MTB gurus, need advice please.

[Dirk Stoffberg]

What secondhand bike would you recommend for a 50 year old 178cm height? I have been advised on going for a medium frame and 29" wheels.

My budget is under R10k.

Normal cross country trails and nothing too technical.

Would like it to hold good resale value in the event of upgrading at a later stage.

[_David_]

I'm almost your age a year younger and the same height. I ride a Medium hardtail.

At 178cm you should fit most medium and large bikes. Definitely go for a 29er and nothing wrong with a good aluminium bike, doesn't have to be carbon.

Edited December 9, 2021 by _David_

[Dirk Stoffberg]

3 minutes ago, _David_ said:

I'm almost your age a year younger and the same height. I ride a Medium hardtail.

At 178cm you should fit most medium and large bikes. Definitely go for a 29er and nothing wrong with a good aluminium bike, doesn't have to be carbon.

Thanks David, what brands would you suggest as a secondhand option?

[_David_]

I wouldn’t worry too much about the brand, rather look at the components. Fork, groupset, wheels etc…

[LBKloppers]

Titan Racing.

[Dirk Stoffberg]

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/hardtail-mountain-bikes/485241/merida-big-nine-tfs-900-d-29r-mountain-bike

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/hardtail-mountain-bikes/517855/scott-scale-m

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/hardtail-mountain-bikes/515596/medium-ktm-sport-29er

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/hardtail-mountain-bikes/505069/norco-storm-4

 

Out of these options which would be the better choice in your opinion?

[Dirk Stoffberg]

18 minutes ago, _David_ said:

I wouldn’t worry too much about the brand, rather look at the components. Fork, groupset, wheels etc…

In my limited knowledge am I correct in saying:

Fork - Air (rockshox or suntour)

Groupsets  - Shimano (which series are better)

Wheels - 29ers (which are better)

??

[TheoG]

2 minutes ago, Dirk Stoffberg said:

In my limited knowledge am I correct in saying:

??

I would go for the Merida or Scott.  But this is personal preference.

Fork - Definitely Air, Rockshox, Manitau or Fox, I prefer Fox.

Groupsets  - Shimano SLX is solid, XT a bit lighter and XTR for the race snakes.  I am not a SRAM fan but others can guide you with it.

Wheels - 29" yes.  You would be able to get 26" for much cheaper.  You can also consider 27.5, but personally I prefer 29".

There is a lot of crap out there and also some nice expensive stuff.  In general, the more you pay the better quality and the lighter, but you need to be careful.

[Grease_Monkey]

You are between Medium and Large. Impossible to say which you should go for. I am also 178cm, and I won't touch a medium with a ten foot pole, I ride a large. It depends on your proportions. I have short legs, long torso, generally speaking sizing up works for people of my proportions, if you have long legs and short torso you are going to probably be better off on Medium. Then you have to consider the brands, some mediums = some larges. Get on the bike and feel.... 

 

Easier to make a large a little smaller than a medium a bit bigger (IMO longer stems than intended for bikes ruin them). 

At that price the brand of fork is not going to matter, just make sure it's air. Lower price, Shimano groupsets tends to work better than SRAM (I am a SRAM fan, just nothing below GX). Stick with 29" wheels - in general tyre choice and replacements are just more freely available right now. 

Me 2c... expand your search to larges and go ride a few bikes. I rode mediums for years because I was told it's my size, I only realized how uncomfortable I was when I first got on a large bike.

[RobertWhitehead]

I am no mtb guru but I can still offer my advice 😁. Take a systematic approach and do not skip any of the steps I am about to mention: 

Establish what the right size is for you, going to a bike shop with some dude standing behind a counter eye-balling you will not suffice. I can tell you that at 1.78m you're right on the limit between M & L. 

