Need some suggestions...
 

ok, i'm looking for a new hardtail mtb that is semi light weight and strong frame and under $300. i'll be riding some trails with it and doing small jumps. do you guys have any suggestion? please post up some brands and web links. thanks!!

rui :p

for that price youre not going to find much difference in components when looking at different brands. try getting a bike with a good strong frame that can be upgraded later if you want. try shopping at your LBS, that way you can get free tuneups and probably a discount on other items. the Specialized Hardrock XC is a good bike for $290.

In that price range they are all pretty entry level crap quite frankly... you're looking at RST/Nsync shocks which do not hold up to ANY abuse... my advice is to save $300 more and get a bike for your intended use.

If you can settle for a "used" instead of "new" bike, you may get lucky & find what you're looking for. Good luck otherwise....
And if you're also wanting a front suspension fork on that hardtail, you best start praying right now....

I have this bike and I think it is a good bike. You should be able to pick it up for around $300. I recently saw it for $319 even though i paid $350 for it last Fall.

THe frame on this bike is the same frame that they use clear through their Recreational Hard tail line. The 4900 sells for $569 and has the same frame. The components are not what you are going to find on a Performance bike but that is to be expected. It also is really only an issue if you intend to do some serious trail riding and jumping. I ride my bikes on mainly county roads and don't do anything technical.

If you are looking to do some hardcore MTB trail riding no bike in the Recreational class (your budget) is going to be as good as one in the Performance class.

Here it is with my new organic stem. Someone usually tells me my stem is to long everytime i post this bike , so i went ahead and "upgraded" it to a Rose stem. :p

lol ranger.. that's some nice looking stem u got there. well, i'm not going to be doing anything technical or hardcore trail riding. this is just going to be recreational. i've already bought a new sirrus, so my wife is saying i can buy another mt. bike to replace the rockhopper.. but has to be under $300. anyhoo.. i'll check out the trek and check between the two.

the hardrock xc is going for $260 right now.. but not sure if the frame will be just as strong as the one on the sport model. according to the brochure... the hardrock xc frame is: "A1 Premium Aluminum, 3D box gusset HT/DT, TT gussett, forged dropouts w/ eyelets and replaceable hanger with eyelets for 80mm travel fork". whereas the hardrock sport has: "A1 Premium Aluminum, DT/HT 3D box gusset, forged dropouts with reinforced disc mount and eyelets, replaceable forged alloy derailleur hanger, disc only, designed for 100mm travel fork"

to me they seem to be using the same type of frame, but the top bar of the xc is round whereas the sport is more triangle shaped. now i gotta check out the trek one..

If you are serious about jumping the lowest end bike I would possibly recommend to you is the Hardrock Sport for $329.99. Its 8spd, has a 100mm travel RST Gila, boxed/gussetted frame, and has more dirtjump oriented geometry. The Trek has a very noodly fork. Also, I should add the 4300 and 4900 frame's are made out of the same material, but the 4300 is made in Taiwan and the 4500 and up are made in the USA so its questionable if the frames really are the same.

seely, i'll got with the hardrock sport, as soon as they have my 17" frame. right now it's backordered and shortage. :cry: as for the trek 4300, it's made by giant in taiwan, and i've test roade the trek 4300 16" today. it was nice, but like you said the front fork was very weak even when i turned it to the stiffest. plus it's heavier than the hardrock sport 19", which i was disappointed in. i would think the 4300 (since it's comparable to the hardrock sport) it should be about the same weight. anyhoo.. just waiting for the 17" frame to become available. thus far, the lowest price i've found was $299 with free lifetime tuneups. can't wait till they become available.. i'm looking to buy the yellow one!!!

rui :p

The Sports will not be available again until the end of may, along with just about every other Specialized MTB. It sucks because I mostly sell Hardrock Sports and Hardrock XC's. The XC is a 7spd which I would avoid like the plague since it cant be upgraded to 8/9spd. Its a great bike though for someone who just wants to ride and doesn't intend on getting too serious.

Just out of curiousity, if you already have a Rockhopper, why are you considering "upgrading" to a lower end bike than what you have?

why cant you upgrade to a 8 or 9 speed? I "thought" all bikes are upgradeable, which is why i dont understand why some frames say "single speed" like on konas online shop.
Wouldnt you just need new shifters and a new wheelset/cassette?

No, the hub on a 9/8spd is wider, so it won't fit in a 7spd frame. With some elbow grease on a 7spd steel frame you can safely fit a 9/8spd but on aluminum I wouldn't risk it even if you could mash the wheel in there.

I don't get what your question is about singlespeeds... they have horizontal dropouts and no derailleur hanger so you can't run gears.... most are spaced for a 8/9spd width hub I believe...

ah ok i get it. Ill keep my eye out for that next time i see a frame with a singlespeed description. thanks

seely, the reason why i am thinking about getting the hardrock is because the rockhopper is too big for me. this rockhopper of mine, i bought from a co-worker at his garage sale. i didn't know much about mt. biking at the time, plus for $50 it's not so bad. then i got home and clean the bike up just to realize that the rear derailer is kinda in a bad shape. it still works but just not that smooth.

then i found out the bigest gear on the crank is missing 4 teeth. i've gone onto sheldon's website to adjust the derailers and gear shifts as much as i can but still not very good. i'm 5'8" and my current rockhopper frame is 20.5", which is way too big for me. i have long legs.. but still i have to tip toe or lean the bike side way to put my feet down.

i've thought about replacing the frame and all that.. but since i don't have the tools for it nor time, i figure it'll be cheaper to just get new bike. in this case, i'm trying to keep the price below $300, thus hardrock sport is my choice now. since they are not going to be shipping till end of may, can you tell me when they are starting to ship? i need a size 17" frame and it seems like that frame is pretty hot for most people. that's the reason why i am choosing hardrock sport.

rui :p

Not trying to be a jerk, but WRONG! the Overall hub width is the same - 135mm. The frame will accept a 8/9 speed hub without any problems.

Your Freehub body on a 7 is shorter than an 8/9, but overall hub width is the same.

To try to NOT to confuse you, here's a bit of history. After 7 speed was developed, the desire was to go to 8-speed. The centerline to centerline spacing in the cogs for 7-speed and 8-speed are the same, thus requiring a wider freehub for 8-speed cassettes. What they did to keep the overall width constant they narrowed the hub flange to hub flange width. So, the industry started making 8-speed freehubs and hubs. You see, if you use a small spacer on an 8-speed freehub, then you can use a 7-speed cassette, but not the other way around.

Then, when the move was to go to 9-speed, no one in the industry wanted to go through that whole ordeal again, so then went through a completely NEW ordeal. The freehub width between 8 and 9 is constant, but the centerline to centerline of the cogs was more narrow. This required a more narrow chain to work, then a front derailleur with a more narrow cage, then the shifters had to be all new so they would pull the cable the proper length for 9-speed. The saga continues....

So, regarding upgrading. If going from 7-speed to 8-speed, you may or may not need a new freehub body, depending on it's width. Then you need new shifters, but your front derailleur will work and you'll need a new rear derailleur, your chain should be the same.

If going from 8 to 9, a new hub/freehub is NOT needed, but you will need a new cassette, new chain, new shifters and a new front derailleur. Not to mention new chainrings too. Now, when I upgraded to 9 speed, I used my 8 speed front derailleur and chainrings and it worked. It may not have worked AS WELL as a complete 9 speed system, but $ is $ and I could only upgrade bit by bit.

L8R