Mountain Bike Opinions

In reply to ultraclyde:

I didn't weigh it, but the Jamis website says 25.00 - not sure what size that is or if it is with or without pedals.

I've spent more time on mine this weekend than I have driving my press car. Funny, I've had it stored away for almost two years, but as soon as I got back on it, I fell in love all over again. There's a really old cemetery not far from me that has the most perfect looping up and down roads with hairpins, off-camber turns... best workout ever.

Going to guess 88 or 89ish on that bianchi... Anyway... Old lifted frames are AWESOME...

I don't know much about bikes, but I know I really like this one. It's really light and easy to lift into my car, smooth as heck to ride and comfortable on rough trails. I bought it used in 2000.

It's a good'un Lesley - lugged steel will always be in fashion.

Ive got an old Bridgestone MB3 from the 90s : not mine, but looks just like it

Its a bit rough, but rust free. $20 at a yard sale. I wanna put some 1.25"s on her, 2 speeds on the back cassette, and amanual chain tensioner, a rear brake only, and make it a fun a to b / biketrail cruiser.

its either that, or a total rebuild - 100mm, 1" threadless fork, deore drivetrain, Carbon bars...Hardtail SC machine!!!

Any opinions on Felt bikes? Bike shop guy says it's a smaller company made up of some of the old GT engineers, etc. I'm considering one of their lower-end 29er hardtails as something to ride with my kid and/or as my re-entry into the sport after being bike-less for years.

Does weight really matter at the entry level? For me, since I have an easy 30-40# to lose, seems like the difference in a 25# and a 33# bike would come off me way easier/cheaper.

donalson wrote: Going to guess 88 or 89ish on that bianchi... Anyway... Old lifted frames are AWESOME...

What's a lifted frame?

The local bike shop tells me that the gear shifters are worth quite a bit and not to leave it unattended. Everything's quick-release, so it would be easy to rip off.

In reply to 4cylndrfury:

'92 MB-3 for $20. You stole that bike! Near $800 msrp when new.
I have a '93 MB-4 that I bought new and used to ride pretty hard back in its day. I like it too much to get rid of it, even though I have not ridden it in years.

The great Bridgestone Catalogs:
http://sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/index.html

Jake wrote: Any opinions on Felt bikes? Bike shop guy says it's a smaller company made up of some of the old GT engineers, etc. I'm considering one of their lower-end 29er hardtails as something to ride with my kid and/or as my re-entry into the sport after being bike-less for years. Does weight really matter at the entry level? For me, since I have an easy 30-40# to lose, seems like the difference in a 25# and a 33# bike would come off me way easier/cheaper.

Felt have been around for awhile. They made their mark building tri and road frames. Back in the day, they made a killer criterium frame (stiff for sprinting). They dabbled in mtn bikes for years (being from GT), but it wasn't the focus. There was a lot of competition for mtn bikes back then and a bit less for tri bikes. Plus, tri folks seem to be a different breed entirely than mtn bikers. While the equipment is important, they tend to be less picky about it.

Bike weight is a funny thing. While in theory, it seems to make more sense to lose the weight off the rider, but it doesn't seem to feel that way. A 25 lb bike seems much easier to ride than a 30 lb bike, whereas losing 5 lbs off you doesn't seem to be as drastic.

Regardless, it is invariably cheaper to start with a 25 lb bike than trying to get a 30 lb bike down to that weight. The GRM creed of "buy cheap and make it better" doesn't work quite as well when it comes to bikes. This is much of the reason why I don't buy complete bikes anymore. I'm picky about the parts I want, so I buy bare frames and individual parts and assemble them myself.

In reply to Ian F:

For a newb, though, buying in the $500 space. Better to go this way or stick with one of the big(ger) names? Or is it just "ride what you like and buy what the LBS services" at this point?

Hate to overthink it, but I tend to do that on anything over about $500. Bikes be expensive.

