Learn me budget mountain bikes

My MTB doesn't have disc brakes. That said, they do offer a level of performance that will be appreciated any time you need to slow down.

Keeping the budget limited to $400 makes it a real challenge to spec a bike with a fork that is tuneable for a guy weighing over 300# alone, much less throwing disc brakes at it.

My thought is, if you get the bug and really want to ride mountain trails you will find a bike that better suits your needs then and you will have a better idea of what you want out of it at that point. For now, a non-suspended bike will be lighter and more hassle free, and will make you a better rider because you will pick a better line. When you step up to suspension you will be that much faster for it because you are smooth by habit.

Focus on a nice higher-end steel rigid bike, upgrade it to v-brakes if needed and go pound the snot out of it. You are going to be hard on wheels at your size anyway, and you won't haev suspension to soak up any of it, so true them as necessary and budget for that potential upgrade down the road. For example:

This bike (cool bike BTW) has a paired-spoke design wheel on the back and a traditional 3-cross on the front. The rear wheel takes a fair amount of abuse as most of your weight is on the back end of the bike. I would stay away from (or budget the replacement for eventually) radial or paired-spoke designs in your wheels, especially the rear wheel. It can't be helped, you are going to put more stress on a bike than a 170# rider, and that's what most bikes are designed around. I would not focus as much on getting "light weight" parts as I would "durable".

"A bike can be cheap, light and durable. Pick two."

I like this thread. It makes me want to go out to the garage and finish putting together my specialized. It's a "Hardrock Classic" I got for free from my dad with very few miles on it. I'm un-classicing it and making it fit me a little better. Wider bars, no suspension seatpost, not-enormous seat, a different stem and better tires. Stronger wheels to come when I bend these :)

While I have been dragging ass putting it together, I've been riding an old Trek-850 rigid steel purple abortion my roommate got for free and assembled from junk parts. It rocks. Its a bit heavy, but tons of fun and most importantly, its reliable.

ProDarwin wrote: I like this thread. It makes me want to go out to the garage and finish putting together my specialized.

Makes me want to take out the tank I built up last summer and play in the snow - but it's cold.

Mine's a blue 08 Specialized big hit 2 with a 32t chainring and 12-36 cassette. I also put u-turn guts in the fork to drop the nose and a 20mm longer stem. It's about on par travel/frame angle wise with the current all-mountain bikes, but it's a pig. It, of course, has a bitchin (to me anyway) paintjob.

I also changed the saddle to a black terry fly and the grips to odi rogues.

Where the hell is donalson in this discussion?!

DILYSI Dave wrote: I've got a buddy who says that it's not worth having a bike without disc brakes. Thoughts?

My last bike had cantilever brakes. My current mountain bike has very good disc brakes on it. Honestly, I really don't think that discs are that big of a deal. They're quieter and they may be a little easier to modulate, but I'd actually prefer the simplicity and lower cost of more traditional brakes.

My old brakes (Cannondale Force 40's, circa 1993), were fine. I think there was actually a bigger difference in brake feel going from chromed steel wheels to aluminum than there was in going from those brakes to discs. Just my $0.02...

Go with a steel frame that has no suspension.CR-MO frames have enough give with your weight will flex.You can buy a fork for the front and go with disc up front and canti. in the rear or have the disc drop out added to the steel frame.Aluminum will be to harsh on your body and they dont make a carbon bike that will hold up to your weight.Go with the 12 ga spokes they will handle up to 480 lbs so you can be aggresive as you want.Double wall wheels so they don't fracture,go with a 2in riser bar kinda like a BMX set up you will be comfortable on it for long rides.

If you stick with rim brakes (cantis or V-brakes), Kool-stop salmons stop better than any other pad I've tried. Fairly easy on rims, too.

gamby wrote: Where the hell is donalson in this discussion?!

lol sorry out of town for a wedding this weekend ;-)

anyway...

I'd say i'm one of the more qualified people to reply... I'm your weight... and a smidge taller... and MTB... have off and on since the mid 90's... I prefer 29ers by far... but in your price range you aren't going to find something thats going to last any reasonable time :(... unless you watch closely for a good used model (and even then it will likely be single speed which is not great encouragement to get a big unfit guy out riding (coming from current experience lol)... gers are going to get you much further along... and will make it so you can ride around the house/town and on the trail... so hopefully you'll get more saddle time... a SS bike geared for the trail is miserable on the road... and a bit frustrating and humbling at how much you'll be walking out on the trail...

for suspension forks you aren't going to find anything thats up to your weight in your budget... but a properly fitted bike with a rigid fork and a fat front tire will cush things a lot... there are a few forks that will handle our weight... but most of them would cost your entire budget... or more... for FS bikes anything you can get on the budget is going to be garbage even for someone 1/2 our weight... don't bother

is what I would do in your position...

