The MTB Thread

Having gotten tired of freezing my ass off, selling my ice climbing gear to fund a half decent mtb bike, but haven’t ridden once for more then a couple days since I was a kid. The issue being the last one I rode was a $8-9k Pivot full carbon rental to really skew my feelings..

Places I wanna Ride are like west Bragg, Merlinview kind of trails. Not a tall guy (5’10”) so assume a 27.5, what is like the bare bones I gotta look at spending to get into stuff like FS and dropper post? Any immediate deals out there on pinkbike or kijiji I should know about? What about fears of buying some crashed used bike? Am I kidding myself thinking I can do this for $1500 on the used market?

Explain mountainbikes like im five

https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/com...i/12170103.jpg

Med frame bikes pop up constantly on fb marketplace and kijiji... might be a little small for you though. It’s tough finding the larger stuff but I think $1500 is a healthy budget for a decent 2015+ trail bike with dropper

Like so:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...5129839720232/

Edmonton... but large frame

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...7241976113413/

I'm going to be selling my Ghost Riot with custom carbon wheels and CK hubs and a Rock Shox Pike fork...

If you can find everything up your alley, except the dropper, a dropper is only ~$180 CAD from Chain Reaction Cycles, and sometimes less with sales. Internal and external routing options. My Brand-x dropper works well.
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/...end&cat=direct

It will be super easy to find a nice FS bike on the used market for $1500. Bike technology barely changes year-to-year so there isn't much to worry about with that either.

Look on Pinkbike Buy/Sell as well.

The nice thing about bikes is so many people buy an expensive one and never use it, so there are lots of good used ones out there.

Honestly, i dont even know what i should be looking for at this point, which is why the used market is challenging as no idea what i should be looking at for what i want to do

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Originally Posted by Brent.ff

Honestly, i dont even know what i should be looking for at this point, which is why the used market is challenging as no idea what i should be looking at for what i want to do

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For the kind of trails you mention I would look at something like a Giant Trance (or similar - lots of good bikes out there with a similar value proposition), 5-6" full suspension "do everything" bike. 27.5" rims, excellent climbing & descending, lockout for pavement, etc. If you want to add a dropper post you can always do that later - I never used one but I did get a seat to the balls a couple times on really steep downhills :rofl:

dropper post is mandatory imo

First things first, go rent some bikes and see 1. Do you like the sport? 2. What kind of bike do you like? Go from there. If you love it (you will…) and really want to get into it, a $1,500 fs bike is a stop gap and you’ll be buying a new bike again next year, I can guarantee you that.

Personally, I would not buy a used mtb. A road bike for sure, but I feel mtbs tend to take a lot more of a beating and you just don’t know what you’re end up with. You can luck out and get some great deals on bikes that haven’t been ridden hard, but those are few and far in between. Furthermore in the last few years, the geometry of frames has changed significantly (slack head angles and steep seat angles), so I think you’re better off getting a more “up to date” frame that won’t be obsolete in a year.

I would personally go direct sales (chain reaction cycle etc.) and build the bike as it sounds like you have had a bunch of other bikes. If the budget is not quite there for a full bike, buy a new aluminum frame and start building it slowly and get it ready for next year. Tons of cheap new/oem parts that you can find on buy sell and you’ll end up spending a lot less and build the bike with the exact parts you want. Plus building your own bike is so much fun.

Wheel size/Travel is all personal so renting some bikes is key here. I’m 6’2 so I’m partial to 29ers. The sweet spot I feel is something with 130-150 travel that can do a wide variety of trails and the odd bike park day.

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Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt

For the kind of trails you mention I would look at something like a Giant Trance (or similar - lots of good bikes out there with a similar value proposition), 5-6" full suspension "do everything" bike. 27.5" rims, excellent climbing & descending, lockout for pavement, etc. If you want to add a dropper post you can always do that later - I never used one but I did get a seat to the balls a couple times on really steep downhills :rofl:

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Now that I've been back to riding again... I'll tell you to avoid XC bikes unless you really like speed on flats and climbing. (which I kinda do, as I'm oldschool)

I have a 29er, but its not built up with boost, is a hardtail and only 100mm Solo air front Rockshock fork... so its light, it carves well, climbs well and is fast, but isn't slack enough to give me enough confidence on hardcore descents.

I definitely agree with Mitsu, and I think the Giant Trance with the maestro suspension linkage is awesome... the Trance 3 is a 150mm front/140rear with a dropper and a full Deore 1x drivetrain and can be had "slightly" used at a number of rental shops for $1500

However, I am in love with the slack "mid-fat" bikes... called 27.5+ bikes where the tires are about 2.8inches to 3 inch wide. Running tubeless at low 20 PSI (or less) with a good fork with >130MM travel is pretty amazing.

