wintor

So I have decided I want to buy a mountain bike for riding around in town with some friends and doing wheelies and jumps and stuff like that. My budget is 350-450 euro. So please tell me what is the best mountain bike for that, that's in my budget?

-Thanks

NYMXer

That price range won't buy you much of a mtb but you can search CL for good used, local bikes. If you must have a new bike, I think the Mongoose XR Pro 29 at Walmart is the best bike in your budget range.

Here's a link for you: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mongoose-...-Bike/16913467

It has better but cheap suspension, disc brakes w cable pull, better thumb shifters, not too heavy, 29" wheels and good gearing. In other words, it will ride most trails stock but it is also easily upgraded as your interest and finances improve.

Maelochs

For that kind of money,. don't get anything with suspension. if you ride trails that demands suspension, that cheap crap won't cut it, and if you don't why pay for it? Every dollar that goers into the lame fork doesn't get spent on some other part of the bike.

Buy used, if you must have suspension ... better still by a used rigid MTB. All the cool kids do massive stunts and jumps on BMX bikes and urban assault bikes with no suspension. if that is the kind of riding you want to do, bu the bike for it. An MTB works best on trails ... the kind of MTB than can take big hits (huge jumps and stuff) costs a lot of money compared to what you want to spend.

wintor

What are you guys on about? lmao. Ive been told by multiple people on other forums that this is a good entry level bike for trips in town and jumps and wheelies:
Rockrider 540

Read the post before you answer... Im not going to be cycling in a mountain... just in town with some friends.

Dirt Farmer

I'd trust Craigslist over any box store for that kind of money.

Flip Flop Rider

agree 100 percent

acorn54

i just purchased a haymaker 1000 mtn bike which i believe originates (designed) in southern england or wales. i got it from bikes direct for 250 dollars. it has a lock out suspension that can be tweaked to give just a little bit of cushion for pot hole roads, and full suspension for dirt trails. it has

suntour xct cranks

suntour xct shocks

acera rear derailleur

tectronix mechanical disc brakes

of course you have to assemble but i am not the sharpest tool in the shed and with all the videos on you tube and what not it wasn't much of a problem i took my time. the instructions that came with the bike are for the birds, and i felt like i had to think like a chinese person, the english was so confusing.

Maelochs

Dawes Haymaker 1000 ... proudly constructed in the People's Republic of China. I believe Dawes was or is a Canadian brand (not associated with the English Dawes) which Bikes Direct bought (bought just the name actually) but the bike and about all the parts were sourced from PRC.

I have a cheap Dawes road bike and it is a great ride. I'd imagine your bike has a sturdy frame, pretty basic but serviceable drive train, and a fork best used for eating. Fork can be replaced though, when it finally blows a seal or bends when you actually take it off-road and work it hard.

Check out thir real-person review: 2 New Dawes Haymakers (1500 and 1000)- Mtbr.com

Note int he comments where someone says "Everything I have heard sais the Suntour on the 1200 is horrible, haven't found too mujch about the RST on the 1000, but I have to assume its worse. The Dart 2 on the 1500 isn't exactly a standout, but at least its a reliable pogo stick, unlike the Suntour which has horrible seels that require constant replacement." Unfortunately, you have the Suntour ...

If it were my bike I would take it out and beat it mercilessly, and replace parts as needed. At approximately 32 pounds, it is not hugely porky for a low-end bike---spend a few hundred on fork replacement when you have to and enjoy it for years.

BlazingPedals

If you're not going to use it as a mountain bike, if you just want fatter tires and a flat bar instead of road bars, consider getting a hybrid. You might have better luck finding something without front suspension, and thus better components for the money on the rest of the bike. I think 27.5 is codeword for 605B wheels, which I regard as a fad, something that manufacturers dredged up from obscurity in order to sell everyone 'new' incompatible equipment. Don't do it!

acorn54

i was convinced to purchase it based on the review of martin horn aka funzie on you tube, who was/is a professional racer. i am only going to use it for pavement riding occasionally over some rough patches. funzie also has a convincing youtube video on how someone shopping for a bike only needs to spend about 650 dollars, because above that price range the marginal utility diminishes greatly. i think it is titled the myth of a high end bike and highly recommend watching it for anyone shopping for a bicycle, he makes a convincing case for not being taken in by spending more than is needed for a decent bike.

Kindaslow

If you really, truly are going to get airborne and land on pavement I think that you should wear a GoPro. That way you can post the video on here of your wheels tacoing. There was is no new MTB that costs under $500 that is going to put up with repeatedly jumping, especially and the hands of a novice who will not be landing softly, nor perfectly straight. You reject the advice of a lot of folks and respond very poorly, otherwise I might have been nicer in my response. It takes a decent bike to hold up to jumping repeatedly. A used and higher quality MTB is much more likely to hold up. I have over 30 years of getting airborne on bikes, before you respond.

Currmudge

The grammar Nazi in me demands I say: 650b, 605, careful your typing.

The MTB industry observer in me says your assessment of a "fad" is fallacious. 27.5 has made as big a splash with manufacturers as 29 ever did. I personally love it, will be on a 27.5 before I turn 60 (just a couple years to go...).

No reason OP can't get a hardtail MTB; even at this price, it'll outdo a hybrid.