Probably the latter of the two. If you don't work on your own bike, a cheap used bike can end up costing more than a new one. One BIG advantage of buying a bike from an LBS - even at this price point - is you can be fairly certain the bike will be assembled correctly and most will offer quick tune-ups and adjustments for free within a year or so. Of course, this is mostly jsut to get you into the store with the hope you'll buy stuff. The mark-up on complete bikes is frightfully low. Where shops pay the bills in in accessory sales.

jrw1621 wrote: In reply to 4cylndrfury: '92 MB-3 for $20. You stole that bike! Near $800 msrp when new. I have a '93 MB-4 that I bought new and used to ride pretty hard back in its day. I like it too much to get rid of it, even though I have not ridden it in years. The great Bridgestone Catalogs: http://sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/index.html

I love the sheldon catalogs! So glad that guy spent the time archiving that stuff.

Ian F wrote: Probably the latter of the two. If you don't work on your own bike, a cheap used bike can end up costing more than a new one. One BIG advantage of buying a bike from an LBS - even at this price point - is you can be fairly certain the bike will be assembled correctly and most will offer quick tune-ups and adjustments for free within a year or so. Of course, this is mostly jsut to get you into the store with the hope you'll buy stuff. The mark-up on complete bikes is frightfully low. Where shops pay the bills in in accessory sales.

The LBS I worked at made its money in service - not rip-you-off money, just fast turn around with a few VERY skilled wrenches who worked there for basically a parts discount, and had another side job to make ends meet. Accessories made some cash, but the real bread and butter spun the wrenches.

Lesley wrote: The local bike shop tells me that the gear shifters are worth quite a bit and not to leave it unattended. Everything's quick-release, so it would be easy to rip off.

Funny that, I was going to ask for a close-up pic of the thumbies.

Here's a pic. Apparently the bike is a 93.

Thumb shifters are still popular among the retro crowd. Oddly enough, I have a set of DX thumb shifters, NIB I've been hanging on to for years. I've had a few offers for them, but not enough to make me part with them yet (these are only a small bit of my parts collection...).

Shimano Deores are now considered "rare?!?!?!"

Lesley wrote:

donalson wrote: Going to guess 88 or 89ish on that bianchi... Anyway... Old lifted frames are AWESOME...

What's a lifted frame? The local bike shop tells me that the gear shifters are worth quite a bit and not to leave it unattended. Everything's quick-release, so it would be easy to rip off.

Er sorry LUGGED is what I meant... Posting from phone till the net is installed later this week lol

Lesley wrote: Here's a pic. Apparently the bike is a 93.

Def earlier thmbies where Walmart bike trash by then... Lose end shimmy moved to the odd push/push shifters in the early 90s... The overall spec is just a bit older... Some other pics of the componets would clarify the age further... But still a neat old bike... Retro crowd would dig it...

Also... http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?Year=1993&Brand=Bianchi&Model=Ibex&Type=bike

The best part about old thumb shifters is their failure mode. Bang up your derailleur? Flip the shifters to friction, you can still shift. Took me years to succumb to trigger shifters for just that reason. I'll bet I've still got some high-end thumb shifters kicking around - I think my old commuter is on them.

Didn't know old bike stuff was getting cool again. You guys might dig my old Bianchi Campione d'Italia from the mid 80's. I'll dust it off and get some pictures.

I'm not sure how cool, but it has a following... Personally, I'm not very retro. My new Niner will be built with 2012 XT/XTR 2*10. The only reason I bought and still have the thumb shifters was for a possible trials bike build that never happened. My first mtn bikes had push-push rapidfire and after a few attempts with twist shifters, I've been using XTR RP+ since the 90's.

Love thumbies, but then I'm pretty retro. I wouldn't think Deore Thumbies would be worth much, as they made a ton of them. Certainly not blingy enough to steal a bike for - though the idea of retrogrouch thieves is amusing. One of our shop bikes had the 7-speed XT thumbies. Now THOSE were amazing.

I have 3 bikes right now after paring down, and no indexed shifting oddly enough:

And obviously I too am a fan of Sheldon's.

I'm pretty retro too, but I do have indexing on all my bikes but one, albeit indexed downtube shifters in one case. I'm new to the bar end shifting arrangement, but I really like it.

yeah, I like the simplicity of downtube friction shifters on my Bianchi road bike - no clutter up on the bars. I have the shifters that let you go from index to friction - tres swanky!