Bike recommendation please

[Anthony MTB]

1 hour ago, noobcyc said:

Hi,

 

Between the Stride HD at R6999 and the Stride Deluxe at R10999 which would you recommend? Is the R4k extra worth it?

https://silverbackbikes.de/pages/compare-bikes?product1=stride-hd-gen4&product2=stride-deluxe-gen-4

 

If you just wanna do some weekend riding or commuting you could get away with the hd. But for the long run if you wanna step up your game a bit, the package on the deluxe is better, eg. air fork, 1x drivetrain, and shimano brakes

[RobynE]

The Deluxe is significantly better specced than the HD but I would honesty sooner buy a second hand Trek or Titan or Giant etc. As much as the Deluxe is better than the HD it’s still really meh IMO. 

[RobynE]

There’s a Norco Storm, couple of Scotts and a few more in the Sales section that are all much better specced than the new SBs you are looking at. Don’t dismiss older bikes - the big brands are just about bulletproof. 
 

NB if you pay R11k for the SB Deluxe know that you won’t get R7k for it the day after you buy it. 
 

Go ride a few and see which one you love. You definitely can’t buy a bike off the internet. 

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, RobynE said:

There’s a Norco Storm, couple of Scotts and a few more in the Sales section that are all much better specced than the new SBs you are looking at. Don’t dismiss older bikes - the big brands are just about bulletproof. 
 

NB if you pay R11k for the SB Deluxe know that you won’t get R7k for it the day after you buy it. 
 

Go ride a few and see which one you love. You definitely can’t buy a bike off the internet. 

 

One provisor though ....

 

If you dont KNOW bikes .... take a mechanic with to check it.  OR, search like crazy as there are many lists on the Hub of things you need to check before buying second hand.

 

 

Rule ONE: "It has just been serviced" .... this means ZERO !!!!!!

 

A buddy one of these, "just serviced" bikes and at first glance it did look okay.  It looked good because it was cleaned properly and had new tyres on .... NOT tubeless ready ... bearings were shot ... chain stretched to heck and gone ..... we had to do a full rebuild, which can cost you more than the bike .....

 

 

Second hand .... YES, but only if you KNOW what to look it.

[noobcyc]

Thanks for the tips!

How would you rate the Specialized Rockhopper Comp versus these Silverbacks? It costs more and doesn’t have the air fork though. Are its components and/or build quality generally better or are you just paying for the name? 

[Anthony MTB]

5 hours ago, noobcyc said:

Thanks for the tips!

How would you rate the Specialized Rockhopper Comp versus these Silverbacks? It costs more and doesn’t have the air fork though. Are its components and/or build quality generally better or are you just paying for the name? 

With some brands like specialized you pay for name so yes, you are paying mor because its a specialized. But like the others said, second hand is better value. With 10k you'll get a good second hand bike but buy new as possible even if its not as high a level model.

[RobertWhitehead]

You'll be better off getting a 26er 

[noobcyc]

3 hours ago, RobertWhitehead said:

You'll be better off getting a 26er 

Hi. What would you suggest that? Funny thing is I’ve been considering a 27.5” (rockhopper). I’m also on the shorter end (1.67m) so worried a 29” won’t be as maneuverable. 

[RobynE]

All bikes have got different angles (geometry of the frame) and then there is the actual fit (how your body works with the bike angles) as well as the stem length etc.

 

At your height you’re at the end of the spectrum for a small frame but may feel like you’re reaching on some medium frames depending on the stem length etc. 

 

Some 27.5s ie 650b can be picked up at good prices, small proviso is that tyre choices are more limited than both 29 and 26 bikes, and more expensive. The rest is the same from a spares perspective. 
 

I ride 3 bikes - ie I have 3 bikes to ride at home, in my family. All are medium frame. I am 1.66cm. All 3 bikes feel TOTALLY different to ride. Obviously I’m most used to my own one which is a 2014 Giant XTC carbon frame. The others are a Trek X-Caliber and a Titan Elite 27.5. The Trek makes me feel I’m on top of the bike. The Titan makes me feel like I’m in the bike - think cruiser motorbike. The Giant feels like the exact happy medium. Gives me lots of confidence especially on technical descents. I would pick the Giant every day but if push comes to shove I won’t hate my time on the others. 
 

So opinions don’t mean much unless you feel right on the bike. But opinions do matter in terms of components as there are things that are just tried and tested and known to work. Like SRAM or Shimano Deore or Rockshox. But then within the brands there are good and bad variants. So SRAM NX - great. SRAM GX - better. SRAM SX - no. Deore M6xxx series - great. M8xxx series - better. Rockshox - serviceable forks. Unbranded forks - not serviceable.
 

All these things come together to make a reliable bike.
 

But none of it matters if you don’t like the bike and feel like riding it. And you can like a bike and then go for a professional bike fit and turn a nice bike into a lekker bike with just a few tweaks to saddle position, stem length, angle of hand controls, etc. 