CanoeU92

Sorry to threadjack, but I had always heard good things about the Nashbar lower end bikes - the AT2 and the AT29? I know that some of the components are not the best (I think the forks get a lot of the negative attention), but the bikes fall well within the < $500 price range. I am interested because I am considering the purchase of a Nashbar MTB for my girlfriend.

Sy Reene

Sounds more like OP wants a BMX/Freestyle type of bike, not a MTB.
Suggest looking around eg. danscomp.com

Maelochs

Actually, the OP says he only plans to ride this bike on the street. I'd say he has wasted his money on a bike with a sprung fork, but it is his money.

I wholly agree if he does any sizeable jumps he will be walking home, carrying the broken bits of his bike. The bike he bought is better than Walmart but just one step up---but so long as he keeps both wheels mostly on the pavement, he will have a heavy but reliable road ride.
@acorn54: The YouTube video is BS, sorry. ("It must be true---I saw it on YouTube!")

For a road bike you can get good stuff cheap--my Dawes cost less than $500 new and has several thousand miles.

However---I replaced the front derailleur because the plastic Claris unit was a bit cheap and I didn't want to have to be adjusting it frequently. I upgraded to a full Tiagra drive train (used, off Ebay) and don't regret it.

I replaced the unbelievably heavy seatpost and saddle, and the heavy adjustable stem once I figured out the size and angle I needed. Oh, and replaced the wheels. And brakes ( I love Taigra brakes---instant, no flex.).

The Claris and Sora parts are okay. They would probably last through a few years of hard use. So that Dawes, for $500, was a perfectly decent bike---a little heavy but not a pig.

On the other hand, I have an Ultegra-equipped CF Chinabomb. Anyone who tells you there is no difference is LYING. It is not a matter of opinion. The bike shifts more surely, weighs several pounds less, rides nice .... is it worth the price differential? To me, yes.

For a while a couple summers ago I rode a Cannondale 6-13, aluminum with a CF fork. it was an aggressive, race-geometry bike, uncompromising, but it had as smooth a ride as any bike I have ever ridden. It sucked up vibration like it had shocks. It had a high-end drive train which shifted almost with thought---and it was several years old and had been raced hard.

Again, whether the cost differential was justified, is an opinion, but the huge improvement in performance is simply fact.

High-end bikes are priced as luxury items, whereas cheaper bikes are priced for value. If you don't want to pay the premium then don't buy a better bike---if all you want to do is ride gently around the neighborhood, pretty much any bike will do. If you want a bike which you can depend on for thousands of miles day-i, day-out, you might need to spend a little more than that.

If you want to go fast compared to other people on high-end bikes, you will need to buy a similar bike. I can thrash my Dawes as hard as I like, and my Chinabomb is always going to go farther, faster for the same effort because it is 25 percent lighter. its wheels are lighter so it accelerates faster for the same energy---or more easily for the same amount of acceleration.

As for MTBs ... Kindaslow is right. If you ever planned to thrash that bike seriously, don't gop farther from your car than you are willing to walk back carrying a broken 32-lb bike.

BlazingPedals

Sorry. it must have been my dyslexic fingers.

While it seems most everyone has jumped on the 650B bandwagon and is offering a tire or two in that size, it's nowhere near the choices that are available in 559 or 622. The main selling point of 650B seems to be that it's in between those two sizes. Which makes it the tire equivalent of a hybrid bike -- neither fish nor fowl, neither road or off-road, not as easy-rolling as a bigger wheel or as sturdy as a smaller one.

acorn54

maelochs
thanks much for your wisdom. very informative and generous to direct less experienced bike riders like myself in the right direction. i was in need of a bike sturdier and with wider tires than my fuji absolute 5.0, which is a hybrid. in these parts,nassau and suffolk county in new york. our roads years ago were just fine to use thin racing tires and wheels that were not thick, and sturdy, and low end racing bikes would fit the transportation bill. nowadays one needs alot of rubber on the tires and alot of metal on the wheelset and at a low price point the haymaker seems to be in the running, so after much thought, hoping it will last for years riding on pavement i purchased it. as far as a good mountain bike for off road, i know nothing at all about that, and have only on necessity of going through the woods to get from point a to point b used my bikes.

Currmudge

You show sad ignorance with this comment -- I can't even begin to address all the fallacy here. Tell you what -- be a caveman about it, I'll enjoy my 27.5 for as many years as any 26 I've ever owned.

Maelochs

For what you plan to do with it it does seem like the right bike. Have a blast. Post pictures.

NYMXer

While I share your opinion about your post, I don't understand why you have to be so rough with your reply...

bmthom.gis

Yeah OP - you want a BMX or Trials type of bike. A wimpy 400 euro MTB is just going to break. Might be okay if you put a solid fork on it, but forget suspension in that price range.

Currmudge

I'm just not a real polite person. Since BF is censored, I have to make an effort not to get flagged for it. Latent anger issues, 50 years in the making, I'm guessing....

Kindaslow

Even old dogs can learn new tricks....Hey, you figured out 27.5s are great!

NYMXer

Well, I am sorry to hear that and wish you all the best. Knowing that you have a problem is half way to overcoming it, seek help and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
Sounds like we are about the same age (58) and that means you have experience. Use it to your advantage, not disadvantage.

Currmudge

Thanks for the kind words - yeah, be 58 next week - but help has been sought, to no avail. VA psych professionals tend to either try to medicate or shuffle off to a SOCIAL WORKER.....

I get joy from my kids, streaming media/music, mostly. A permanent injury has cut into my enjoyment of pedaling.