Which Mountain Bike???

[Beerboy37]

Hi everyone,

 

Just to start, I have never cycled. I do not know anything about mountain bikes or mountain biking so all help is greatly appreciated.

 

Over the past few weeks I have been looking for a mountain bike. I will initially use it to ride around my neighbourhood and when camping and maybe join a club eventually.

 

I've been looking at the Dunlop and Raleigh bikes at Makro but from what I've picked up on this forum, I assume these aren't very good. Any thoughts?

 

I guess my next option after that would be to go 2nd hand but I don't even know where to start with that. I am looking to spend R1500 max. and I stay in the east rand (boksburg). Is it best to buy from a shop or private? Can I even get something reasonable in my price range?

 

Thanks.

 

[North Shore]

Hi there,

 

Unless you enjoy chainrings that fail, gears that grind and a generally awful ride don't go for Dunlop. Your best bet would be to look at relatively new second hand hardtails. GT, silverback and mongoose all have good entry level bikes that you can pick up for relatively cheap (although you may want to consider increasing your budget). Shop around and check out the classifieds on here regularly.

 

 

 

Good Luck

[Regard]

My wife also insisted I by her a Makro bike when she started(I warned her).

She wanted to give up on the first up hill we did!!!!

We tossed the bike just there, near Kaapschehoop in the bos.

Went to a proper cycle shop and bought her a entry level Merida for R3000.

 

She couldn't believe the diff.

 

So, if you want to hate cycling by a Makro special

If you want to find joy in it spend a bit more, you wont regret it

[scotty]

Retail store bikes are OK for riding to the shop and back but for anything else they're crap. My 1st Bike was a Makro Raleigh which i bought to ride my 1st argus, by the time i got to the Argus i had replaced the wheels, pedals and chainrings due to them failing. Look for a bargain at a second hand store rather.

[Beerboy37]

Thanks guys. I will have a look around. Would you suggest I rather spend a bit more or could I get something reasonable for R1500?

[ShaughnK]

I was looking around for my kids and Gumtree has some bargains, in fact bought them both decent 2nd hand bikes off Gumtree, but you need to be patient until the right bike comes along and also make sure you dont get conned.  

Genuine Bargain  stuff starts at around R2k it appears. less than that is generally el-crappo makro stuff somebody is trying to unload.

 

Something else to take into account is that you are going to need some decent riding gear and a proper helmet if you dont already have kit.

 

good luck.

[Beenie]

Coming from someone with experience - please dont buy a dunlop or similar from those retail stores. Goed koop is duur koop.

Up your budget a bit. Silverbacks are god value for money. You could get a new Silverback Oakland for less than R2500 I think.