Crysis

Alright so basically I'm back on my bike this summer, last summer didn't go to well, but now I am back at ridding and I've been going on some really long trips with friends and am being left behind. I'm not 100% sure of what model bike I'm ridding, I'm pretty sure it's a Trek 850(?), not sure cause there aren't any stickers and I don't know where else I should look. But to get more to the point, I've had this bike for about 5 yrs, bought it used, and I'm now getting tired of it.

What I'd like to have in a bike:

Something light-I think my current bike is around 30-40 lbs, I really don't know, but I'd like something between 20-25 lbs(or lighter).

Comfort-Well, to be honest, I'm not looking to be ridding on a Lay-Z-Boy, or something.

Handling-Basically something with some good stoping power and steer's smoothly(but I think that would depend more on me).

Im going to be using the bike for riding to work, school, on trails(sand/dirt/grass/and w/e else I feel like venturing over). I'd like to get all-round suspension, I went on a tral with a few friends and they had suspension in the back and seemed to be having a breeze ridding, me on the other hand... I hurt for a couple days after, so I hope the added suspension would help. And I got to ride around on one of my friends bike's and it was pretty smooth, so that's what mostly inlcined me to get a bike with suspension in the back(I think his was an older Specialized... looked kinda beat up but he said it was his "pride and joy").

Im not sure which bike to get, I was browsing around this site and saw some good reviews/input on the Specialized Stumpjumper, I'll have to do a bit more searching and pick out some other makes/brands that look promissing. Probably going to go to some LBS's and see what they have.

Anyway's, thank's in advance for any input.

Also, my price range is roughly 1800-2500, if it's needed I can save a little longer and spend a bit more, but I plan on this being somewhat of a serious investment.

born2bahick

The stumpjumper is a great bike. In your price range it's going to be tough to find full suspension under 25 lbs. Take a look at the Giant Anthem1 and 2 models, also.

Crysis

Cool, thanks for the reply, I'll check out those bikes. If I were to get a bike with full suspension under 25 lbs, roughly how much would one cost? And is it the frame thats lighter or all the bolt-on's that can be replaced that would make it lighter? Also I've thought about taking a new path, building my own bike. I like working with my hands so I think it would be a fun project. I would definetely get help though. But I'll keep looking around the forums to see what other info I can dig up.

rankin116

Builiding a bike will cost more unless you plan on doing a bunch of bargain hunting and buying used parts. I think you would be better off buying an assembled bike so you could test ride a bunch of different bikes and see what you like.

Good luck with this, bike shopping is a ton of fun.

born2bahick

I think the anthem 1 at $2600, might fall in that category.

ProFail

Eh, cheapest <25 pound FS bikes I see are all over $3k.

Cyclist30907654

Well, short of going the bikesdirect route, I don't see any way you could get a sub-25 lbs bike.

Crysis

Ok, so a bike under 25lbs on a budget of roughly $2500 isn't very do-able. What would be a good place to look for bikes under 25 lbs(I'm having a hard time finding weight on the manufacturers websites), and approximately how much would 1 cost? This has been on my mind all day long and I think if I'm going to spend the money I'd like to know what I'm spending it on and the "why's" and "how's" to it all. I'll keep looking around the forums here, but there any other sites(or something) that could point me in the right direction?

Thanks.

heckler

based on your intended uses (riding to work/school/some trails) and your weight requirments i would look hard tail. It seems like alot of your riding is gonna take place on a road or light trails...a hardtail should be fine and will cost less with less weight, plus for your price range you can get a fairly top of the line one

bikesdirect_com

This is why we rountinely sell out of the Fantom Team [which is under 25 lbs; under $2000; and XTR]
Of course, people who really want light are buying a lot of the Fly Team Ti hardtails at under $2000 which are under 20 lbs. At 19.5 lbs I think it is the lightest production MTB made; and with the Ti frame the ride is rather nice.

Chris_F

Why do you want a bike under 25 pounds? Is it because you're being left behind by your friends? I don't think a light bike will help you there. The only way to fix that is to put lots of miles under the tires.

Crysis

Not entirely, I'd like a bike under 25 lbs because I've been ridding 1 thats atleast 35-40lbs, when I ride with friends we usually go for about 2-3hr rides. Going up hills on a heavy bike get's kind of exhausting after a while, and now that I can purchase my own bike I'd like to get a good one. I'll probably get a HT that's around 25 lbs or less, but ridding to work and school on a lighter bike would be nice too.

Chris_F

I've never weighed my C'dale Rush but it certainly isn't sub 25lbs. To me it's light as a feather going uphill. I think there's something to be said for "cushy" and efficient as opposed to outright weight savings. For one thing the lower unsprung weight on a full suspension makes it glide over the rough stuff and feel lighter. Since each rock, root, and log only lifts the suspension and not the whole bike frame the bike moves much easier over terrain than my old (and lighter) hardtail ever did. And not getting beat up by the bumps keeps you fresh longer.

How about splitting your budget and spending most of it on a full suspension mountain bike and getting a cheap road bike for the commute.

deraltekluge

If you want a starting point, you really should weigh your bike first.

ProFail

Light, but not the lightest. Scott Scale LTD is like 18 pounds.