Beginner Mountain Bike budget recommendation? Can be 2nd hand

[MORNE]

14 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

Oh boy can I tell you a story having just splashed the cash, but I won't be bad mouthing anyone on here, so I will just say nowhere is safe anymore.

First world problems….

easy to buy bikes when you’re an XL, XL or XL. but for real though, i buy bikes based on reach mostly, they just happen to be XL. I know i want a 510-520mm reach mtb. A 410-420 road/gravel bike. There are outliers like trek or spez, santa cruz etc who have S6 or XXL bikes, so i still just look at the reach number to know if it will fit right.  My hardtail is a ‘small’ XL, as in it has the reach of a big ish large at 490mm for instance…but since thats a messing around bike I kind of like that it is slightly smaller. Im still faster on it at places like banhoek for instance. Its a blast.

Edited January 9 by MORNE

[sidedraught]

Online reviews of Microshift groupsets is also very very positive. I see a lot of new bikes with that fitted as OEM.

[KatjieStewels]

On 1/8/2024 at 1:14 PM, ChrisF said:

 

.... Uhmmmmmm ....

 

I USED to think so as well .....

 

The owner of Cycle4Life in Paarl is most happy to sell you a bike that is way too small !!!   (thee most expensive school fees I paid along this journey)

 

Absolutely ZERO setup was done.

 

The Hub has many such horror stories, where the "shop" just moved the stock they had .... rather than providing quality service.

 

 

Moral of the story:

- ASK what size fits YOU ... if the salesperson cant answer properly .... RUN !!!

- ASK if they will assist with a bike setup.  

 

Which is why I go to Kroff in Paarl, lol. 

I recently decided to start mountain biking again. I bought a second-hand mtb which was my size, according to my own research for R11k in 2019. A Momsen SL929 with a Shimano XT groupset (10spd if I remember correctly) Picked it up from BMT in Stellenbosch after the seller sent it for a service there. Turns out the whole drive train had to be replaced as the gears were slipping... spent about R4000 there, ouch... Then 2x new tyres ended up costing another R1800... Then headset bearing and shock service... another R4000... I nearly spent R20k, almost double what I wanted to spend...

What I did last year. Went to Hein at Kroff Cycles, and told him I was in the market for a second-hand mtb. I only want to ride gravel roads, my budget is whatever I can get for my TT bike. He (Hein), helped me sell my TT bike and got me a great deal on a 2018 Scott Scale 950. I had to wait a month for Hein to get a bike, but it was worth the wait. They even did a FREE bike fit and I've been riding it daily with ZERO extra expenses incurred. 

I can recommend your LBS, just make sure you pick the lekker one (read reviews, certain shops have reputations in town, wink wink). 

Second-hand mountain bikes can end up breaking the bank if you don't know what to look for, luckily there is a rating system here on the hub and if you use Bikehub pay, you should have some form of protection.

[RobynE]

18 hours ago, Eugene said:

LTwoo is doing what Chery and Haval have done to the car market. 

I am not a fan of LTwoo, simple as. To me the shifting is ok-ish but the crud retention and constant tweaking is enough to drive me mental. Maybe you have a better version than mine 🤷 but I don’t like mine. It is simply incomparable to my SRAM GX 11 speed, Deore 12 speed and GX 10 speed. 
 

(PS. Bought brand new and fastidiously maintained at home and by LBS and now 1 year old)

[Robbie Stewart]

9 hours ago, MORNE said:

First world problems….

easy to buy bikes when you’re an XL, XL or XL. but for real though, i buy bikes based on reach mostly, they just happen to be XL. I know i want a 510-520mm reach mtb. A 410-420 road/gravel bike. There are outliers like trek or spez, santa cruz etc who have S6 or XXL bikes, so i still just look at the reach number to know if it will fit right.  My hardtail is a ‘small’ XL, as in it has the reach of a big ish large at 490mm for instance…but since thats a messing around bike I kind of like that it is slightly smaller. Im still faster on it at places like banhoek for instance. Its a blast.

I'm on the border between L and XL but opted to go XL/S5 as I'm not sure if L/S4 won't be too cramped on the Evo. My choice was good as the S5 feels similar to my Camber and rides very well. It is very fast and loose. Everything I wanted.