Bike Forums - View Single Post - The "around" $500 MTB thread.

09-01-05 | 06:02 AM

#669

Raiyn

I drink your MILKSHAKE

Joined: Jul 2002

Posts: 15,061

Likes: 3

From: St. Petersburg, FL

Bikes: 2003 Specialized Rockhopper FSR Comp, 1999 Specialized Hardrock Comp FS, 1971 Schwinn Varsity

Quote:

Originally Posted by robob51

So, is that line of thought just a relic of mountain biking history? Or am I missing something?

Try using this next time rather than cutting and pasting

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callaway

What is a guy to do? I think I saw you refer to the Manitou shocks on the Rockhopper as "manipoo" in another post and if The Judy TT's are pooish as well,

Let me revise my statement a touch as there are various levels of poo at work here. <Opinion> RST's and SR Suntours are explosive diarrhea with bits of corn floating in it. Judy TT's and the Manitou Six series are that kind of soft fudgey poo . The lower end Marzocchi's, Manitou Axel series and the Rock Shox Pilots are the turds of someone who eats a healthy dose of fiber. In short you won't be getting a super great fork at this pricepoint so don't expect a miracle. I'm no fan of "Manipoo" across the board largely due to the fact that I haven't found one yet that actually felt like a proper suspension fork to me. In my opinion they're flexy (especially the lower end ones) and have been prone to failure.</opinion> Having said that several people have had decent luck with most of the forks I've mentioned including the RST's and SR Suntours

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callaway

is it basically pick the bike with better components and buy a used/close-out fork that is better?

Actually it's better to get the one that feels best and correct any perceived discrepancies in it's equipment from there. Better components will make a bike perform better but will have less impact on feel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callaway

If so, any suggestions on where to start looking and what kind to buy?

Where? Yes What? depends on you. http://tinyurl.com/9hjxd Really good deal

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callaway

Or should we save a couple extra hundy and buy a model or two higher with better Manitou/Rock Shox or another brand altogether...such a Marzocchi fork or something.

Thanks for your expertise

cheers-

You could do that as well. If it were a case where it wasn't a first time MTB buyer I'd suggest moving on to a higher model if possible.
The bikes in this pricepoint are solid entry level bikes that are intended to get people interested in the sport so that they can decide to

Continue in the sport upgrading to a more expensive bike later
or
Decide that they don't like the sport but find that they still aren't out that much money

The #1 thing is "Does the bike FEEL right?" Components are a secondary concern (You really don't want ***** components but it's still not as important as feel.) It's my opinion that buying a bike is 80% FEEL and 20% everything else.
In the words of Snoop Dogg "If the ride is mo' fly then you must buy"

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