Tassajara vs K2 attack 3.0

[Troyux]

Im buying a new bike this week and am weighing my options. hardtail or Full suspension. I am coming
off of 8 years on a Diamondback Ascent. It has served me well..but now its shot. Im 5'11 and about
215 .. I ride around town with my German Shepherd and On Mountain Bike trails whenever possible.
Im a fairly normal mountain biker..I'll try most things once. Ive donated skin grafts to
many a rocky trail. I'm Looking for the very best deal at the $600 range. any suggestions
beyond the top two? Also I'm considering the Norco Bigfoot, the MTB reviews were
glowing..and it's cheaper. I ride mostly in North Texas. Thank for all your help.. Im
mystified by this world of forks and shocks..but I also want to avoid being butt sore every
time I ride for over 30 minutes

Troy

 

[Penny S.]

Troyux wrote:
> Im buying a new bike this week and am weighing my options. hardtail or Full suspension. I am
> coming off of 8 years on a Diamondback Ascent. It has served me well..but now its shot. Im 5'11
> and about
> 215 .. I ride around town with my German Shepherd and On Mountain Bike trails whenever possible.
> Im a fairly normal mountain biker..I'll try most things once. Ive donated skin grafts to many
> a rocky trail. I'm Looking for the very best deal at the $600 range. any suggestions beyond
> the top two? Also I'm considering the Norco Bigfoot, the MTB reviews were glowing..and it's
> cheaper. I ride mostly in North Texas. Thank for all your help.. Im mystified by this world
> of forks and shocks..but I also want to avoid being butt sore every time I ride for over 30
> minutes
>
> Troy

sore butt has nothing to do with what kind of suspension - it's a factor of the right saddle, if you
are wearing padded shorts or not, is your butt broken in and do you have "lazy biker" syndrome...
That would be your butt planted on the seat instead of up out of the seat.

As for your money, the rule of thumb is that you always get more bike for your buck ( better
components, better frame) in the sub $1500 range if you go with a hard tail over a full
suspension bike.

penny

 

[James Messick]

"Edwards" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> If I was going to spend 600 bucks on a mountain bike, I would buy a well taken care of used one.
> You will find more quality used bikes at this pricepoint than a retail purchase. Look at
> www.mtbreview.com . There is
a
> classified section with all sorts of bikes with photos. Good luck!
>
> Edwards

My opinions is that you can get a pretty good bike for $600, but not a FS. I love my FS Treak Fuel
80, but it was a couple of hundred more, and a steal since it was 'Last Years Model', i.e. a few
components were different as were the colors.

 

[MTBScottie]

[email protected] (Troyux) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Im buying a new bike this week and am weighing my options. hardtail or Full suspension. I am
> coming off of 8 years on a Diamondback Ascent. It has served me well..but now its shot. Im 5'11
> and about
> 215 .. I ride around town with my German Shepherd and On Mountain Bike trails whenever possible.
> Im a fairly normal mountain biker..I'll try most things once. Ive donated skin grafts to many
> a rocky trail. I'm Looking for the very best deal at the $600 range. any suggestions beyond
> the top two? Also I'm considering the Norco Bigfoot, the MTB reviews were glowing..and it's
> cheaper. I ride mostly in North Texas. Thank for all your help.. Im mystified by this world
> of forks and shocks..but I also want to avoid being butt sore every time I ride for over 30
> minutes
>
> Troy

Probably the biggest mistake I made when I started riding off road three years ago was purchasing a
full suspension bike. I went to every shop and asked every person in those shops what their opinions
were in the full vs. front suspsenion only debate. I got alot of pro's and con's towards both, and
like I said, ended up buying a full. In those three years I've bought a few more bikes, and the last
two I have bought have really made me a better rider to the point where tomorrow I am trading my
full suspension bike for a lighter race ready hard tail. The first of those bikes mentioned was a
Giant Rainier. If you look around, there's been a bit of discussion about this bike lateley, as
someone else was interested in purchasing one. My 2002 cost $700 flat, and a 2003 costs a bit over
$800 because they now come equipped with clipless pedals, but this bike has to be one of the best
values in mountain biking. It comes standard with a set of Avid Mechanical Disc brakes, which are
unbelievably powerful. My 2002 came with a Marzocchi air fork, which with that and the disc brakes
for $700 was a great value to me. The other bike I am speaking of is a bike that I recently
purchased, and that is a Redline Monocog single speed. The single speed part may not be appealing to
you, but the fact that the bike is totally rigid front and rear may interest you. Oddly enough, I
have tackled obstacles on my single speed that I wouldn't on my full suspension. I don't miss the
suspension at all while riding the single speed, and the Giant hardtail is just enough up front to
soften the ride up, but honestly, the Marzocchi fork is so nice, you don't even feel it working.
Alot of manufacturers have some nicely equipped hardtails for under a $1000, check them out.

 

[Edwards]

I don't disagree. You CAN find a decent bike new at $600 pricepoint. BUT as my post states clearly
that -in my opinion- you will find a much better value at $600 purchasing a well taken care of used
steed, than you will at a 600 dollar retail purchase.

Case in point: One of my best friends decided to get a bike and he wanted to spend around 500 bucks.
I saw an ad for a KHS steel frame hardtail with full XT and a nice Rock Shox fork for 500 bucks. The
bike was immaculate; maintained and ridden by an expert class racer, and you would be hard pressed
to find a better deal in a shop. The seller claimed he bike was purchased for over 1500 bucks
retail. My friend rode it hard and sold it 2 years later for $450. I'd say he got his money worth.

Being that retailers tend to gouge on prices. Once you wheel your newly bought retail bicycle out of
the store, the value depreciates about half. So if you purchase a nicely equiped well taken care of
bicycle at 600, not only will get a better bicycle, but if you have to sell it for some reason -you
can turn around and sell it for closer to what you purchased it for.

Just an opinion of a biker who has been riding and racing for about 14 years.

Good luck,

Edwards

"James Messick" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Edwards" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > If I was going to spend 600 bucks on a mountain bike, I would buy a well taken care of used one.
> > You will find more quality used bikes at this pricepoint than a retail purchase. Look at
> > www.mtbreview.com . There
is
> a
> > classified section with all sorts of bikes with photos. Good luck!
> >
> > Edwards
>
> My opinions is that you can get a pretty good bike for $600, but not a FS.
I
> love my FS Treak Fuel 80, but it was a couple of hundred more, and a steal since it was 'Last
> Years Model', i.e. a few components were different as were the colors.