Used Mountain Bike

[mxlr650]

Do you have few recommendations for Mountain bike? I prefer dual disc brake option, and used bike is fine. I did not find obvious hits when I searched in the forums, and I would value opinions from those who are resistant to media programming. Price range: under 600 USD. Thanks much.

[Ego]

The REI Novara bikes are excellent value. Most are within your price range.

http://www.rei.com/b/novara/c/mountain-bikes

[jacob]

You didn't say what you're going to use it for. Dual disc is some serious braking power. Are you going to haul heavy loads on a trailer or go down 30 degree hills?

I like the Trek 800 series. I bought the 810 for touring. It's a hardtail, so few things can go wrong. You can pick one up for $100-150 used. OTOH, if you're going to ride trails, suspension makes it easier to keep the wheels on the ground for better control. Then again, people rode trails before suspension became popular.

Ego's suggestion is good too.

[mxlr650]

Ego and Jacob, thanks for the responses.

Usage is 90% city. There are long downhills on some of the streets around where I live, so I would like to eliminate brake fading. Avoiding squeaky brakes would be nice and I would rather not go the route of installing special brake pads. Hard tail is ok, and I prefer front forks since it allows hopping on/off curbs/obstacles. Going fast is not that critical to me, so my choice narrows to mountain bike and I am ok to change tires to make it more street-worthy. I like the sprocket guard on hybrid bikes but they are never found on a mountain bike - for me weight of a plastic guard is not an issue, but apparently manufacturers think everyone wants to dress up like Resplendent Quetzal and race on lightest bicycle. Over last decade, two of my bikes were stolen, and current bike Diamondback is almost falling apart (I bought it used for $100 and it has outlived its usefulness).

[tommytebco]

My own tendency would be to roll "my own".

A bike's quality comes mainly from wheels and tires. (I couldn't agree more about the fussiness of pad brakes no matter what design")

So, I would probably buy a clearance frame from BikeNashbar.com and then shop wheels and brakes on ebay or Nashbar or somewhere.

Alternative is to purchase used and then upgrade specific parts like wheels and tires.

You have to enjoy tweaking to do it this way or piles of unfinished projects will result. <G>

It seems to me that blindly following the mass Marketing caveats of what we need to ride a bike is the complete opposite of ERE philosophy.

I live in florida, where a railroad overpass is the closest thing to a hill. So brakes are very low on the priority meter.

I did just buy a bike trailer from craigslist ($25) to enable trying a car free month.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/6 ... L1500_.jpg

[Gilberto de Piento]

The REI bikes are fine, also check out their "urban bikes" category.

A lot of mountain bikes now have 29" wheels instead of 26". This is beneficial as they roll over obstacles more smoothly.

Disc brakes are great. I like Avid BB7 mechanicals but others are ok too. Hydraulic discs tend to have more stopping power but are difficult to work on yourself if they stop working.

You can add a chain guard to any bike. Manufacturers are realizing that these are desirable and are adding them to bikes again but not to mountain bikes.

I would not recommend building your own bike unless you like building bikes. The finished product will likely be more expensive and not as good as what you can buy. The exception is if you have access to deals on parts and already own the tools. Even then it is a toss up unless you wants something that just isn't available.

[jacob]

If I may ...

26" wheels are ubiquitous on a world-wide basis and in the used/recycle market. The also have a huge selection of specialized tires, e.g. knobs, slicks, combos.

29" is somewhat rare (bike store only, forget about the used market) and more expensive (although this may have changed). Even 700 is not guaranteed availability at big box stores.

[mxlr650]

So, I would probably buy a clearance frame from BikeNashbar.com and then shop wheels and brakes on ebay or Nashbar or somewhere.
You have to enjoy tweaking to do it this way or piles of unfinished projects will result.

I would love to do build a bike, but currently my time is already spoken for other projects, so may be next bike.

The REI bikes are fine, also check out their "urban bikes" category.

Urban category there do not have forks, except for women's models.

Hydraulic discs tend to have more stopping power but are difficult to work on yourself if they stop working.

What work is needed for hydraulic brakes? Bleeding? I can do that (already do it on my motorcycle)

You can add a chain guard to any bike.

Did you mean replace the crankset that has chain guard? Yea, that is an option, but it is not cheap(<25USD)

29" is somewhat rare

For now I plan on using it in the USA and many options are available for both street/trail tires. Not as cheap as 26" though.

I did not find anything good on craigslist, so I will probably pay a visit to REI

[jacob]

Consider mixing the components of two used bikes or simply upgrading a used bike if you have it.
Building a bike from component is gonna be more expensive than simply buying them via a "new bike" from bikesdirect.

See
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/the-1 ... -bike.html
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/my-current-ride.html

[Gilberto de Piento]

29" is somewhat rare (bike store only, forget about the used market) and more expensive (although this may have changed). Even 700 is not guaranteed availability at big box stores.

29" is the same as 700c. They are the same diameter. I agree that 26" is more common. If you are going outside of the US/Europe you may want to avoid 700c/29".

