 would make for a sweet 26" HT. And you'll have $3 left to get the wife a cookie or a slice of cheesecake or somethin.

FYI, I've got both 26" and 29" bikes and I like the feel of 26" better most of the time.

ed 

"the rule"?

I guess I'm a lawless crazed looney.

corvuscorvax

Word. I spent a good deal more than $3K on my 26" hardtail, and I'm totally satisfied with my choice.

Actually, one of things I really like to see with the 29-er fad is that people are buying hardtails again, long after the hardtail was declared "dead" due to improved FS designs.

Zephyr11

You can certainly ride and have a ton of fun on a bike that's probably more bike than you skill level deserves. People way better than me absolutely rip on Hardrocks, but I like my FS a lot more than my hardtail.

dminor 

Gee, I always figured it the other way around: Get as "too much" bike as you can buy and it will beg for you to progress and your skillset 'grow' into it.

Bosock

Depends the riding you do. IF mainly packed single track or with minor rocks, stumps or whatever a 29er hardtail would do. If you like it rough and wild i would recommend a nice 26 FS. Several bikes out there and you will get different opinions on each. I ride a 2010 stumpy and GF paragon 29er and find that pending the trail both are outstanding bikes. Stumpy Elite cost me 2100 and the 2011 GF Paragon cost 1650. As you can see either of those bikes are well within your price range. If you plan on cross country racing I would look at the superfly or specialized epic...these are priced a bit higher. You will hear people say Yeti is best bar none or Santa Cruz or whatever their personal preference is...however, it is just that, their personnel preference. I tested the Santa Cruz, yeti, kona, Trek...you name it...my preference for a FS was the stumpy hands down. However you have to ride and see what you like. I would assess the type of riding you will do mostly, pick 29er HT or 26 FS based on the type riding, then buy the bike you feel most comfortable and confident on after testing all those recommended to you. If the bike comes in cheaper then upgrade to personalize specifically for you or build up the weakest/cheapest parts or buy your girlfriend/spouse something. Several bikes out there that are very good...ride them and determine which one you like best...I thought the Turner FS bike was a nice rider as well. Anyway, good hunting and enjoy.

scyclops

DISCLAIMER: The statements I am about to make will likely elicit yawns and "well, duh" type reactions, but since the people who know way more about this stuff than I aren't saying it, I will. [obvious mode: ON]

hodie21-

Not sure why this thread has turned into a "how much should I spend" discussion, but in an effort to address your actual question, let's break it down as follows.

HT advantages:
1. better component group at similar price point (now this one isn't a real issue in your case, at $3K you're going to end up with a pretty nice bike either way).
2. no pivot bushings/bearings to maintain/replace.
3. lighter weight (generally)

FS advantages:
1. MORE CONTROL over rough terrain. Until you know the feeling of having a HT bouncing all over the place on roots and rocks (which I assume you don't or you would already know if you like that - some people do) you won't fully appreciate how much this can be worth.
2. less impact on your own body.
3. you'll look cooler at the trailhead (ok, this one's totally subjective, not a real advantage)

29er advantages:
Sorry, I'm not touching that one.

Before you drop $3K on anything, for the love of all that does not suck, make sure you test ride a lot of bikes (including 29ers) and don't buy anything that doesn't feel good to you.

[opinion mode: ON]
I'm 6'1" and all my bikes are 26" hardtails, but if I were going to spend that kind of $$, it'd be 26" full suspension without any doubt.

kenhill3

Back to the simple, streamlined answers.

With $3000 to spend, there are hardly enough good reasons to NOT buy a full suspension bike. In other words, the 3k FS does not suck enough to choose a 3k hardtail instead.

Just my opinion, of course.

scyclops

+1

To think I wasted all those words, only to have you sum it up so succinctly. Very well said.

BlueRaleigh

Nah, your previous words were not wasted. While it was obvious you had bias toward FS, it was an important point you made that it depends on what feels good to the OP. We all have different ride styles and types of riding we like to do. Nothing I ride requires FS, so to me, it's just something extra to break/mess up. Plus some people like the artistic aspects of bicycles, or the elegance of a high quality simplistic design, and it's not all about functionality or utilitarianism.

So to the OP, figure out what kind of riding you do/want to do.

If you do this:


...then get a full suspension, by all means.

scyclops

Agreed. That's why I thought OP needed to hear some basic pros and cons (sans all the politics) and decide for himself.

Cool vid, BTW.