Originally Posted by
katsup
Is it the bar ends you don't like on the rockhopper? Those are removed with a bolt.
The Schwinn Sidewinder is a BSO and should be avoided for the reasons stated previously.
The Giant and GT both come with a suspension fork. These may need some maintenance and could cost a lot. Proceed with caution.
Both the 2001 Diamondback and Mountaintrack 800 are decent. These are in the same class as the rockhopper I posted, but not as high on the model line. The rockhopper is older though.
The Fuji and Palomar are decent, but cheap suspension. The Palomar is hi-ten steel which will make it heavy.
The full suspension recoil is not needed for rails to trails. It will not be good suspension at this price.
Show your wife these options, let her pick. She may like one color over another.
I see your points on the suspension.. it wasnt my goal to get one with the suspension by default.. seems that 80% of these already have them, at least in the front.. how does a suspension go bad exactly, curious as i have no idea.. if its already in working order, i'd think on a rails to trail the way we ride, it probably might last a few years with no issue? Seems too like its hard to find new rigid bikes without the suspension, unless im searching for the wrong terms on amazon/performance bike.
Earlier you had the same bike i had on my list this one:
1996 NISHIKI MANITOBA - $130
https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/bi...582136034.html
Spoke to the seller, i was concerned of rusing on the back sprocket but its just old oil.. $130 for a 1996, steep or about right in this case? (newer nishiki's worse off than these older though?)
On the previous rockhopper.. i dunno.. it looks like it needs some work (rusty chain etc), i know minor fixes but hoping to just plug and chug if possible.. and she likes the more curved back bars or upward bars, not so much straight and yes i could swap that out easy if so.
The diamond 2001 response did seem like the winner at first.. till they sent me a photo showing the measurement of the frame height which might be closer to 17, despite the back wheel appearing in line with the main frame bar (so i thought 18 at first).. so i sorta dropped it for now. Pic here.. (they are pretty far from us so I was thinking it might be a waste of time)
We were supposed to check out the GT tomorrow, could always go for the 1996 I guess.
In the end, it doesnt need to be fancy just rigid enough and solid, i'm not that picky in reality here. But if shes the long term rider, i'd hope for 5+ years, otherwise ill give it to my 15 year old and be done.