dminor 

Welcome shopper! Ya, you know your question has been asked before but you’re special, dogginit; so you want to ask it for the umpteen-millionth time and elicit responses catered to your exact needs and set of carefully-honed opinions. And yeah, you know there are some very good and helpful stickies about what to look for and how; but you don’t want to bother with all of that pesky reading. So if this is you:

• You’re in the market to change things up a little. Should you slap some new parts on that rigid steel dinosaur hanging in your garage or should you get something new?
  
• You’ve ridden road for years and you know your way around a bike in a general sense; but have recently been bitten by the mountain biking bug and you know nothing about MTBs. Should you get X or Y brand’s Zzz model?
  
• You were just browsing your local Craigslist ads and came across this. Is it a good price? Should you buy it?
  
• You just found a great buy on a bike but it's not the right size for you. You're looking for people who will tell you that you should get it anyway because it's such a good deal.
  
• You mostly commute but when you pass trailheads, you think you might like to dabble in some “light trail” too. Can X bike handle it as long as you’re not thinking about doing “crazy jumps or drops” (translation: the idea of getting over 6” of air freaks you out)?

. . . then you’ve come to the right place! Feel free to cut loose and ask those questions that have been burning a hole in your brain - - right here in this thread. Then we can all do our part to keep the MTB forum from getting cluttered and choked with all those repetitive “what bike to buy?” threads. Thank you in advance for doing your part.

scyclops

You forgot to mention (or perhaps you didn't) the ubiquitous, and always fun question: should I get a 29er?

BTW, the FAQ sticky probably needs to be modified, this excerpt for instance:
"Go to your LBS (Local Bike Shop) see what they have and test ride. Find two or three that you really like and feel good then come back for our opinions."

corvuscorvax

Are Motobecanes good bikes? Should I pull the trigger on a full squish? I only have $250.

Kthxbye

scyclops

Depends on the calibre, but bullets are usually ineffective on squishes, particularly full ones. I'm afraid you're going to need an excorcist and a lot of napalm.

ShimmerFade

Yes, Yes, and you lucky dog. I'm about to pull the trigger on a GMC Denali for my DH rig due to my restricted budget of $150.

corvuscorvax

OK. What should I upgrade first?

scyclops

Valve stem caps and pedal reflectors will be biggest bang for the buck. Titanium dork disc is another good mod.
Oh, and if the bike doesn't have a kick stand, get the heaviest one you can find - it'll lower the center of gravity and make the bike more stable.

corvuscorvax

ok is this a good one

scyclops

totally badass - like, totally.

NCMTBIKER

Thinking about upgrading my seatpost quick release,what do you guys recommend?

commo_soulja

What's this thread about? I stopped reading after the bold font.

Oh, wait. Should I have carne asada tacos or schnitzel for dinner?

They're both delicious, I just can't make up my mind...

jsharr

My brother is wanting to get a mountain bike. He has been looking and has narrowed his search to Specialized Camber Comp, Trek Fuel EX 5 and the Scott Spark 60.

Specialized and Scott seem to be better to me as they are all Shimano and the Trek has SRAM.

Specialized is Alivio level and Scott is Deore level components.

I have been out of mountain biking for more than a few years, so any input would be nice.

Cursory scans of the specs has me liking the Soctt over the others.

A lttle more info.

My brother turns 50 this year and is riding a Trek 820 from the early 90s right now. He is doing casual trail riding for fitness and will never race or hammer the bike all that hard.
I too have tried to steer him towards a hard tail so he could get better components for his budget.

He really wants full suspension and is trying to stay in the sub 2k price range. I think 1.5K is really his target.

With that said, are there bikes out there that are full suspension that ya'll would reccomend over the Scott?

dminor 

Dang! A real question and nobody takes the time to answer? I'll give it a stab:

I'm personally prejudiced toward the Specialized but that's only because the Horst link FSR design is the one that I have the most hands-on experience with and I happen to really like it. All the same, Scott does not make a bad bike IMO; and at that price point, the Spark has a lot going for it. It also tips the scales a couple pounds lighter than the Camber's 31+ lbs. Not that it is a big consideration for a recreational rider; but, then again, every bit helps. if pedalling around a bit lighter bike - - everything else being more or less equal - - helps him enjoy riding more and encourages him to make more use of it, I say 'why not?'

The only thing I can add about the Trek is that it would be my number three choice of the three. I know Fuels are fine; my daughter-in-law has one and is happy with it and it hasn't given my son any maintenance issues that I'm aware of. I would just personally prefer either the Scott or the Specialized.

Oh, and by all means, let him enjoy full suspension. He may not "need" it but I bet he will like it more - - and if that's what it takes to get him out and riding, well, more power to him. Hopefully Daspydyr will chime in. He has a Spark 20 (yeah, I know, a bit farther up the Spark food chain) that I believe he is still very happy with.

scrublover

Yes, your new bike really will be faster if you upgrade your pivots with 40wt. ball bearings, and be sure to keep the Fetzer valve on your shock(s) tight.

JonathanGennick 

+1. He's 50, right? At that age, our bodies don't always appreciate so much getting banged up by a hardtail. Lower-back trouble can sometimes be exacerbated by bumps that a younger person wouldn't even notice. Even on a relatively smooth trail, suspension can keep you comfortably in the seat and pedaling more than when on a hardtail.

ed 

Umm...why isn't this a sticky yet?

NCMTBIKER

I know right??

CbadRider

It is now.

jsharr

Thanks for the input guys. The Scott is a new, old stock. 2010 model and marked $1399 I believe. May be able to get it for less than that. It is the way we are leaning right now, but more than a few people on other forums, most of which either own or work in shops, have said he should really consider a hardtail 29er as it will still be much smoother than his old Trek 820, will outclimb the Scott, will be lighter and will give him better componentry at that price point. Agree, disagree, input?

ed 

dminor 

DISagree. Vehemently. I'm getting tired of people ramming 29ers down people's throats - - especially casual riders.

As far as I'm concerned, a 29er is an 'enthusiast's bike' - - either something you get to flesh out a stable to relieve boredom/change things up now and then or as an "I've tried it all, now I want to do this" kind of bike.

jsharr

Ed, did you make that full suspension or hardtail?

NCMTBIKER

I wish I had the power to have made this a sticky

jsharr

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. ;-)

estabro

What's up with the 2012 XT lineup? Is it only 10 speed?

I need to replace my broken 9 speed shifters and I can't find any new XT's except for the 10 speeds.