I wanna buy a new bike to zoom around on with the kids . I've been riding my old Specialized duel shock I bought back in the mid 00's which was a top of the line back then but it's served it's purpose and it's time to upgrade to something newer . My issue is that now the local shops are click n collect only I can't just pop in amd have a look so a few things have me a bit confused . The bikes have changed that much and now seem to have gone from the old 26 speed , to bugger all gears and about 10 different types of " mountain bike " .
ok , so I only wanna spend about 1k - $1500k . It won't be going to the local downhill tracks and will likley be just a cycleway with the kids and down the road to the shop to grab some milk etc . But I do want something that's kinda capable so I look the part .
Can anyone tell me why as soon as I go to something above 1k with Rock shocks the bikes gears drop to 10 speed and under ? I'm guessing it's something to do with that level of bike being for more downhill than down the road level?
And then anything under 1K then seem to have the suntour shocks however more gears , are the Suntour that much of a drop in quality is notice ? What derailers and type of gear selectors are the best ? Obviously shimano but each bike has different levels of Shimano shit on them .
I'd like to get the dearer bikes to know I'm getting a better gears and forks quality but I'm worried about the 10 speed not being adequate for the road and running out of gears .
lastly , Brands ? I'm looking at a 29 inch large hard tail with me being 6'2 and 110kg . I've been looking at SCOTT , GT , NORCO , GIANT .
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I don't know much about mountain bikes at all sorry Wiz, more into road bikes. There's a group on facebook called bicycle market which has heaps of good second hand stuff. There's also bike exchange on the net and gumtree. I realise I'm not answering your questions because I don't know the answers. Just be careful if you go down the path of second hand, some people are asking more than the new price due to retailers not being able to source stock (people selling second hand Specialized road bikes for crazy prices right now).
Thanks mate , yeah steering away from second hand . Just couldn't be stuffed trying to weed through who's been hammering them down the mountains down here and also not particularly fond of walking out of the shops to see some bloke waiting for me with his old bike that was stolen a month ago either haha .
Might look into what I can flog my Specialised off for then 😜.
Traditional 18 speed drive trains had 3 cogs on the pedals, and usually 6 or 7 on the back wheel which meant you had two leavers on the handlebars but were always very clunky and fiddly for mountain bike riders.
The new system has one cog on the pedals and a massive cog of 10 - 12 @and sometimes more on the back which means you only need one leaver on the bars which is more easily managed
.Giants great, Norco aswell, disc brakes ect.
Thanks Cheify , yeah that's what I was thinking .. only thing that has me hessitant with that is that as I do ride on the roads a bit I do use those front chain wheel gears a bit and I'm wondering if I'll find myself short in the top gears with the 10 speeds . I'm assumig the back ones now go down a bit smaller and up a bit bigger to compensate for the missing front ones yeah ?
I think you'll find you'll have the same top and bottom gears that gradually step up. The incremental step ups that the old system had aren't needed for mountain bikes. You'll have plenty.
The top MB racers all use the new system and are probably faster with less weight and fiddly gears.
The ones with pistons solve the problem of personal energy depletion
Hence why I've set the budget at 1500 . If I'm spending duel suspension mountain bike type money I'm not buying a bike that I have to do all the work .
Mate, bikes have gotten crazy expensive since COVID so it's pretty much impossible to get real value for money.
What will serve you best is a hardtail with decent front shocks and a good 1x drive train (1 cog up front). They're all 1x now except for the real entry level bikes and, as Chiefy said, 1x is the way to go. Don't worry about the number of gears -i'ts all about the upper and lower ratios and you'll find you'll be able to pavement cruise at around 30kph on a 1x mountain bike no worries at all. Rock Shox are super expensive and Suntour shocks are really good these days.
I like Trek, so I'd recco a Roscoe 6, which will cost you about 1500 bucks. The other good brands you mentioned all have pretty much the same spec bikes at the same price points - it really comes down to the brand you like most. Hydraulic disc brakes are a must.
Having said that, I'm a roadie like Adam. The road's where it's at mate. Get yourself a Trek Madone SLR9 - it's super aero, super fast and there's no way those annoying kids will be able to keep up with you - and you only need about $17,000 :)
I like that TREK Krames , I'll look into it budska . The colourways sweet .
im not too worried about COVID tax and value for money as I have a nice collection of 80s and 90s Mongooses , Redlines and Powell Perelta skateboards that I put together pre COVID and they've gone though the roof so I reckon I can swallow being a lil bit stung on my new pushy . BMXs I bought for a couple of Hunge a few years back are fetching 3K now.
Sounds like you've got some good stuff mate. I think my last BMX was a Speedwell Sting Mark 2, circa 1984!
The Trek Roscoe's right at that sweet spot where you'll get good components at a half decent price, the frame and wheels aren't bad either. After this price point even hard tails go up in price really quickly (carbon frames, wheels, top of the range components etc) but it's a massive wank unless you're competing or something. The Roscoe's components are all good quality and good brands - they're about 75% up the component tree.
Simple Bikes in Wollongong and Shellharbour are the Trek dealers down your way but, as I said, all the other good (cool) brands (Giant, Specialized, Scott etc) sell the same bike at the same price point - it probably comes down to which one you think looks best.
I want to see a pic when u get it mate :)
I did a 100k ride on my training bike today, it's a Trek flat bar with carbon frame and everything else. I built her up myself - she's a beauty. I reckon it's the fastest and lightest hybrid/flat bar in Sydney. I'll post a pic:
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