Hey everyone,
I am very new to mountain biking. My city has just opened a new 8-mile mountain bike trail (single-track) recently. I have always ridden road bikes and have decided to dabble into mountain biking. I live in southern Kansas (extremely flat). From what little I know about mountain biking I don't think I will need a full-suspension bike. My LBS has four bikes that I have test ridden and have narrowed my search down to, they are as follows:
teamelite 03 Deore-SLX ? mountain ? BMC Switzerland
teamelite 03 SLX-XT ? mountain ? BMC Switzerland
sportelite SE SLX-XT ? mountain ? BMC Switzerland
sportelite APS Deore ? mountain ? BMC Switzerland
I am interested in hearing your thoughts on each of the bikes, like I said previously I have rode all the bikes listed and really like how they feel equally. Being a roadie, I have two bikes (a BMC TMR02 with Dura Ace Di2, and a Trek Emonda SL with Ultegra Di2) I know quite a bit about components on the road but not about mountain bike components. I am not going to be riding the mountain bike near as much as my two road bikes, but I would like to ride it occasionally on the new trail and gravel roads around town, and to commute to work when possible.
I am not looking to spend a bunch of money on the bike, but I still want something that is going to be durable, and something I can enjoy riding.
Thoughts?