Posts
2
Joined
5/26/2023
Location
Orlando, FL
US
Hello Everyone! I come from the Vital MX forum... with that being said I am sort of leaving the MX scene and switching to MTB! I'm looking for some input or suggestions. I have done my fair share of research but am still undecided in what to buy for my first bike with so many options available it seems. I am looking for both myself and my wife; we would like to ride together on single track, dirt trails and gravel but I would like to head out myself to hit jumps and ride more technical terrain as well. Once I get my feet wet in the sport I will be more open to upgrading to something more high end but for now the budget is $5k total for both bikes!
Me: 27.5" full suspension
Wife: 29" full suspension
I would probaly look I to buying used, there is a large buy and sell area on pinkbike.com that I have used before, just follow there recommendations so you don't get scammed. In terms of bikes it sounds like something around the 130mm travel would suit you, most companies make something in that range. A few to look into would be the Giant Trance, Norco Fluid, Revel Rascal. If you have a shop locally it would be a good idea to go and see them and see if they have so etching that would fit what your after, after all they are probably going to be the ones fixing it if you break something!
It just so happens That Vital has a buy and sell section too.
Yes, but there is far more activity on the pinkbike buy and sell.
My advice is to not buy used unless you have a qualified bike mechanic bro that can help. Between fork, shock, drivetrain and seat post, it's very easy to buy a 2,500 dollar bike that needs 1k of work to perform as a baseline 2,500 bike should. There are diamonds in the rough... but only about 10-20% (20% seems really generous to me but I'm trying not to be a pessimist here) are bikes that are in good shape and don't need 300-500 immediately.
You can/should do more reading about what kind of bike, and what type of fit you have on it... more important than the bike and the componentry, is the fit and geometry. You will inevitably learn things from your first bike purchase that will dictate what you do on your subsequent purchases. This is a HUGE topic with a lot of subjective opinions and personal requirements baked in. Suffice to say, the only way to know what you are doing or what you want, is to ride bikes. Demo bikes, ride bikes at your LBS to determine sizing etc. My riding experience and own contentment in my gear increased substantially once I got a handle on what fit my body wants and what fit my riding style works best with. The truth is, only after about 3-4 new bike purchases and riding about 20 bikes (real rides, not parking lot rides) am I confident in my bike purchases and my ability to determine what I want from a geo chart and a short test ride around the block. Fit/Comfort/Geo imo is the most important factor, if I didn't make that obvious... my experience getting my wife to ride is that it's even more critical for her and I believe for women in general. (I realized this is sexist, but it's been my anecdotal experience)
Even beyond this, you can go down the deep end on minutia, 27.5 vs 29 vs mullet... and you should. What I can tell you from also being a moto rider and a mountain biker, is that you will likely feel most at home on a mullet bike. There are tons of reasons, upon which I could expand, but most of it has to do with the similarities in how a mullet bike leans into a corner vs a moto (gyroscopic effects of larger front vs smaller rear wheel). This is something that is nuanced, that I can certainly feel when going back and forth between bikes, but is definitely a minute detail that comes more into play with more experience/riding skill. What I can tell you from getting a lot of people into the sport, moto guys seem to gravitate and be more comfortable on mullet bikes right out of the gate.
Now, with that being said... there also isn't a ton in the 2,000 - 2,500 that I would buy personally. IMO, quality full suspension bikes start at about 3,500 and on up. There are some products in the 2,500 and under price tier on mtb's that I believe aren't worth riding, even for beginners. Namely: Rockshox 35 forks, Sram NX/SX Drivetrains, off brand brakes and wheels, and many rear shocks. My suggestion is to buy the most cost effective bike that has the baseline suspension that will make the bike good or at least, tolerable. For me, that would be fox rhythm fork (34/36), fox performance series forks (34/36/38), fox performance series float X shock would be preferable, rockshox select+ forks (pike/lyric/zeb), rockshox super deluxe shock (any sub model). There are some other componentry suggestions I can make but truly suspension is the most important. That being said, the other quick sound bytes are the following. Cheap shimano drivetraines are better than cheap sram drivetrains (shimano cues/deore/slx is better than sram sx/nx), once i get to shimano deore xt, I would nudge over to sram gx as my preference for budget concious drivetrains, but that's personal preference and not a big cost differentiator. Cheap/budget shimano brakes are surprisingly good... but once you are up over 180lbs, having good brakes is important, so I'd shoot for 4 piston shimano calipers and better and sram g2/code as a preference. Wheels are one of the bigger differentiators and cost drivers of cheap/mid-tier bikes and expensive ones, imagine the typical "you pick two mantra" here (cheap/light/durable, pick two). Provided you buy based on the above guidelines of suspension, drivetrain and brakes, this is likely the largest gap in components that remains from a cheap bike vs expensive one. The above listed parts, I can honestly say are 95% as good as the stuff that's 3x-4x as much, coming on bikes costing 3-4x as much. Wheels however, are a different story.
With that in mind, below are my recommendations of baseline bikes that I would either be happy riding myself (20+ years riding, advanced/expert level) without pouring money into upgrades immediately, or recommending to friends. These are my best choices for budget bikes, that 95% of riders (including incredible shredders) would be happy riding without dumping cash into. The following bikes would work for both, but may be biased more towards shredding (I'm baking in some biased towards jumping/shredding with my suggestions, and I've sorted them for shrediest on top):
-Specialized Status 140/160 - https://www.specialized.com/us/en/shop/bikes/mountain-bikes/trail-bikes…
-YT Jeffsy Core 2 - https://us.yt-industries.com/products/bikes/jeffsy/core-2-float-x/581/j…
-Specialized Stumjumper Evo - https://www.specialized.com/us/en/stumpjumper-evo-comp/p/199749?color=3…
-Norco Fluid FS A2 - https://www.norco.com/bikes/mountain/trail/fluid-fs/2023-fluid-fs-a2/
-Giant Trance X - https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/bikes-trance-x
-Giant Trance X 29 - https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/bikes-trance-x-29
-Orbea Occam H30 - https://www.orbea.com/us-en/bicycles/mountain/occam/cat/occam-h30
There are some brands and models that I'm not listing here... some for no reason because I couldn't think of them, but some for a specific reason like warranty support, build quality, etc.
There's great opportunities to score in the used market at the moment, so definitely consider that option with support of someone mechanically competent. Check forums for the known issues specific to that model (if any) that might pop up in the long-term and be a pain without warranty. Specialized even offer warranty for second owners to a certain extent, and I hope other brands continue the trend.
Even if you won't buy the specific model, go spend the money or find events (Trek, Specialized, Santa Cruz, Giant, Ibis, Transition dealers usually have bikes to test) to test a few bikes - even though they'll most likely be more expensive builds than you'll buy it's amazing to see what travel, wheelsize, suspension platforms, etc. you prefer for the trails most frequented near you.
Be prepared, if you and the missus get properly into the sport, that in a year or two you might want to swap out this rig for something which fits the riding you'll both grow into together and solo.
Giant trance x and giant stance for here but i don think the trance x comes with 27.5.
I really appreciate everyone's feedback that has helped alot! Currently looking to pull the trigger on a Norco Fluid FS A3 29" for the Wife and a Norco Sight A3 27.5" for myself! It seems to be good entry level package to get us started in the sport.
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