Mountain bike to buy?

[Drunken Monkey]

A big plus on that one.

The Avanti shop in Albany (Oteha Valley Rd) is excellent. They have bikes for every budget.

(No I don't work there however I do deliver mail there.)

Unfortunately belty lives in the 'Naki...

Try "O2 Project"
They're at 377A Broadway, Stratford.

Oh look, they're online too: http://www.o2project.co.nz/index.php?pr=Our_location

[Drunken Monkey]

You want to find something with properly branded gear mechanisms (Shimano etc...) the, rest of the components probably wont matter for riding on the road.

Unfortunately just about everything is Shimano these days, and Shimano make everything from cheap alloy crap to SuperAwesomeBlingParts(tm), if you don't know enough about bikes to pick a basic one that you have to ask on a motorcycle forum, you're going to struggle to know what Shimano bits are good and which ones are junk.

Oh, and do check the frame size, it needs to be suitable for your height.

+ WEIGHT

True, this one is important, no matter what he gets.

[soundbeltfarm]

Thanks for all the help people.
much appreciated.
is there anything i need to look at when looking at second hand?
Thanks

[Mully]

Don't let Jrandom see this thread - he'll tease you mercilessly for considering a "mountain" bike for road riding.

[HTFU]

dont want to spend more than 700.
i looked on TM but there alot of different looking styles.
im 6ft 3 and 108 kg so prob need a big size

700 Each or for both.

For you height and weight the Talon below would be awesome. Giant make the best big bikes, comfort wise XL is big. The Talon has the strongest wheels on any trail bike you can buy without going to jump bikes and with your weight important off road. You will have this bike for 10-15 years so worth spending the dollars if its going to be used.

If looking new and only for road use with a little offroad look at a Giant boulder (disc) or rock (V brakes not disc) They are in your budget. Not sure who does Giant down your way.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Sports/Cycl...-244464902.htm

[Leseid]

I've been asked this same question before. Some info:

Aluminium frames, nice and light but have a hard ride.
Cromo frames, nothing rides like steel but the older frames have geometry designed for ridged forks.
Suspension forks: Try and get one with oil over coils, a lot of the cheaper ones just dampen on friction.
Drive train and shifters: Are good now on all bikes if the cables are well maintained.
Brakes: Hydraulic disc brakes are the ultimate, some models are more reliable than others. Cable disc brakes are ok, and Vee brakes are fine with good pads.
Wheels: Double wall rims and stainless steel spokes are very standard now on modern bikes, hubs have been good for a while now.

$800 buys you a good new bike these days and you can pick a frame size that fits. It's a bit like buying a new motorbike, no body makes bad bikes any more.

Second hand: Maybe for a high end bike. But we would get people bring there TradeMe bargain bikes into the shop to get working often spending more than they paid in the first place. Quite often we would show them what they could have spent buying new and they get a bit upset.

Stay well away from Kmart unless you want to buy some expensive piece of scrap steel.

I hope that is of some help, don't worry to much about brands etc as they are mostly all made in the same part of Taiwan.

[ckai]

Thanks for all the help people.
much appreciated.
is there anything i need to look at when looking at second hand?
Thanks

As a few others have said you can get a pretty good new bike for 7 hundy so why buy second hand?

I would say the main thing I could suggest is do you really need a MTB? You'll find it sooooo much easier road on a road bike. The wife had a MTB with road tyres. After a few months of riding 30kms a day, gave up and brought a road bike. Loves it and doesn't miss the rough stuff (she smashed her ankle on the rough stuff so that could have made the decision easier )

A lot of people say it'll be good to have one "in case" but that never arrives. Remember you can't miss what you've never had.

I brought my MTB for $150 second hand. Spent a grand on it. But that's a proper MTB. So you get what you pay for.

If you do go second hand MTB, make sure the gears change smoothly with no grinding. They can be easily adjusted but noisy/rough gears may need parts changing if worn.

Cranks shouldn't move side to side either (stuffed bottom bracket basically) and the handle bars shouldn't move back and forth in the frame (stuffed headset). Same goes for wheels. Basically anything with a bearing should not be "wobbly".

Don't get me started on shocks. That's a-whole-nother chapter. Basically they should act like a shock and nothing else (mine were shot but I knew that).

This is the reason I suggest new like a lot of others. Avanti is like Toyota. Giant can be a little bit of a step up but they are your decent entry level bikes in my opinion. A shop will fit them for you too (make a big difference from experience) so you don't get uncomfortable.

As for cred - I used to race peddlers for 15 years - but only know the "advanced basics". So others with mechanical knowledge and in the industry may give you better details.

Fuck me that's a lot of writing!!! Enjoy and happy hunting anyway

[soundbeltfarm]

700 Each or for both.

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for each one mate