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Mountain Bike help for Roadie


Chopper01

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I am a keen roadie, thats thinking of buying a MTB... I know my stuff for roadbikes, but I feel confused when I look at MTB's, so I have a few questions I would like people to help me with or prod me it the right direction.

- Firstly I is Hardtail vs Fully, if feel you can get alot more bang for your buc with a Hardtail and that it's the wat to go when you want to go fast?

 

- What tipe of money should I spend to get good value, will R15000 bring me something thats has a bit of respect or more to R20000? (I know I will not be getting a 'Porsche'-like bike for that price but atleast something worth having a race with and not feel ashamed of.)

 

- Then it's New vs 2nd Hand. With a road bike I can spot a good price and know if the bike is worth it, or if it has had a few to many races. Is it ok to buy a 2nd hand MTB or is it risky, with parts having to be replaced more. Again there I feel 'n hardtail is a beter choice?

 

- The Sram vs Shimano, I am a Campy man an I ride Chorus, what is in the same region as this on MTB and I see alot of people mis them up and ride another brands brakes (juicy?)

 

If someone is able to help me a bit I would love that, in times like thes I have to make sure I spend right. Otherwise I am going to get me a pair of Zipps rather...LOL
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What tipe of money should I spend to get good value' date=' will R15000 bring me something thats has a bit of respect or more to R20000? (I know I will not be getting a 'Porsche'-like bike for that price but atleast something worth having a race with and not feel ashamed of.)

[/quote']

 

at 20k, i'm afraid mountainbikers will point and laugh LOL

 

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Really? I thought I would be able to get away with a 2nd hand one that hnas some decent specs.

So you say about R30000, I know a fully will get over R40000 for a decent one but a hardtail then?

 

What should I look at then?
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Guest Agteros

Chopper, 15-20K is serious money. You should be able to get away with something decent for a lot less.

 

What type of riding / racing do you want to do with your MTB?
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I do triathlons now and would like to look at doing the Xterra's and the some local races. I stay in Stellenbosch and feel I am missing out on great rides in the mountains there.

 

I would just like to get started
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I am a keen roadie' date=' thats thinking of buying a MTB... I know my stuff for roadbikes, but I feel confused when I look at MTB's, so I have a few questions I would like people to help me with or prod me it the right direction.

- Firstly I is Hardtail vs Fully, if feel you can get alot more bang for your buc with a Hardtail and that it's the wat to go when you want to go fast?

 

You can get more "bang for buck" with a HT compared to a FS. The fast bit, well, that's not quite as easy as it sounds. In my mind, speed over a course comes from your power-to-weight ratio and then the weight of your machine. These days there are many FS which are pushing the 10.5kg to 10kg boundry. This is where it then gets a bit more tricky. At that weight you could get a cheaper HT compared to an equally weighted FS. In my mind, I'd go FS as in many weekend rides these days the course will contain some freshly mown field and those tufts on a HT are brutal! I've just moved over to a FS and the differnce over the same sections on the different machines is phenominal!

 

- What tipe of money should I spend to get good value, will R15000 bring me something thats has a bit of respect or more to R20000? (I know I will not be getting a 'Porsche'-like bike for that price but atleast something worth having a race with and not feel ashamed of.)

 

R20000 will get a pretty decent start into FS. BUT! Only when looking second hand. Brand new you really need to be looking around the R25000 bracket. As read in a magazine towards the end of last year, "A bike under R20000 in the FS category is sort of a waste of money because it'll have lower end and heavier components and overall the frame will be heavy."

- Then it's New vs 2nd Hand. With a road bike I can spot a good price and know if the bike is worth it, or if it has had a few to many races. Is it ok to buy a 2nd hand MTB or is it risky, with parts having to be replaced more. Again there I feel 'n hardtail is a beter choice?

 

This depends more on your budget. There are many many decent second hand bikes out there. Risks; yes, there are risks but do your homework and ask questions! If you ask a direct question and the seller "avoids" the answer you may have a suit against him if something does wrong even though most sales are done "voetstoets". I stand to be corrected of course ....

 

- The Sram vs Shimano, I am a Campy man an I ride Chorus, what is in the same region as this on MTB and I see alot of people mis them up and ride another brands brakes (juicy?)

 

Mmmm, another one more on personal choice. I again, recently switched from Shimano to SRAM as shifters and RD and I am LOVING it!

 

If someone is able to help me a bit I would love that, in times like thes I have to make sure I spend right. Otherwise I am going to get me a pair of Zipps rather...LOL
[/quote']
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Really? I thought I would be able to get away with a 2nd hand one that hnas some decent specs.

So you say about R30000' date=' I know a fully will get over R40000 for a decent one but a hardtail then?

 

What should I look at then?
[/quote']

 

was pull;ing your leg man ... the guys and girls i cycle with, will never make you feel 'ashamed' of your bike ... they WILL try to make you feel ashamed if you keep on thinking up excuses not to ride it, though

 

for 20k you should get a very nice hardtail. got my dual susp last a year ago for about 20k - and i love the bike, and i'm the one riding it, so what other people think doesn't really matter.

 

where you from?

 

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I know a fully will get over R40000 for a decent one 

 

see?  there you insulted my bike ... but it's mine and i ride it, so doesn't matter what you think. the point i was trying to make is ... dont let 'not be ashamed of' be one of the specs.

 

for me it's more important that i like riding the bike

 

 

 

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My 2 cents worth - I am a roadie who was forced to buy a MTB because I moved to the Transkei and the roads are not 'road bike friendly'. The first thing you need to decide on is if you are going to race MTB or just use it for training. I would look at a full suspension if you are going to race, otherwise buy a hard tail. You also need to find out wjat type of terrain you have got in your area for training. If you have a lot of single track, technical routes ect, then look at a F/S, otherwise riding on dirt roads or jeep tracks only requires a hard tail. You must also think about how much milage you are going to do in a year. Youwill know from road parts, the cheaper the parts, the more often you must replace. min spec should be Shim XT. I service my own bike and find it easier to service Shimano parts but that is just a preference. Rather spend R15000 or less on a reasonable MTB and save the money for road parts - end of 2 cents

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Thanks for the help. I am starting to form a picture now.

Another thing to help me is, I ride a 56cm frame on my road bike, what would that be for a MTB? Or should I go to my LBS to get myself measured?
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Guest Agteros

you'll most probably ride a medium MTB, although the sizing can differ from make to make.

 

I ride a 56cm, but should ride a 54cm, road bike and I have a medium, (18") MTB
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