Looking to get into some mountain biking since moving into the country and it being winter in Michigan. Also plainning on doing a few Xterra events. I’m a complete newbie on mountain bikes and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a decent bike that can be had for sub $500. Preferably a 29er but from what I’ve seen that’s over my budget.
Try ebay & stay away from the chain store models.
Hate to say this but you are going to have an extremely hard time finding anything worthwhile at that price point.
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantom29_comp_xii.htm
I rode a K2 Zed 3.0 that I got from REI for a few years before I got my 29er. Think I paid ~$400
jaretj
Looking to get into some mountain biking since moving into the country and it being winter in Michigan. Also plainning on doing a few Xterra events. I’m a complete newbie on mountain bikes and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a decent bike that can be had for sub $500. Preferably a 29er but from what I’ve seen that’s over my budget.
Buy used.
There were a couple on the first few pages of the classifieds on www.mtbr.com that might fit the bill. I didn’t dig deeper than that but you’ll probably have better luck than you think over there than eBay.
You can certainly buy used. Depending on what type of MTB you are wanting, you may end up with a substandard bike for your $500 budget.
What are you looking for, I know you mentioned 29er.
Full suspension, hardtail, full rigid, etc?
IMHO if I lived in MI and wanted a decent bike to get me started I would buy a 29er singlespeed full rigid. This will allow a decent bike at a much lower price point. Just make sure you get one that can accept gears in the future and upgrade as necessary if you like it.
Something like a Surly Karate Monkey, Redline Monocog, or several bikes from Bikesdirect.com would fit the bill.
My reasoning is MTB is a sport that tends to require much more skill than riding on a road. Going the full rigid singlespeed route will help you concentrate on building those critical bike handling skills and fitness without the distractions of suspension and gears.
Once you master the simple route you will be a beast on a squishy geared bike.
This route may sound a touch masochist, but you would be amazed how much fun you will have on a singlespeed MTB. Not to mention a steel 29er is a very forgiving ride believe it or not.
Just my two cents!
I have a mountain bike which I race whose frame came from the town dump; the wheels were from another POC; and most of the components are second hand off of Ebay. The total cost of the bicycle is around $50. It is pretty light at 22#'s and I was able to have the second fastest bike split at a off road triathlon, finishing second only to a pro mtn biker. It can definately be done, and now is the time to look for cheap stuff on Ebay.
Stephen J
Stephen,
Where you able to mate a disc brake setup to your dump frame or are you running V-brakes? I have a $420 Specialized Hardrock sport circa 2006. I was planning on a few Xterra's this year (1st time). I love the bike but was just wondering if V-brakes are frowned upon on the X-terra circuit.
trav
29er would be nice but is settle for a 26. Im fine with used. What type of components should I stay away from?
Nothing wrong with V brakes. I saw plenty of them last season on my Xterra schedule.
As long as they stop you they’re fine.
jaretj
Thanks jaret, appreciate the response.
trav
I think doing a budget mtb is possible… just very difficult. It is important to not lose sight of the ‘budget’ goal whenever you are selecting components.
I just finished a 29er build for this winter and ended up spending nearly twice as much as I wanted. Now a have a really fancy bike that I don’t know how to drive worth crap. Yes, I’ll grow into it, but if you’re a born and bred roadie (me), chances are you’ll be crashing quite a lot before you get the hang of it, so budget really is the way to go.
If you’re going the build route, there are lots of little things that can nail you and cost extra (i.e. brake bleeds) that you wouldn’t find on a road build. Not to mention that MTB’s have about 1,000 different types of front deraileurs… make sure you choose the right type for your frame.
I would go the route of a used 26. There are PLENTY on the market right now since everyone is on the 29r bandwagon. Last March I bought a trek fuel ex (full suspension with a RS reba fork and upgraded rock shox rear shock), full sram X7, bontrager XXX carbon bars and seatpost, Bontrager carbon stem, hydrolic brakes, tubeless wheels, new tires, new chain, and new cassette for $700.
For $700 I could have gotten an entry level 29r with a really crappy fork that didn’t ride nearly as nice as the 26 I bought. Plus the component quality would have been a few steps down from the X7.
As somebody else mentioned, a single speed 29r would be a decent option too. They are cheap and a lot of fun.
Hi Trav,
Im running canti brakes! They give a bit of a squeal when they get muddy and wet, but I really dont care all that much, and they work fine. I dont think that I have ever seen any frowing, even by the folks that I pass ;^)
Stephen J
I haven’t found much yet, but i was looking at this and I’m not sure if its total garbage. http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/5ht_new_xii.htm
I guess for $350 it isn’t a bad way to get on the trails. Acera components are pretty low end. They are kind of the sora/tiagra of the mountain bike world. Where most higher end bikes come with 3x9 or 2x10 gearing, that bike has a 3x8. That isn’t a limiter or anything, but i figured I’d point it out.
If you just want to hit some trails a few times per year, I think that is a pretty decent purchase. If you plan on riding more than that, I’d spend an extra couple hundred and get something that performs really nice on the used market.
Yeah I’m looking to put some mileage on the bike and would like it to last awhile. Im going to have to hit up my lbs and see what they recommend.
I just spent all of a half minute going to Craigslist-Michigan and the first bike was a 2 yr old Marin 29 singlespeed for $260. I didn’t go any further but the point is, take a few hours and go through Craigs and Ebay and MTBR and you will find a very nice bike for your budget. If that doesn’t work out that BD bike would last you years and at the end of the day it’s still going to be about the engine, not the bike.
It won’t be the P3 of the mountain bike world, but really, you don’t need that for Xterra or just having fun riding it on the trails. I started out on a rigid 15 years ago, quickly went to a cheapo steel front squish the next year and ended up on a very nice dually this past year. Most of the time I ride the same trails I did when I was on the rigid, it may be more fun now but I’m not going all that much faster.
Think of how much faster you can go on a P5 vs. a 6 year old Dual and that’s your difference in time between a brand new bike of the month vs. a used hardtail.
You can get some killer deals on 26ers now…since everyone wants 29ers now…