2000 Trek 6500 ZX or 2012 Nishiki Colorado



gpsguy88

New Member
Aug 24, 2012
2
0
0
I'm mainly a road cyclist that wants to start dabbling in mountain biking and don't want to spend a lot of money at first.

In shopping around I've come across a used 2000 Trek 6500 ZX at my LBS for $240. Of course, it doesn't have disc brakes but the bike is in good mechanical condition and has what appear to be the original stock components.

[COLOR= rgb(51, 51, 51)]A local sporting goods store has a new 2012 Nishiki Colorado for $299 which does have disc brakes. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= rgb(51, 51, 51)]Below are some specs for both bikes to help with the comparison:[/COLOR]

2000 Trek 6500
  • Fork Brand & Model: Rock Shox Judy XC, 2.5"-4.0" adjustable travel
  • Fork Material: Aluminum/magnesium, triple-clamp crown
  • Brakeset: Aluminum linear-pull brakes, aluminum linear-pull levers
  • Shift Levers: Shimano Deore
  • Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore
  • Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore LX SGS
  • Crankset: ICON Obsidian, 22/32/44 teeth
  • Rear Cogs: 9-speed, 11 - 32 teeth

2012 Nishiki Colorado
  • Frame: Heat treated/buttoned 6061 alloy with shaped top tube and replaceable hanger
  • Fork: SR Suntour XCT V2, 80mm travel
  • Shifter: Sram X3 trigger
  • Front derailleur: Shimano Tourney TX50
  • Rear derailleur: SramX3, 7-speed
  • Gear: Sram PG-730
  • Cranks: SR Suntour XCT V2
  • Speeds: 21
  • Brakes: Tektro Novella with 160mm rotors


Between these two bikes which one is the best use of about $300 for an intro to mountain biking? The Trek has some better components but the Nishiki is new and has disc brakes. Which one will last the longest with some light trail riding?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
FWIW. Between the two, 'I' would definitely choose the Trek ...

FYI. BOTH bikes have primitive suspension forks ...

  • the SR fork probably ([COLOR= #ff8c00]¿?[/COLOR]) has STEEL lowers & therefore probably weighs an extra couple of pounds over weight of the RockShox Judy fork ...

Disc brakes are probably going to be dead weight for the type of riding you will probably be doing ...

  • I'm going to guess that the Trek weighs about 28+ lbs. and the Nishiki probably weighs 2-to-4 lbs. more ...
  • SunTour used to be a well regarded manufacturer ... but, it is a label which SR ([COLOR= #808080]the Taiwanese company which bought SunTour[/COLOR]) seems to use on lower end components, now

The Trek more-than-likely has much better hubs than the particular Nishiki has ...

Basically, Shimano LX components will last forever unless they are neglected or abused.
 
Thanks for the informative reply. I hope to get over there in a day or two and take the Trek 6500 for a test ride, but I'm sort of leaning toward it as well.