Originally Posted by
Fable
Your questions are answered right now. $400 doesn't buy that whippy of a bike. It's okay for mild entry level riding around. Full suspension under a grand are really junk. Under $500 I'd run away. Buying used is a smart bet for folks on a budget. Sometimes people with more money than most purchase a good bike and then decide to not ride. They sell for much less then what they paid.
I get the impression you want to hear it's okay to buy a "full suspension" for $400. Well it is if you don't really want to venture off the pavement. If you want to ride the dirt with any regularity it's not okay. It won't last long. $400 bikes are are pretty much the same. Fit will be your main difference. If you begin to ride seriously you wil quickly outgrow a $400 bike. Sell a gun or a fish, sell off some extra shiny chrome parts off the truck. Or just go ride some entry level bikes until you find one that fits the best.
No I don't want to hear that buying a $400 FS bike is okay at all. I just want a bike that can fit my needs. My neighbor has the Diamond Back and he is letting me ride it for as long as I want. It is a DB coil ex 06 model. After research I found that this bike is really just one notch above department store brands. So I took it out to the trails today. Now I have never ridden a FS bike before and what a difference this bike is over my hardtail wal-mart bike. I might buy it for cheap since he dont need it and get conditioned for mountain biking then make my big purchase. Just because I grew up moto-x means nothing. I cant keep speed for nothing without wanting to die
! So a good bike for now will probably wait till I can actually carry myself decent in trails. However tomorrow I am going to the Bike shop to test ride some hardtails and see what I really like.