Old cyclist looking to MTB

[gparsons]

Hi all. Not that old age wise (young and handsome really), but have been cycling a good few years now (have fond memories of my first Tour D'Urban in 1993!). However, until now, I have only had road bikes but the bug has bitten to MTB and it won't go away!!

 

My name is Gary, I am an Environmental Chemist working in Durban, and I entered the MTB fray expecting to be able to choose a MTB quickly and be out riding at Giba with a few mates. Well, road bikes are much easier to choose than MTBs. Geez, the variety out there is truly mind boggling! Anyways, after much searching, reading and thinking, I have narrowed choices down to a few and was wondering if you could help me make a choice??? (please!)

 

Price range is R6k to R12k and in this price range it seems possible only to get a good quality hard tail. Of the hardtails, the ones that I like are:

 

Giant Alias (Cheapest of this bunch but nice frame with reasonable components)

Giant Talon (Same frame as Alias but with better components)

Giant XTC2 (Giant frames make me drool)

Raleigh RM 5.0 (I have a Raleigh RC6000 road bike bought Jan 2006 which I totally enjoy)

Kona Kula (Great frame, good components)

Felt Q920 (Nice overall package)

Felt RXC2 (Nice frame and components)

 

Any opinions or info to help me choose would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks.

[EdoardoBianchi]

Nice 1st post, Gee. I won't be able to offer much advice on any of the above, but my guess is that each of these will have a crowd that swears by it.

Generally: Buy the best frame you can get, even if it means sacrificing on component quality - you can sort this out through upgrades. Other than that the question is: "Which would get you to throw a leg over [the bike] most often?".

 

Luckily, arriving at this answer involves lots of visits to bike shops and many opportunities to rethink your true upper limit on the budget.

 

Good luck!

 

[Willehond]

Welcome Gary, and nice to see you introduce yourself like that!  You will gain respect quickly here on the Hub (unlike "Choice" here on this thread)

 

OK, so here goes:

 

When you buy a bike you should:

1. Buy the best you can afford (if you are going to take it seriously again!)

2. Buy the brand you like (lots of good ones, so in the end its a personal one)

Personally I like Giant, Raleigh AND Felt (I also have a RC6000).  Not a Kona fan, but there others here that swear by it.  Expect LOADS of replies!

[Hog_]

It all depends on what you want to do with the bike. Are you looking to race competitively, or do you want to cruise around in the wild on weekends?

 

The problem with this question is that you're likely to have a different answer in 6 months time!

 

Once you figure this out though, one could guide you in the right direction, since the geometry on a racer is often very different to than of a cruising bike.

 

 

 

[Paulm]

I might be in the same boat, same age, re starting cycling again after a bit of road cycling late 80's and early 90's.

I started 6 months ago on a MTB and bought the Giant Alias and can say I am very happy, price vs what you get, quality and most important being the make the LBS closest to home sells. Why would I go further?

 

[gparsons]

Hey!

 

Thanks for the replies Ed and Wi. Yeah, I am glad I stumbled on these forums - seems to be lots of traffic about the sport I love from lots of good 'colourful' folks! Buying the best frame makes sense - what I am generally trying to do is buy the best frame and front fork that I can afford. The Giant frames are really nice and my slight consternation presently is the front fork - whether to go with the RS Tora 302 (Talon)or the Recon SL (Raleigh, Kona). From what I have seen, the Recon has gotten better reviews but am I splitting hairs? Most probably! Admittedly though I have enjoyed visiting bike shops more often.... and the Kona has grown on me...

 

Thanks again! Cheers!

[gparsons]

Hey Hog. My choice is definitely the cruising in the wild on weekends option! Cheers.

[gparsons]

Hi Paul. The first bike I tried was the Alias. Must say I like it very much and the question to myself as I get closer to making a decision is: do I really need anything more? On your bike, how have you found the dart 2 fork? Looks a bit flimsy to me?

[enigma]

I would definitely suggest the KONA, but I am totally biased.  The giant is also great....

[gparsons]

Thanks enigma. Why are u biased toward Kona? What Kona do u ride and how much do they sponsor you

 

It took a couple of looks at the Kona to like it, but as I said earlier, it grew on me...

 

Cheers!

[Hog_]

 

Hey Hog. My choice is definitely the cruising in the wild on weekends option! Cheers.

 

I that case, make sure the bike is comfortable, has fairly descent components (get the best you can afford), and keep some cash aside for tubeless conversion / slimed tubes, a hydration pack and shoes!

 

 

 

[gparsons]

Great advise. Thanks Hog!

[Hog_]

Just a small warning: You will get addicted. You will want to go faster. You will want to go over obstacles. You will not always make it over said obstacles. You will giggle like a child.

 

You should not, however, under ANY circumstances try to describe the rides to your wife/gf/whatever - she will try to ban you from the MTB for life! (Also don't tell her of injured friends, acquaintances, romans or countrymen) 

[linnega]

Thats sage advice Hog.  I'd be banned for life if I really explained to my wife what we ride on.

On the bikes - you may want to ride the Alias for a while to decide how into it you are.  I ride an Anthem at home and love it, but have hired an Alias while I am in Aussie for a few weeks.  For messing around on its fine. Probably a little heavy for any serious climbing, and definitely too heavy (for me anyway) to carry around on the hike-a-bike efforts needed for races like the Giants Challenge.  I am also told that its best to learn on a hardtail and then upgrade to a dual suspension but I can't comment on that as I haven't ridden a hardtail much and rode an GT dual suspension bike as my first MTB.

[enigma]

At the time when I purchased my bike, I took the Kona Kula for a test run.  What a bike.... Unfortunately I could not afford to spend that amount of money at the time so bought me a Cindercone with upgraded parts.

You must also take into account the aftersales service.  Even though Kona dont have a sole distributer in SA.  I have had unbelievable service through Kona Europe and Maverick Cycles...

 

[gparsons]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the replies since I last logged in! Riding is cool and I am already addicted. Looking forward to the new challenge of MTB.

 

I think that a light weight dual susp would most probably be the best way for someone like me to go (thinking about comfort and comfort that is!) - but not at those prices!! So the most feasible options for me (and others wiff this type of budget) is to go for a good value for money hard tail which, like enigma, I can upgrade later when the money allows. Thus my list at the beginning of the post.

 

As far as the weight of bikes go, I quite like the ad you see from USN at the moment. It goes along the lines of loosing body weight kilos for a fraction of the cost of loosing bike grams.... makes sense. So, as long as I am happy with the frame and the fork, then I think I will be happy with just being off road. 

 

After sales service; now that is something we need to insist on. I was also impressed by our local Maverick dealer and have heard similar things about them and Kona from others as well (unlike Trek where you can weight for quite a while - sorry to offend if I am uninformed). Enigma, you are obviously happy with your Cinder Cone. How did it feel compared to the Kula?

 

Until later then, thanks again and cheers!