1. What I tell anyone who wants to start off is: Go to this website and take proper measurements - Bike Fit Calculator | Find Your Bike Size | Competitive Cyclist (now before the pitch forks come out and people start blowing the website to kingdom come - I have had a professional set-up done three times in the past and the only difference between a "pro" and this website is that the tolerance is bigger on the website). O ya, and the fact that this is free and a set-up with an actual person can set you back upwards of a thousand bucks.
2. Don't fret too much about components, wheel size, fork, frame material. All of these items are very important (don't get me wrong - I am seeing the pitch forks being raised 😃). This statement is made because if the bike is not the most or close to the most beautiful machine you've ever seen then you won't feel good riding it. Everything on a bike in my head is a consumable, everything can be swopped out for something better, barring stuff like straight steerer vs tapered and then obviously the wheel sizes. 
3. Do what you're doing now, ask opinions of people who's been in the industry for a while to corroborate the information you already have. 
4.  Then get a bike that's fit for purpose. If you want to go riding on district roads with the occasional single track or on the black stuff, then adopting the opinion of someone who's into downhill racing like Greg Minnaar will also not be a great idea for you. 
5. My second to last or possibly my last tip: Wheel size only matters if you're going to ride long distances with friends (who all have 29ers) and or do a race to try and compete for podium. This actually ties in nicely with point no. 4. If your aim is to become fit and enjoy the great outdoors then speed and rolling momentum doesn't really apply. Yes, I agree that tires for 26ers are somewhat scarce but you can still get stock. 

[SwtCraigMachine]

My philosophy has always been something like: "Prioritize the parts that are most difficult to change" 😅

In my mind, the order might go something like this, from easiest to change to most difficult for a beginner (broadly based on time/cost/skill required; others may disagree, and I'm sure I'll forget some things):

1. Saddle (also one of the most important ones to get right; fortunately it's easy to change if you don't)
2. Pedals (unless you're changing cleat/pedal type, too, which moves it much further down the list)
3. Cockpit components (handlebar, stem, seatpost, grips etc.)
4. Tyres (you will probably want tubeless at some point, finding the right tyre for you can be a process and costly)
5. Brakes
6. Groupset bits
7. Wheels (including discs, cassette and tyres) - I put them this far down because they tend to be expensive, especially if upgrading
8. Fork (depending on knowledge level of fork travel, offsets etc.) - see above, it applies for forks, too
9. Frame (because you have to move all the other items across)

Based on this, I would try find a frame/fork combination that works best for you. Wheels will usually come with this as a reasonable combination (at least the axles and wheel size should be correct). Most of the other stuff is pretty easy to change and those parts come up in the Classifieds on Bikehub all the time. As you ride and determine that you don't like a particular part, or something breaks, you can replace it with something that you prefer. This is typically more difficult/expensive to do with frame, fork and wheels.

I have also found that a bike fit (even a free online one) makes a big difference in both bike/component selection and ultimately comfort on the bike. Not everyone has had success from the online tools, I gather, but I'd say it worked for me!

Above all else, though, find a bike that speaks to you; find a bike that you want to ride. If you want to ride the pink bike with purple streamers, ride it. If you want to ride the lumo-green monstercross bike, ride it. If you want to ride the squishy bike or the stiff bike or the racing snake carbon bike or the rusty steel banger bike (surface rust, let's hope), then ride it.

You can always ask for advice and others' experiences and you will find lots of people to share that on here, but nobody can tell you which one is going to make you feel the love and fondness that many of us have found for our particular, peculiar, very special machine. 😁

But also, get a saddle that fits...

Edited December 9, 2021 by SwtCraigMachine

[justinafrika]

I’m agreed with Theo on the choices, bear in mind that these cassettes and chains on the Merida and Scott bikes will need replacing.

 

I haven’t, until seeing your thread, considered selling this beloved 2012 large Cannondale Trail SL2 29er that in September this year was fitted with new chainrings, new bottom bracket, newer less worn cranks, new chain, new cassette, new brake pads front and rear (and bled front and rear).  Worn original saddle was replaced with a black 2020 Bontrager saddle.  Rockshox Recon 100mm air fork serviced by RBC.  Oh, and a new Deore XT rear derailleur in January 2021 to replace the finicky SRAM one (edit: and both shifters).  All that’s a lot!  Tires will need replacing in a month or two.