 

I am on Team Second Hand but then I buy my bikes from Robert Whitehead (who commented about the 26) and trust him infinitely and have never been let down. I am not a tweak person and don’t have enough skill to work on my own bike, so they must just work. However, our first bikes were all new at the 10k-14k mark, and there was constant tweaking, and even with all the tweaking they were not as strong and reliable as my good quality second hand bikes. 
 

Quick tip: the first thing that will go on any 10k bike will likely be your rear hub, and it will go quicker than you would imagine. This is a pricey (relatively speaking - let’s say 2k ballpark) repair as it essentially involves a wheel rebuild - the hubs that come with these bikes are generally not serviceable. So if you buy a bike that already has serviceable hubs, that’s already money well spent.  

[RobynE]

14 hours ago, noobcyc said:

Thanks for the tips!

How would you rate the Specialized Rockhopper Comp versus these Silverbacks? It costs more and doesn’t have the air fork though. Are its components and/or build quality generally better or are you just paying for the name? 

Coil forks are heavier and can feel unforgiving. Very different riding experience to an air fork. 
 

 

[noobcyc]

15 minutes ago, RobynE said:

All bikes have got different angles (geometry of the frame) and then there is the actual fit (how your body works with the bike angles) as well as the stem length etc.

 

At your height you’re at the end of the spectrum for a small frame but may feel like you’re reaching on some medium frames depending on the stem length etc. 

 

Some 27.5s ie 650b can be picked up at good prices, small proviso is that tyre choices are more limited than both 29 and 26 bikes, and more expensive. The rest is the same from a spares perspective. 
 

I ride 3 bikes - ie I have 3 bikes to ride at home, in my family. All are medium frame. I am 1.66cm. All 3 bikes feel TOTALLY different to ride. Obviously I’m most used to my own one which is a 2014 Giant XTC carbon frame. The others are a Trek X-Caliber and a Titan Elite 27.5. The Trek makes me feel I’m on top of the bike. The Titan makes me feel like I’m in the bike - think cruiser motorbike. The Giant feels like the exact happy medium. Gives me lots of confidence especially on technical descents. I would pick the Giant every day but if push comes to shove I won’t hate my time on the others. 
 

So opinions don’t mean much unless you feel right on the bike. But opinions do matter in terms of components as there are things that are just tried and tested and known to work. Like SRAM or Shimano Deore or Rockshox. But then within the brands there are good and bad variants. So SRAM NX - great. SRAM GX - better. SRAM SX - no. Deore M6xxx series - great. M8xxx series - better. Rockshox - serviceable forks. Unbranded forks - not serviceable.
 

All these things come together to make a reliable bike.
 

But none of it matters if you don’t like the bike and feel like riding it. And you can like a bike and then go for a professional bike fit and turn a nice bike into a lekker bike with just a few tweaks to saddle position, stem length, angle of hand controls, etc. 

 

I am on Team Second Hand but then I buy my bikes from Robert Whitehead (who commented about the 26) and trust him infinitely and have never been let down. I am not a tweak person and don’t have enough skill to work on my own bike, so they must just work. However, our first bikes were all new at the 10k-14k mark, and there was constant tweaking, and even with all the tweaking they were not as strong and reliable as my good quality second hand bikes. 
 

Quick tip: the first thing that will go on any 10k bike will likely be your rear hub, and it will go quicker than you would imagine. This is a pricey (relatively speaking - let’s say 2k ballpark) repair as it essentially involves a wheel rebuild - the hubs that come with these bikes are generally not serviceable. So if you buy a bike that already has serviceable hubs, that’s already money well spent.  

Thanks so much for the detaield response. This just makes things even trickier 😅

[RobynE]

Where are you based? 

[noobcyc]

6 minutes ago, RobynE said:

Where are you based? 

I’m in Cape Town. 

[ChrisF]

3 hours ago, noobcyc said:

Hi. What would you suggest that? Funny thing is I’ve been considering a 27.5” (rockhopper). I’m also on the shorter end (1.67m) so worried a 29” won’t be as maneuverable. 

 

At 1,67 you can handle a Medium 29" - my godson does exactly this.  Depending on the brand, this places you on the cusp of a Medium or Small frame

 

26" or 27.5" bikes are no longer the "flavour of the day" ... thus very good deals to be had.

[Anthony MTB]

Just get a small or meduim frame 29". At your height, you can ride a small 29". The bigger wheel has better rolling and you go farther for every crank revolution. 26" is a more of a kids bike. 27.5 is also good, but the bigger wheel is better.

[RobynE]

Here are some Cape ones that look nice. Remember all prices are negotiable 😁 Willing seller, willing buyer and all that. 
 

Signal S910 with Shimano components (the fork is decent and serviceable too)

I like Signal frames and geometry - with the Shimano bits this will be a very decent bike. 
 

Small frame Momsen with good components

Worth noting that it has 29” wheels - a lot of size S have 27.5 wheels - might be a bit too small for you though. If you feel scrunched up on it you know. 
 

Titan Drone Dash

Not sure what components it has but it’s a nice looking bike and you might be able to transfer the warranty. 
 

I would definitely negotiate on the price of all of these bikes.