Originally Posted by
teamtrinity
I did a few test rides of some Specialized at my LBS. They put me on a Small. An after riding a few others and doing some googling, I figured I'd need a 15"-17.5".
As for CF...are they durable? I got ride of my CF road bikes and cyclocross bike because I just got sick of worrying about them if I dropped them or crashed. I'm leaning towards aluminum or titanium for my first mountain bike. And I thought I read that Ritchey built up a very light steel mtb?
Yes CF is durable, BUT, if you sold your CF road bikes cause you didn't trust them, then you probably will not trust a CF mountain bike and that's a problem. IMHO the link between rider and bike is much stronger on mountain bikes than a road bike. You have to trust your bike or it will affect your ride. So maybe you should stay with aluminum. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Also, Pamestique's recommendation to rent is right on point. I should have thought of that too. Granted, most of the shops around here only rent entry level stuff, still you can get a good idea what size wheel you want and get a feel for what type of trails/bikes you want.