Selecting the right "tools for the job" - what type of bike should I buy?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Oh - and by the way - what, from what I said, was wrong?

[Enticement]

Perhaps you could add to your services. People in general need to feel that they are getting value for money. After the right tool for the job has been selected, what about accessories? Helmets for example. Bell vs Giro? Saddle Bag vs Camelbak for carrying tools? What hydration pack? Should I ride flats or clips? Flat bar vs riser bar? Bar ends on a riser bar or not? What are the best socks for MTB? Why limit yourself to MTB? Expand your field of expertise to road as well! Should I shave my legs or not? Tools in a saddle bag or in a bottle (Maybe even carry them in my jersey pockets)? Can I wear my Camelbak on my road bike? The opportunities are endless! There must be countless unmade decisions out there balancing on a knife edge just waiting to be made that need your help. I just wish you were around 7 years ago when I bought my bike. I had a choice between a BMX, a hybrid and a HT 26" MTB. I sometime lie in bed wondering if I had made the right decision and whether I shouldn't have taken that hybrid......

 

I don't have a shop and I don't sell cycling goodies! But I have been in this industry for quite a while to claim experience! Now add to this knowledge - I have studied the various reasons why people enjoy mountain biking and realized that this should be the premise for parting with their hard earned money when they invest in a new bike. When I define the source of your preference, its easy to justify why you should go for a more (or less) expensive option, or whether you should just ride with a bomb or carry a pump!

[Enticement]

Oh - and by the way - what, from what I said, was wrong?

 

If you want my advice/want me to rectify yours I will have to charge you!

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

If you want my advice/want me to rectify yours I will have to charge you!

 

oh, here we go.

 

The classic dodge. I asked you a simple question. Yes, my post assumed the athlete (cyclist) was an MTBer. That was perhaps the only error on my part.

 

Advice on choosing a bike. Pay this oke. 'cos he really really mist have some supernatural joo-joo that makes it impossible for anyone to give advice that is as relevant and to the point as his!

[Grebel]

I don't have a shop and I don't sell cycling goodies! But I have been in this industry for quite a while to claim experience! Now add to this knowledge - I have studied the various reasons why people enjoy mountain biking and realized that this should be the premise for parting with their hard earned money when they invest in a new bike. When I define the source of your preference, its easy to justify why you should go for a more (or less) expensive option, or whether you should just ride with a bomb or carry a pump!

 

Like a frisbee over a fat labradoor.....

 

I am not sure exactly who your target market is, but I doubt that any beginner is going to drop R350 odd on somebody that can help them choose what bike to buy. People that are at the point that they need advice on what AM bike to buy or "should I go carbon on my DH bike" probably don't need your advice (No offence)

 

I think your target market may be a lot smaller than you think...

[HaydenWilson]

whaaa! fat labrador frisbee! I am going to use that one. thanks dude.

[bikekid]

Like a frisbee over a fat labradoor.....

 

Any Lab or Tumbleweeds lab?? JK Tumbles

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

whaaa! fat labrador frisbee! I am going to use that one. thanks dude.

 

I wanna get it, I really do! I see it coming towards me, slowly, slowly, slowly! But! Huh? What's that! It's too high! I can't get it! I missed it! Whooshed right over my head, it did!

[Grebel]

Any Lab or Tumbleweeds lab?? JK Tumbles

 

I am sure Tumbles' lab would have a go!

[Grebel]

I wanna get it, I really do! I see it coming towards me, slowly, slowly, slowly! But! Huh? What's that! It's too high! I can't get it! I missed it! Whooshed right over my head, it did!

 

More like Whoosh!! What was that? *Shrug* Any way like I was saying....

[bikekid]

Like a frisbee over a fat labradoor.....

 

Nearly spat coffee over my desk when I read that ! Geez that was funny

[Showtime]

Thanks for simplifying with your version - from your response it seems pretty much a black-and-white issue! As for some of your advice: I'm glad I don't have to send my clients to you. Maybe you should try my "sugar-coated info fest" for experiencing the value of real advice, not preconceived personal ideas !

cptmayhem has explained this well.

 

The options get eliminated very quickly once you answer some basic questions.

 

- Is your budget less than R10 000? Then no need to worry about the grade of carbon or the suspension linkage design, choose your colour.

 

- Do you have friends that share a touring in wet weather culture with you? If not you don't have to worry about gear hubs.

 

- If your favourite part of riding is 4ft drops you're not looking at a hard tail.

 

It's normally clear within a few seconds more or less what kind of bike the rider needs. A rider could now be left pondering between a 4" dual suspension or a 5" dual suspension and that's the kind of question that would be answered by testing bikes in a perfect world.

 

And that is something I don't mind paying R400 for.

 

I paid £40 to test a rigid 29er with an Alfine hub for a day in the UK a few months back and if I go back I will definitely be taking an All Mountain bike to Leith Hill for £40 because I will never own such a bike. So maybe there's a business idea, get a bit of a fleet together so people can experience the bikes. That will be an awesome service.

[Grebel]

The test fleet is something that is lacking in the major cities accross SA unfortunately. In africa, you need to be a brave man to lend a R30k AM bike to somebody for the day/weekend. Firstly because it probably won't come back and secondly, if it does come back you are going to spend more fixing it than you rented it out for!

 

Fine line with hiring costs too. I would pay R500 to hire a bike for the weekend to test and if I decided to buy, a R500 discount would be a nice gesture. I know that there are demo bikes available at some LBS but they don't just lend them to anybody. (A spin around the parking lot doesn't really tell you much about a bike regardless of costs or wheelsize...)

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

The test fleet is something that is lacking in the major cities accross SA unfortunately. In africa, you need to be a brave man to lend a R30k AM bike to somebody for the day/weekend. Firstly because it probably won't come back and secondly, if it does come back you are going to spend more fixing it than you rented it out for!

 

Fine line with hiring costs too. I would pay R500 to hire a bike for the weekend to test and if I decided to buy, a R500 discount would be a nice gesture. I know that there are demo bikes available at some LBS but they don't just lend them to anybody. (A spin around the parking lot doesn't really tell you much about a bike regardless of costs or wheelsize...)

 

Exactomondo.

[Enticement]

The test fleet is something that is lacking in the major cities accross SA unfortunately. In africa, you need to be a brave man to lend a R30k AM bike to somebody for the day/weekend. Firstly because it probably won't come back and secondly, if it does come back you are going to spend more fixing it than you rented it out for!

 

Fine line with hiring costs too. I would pay R500 to hire a bike for the weekend to test and if I decided to buy, a R500 discount would be a nice gesture. I know that there are demo bikes available at some LBS but they don't just lend them to anybody. (A spin around the parking lot doesn't really tell you much about a bike regardless of costs or wheelsize...)

 

Another problem is that a well set-up entry level bike can give a better ride that a poorly set-up top of the range bike! I have seen the bills for bike maintenance on rental bikes - "nobody ever washes a rental car ...". Knowledge of what the bike is able to do is pretty much known, however that's not the case with what the rider wants to do! Sometimes the rider himself has these visions of riding on endless singe track that you only find in your valley, but in actual fact he spends all his time verge riding on tarred roads!

[Red Zone]

If only there was someone like Enticement to tell me to make sure that my bike was fitted with a Gruber Assist