Hey guys, I'm not really in the MTB scene yet since I'm more of a roadie, but I bought an STP3 last year from my LBS, and whenever I take it anywhere, I always try to find some paths in the woods, and it had been really fun, and I'm thinking of getting into the scene. The bike is a hard tail with a Suntour SR stock fork, which is bound to go in place of something with a big name. The bike is completely stock minus the racing seat, which I hope to change. I'm only 16 and don't have a ton of money, I don't have a job now and I'm splitting money between a car restoration and my road bikes. Would the Giant be any good for any trails, like as a good entry level bike? I've heard about Ray's Indoor MTB Park in Cleveland, and I hear we have some great technical trails in Ohio. Also, I might switch to SS, any input? The vertical dropouts shouldn't be too much of a problem for me.

Also, if I do switch to SS, I'd probably be getting a new wheelset anyways, so should I switch to disc brakes? Is there really a difference between disc's and traditional brake? I can stop on a dime on my current ones, and they're really smooth and responsive. The frameset is definetely disc compatibe.

Anybody?

cool that you're getting into mountain biking!
but you don't need to spent all the money you think.

singlespeed is great, simple, more reliable, but less versatile than gears.
you may want to try riding with the gears for a while first,
to make sure that you won't miss them if you take them off.
if you do decide to run singlespeed, a 2:1 ratio (chainring teeth to cog teeth) is a common starting point.
also you don't need to buy a new wheelset to run singlespeed;
you can just take the cassette off and run a single cog and a bunch of spacers.
but may need to get a vertical dropout chain tensioner like the surly singleator or rennen.

discs are great, all-weather functional, and can be real powerful.
but if your current brakes stop on a dime you can wait until you really think you need to upgrade.

have fun.

That frame is a great frame to build up on. Decide which discipline of mountain biking you want to go after, and build it up the way you want.

Thanks for the reply, but from what I hear, Ohio is flat but technical, and I've got some big muscles to pedal through anything. I'm pretty familiar with fixed/SS if that means anything. Also, it makes sence to me to swap out the hubs, because the existing ones are pretty cheap, no name's, and I'm having a great experience on Surly's, keeping the current rims won't hurt. I also want a new crankset, Travativ? Bulletproof?

::EDIT:: What kind of disciplines are there in mountain biking? Is it like trails, time trial, stuff like that? I really want to learn more, ever since I saw the Jeep KOM on CBS yesterday, I've been dreaming of this kind of stuff.

https://www.bikeforums.net/mountain-biking/67259-please-read-before-asking-question-mtb-faq.html

He didn't add a few, which are dirt jumping, street, and trials.

If I decided to do mostly trails, what kind of fork should I get? I read the fork review and couldn't really understand everything, but I'm looking at some Rock Shox because I've heard they're good. I just don't know what kind of travel I should get.

K saying you want to ride trails means nothing! Do you want to ride steep-fast downhill trails, XC trails with climbs and whatnot, or like trails with some jumps and ladders?

Look at the Marzocchi Mx series(not MZ) or Rockshox Tora and Pike.

Thanks for the help, but I can't find any of those forks on Ebay for a good price, so I'll just keep my eyes peeled.

@FreeRidin', I've heard that Ohio is mainly flat and technical with just short hills, which leads me to believe a hardtail will do.

I guess what jason suggested does fit the riding you will be doing, but a ss stp with a marzochhi mx or a tora doesent seem to fit the bike escpecally if your running single speed.