Looking for a good Mountain Bike

[Outback]

Hi Guys,
Well I am in the market for a new Mountain Bike. I bought one for around the house for about $150. The kids wanted me to ride around with them so I bought an El Cheapo. Well after riding with the kids I realized that I wanted something a bit better for more technical terrain. I am looking for a hard tail (reasons will be shown later) and that has pretty good gears and very aggressive tires. Those I can add later so if anyone has suggestion for those please post up. I dont want to spend allot of money but something in the $300 to $400 range would be fine. Thanks for any help. I know absolutely nothing about Mountain bikes except what a hard tail is.

 

[shovelbum]

I've had nothing but good luck with Canondales. They're aluminum framed hard-tails are awesome. That said, I'm now riding an aluminum Kona, which is comparable and also good by me. Have fun.

 

[ryguy]

I've had nothing but good luck with Canondales. They're aluminum framed hard-tails are awesome. That said, I'm now riding an aluminum Kona, which is comparable and also good by me. Have fun.

x2 on the cannondales

 

[jatibb]

giant, .......

 

[ntsqd]

More education than you probably want or need: http://www.mtbr.com/

 

[zukrider]

a hardtail at that price is decent, but you should really aim for the $600 range. their are way more choices with much better drivetrain options. but that is if you are going with a new purchase. i picked up a $700 dollar novara at the rei yardsale for $250 and rode it the same day.

But, their are giant, specialized, cannondale, trek, aqnd countless others. i reccomend that you go talk to a reputable shop and pick their brains. a trek 4500, specialized rockhopper or lower end hardrock, cannondale f4 are gonna be real good options. you dont need a front lock out, deore level drivetrain should be the lowest you go for reliability, 24 or 27 speed will be sufficient. i highly reccomend disc brakes for ease of maintenance. mechanical Avid bb5 are the MMMM!

happy trails, im sure you will like them all. remember, a bike at this price level is dictated by parts, not frame manufacturer.

joe

 

[Cody1771]

it really depends on what you like. imo goto a bike shop and try out some bikes, some people are very dedicated to one brand. Norco, Giant, Kona, Cannondale, Specialized.... i could keep listing but they all have really good bikes in your price range. I personally and a HUGE norco fan, but currently ride a Cove, they are a manufacturer here in vancouver BC that cater to more high end bikes. http://www.covebike.com/, the link below is also pretty usefull.

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/Default.aspx

 

[ryguy]

a hardtail at that price is decent, but you should really aim for the $600 range. their are way more choices with much better drivetrain options. but that is if you are going with a new purchase. i picked up a $700 dollar novara at the rei yardsale for $250 and rode it the same day.

But, their are giant, specialized, cannondale, trek, aqnd countless others. i reccomend that you go talk to a reputable shop and pick their brains. a trek 4500, specialized rockhopper or lower end hardrock, cannondale f4 are gonna be real good options. you dont need a front lock out, deore level drivetrain should be the lowest you go for reliability, 24 or 27 speed will be sufficient. i highly reccomend disc brakes for ease of maintenance. mechanical Avid bb5 are the MMMM!

happy trails, im sure you will like them all. remember, a bike at this price level is dictated by parts, not frame manufacturer.

joe

If you get a well made alloy frame with a decnt fork you can always slowly upgrade your drivetrain components as you grow with the bike. Make sure you get a 27spd tho

 

[Corey]

I really like the Specialized line of MTB bikes.
I just picked up a Rockhopper Pro around six weeks back, very nice bike.
The Rockhopper line has several models in it starting out cheaper than the Pro that I got.

Lifetime warranty too on Specialized frames.

As mentioned above, join MTB.com and read up on some reviews.
http://www.mtbr.com/

The 2010s are out now, so Specialized revamped their site, but here are the Rockhoppers.
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?sid=10Rockhopper&eid=4340

Mine has changed a bit and gone up in price, the Pro model is on a different page.
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?sid=10RockhopperSL&eid=4340

 

[OneTime]

I buy my bikes like I do my vehicles, slightly used. I would say find out what size you need then check out craigslist. MTBR.com is your friend. Often spending one or two hundred dollars more makes a world of difference.

You will be able to get much more with a good used bike than a new one. You can find good deals on well mantained bikes.

 

[jh504]

I buy my bikes like I do my vehicles, slightly used. I would say find out what size you need then check out craigslist. MTBR.com is your friend. Often spending one or two hundred dollars more makes a world of difference.

You will be able to get much more with a good used bike than a new one. You can find good deals on well mantained bikes.

X2 on the craigslist option. You can find some nice bikes on there. Unless you are an extremly serious biker there is no need to spend a fortune on a bike. Find a good quality bike used, for a good price.

 

[viatierra]

We recently bought two. I was in your same price range figuring that if we really dig it we can drop coin for upgrades later. We found a nice Giant hardtail on Craigslist for $220. We also found a Trek 6500 at a pawn shop for $250. That one needed a little love, but was clearly a higher quality ride. After a few parts, I'm into the Trek for $325 and LOVE it.

It took about 2 weeks of really snooping around and checking up on some of the online resources sited in earlier posts.