try to save up a little more money if possible... hit your LBS (local bike shop) and talk to them... ask them if anyone in the local MTB club has something decent FS in your price range... a good LBS will help you out if you can... they know you'll happily spend A LOT more money down the road when you get the bug... last time I was in my LBS my bud told someone who was in there just shopping around to keep her eyes on CL and if she saw something that met her needs to give him a call and he'd look and let her know weather to bother with it or not... easy to know a good deal if you've been around for a while but easy for someone who doesn't to be taken for a ride... he just wants people out pedaling...

in the same take... see if you'r local MTB club is online with an active forum and ask if someones got something... a buddy of mine got a GREAT deal on a 4 y/o high end MTB for about $200 because one of the club guys knew he needed a bike and was tight on funds...

finally... if neither comes of anything then I'd keep my eyes on CL... find a mid/higher end 90's-2k's hard tail (they will all have suspension forks on them if they haven't been moded and are upper end)... I would prefer steel due to durability (alu work hardens and is more prone to cracking after a long life of being ridden... so for alu look for signs of low millage like little ware on the crank/cassette teeth, sidewalls of the rim not worn down etc) I would go for something with V brakes... once you find something that fits you well (most important part of buying... don't buy if it doesn't fit your right no matter how good of a deal (and yes i've broken that rule and regretted it)

anyway off that tangent... when you find a bike then find out what travel fork it came with and get a rigid fork with disc mount and canti posts and a larger front tire...

down the road you will be able to buy a new front wheel that is disc compatible and a disc brake kit and you can run "mullet" (disc up front and V in the back... again something i've done and been very pleased with)

thats all I can think of right now... but best of luck finding a rig... feel free to email me with a Cl find if you find something you want a 2nd opinion on... there is A LOT of junk out there that looks like a treasure... but there is also a lot of treasures out there to be found :)

being not to far from atlanta I don't imagine finding a club or CL bike will overly difficult... but finding the right one can take some time...

also a good resource for finding some basic info on bikes is http://bikepedia.com/ you can punch in the aprox year of the bike and find out what kind of stuff it should have on it

One better step from talking to the LBS is to make friends with a tech who works at one. They'll know about local deals, random older frames that could be rebuilt, etc. I came across some killer deals when I was a tech and my bike wrenching friends do the same with regularity.

In reply to donalson:

Why is it theres so many of us big and tall people who ride bikes but few who cater to us?? I often wonder if there would be a market for someone who only did big and tall bikes.I'm 6'4" and I've always had to custom build my own bikes because they never stocked a xxl frame.I come across large frame bikes all the time but don't buy them because the only market is ebay,its hard to sell a tall bike on CL.

I think you answered your own question. Big bikes are hard to sell.

keith... the prob is most people don't have a friend in the LBS unless they've been into riding for a while...

but I know what you are saying... i've dropped older frames frames that are worth being built up but of no use to me at my LBS so he can pass them along to someone who can use them... he also offered me an XL surly 1x1 frameset for $180 (he got it for $160 as its the last gen version) ended up trading straight up for a to small for me GT 9er frame (can check it out in the other bike thread thats going on)...

speedbiu there is a bike company that caters to big n tall... Zinn Cycles sells HUGE frames, and tall/clyd specific builds (including their own custom crankset up to 220mm I belive

oh and for carbon... I know the Santa Cruz tall boy al they do not recomend for people over 250 or so... over that they recomend the carbon version which I found interesting... but carbon can be built very strong... just a matter of knowing what version to buy... and to the OP... carbon built to that strength isn't in your (or my) budget lol

oh and spoke gauges where mentioned... if you are not a jumper then standard 1.8/2.0mm double butted spokes are the way to go they have a little bit of elasticity to them vs straight gauge spokes... a good handbuilt set of wheels is a great thing once you start popping spokes its time to have a nicer wheelset built up :)

GT Avalanche... I've had mine for years, and haven't had a single failure, very tough bike, with a overbuilt frame.

Ive been eyeing Diamond Backs for a while now, especially the Response. You can get one for around $350-400 new, adjustable front shocks with lockout, cable discs, aluminum. Once in a while, a good deal comes up on Craigslist, but it's gone so quick that you don't have any time to go look.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/bik/2796798957.html

I ride a 1994 Trek 930 Singletrack. I'm 6'6" (36" inseem) and go about 235. The bike is all 'stock' except that it has road tires in place of the knobbies--but otherwise has been reliable as an anvil. Normal maintenance and ride ride ride.

Not mine--but close...

I'm sure you can pick up one--or a frame for ubercheap.

ST_ZX2 wrote: I ride a 1994 Trek 930 Singletrack. I'm 6'6" (36" inseem) and go about 235. The bike is all 'stock' except that it has road tires in place of the knobbies--but otherwise has been reliable as an anvil. Normal maintenance and ride ride ride.

Shocking that those old singlewall wheels have held up that long.

I gotta say, the current look of the gonzo mega-travel bikes is a bit off-putting to me. The raked-out forks bug me. (On the rare occasion I ride trails) I like a nimble bike that can weave through the tight stuff. I don't care about leaping off of tall buildings anymore--I just want to get from one end of the trail to the other.