The Shimano brakes on those two bikes are better quality than the Avid brakes on the Cannondale.  The Avid brakes have had no issues and as previously stated front and rear brakes were both bled when new pads were fitted in September. All that in preparation for my son’s December visit but that’s not happening any longer.

A few pics from before all those new components were fitted (will take pics of new components when I get my phone back):

 

It’s ready to roll and is great on the type of trails that you mentioned.  R10 200 fits between the pricing for those other two similar vintage bikes with worn components, if you’re interested.

Edited December 10, 2021 by justinafrika

[Marcv]

Some really good advice above and you have already made the best decision you can, 10K second hand goes far further than 10K new. 

On size i am the same height and struggled with what size to get as you can ride both. what i found is that at our height a large will feel more stable and a medium more agile.....in general this is true but the frame geometry does play a big part. you are starting out so your skills will be the limiting factor not the bike size and as said above most items like stem length and seat position can be changed to get you feeling more comfy for longer rides.

That said i started cycling on a cheap 26er, GT....small. totally wrong but i rode it and loved it as it just felt fun and i wanted to have fun. at the time my view was if i really get into it then i will want a better bike anyway so i chose not to over think it.

my 2c

 

[Dirk Stoffberg]

On 12/9/2021 at 5:28 PM, justinafrika said:

I’m agreed with Theo on the choices, bear in mind that these cassettes and chains on the Merida and Scott bikes will need replacing.

 

I haven’t, until seeing your thread, considered selling this beloved 2012 large Cannondale Trail SL2 29er that in September this year was fitted with new chainrings, new bottom bracket, newer less worn cranks, new chain, new cassette, new brake pads front and rear (and bled front and rear).  Worn original saddle was replaced with a black 2020 Bontrager saddle.  Rockshox Recon 100mm air fork serviced by RBC.  Oh, and a new Deore XT rear derailleur in January 2021 to replace the finicky SRAM one.  All that’s a lot!  Tires will need replacing in a month or two.

The Shimano brakes on those two bikes are better quality than the Avid brakes on the Cannondale.  The Avid brakes have had no issues and as previously stated front and rear brakes were both bled when new pads were fitted in September. All that in preparation for my son’s December visit but that’s not happening any longer.

A few pics from before all those new components were fitted (will take pics of new components when I get my phone back):

 

It’s ready to roll and is great on the type of trails that you mentioned.  R10 200 fits between the pricing for those other two similar vintage bikes with worn components, if you’re interested.

Thank you for your post and appreciate the offer and info on your bike.

Can you say how many inches is your large frame  sounds funny

Edited December 10, 2021 by Dirk Stoffberg

[Wayne pudding Mol]

12 hours ago, justinafrika said:

I’m agreed with Theo on the choices, bear in mind that these cassettes and chains on the Merida and Scott bikes will need replacing.

 

I haven’t, until seeing your thread, considered selling this beloved 2012 large Cannondale Trail SL2 29er that in September this year was fitted with new chainrings, new bottom bracket, newer less worn cranks, new chain, new cassette, new brake pads front and rear (and bled front and rear).  Worn original saddle was replaced with a black 2020 Bontrager saddle.  Rockshox Recon 100mm air fork serviced by RBC.  Oh, and a new Deore XT rear derailleur in January 2021 to replace the finicky SRAM one.  All that’s a lot!  Tires will need replacing in a month or two.

The Shimano brakes on those two bikes are better quality than the Avid brakes on the Cannondale.  The Avid brakes have had no issues and as previously stated front and rear brakes were both bled when new pads were fitted in September. All that in preparation for my son’s December visit but that’s not happening any longer.

A few pics from before all those new components were fitted (will take pics of new components when I get my phone back):

 

It’s ready to roll and is great on the type of trails that you mentioned.  R10 200 fits between the pricing for those other two similar vintage bikes with worn components, if you’re interested.

Buy this bike Dirk 

[ichnusa]

This cannondale with new part is a great deal…

and i would say large