BICYCLE GUYS- Wanted to purchase one after 14yrs of none

[Criminal#58369]

Id go to walmart/kmart and buy a bike, no into all those expensive bikes, i just get a good one that works, and looks nice, maybe $200?

[surfnvb7]

Originally posted by Criminal#58369
Id go to walmart/kmart and buy a bike, no into all those expensive bikes, i just get a good one that works, and looks nice, maybe $200?

oh my gosh, those things are death traps. first of all, the aluminum on those bikes is dirt cheap, and very thin. they are meant for looking at, riding on flat surfaces, and wasting money on.

b/c the aluminum in the rims is so thin, the rims will bend on the first rock they hit that is bigger than a basketball, or the first tree you try to run over.

and whatever you do, dont try to jump off any ledges, or ride down any steps. i've seen multiple pictures, and news reports of the welding in the front failing, and basically the entire front tree and handlebars seperating from the rest of the frame of the bike.

when that happens, your face is rudely introduced into the frame of the bike, and due for a nice trip to the ER

i've taken several friends out to test their brand new walmart bikes they got the day before, out on the mountain near campus. (a real mountain w/ a 2,900ft downhill decent). at the end of the ride, they just tossed the bikes over in a ditch instead of bringing them back home. all the welds were cracked if not completely broken. and the rims werent even close to being round anymore.

i have silverwear in my kitchen that is of higher quality metal than bikes from walmart.

[Ironsheikh]

I saw a mt bike magazine on cardio the other day and really like the look of the ORBEA ALMA -- what do you think?

[Wilafur]

Originally posted by Ironsheikh
prob MSRP $1500 or lower but most likely I'll be looking for a deal on ebay for a used one, but dont want to pay more than $800 for used

then get the santa cruz superlight. itis a full suspension, is pretty damn light and retails for $1,500.

[surfnvb7]

Originally posted by Wilafur
then get the santa cruz superlight. itis a full suspension, is pretty damn light and retails for $1,500.

do you have a link?

[Wilafur]

http://www.santacruzmtb.com/superlight/

[surfnvb7]

man those are sweet, but i still think they are too bulky for cross country type riding.

since no one here has mentioned cannondale, i'll go ahead and advise against it. they are expensive, and have lots of problems.

they always seem to have welding issues with their road bikes, and the mountain bikes have the special cannondale shock up above the fork which used to have bearing problems.

do they still make the carbon fiber raven bikes? with the lefty shock? those were the most expensive pieces of junk i've ever seen. although, the lefty shocks were actually a good idea, but only for the pro racers that have those bikes tuned on a daily basis to check the wear and tear of the bearings.

[Wilafur]

Originally posted by surfnvb7
man those are sweet, but i still think they are too bulky for cross country type riding.

why do you say that? at roughly 26-27lbs, the bike is a good 5-9lbs lighter than most competitive bikes in the price range.

[surfnvb7]

well, i still think you can get most hard tails to be even lighter than that and spend about the same. but i guess it would really depend on the brand of the bike, the type of alloy used in the frame, and how big the front shocks are.

i guess the thing that really bothers me about using a dual suspension on cross country, is the "bobbing" of the rear shock due to my weight, and the larger tires which seem to slow me down.

its still a sweet bike, just not really necessary for cross country type stuff if you can get a hard tail that is even lighter, w/ less mechanical parts to go wrong and need repair.

if you ever watch the professional mountain bike races on espn, all of those guys use the extra light hard tails to race in b/c they are so much lighter than dual suspensions. the only racing events i can think of that dual suspension bikes are used exclusively are the down hill races....but of course those bikes are very heavy, and not made at all for cross country or climing hills.

i love my specialized dual suspension bike, but when i'm climbing over 2,000 feet to the top of the mountain, the bobbing is very annoying and causes me to lose my momentum very easily. i also wish it was 5lbs lighter which would make the climb a heck of alot easier.

here is 5 year old pic of my bike. i have since ditched the stupid mud flaps, changed out the handle bars, cranks, seat post to carbon fiber. and in the pic i had to get a special stem that rose up quite a bit, b/c i had flipped it a couple months before and broke my collar bone in 3 places, and i couldnt lean over with the handle bars as low as they were. i have since gone back to a regular stem as well.

[Wilafur]

agreed, hardtails are definitely lighter than full suspension. but i like a little cushioning for my bootie. hahaha!

[surfnvb7]

Originally posted by Wilafur
agreed, hardtails are definitely lighter than full suspension. but i like a little cushioning for my bootie. hahaha!

hahahahaha!! ever tried one of those seat posts with the shocks in them? it feels like you are riding a horse or a tractor

ever tried one of these seats? i love them, keeps the pressure off of the nerves that run through that vital area.......

[cbashaw]

Here's some videos of the guys I used to ride with. I just can't risk broken bones anymore so I've been sticking to cross country and road riding now. One of my friends lost most of the use of both of his hands hitting a jump at over 40mph on pavement. It was a real eye opener for me to see that I'm not invinsible. It's still fun to watch them though.

http://www.fleetstreetcycles.com/sit...streetride.wmv

http://www.fleetstreetcycles.com/sit...llery/gary.wmv