I guess the old-schooler in me likes a more "compact" bike. Mine's an oddball Decathlon Rockrider from 2004. Full-suspension, Deore LX, Hayes mechanical discs.

Last summer, I helped a skate bud rebuild an old Cannodale Delta V (I think that's the model) that he scored from craigslist for $200. All XT, upgraded to XTR V-brakes. After all was said and done, he had maybe $450 into it and it's still a killer-looking, featherweight, functional bike.

No relevance to the thread--just felt like digging up a pic of my bike

My current ride is a Rocky Mountain ETSX. Great all-arounder, it'll climb like crazy and has enough suspension to deal with quick downhills. I don't look for jumps. It's survived well on the Moab/Fruita/GJ single track with a 210 lb rider. Gamby, I think you'd dig it. But it's not quite germane to the discussion at hand, RM bikes are a bit pricy.

I'd still recommend chatting up a local bike tech. Go in, show you're a good guy, and you might be surprised at what shows up. Especially since Dave's needs are a bit unusual, which makes it a fun challenge. And you might make a friend to boot.

gamby wrote: Last summer, I helped a skate bud rebuild an old Cannodale Delta V (I think that's the model) that he scored from craigslist for $200. All XT, upgraded to XTR V-brakes. After all was said and done, he had maybe $450 into it and it's still a killer-looking, featherweight, functional bike.

I loved those, especially in blue and silver.

Ehhh...I'm going to offer a vote of disagreement on one thing here - the thought that a front fork won't take your weight. I say this because when I started riding (around '99) I weighed about 310. My first real MTB (after totaling a Wal-bike) was a Specialized Hardrock with a RockShoxx Jett front fork - it was the best steel frame (read: cheap) model that Spec made at the time and the last year they made steels, I think. The shock was an elastomer/spring affair and not super effective. But it was a hell of a lot better than nothing and it still worked as new when I upgraded a couple years later.

Especially if you have wrist issues, get something with a front shock. I would stick to the entry level stuff because it's built to take ridiculous amounts of abuse.

If you can manage to put together $400 for a bike, that's starting to get into the very bottom end of Major label, bike shop offerings from Trek, specialized, etc. When you're starting out I would consider buying from a local shop just for the support. The will often work with you to swap out possibly weak parts on a new bike at a steep discount, and they can help fit the bike to you. The fitment alone is often worth it in terms of comfort. Not to mention most shops offer some sort of financing or layayway these days if you can't get quite all the funds together.

As a big rider, I've always found the weak point of MTBs to be the wheels. I still weigh over 235 most of the year and I ride very aggressive crosscountry stuff, but not big hit, downhill, etc. I've never broken a frame or blown out a shock, but I've certainly destroyed a bunch of wheels.

I ride a rigid 29er and a dual suspension 26 ( a Niner One9 and Specialized FSR-XC Pro, respectively). I really think if you start on a rigid bike that you will be unhappy and uncomfortable enough that you will stop riding long before you get over the initial hard part. I love my rigid 29, but it damn sure wasn't cheap to build. the ONLY way I'd ride rigid is with the advantages of the 29" wheel and the large volume, low pressure tubeless tires. Neither of these is budget friendly, and so I think you're better to start on a front-suspension 26" bike.

Again, just my opinion I guess.

Those of us who have been riding for a while had no choice but to start on rigid bikes If I was still living in Ottawa, I'd probably still have a rigid bike with 26" wheels. They're not THAT terrible, especially if your riding is on dirt instead of rock. Janel had an entry-level front suspension bike when I met her, I think that fork was mostly just a waste of weight. I have to admit that since I set her up with an ETSX of her own, she's a lot more eager to ride with me.

If you want to save a bunch of money, learn to build your own wheels. It'll save you a bunch in the long run.

If you've got wrist discomfort, check out the Ergon grips. I've been using them for a year or so, I like 'em.

Oh, yeah, +1100 on Ergons. All my flat bar bikes have em, even the errand bike.

Suspension is determined by where you live. All my trails are visciously rooted small-medium bumpfests.

EDIT: A lot of the people i ride with started on dual suspension models, and it really does show in their riding style. It's true that when you learn the basics on barebones equipment, you are much better on the good equipment.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: Ive been eyeing Diamond Backs for a while now, especially the Response. You can get one for around $350-400 new, adjustable front shocks with lockout, cable discs, aluminum. Once in a while, a good deal comes up on Craigslist, but it's gone so quick that you don't have any time to go look. http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/bik/2796798957.html

Interesting.

Also - I'm not a total noob. Raced BMX when I was a kid, had my first MTB (an early 90's rigid Trek 830) a good 10 feet in the air, etc. But I also recognize that I am both in worse shape and more fragile than I was when I was half my age.

In reply to DILYSI Dave:

I use to race as well. I had a Robinson with Profile 3 piece cranks, S&M sprocket and S&M Slam bars, Primo meat tenderizer pedals. I want to get back into BMX again, really want this frame from a decade ago, called "Cheetah". Cant find em anywhere