What work is needed for hydraulic brakes? Bleeding? I can do that (already do it on my motorcycle)

They may not need any work. They may need to be bled, just like those on a motorcycle. Mechanical disks use the same levers and cables as rim brakes so they are easier to get parts for and repair.

Did you mean replace the crankset that has chain guard? Yea, that is an option, but it is not cheap(<25USD)

You don't need to replace the crankset. You have a few options:
- Something that goes around the entire chain: http://velocouture.wordpress.com/2009/0 ... hainboard/
- A ring guard that replaces the largest of the three rings http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/ProductDis ... cadevice=c
- A ring guard that bolts onto the largest of the three rings http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bike-Chainring- ... 2738&rt=nc
I removed the largest ring on my commuter and replaced it with a guard. It works ok but I still use a velcro strap around my pant leg.

[tommytebco]

re. chain guard:
Maybe Jacob was referring to this type of complete chain guard:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_c ... hain_guard
This removes most of the oil stained cloths problems.

Also: we haven't mentioned a hub gear. A 5 speed would remove most of the problems with shift adjustment and would have enough range for normal commute.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_c ... ub_gearing
more than 3 speeds (and maybe 5) is quite expensive in the States.

[mxlr650]

@jacob: I am looking for some ergonomics which is only available in recent bikes (29er, disc brakes), so I will have better luck few years down the road to be able to build really cheap bikes.
@tommytebco: thanks for the links, I will definitely build bikes few years down the road when I will have more time
@gilberto/tommytebco: my query related to chain guard was to have a way to ride bikes without ankle velcro straps, and having looked at some of the links you provided, I am definitely not looking for chain guard casing, and the closest thing would be a bash plate, but I am not sure if it is an effective solution. If I have to still wear ankle strap I might just not bother installing one. What do you think?

Went to REI and test rode Novara Terero 29er – it rides great, and hydraulic brakes are real effective and easy to operate. One of the things that I was looking for in the bike was to swap the brake lever function to match motorcycle, which is fairly easy to do with rim brakes. However, on hydraulic brakes, I was told that brakes had to be bled, and that REI shop did not have bikes with mechanical disc brakes, so I decided to explore other places.

After visiting a shop or two, I went to Trek shop. They had both mechanical as well as hydraulic bikes, and the sales guy told me it was not a biggie to swap the hydraulic brakes, but when we got into specifics of swapping levers, it turned out that simply swapping the lever (that also contains master cylinder) would result in master cylinders being positioned bottom instead of top, which was not a big deal with me as it meant I did not have to get to the task of bleeding the brakes right away (buying a bleeding kit, and doing that work was a hassle that I would like avoid till end of this year). After test riding both versions couple times hydraulic seemed like a better choice as it was smooth and less finger fatiguing which would be a relief to my hand/wrist. Having abused my fingers with keyboards/mice etc I would pay a little extra to avoid arm pump/hand trauma (in the same spirit, I have installed Rekluse auto-clutch on the dirt bike which I love).

Bike: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/mo ... /marlin_6/

The bike retails for 600 USD but I got it discounted to 500. And on top of that, the shop also offered to swap the brakes for free and mechanic claimed he could swap without bleeding, so that would keep the master cylinder upright. Does anyone know how it would be done? I have not looked at the brake mechanism to guess the specifics, but in few bike shops, I was told swapping brake levers would require brake bleeding. Trek also offers free bike tuning for its life, so all in all, it was around ~75 USD cheaper, and I really like the ergonomics and the 29" wheels. It rolls really smooth and the bike looks/feels beefy. On my first ride, I got flat tire, and I have already installed tire liners.

Thanks again for all the links and advice!

[tommytebco]

mxlr650,

Your new bike seems like a real good deal. I'm pricing converting an old frame to 29's and it looks like close to $200 just for the wheels and tires, even with scrounging ebay and craigslist. Good Show!! I note that 29's ARE 700C diameter, BUT are wider than road bikes, hence the scarcity.

I've never ridden a bike for dress up transportation. Further, I've never had much luck keeping grease on the chain and off my pants. I would say you'll need the cuff strap. I have known guys who lubricated the chain with paraffin (melted and chain dipped in it) to get a cleaner situation. claimed it worked well.

I live in Florida, where the biggest hill is an overpass, hence, in my world, brakes are highly overrated. But, to each his own. Disks brakes would sure be nice.

Re dual sport Motos, mine is a KLX250S.

[mxlr650]

I've never ridden a bike for dress up transportation. Further, I've never had much luck keeping grease on the chain and off my pants. I would say you'll need the cuff strap. I have known guys who lubricated the chain with paraffin (melted and chain dipped in it) to get a cleaner situation. claimed it worked well.

I have used http://www.amazon.com/DuPont-Chain-Save ... 001B0VDC2/ on motorcycles and am very happy with it as it dries out and it does not sling. Will use it on bike and report

Re dual sport Motos, mine is a KLX250S.

CRF250X. For a while I have been pushing out upgrading to 450X as fuel-injection would be nice. Since it is not happening, I might look into KTM in next couple years. So, with Redbull, KTM, and Glock, I will be an Austrian redneck