Hardtails have a dynamic headtube "Slack" angle because as only the front fork compresses, the slack angle changes... so having something aggressive <68 deg is necessary for a proper trail bike.

Bikes in this Category can range in prince, from the boutique Chromag Rootdowns, Santa Cruze Chameleons being the most expensive, BUT... there are good alternatives in the mid and low price such as Kona Honzo, Trek Roscoe, Marlin Pine etc...

2 of my friends went this way buying:

Ghost Rocket 5.7+ $1570
GT Pantera Elite $1300

Both of these are prolly the lowest in the price bracket, and are super loaded with good brakes, SLX 1x drive train and half decent forks.

In fact the German Ghost bikes, I find the be one of the best value for dollar for components, and the Aion SRSUNTOUR fork on the Rocket is a 35 and to me, not far off from a Fox 34 respect.

Riding these, even with a slack geometry, the traction from the fat tires I found to climb quite well (granted you have to lean up on the bars) BUT the most important is that it gives you the downhill confidence from that slack geo and the fat tires soak up roots and loose rocks.

both of my buddies bought some cheap used internal/external KS and Giant droppers and they really have a simple proper all mountain bike.

I am inbetween, but I don't think I'll be looking at an Enduro/hardcore FS trail bike... I find them heavy and really focused on the descent even though the geometry and suspension setups these days are awesome... IMO the best in this area is the Trek Slash, the new Yeti, SantaCruz and the Scott Genius but they come with a big price tag as well.

If I don't go mid-fat... (which does XC riding well) I'll probably look at more hardcore XC Full Suspension bike, with say 120/110 such as a Rocky Mountain Element, Santacruze Tallboy, Trek Fuel... where its more slack and suspended than a traditional RACE XC bike (i.e. Norco Revolver) but still light.

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Originally Posted by dimi

Personally, I would not buy a used mtb. A road bike for sure, but I feel mtbs tend to take a lot more of a beating and you just don’t know what you’re end up with. You can luck out and get some great deals on bikes that haven’t been ridden hard, but those are few and far in between. Furthermore in the last few years, the geometry of frames has changed significantly (slack head angles and steep seat angles), so I think you’re better off getting a more “up to date” frame that won’t be obsolete in a year.

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Lots of people buy very expensive bikes and either never use them or just hit the paths a few times and then sell when they decide it isn't for them. I have seen tons of incredible bargains on used bikes that look like they have never even been ridden - I wouldn't discount the used market so quickly, especially for someone just getting back into the sport. 1-2 year old new stock is also usually an great deal. You just go look at them like you would anything else, if it's beat up then yeah I wouldn't want that either but there are lots of pristine MTBs out there that never get used.

Heading up to Fernie with the wife tomorrow to do some riding.

Where would you guys suggest renting a bike and equipment for 3 days?

We rode Trek Sessions in Big White and really enjoyed them. Any help/suggestions is appreciated as we are both just getting into the sport. Cheers.

We were really keen on the sport in Big White, just not sure if we're ready to drop a $4-5k+ on bikes yet.

I was the same boat. Went into the bike store looking for a $1,500 bike, came out with a $3,800 bike that I traded-in 3 weeks later for a $4,200 bike. In retrospect, I should have demoed and rented to find what I wanted. First bike was 130mm and the second was 150mm of rear travel.

One thing to keep in mind about FS bikes is that there is maintenance required. My road bike went 3,000 kms before I spent a dime on it other than tubes. My FS, $200-$500 per year on fork and shock servicing, pivot servicing, creaky bottom brackets.

Also, geometry has changed a lot even in the last year. My 2019 170mm bike climbs better than my 2017 150mm bike because of a much steeper seat tube angle.

Buying used is ok if you are willing to fork out for the maintenance that the previous owner didn't do. Also, the warranty only applies to the original owner. Most reputable brands offer a lifetime warranty and a discounted crash replacement, but I think only for the original owner.

The price difference between bikes mostly comes down to component mix. A $1,500 bike will have high end department store components. $3K bike will likely get you Deore / NX components. $4K will get you some SLX / NX. $5K will get you into a low end carbon with NX or GX in Alum and it just goes up from there.

I ended up with a giant trance advanced this year based on many opinions on here. I ride Merlin to braggin rights mostly and find the bike is really nice. But I don’t have anything to compare to.

Used to be great used deals in the good old O&G days. People would walk in and drop 10gs on a bike and sell it a month later. Completely different world now, also compounded by the usd fx rate.

