Mountain Bike - Hard tail

Oh may god, theres still one left.

 

Nice 300mm stem ya got there.....

 

Just scored this at a garage sale $80 bucks!! Brakes are hydraulic but bone dry otherwise in pretty clean condition.
Jamis XLT 2.0 looks like a 2004 according to bikepedia.com

Its a medium 17inch frame so won't fit me but maybe ill keep just to loan out to friends.

Can't seem to attach photo from my smatphone.

 

Well here's a stock photo from Jamis website.

Just rode the bike on the canal path behind my house, fricken tiny frame compared to my 19 Jamis Expert and other 29er.

Can't figure out what I'm doing wrong uploading pictures damn near tried errything.

 

Yes, yes it was What an awesome ride! Pretty wild trail for us flatlanders!

 

Thats what she said....

 

Picked up my first MB last week, a new 2012 model for less than half the original MSRP:

http://khsbicycles.com/bikes/2012-khs-models/team-29/

Had to add a taller seat post (Thomson 410mm). Not bad for right at $2100. Rides good on the trails around here.

I've had it out on the road a few times but the gearing is too short. Pretty comfortable for a ten mile ride, but not that much fun on the steep hills. So, I'm picking up a road bike this weekend, too.

Gotta have the right tools for the job at hand.

 

Thought I'd put this here instead of start my own thread....

I designed a MTB t-shirt through Teespring and the sale ends on Sunday. There's different colors you can choose to make it your own.

Take a look and I'd appreciate any feedback from you all....and hell, if you like it enough you can buy it too.

I appreciate the support and let me know what you think! LINK > http://teespring.com/mountain-bike-ride-like-hell

 

My brother's been riding my Intense 5.5, which I picked up used for $1450.
He's heading on a MTB trip to Peru on Friday. Thought he needed new wheels for the trip.
He arrived home last night with Lapierre Spicy Team.
Pretty smexy bike.

 

Fark, 50mm stems being normal these days does my head in, nice bike though.

 

Ok, so is there a cliff-notes version of this thread, or a WERA type forum for learning about getting into mountain biking?

 

Option A - borrow a friends bike, go riding a dozen times, see if you like it.
Option B - go to a shop with a budget in mind, double it, then buy something.

Jokes aside your budget & type of riding/local trail type will determine where you end up more than anything esp on a less expensive beginner bike, so whatcha thinking? And fwiw the cost of the bike has nothing to do with the size of the smile, but at the low-end a few hundred more can add up to a whole lot more bike than you'd end up with if you bought the cheaper one and added parts later with the difference you had initially saved.

Edit: MTBR, pinkbike etc etc, plenty of well established forums these days. Prob even one for your local area if you look for it.

 

Can I buy something under a grand? Seems like poking through this thread that is possible. Used is perfectly fine. Joining up on those other forums and I'll dedicate some bathroom time to reading this thread and catching up a bit.

 

I just bought a Rockhopper for my 11 year old son. I think it was the 1200$ model. I'm really amazed at how much of an improvement it is over my 8 year old Giant. Fantastic bike all in all. Would really recommend it to anyone.

And with the '16 bikes hitting the market the dealers are starting to swap bikes (friend is a dealer). The Specialized dealers at least have an internal site where they can sell bikes to other shops. For example if one shop has a demo '15 Rockhopper that sold them 10 other Rockhoppers and they want to move it out to get in a '16 they can list it internally for other dealers to buy below cost or at cost. If you can find a dealer willing to search for you there might be a hell of a deal out there to be had on a new or demo bike as they start to roll out the '16s.

 

This is the one I got him. Really blown away by it. 2x10 gears, fork lockout on the left bar. I think it's a great buy for the money.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/rockhopper/rockhopper-expert-29

It's not the lightest and doesn't have the top of the line fork, but I think it's a very respectable ride. I'm a roadie so a real MTB guy could probably point out the weak points in the specs.

 

You should be able to get a pretty good used hard tail (front suspension only) for just under a grand. Not top of the line, but something that will hold up to hard cross country riding and not be too much of a tank. If you're wanting to get into downhill mountain biking, it will be hard to find a decent used one for under a grand.

 

Buy used for better value. New bikes under a grand can be sketchy, generally Values increase from $1200 & up with $1800 being the sweet spot for hard tails. for Full suspension, figure $ 2500-3 grand, new.

 

I got my daughter a left over Marin Bolinas ridge "unisex" in XS and the frame has impressed the crap out of me. It's that weird triangle/ square aluminum tubing and is more than stiff enough while also having some good flex to it. A fantastic learners bike.

Yeah, the components are meh at best but who cares for a kid.

 

That looks like a solid entry level bike. A new rider could get a few good years of learning out of that. Personally, I don't like the feel of the 29ers, but that's just my preference.

 

Not to go all Groome on this, but I like that one just because it looks badass.

Don't think I'll be getting into DH yet. There are trails everywhere around where I live though. I'll revisit the DH idea after I get some basics down I think.