budget up to $1500AUD, which mountain bike should I buy?

[ahmondjai]

Hi, everyone, I'm just a newbie into mountain bikes, and I'm looking to buy one now, set my budget up to $1500AUD, been looking at Avanti: Ridge Rider, Montari, Barracuda and for Giant: Alias, Talon. Any other good bikes(perhaps from other brands) are there for me to consider? Million thanks

 

[j.r.hawkins]

Go to www.cellbikes.com.au and take a look there. I'm looking at one of theirs for a roadbike and I can't get better value for money anywhere. You'd need to be able to visit their store in Sydney or otherwise be comfortable buying over the web.

 

[ahmondjai]

Go to www.cellbikes.com.au and take a look there. I'm looking at one of theirs for a roadbike and I can't get better value for money anywhere. You'd need to be able to visit their store in Sydney or otherwise be comfortable buying over the web.

thanks for replying j.r.hawkins, I've looked at cellbikes.com, what are your opinions for them?? are they any good? compare to others like giant or avanti? coz I've heard cell aren't really a good choice other than price, correct me if I'm in the wrong direction since I have no knowledge about any of them.

 

[1id10t]

What kind of MTB are you after? There's quite a few styles. Do you want full suspension (might just get a budget model at your price point), dirtjump/freeride,cross country hardtail etc. Are you likely to go off-road a bit or is it more for riding around the streets.
Go into bike stores and try a few models. Research it and write down the ones you're intersted in. Buy some magazines (the 2007 Bicycle Buyers Guide is out in the newsagents at the moment; plenty of models listed with recommended retails prices shown. Gives you a good idea of cost and some of the parts at the price point).
Cell are okay. A friend of mine bought from there and is reasonably happy. Best if you can visit the store as I don't know if they have many sizes available (11ring who posts here could probably say otherwise as he works there).
For the amount you want to spend you have a pretty decent amount of choice.
One last point. Leave some money aside for extras; helmet, water bottle cage and bottle, lights if you'll commute, clothing (proper gear can make riding more comfortable), clipless pedals/shoes (if you get more serious).
Have fun spending.

 

[ahmondjai]

I've been told that if I want to get a proper full suspension bike, the price will go up significantly which I'm not willing to spend, yet. So, I think I'll stick with a entry to mid-range hard tail for now. I'll be doing around street, bike paths, thur trails such as daisy hill and calamvale forrest, so, bit of everything. I've also been told that I can get a set of road tyres which I can swap between quiet easily for commuting. I've got my clothings, light set, helmet, so, I think what I need is a MTB shoes and pedals(not really necessarily), been looking at the Nike YVR III ATB/MTB shoes on ebay, but not in my size, does anyone here know where I can get hold of one?

What kind of MTB are you after? There's quite a few styles. Do you want full suspension (might just get a budget model at your price point), dirtjump/freeride,cross country hardtail etc. Are you likely to go off-road a bit or is it more for riding around the streets.
Go into bike stores and try a few models. Research it and write down the ones you're intersted in. Buy some magazines (the 2007 Bicycle Buyers Guide is out in the newsagents at the moment; plenty of models listed with recommended retails prices shown. Gives you a good idea of cost and some of the parts at the price point).
Cell are okay. A friend of mine bought from there and is reasonably happy. Best if you can visit the store as I don't know if they have many sizes available (11ring who posts here could probably say otherwise as he works there).
For the amount you want to spend you have a pretty decent amount of choice.
One last point. Leave some money aside for extras; helmet, water bottle cage and bottle, lights if you'll commute, clothing (proper gear can make riding more comfortable), clipless pedals/shoes (if you get more serious).
Have fun spending.

 

[j.r.hawkins]

I use my MTB for commuting mostly (150km/week) with a bit of non-challenging trail riding with my 10yo thrown in.

What I've found over the last 6 months might be useful to you.

1) Don't skimp on hardware.

I've had no end of trouble with my drive train. The problems were initiated by the front derailleur not being installed properly. This allowed the chain to jump off the middle chainring, miss the small one entirely and jam itself around the bottom bracket when changing down. I thought I had it nailed after changing the front derailleur to a Shimano Hone a few months ago, but last week it started doing it again consistently, so now I've changed the middle chainring to something decent so hopefully the teeth won't bend over again!

I'd say Shimano Deore would be your minimum entry level if you rack up the k's like I do and you weigh a bit (I'm 80kg)

2) Get some decent road slicks for commuting

It's safer. Knobblies have a habit of breaking loose suddenly on the tarmac, and decent slicks are far, far easier to pedal anyway. Continental Sport Contact 1.3's are the go, and have puncture protection built in.

Keep your knobblies that came with the bike. Changing to them for weekend trail bashing can be accomplished in about 15 minutes - if you're slow! A decent floor pump wth pressure gauge is a big help.

3) Get some lockout forks

You want your sweat to push you forward when climbing. Bob bob bobbin' along just heats your ... shock oil.

4) Bike shop mechanics are useless.

Go to Torpedo7.com.au and buy yourself the $59 toolkit. Then buy yourself a copy of Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance and invest some time in a little education.

5) Clipless pedals are definitely worth the investment
But they do take some getting used to. I've had the usual couple of really stupid falls off my bike 'cause I couldn't get my feet out when I came to a sudden stop, but they've saved me a couple of far worse accidents at speed on bumpy terrain when I would definitely have been tossed off the bike. And they're vital in wet weather like this morning.