It depends on what you prioritize. I struggle to tell the difference between mid level vs. high end components, but a 1 degree slacker head angle is like riding a completely different bike and inspires so much more confidence. A few degrees steeper seat angle makes a full on enduro bike, feel like an xc bike on the climbs, regardless of weight. So a bike from 2 years ago, to me, feels outdated even if it has top of the line components. Hence, if funds are tight, get a modern geometry frame, and build it with low level components.

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Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt

It will be super easy to find a nice FS bike on the used market for $1500. Bike technology barely changes year-to-year so there isn't much to worry about with that either.

Look on Pinkbike Buy/Sell as well.

The nice thing about bikes is so many people buy an expensive one and never use it, so there are lots of good used ones out there.

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Yea I was not sure if trolling but MTB technology changes DRAMATICALLY every 2-3 years. The advice above is completely backwards from reality. I agree with dimi, buy something new. A newer cheaper bike will be better than a few year old higher end bike for the same money and you also won't have the suspect maintenance problem

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Originally Posted by g-m

Yea I was not sure if trolling but MTB technology changes DRAMATICALLY every 2-3 years. The advice above is completely backwards from reality. I agree with dimi, buy something new. A newer cheaper bike will be better than a few year old higher end bike for the same money and you also won't have the suspect maintenance problem

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Reality depends solely on the rider- I have ridden lots of higher end FS bikes from 2009 - 2019 and I couldn't tell you what year of bike I was riding half the time. From 2018 - 2019 sometimes there is zero difference, depending on the bike. I don't agree that you can universally say that a cheap new bike is always better than a few year old higher end bike because it very much depends on exactly what bike you're talking about. If the OP can save $1000 because he can't notice a 0.1 degree change in a piece of geometry, that is a good thing. I think there is a huge individual factor that you are ignoring. It's like buying a TV, if I say having 10% better contrast makes a world of difference and is a huge dramatic improvement for me personally, great - if the next guy can't notice, he would be stupid to pay double for something he won't appreciate.

Also if someone is selling a 1-2 year old bike they haven't really used at all, I don't know what kind of maintenance problems you are going to have. I have helped people buy dozens of used bikes or last-year stock and I have yet to encounter a horror story. I've also personally owned a mix of used and new bikes and more times than not I wished I had just paid half the price for an essentially new bike 1-2 years old with identical spec.

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Originally Posted by g-m

Yea I was not sure if trolling but MTB technology changes DRAMATICALLY every 2-3 years. The advice above is completely backwards from reality. I agree with dimi, buy something new. A newer cheaper bike will be better than a few year old higher end bike for the same money and you also won't have the suspect maintenance problem

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I agree... but also don't.

What you can get away with and what modern technology brings to the table is 2 different things...

I don't like the weight and maintenance of carbon/alloy high travel full suspensions... but they serve a purpose, but I spend 90% of my time on singletrack and not at a ski hill.

Shocks have improved especially for non-DH purpose since 2011 have been especially good since Air and proper rebound control

Frames over the last couple years with the longer reach (top tube), wider bars, shorter stem, more slack, more seatpost angle and more travel have inspired far more confidence on the downhill section... and are getting even better on the climbing (i.e. Genius & Remedy vs Bronson)
but I've been told that some of those really slacked HT bikes don't climb that great if they have too much front travel (Say 140+) and wander at low speed cause of too much trail

I would be hard pressed to say I'd be much faster on a modern XC Hardtail or FS in a race than say my old trek 26er 9800 carbon XTR with SIDs... BUT I will be much more comfortable and more confidant going downhill with say a well built FS Tallboy, Fuel, or Element

I've seen people on older half-decent 26ers FS and HT still shred blue trails, just knowing how to ride and doing minor upgrades: dropper, fork upgrades(i.e. going to a 27.5 front tire, better fork), bars, 1x and most importantly... wider tires (i.e. 26 x 3.5-4)

The modern, slack frame geometries are great for our riding. Go out to Bragg, and you're going to be climbing, climbing, climbing, then bombing a descent.

The new bikes are great climbers if you are just grinding up a hill. And obviously excellent on the descents. If you are racing uphill or want something to accelerate through flowy trails, then it might slow you down. But for the up up up down style we do here...they are great.

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Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt

Also if someone is selling a 1-2 year old bike they haven't really used at all, I don't know what kind of maintenance problems you are going to have. I have helped people buy dozens of used bikes or last-year stock and I have yet to encounter a horror story. I've also personally owned a mix of used and new bikes and more times than not I wished I had just paid half the price for an essentially new bike 1-2 years old with identical spec.

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Where are you finding a 2018 spec bike (2020 models are now out) for "half the price".... Be realistic. Yea you could get 20-30% off on a good day, but you're telling me a $4,000 2018 bike is now selling for $2,000...