Joined
·
1,564 Posts
Old crufty mountain biker asked me for new bike advice and question echoed for a while... it is easy to tell them to buy used, or something on deep discount but he's got no vocabulary. And big problem is even with all the local stores in the seattle area, there's really not a wide range of styles to try. Folks end up buying what is on the rack at the LBS, or even worse, what is on sale on the internet, without really understanding what they are getting.
Was thinking, could we agreed on some bike catagories, select some representative extremes so buyers would have an idea of what bikes to seek out and try? Rather than visit the closest stores and try a bunch of bikes that all feel the same, what are the different bikes they should seek out to ride in order to understand the field?
I recommend hard tails for the 'mtb curious' because they're relatively cheap and maintainable, and usually durable.
My bike features plot is:
Necessary on modern bike:
- low top tube is always good (protect nards and clearance for lower handlebars)
- disk brakes (get the shimano xt, otherwise just wait a few years until you have trouble, then replace with xt)
- wider rims (>=25mm internal?)
- tubeless with appropriate tires
- cheap modern components are all good enough, wait for them to break.
Options:
- very light weight isn't make or break, probably something you'll want with your next bike after you have a clue.
- front suspension - I think 120-140mm is the sweet spot but this depends on local terrain. Smooth trails can totally use less.
- chainstays - long chainstays are great for comfortably covering ground, short are twitchy but needed for more aggressive riding. If you're an experienced rider coming from 26er you'll probably want the short stays.
- 27.5 or 29er or 27.5+ or 29+ eh... up to you I guess. Focus on fit, then on feel.
So: I figure there's 3 main catagories of hardtail mtb: xc race, trail, and cruiser. Tried to list bikes that live firmly in those categories.
xc race:
rocky vertex, pivot les, kona king kahuna, specialized epic, ghost lector
- steep head angle, light and stiff, 29er
- low bars relative to saddle
- short stays, short wheelbase
- exciting and fast, not comfortable or relaxing
- 80-100mm fork
- usually rare and expensive
'modern' forward frame:
kona honzo
- >= 120mm fork
- short chainstays as possible (certainly < 17")
- slack head angle (<67).
- relatively long top tube, short stem, higher bars
- wants a dropper post
- wants difficult terrain
'cruiser':
breezer cloud 9, specialized hardrock, most bikes are here
- longer stays (17.5)
- relatively shorter top tube
- 100-120mm fork
- comfortable, corner carving, for covering lots of smooth ground
Idea is that there's some small set of bikes that a new buyer could try so efficiently grow their bike vocabulary (learn what the different sorts are) and be able to focus on what is important for them and their local terrain. Then can search amongst the infinite choices to find what really suits their wants and budget.
What do you think: suggest more/better categories? suggest better set of bikes to try?
Was thinking, could we agreed on some bike catagories, select some representative extremes so buyers would have an idea of what bikes to seek out and try? Rather than visit the closest stores and try a bunch of bikes that all feel the same, what are the different bikes they should seek out to ride in order to understand the field?
I recommend hard tails for the 'mtb curious' because they're relatively cheap and maintainable, and usually durable.
My bike features plot is:
Necessary on modern bike:
- low top tube is always good (protect nards and clearance for lower handlebars)
- disk brakes (get the shimano xt, otherwise just wait a few years until you have trouble, then replace with xt)
- wider rims (>=25mm internal?)
- tubeless with appropriate tires
- cheap modern components are all good enough, wait for them to break.
Options:
- very light weight isn't make or break, probably something you'll want with your next bike after you have a clue.
- front suspension - I think 120-140mm is the sweet spot but this depends on local terrain. Smooth trails can totally use less.
- chainstays - long chainstays are great for comfortably covering ground, short are twitchy but needed for more aggressive riding. If you're an experienced rider coming from 26er you'll probably want the short stays.
- 27.5 or 29er or 27.5+ or 29+ eh... up to you I guess. Focus on fit, then on feel.
So: I figure there's 3 main catagories of hardtail mtb: xc race, trail, and cruiser. Tried to list bikes that live firmly in those categories.
xc race:
rocky vertex, pivot les, kona king kahuna, specialized epic, ghost lector
- steep head angle, light and stiff, 29er
- low bars relative to saddle
- short stays, short wheelbase
- exciting and fast, not comfortable or relaxing
- 80-100mm fork
- usually rare and expensive
'modern' forward frame:
kona honzo
- >= 120mm fork
- short chainstays as possible (certainly < 17")
- slack head angle (<67).
- relatively long top tube, short stem, higher bars
- wants a dropper post
- wants difficult terrain
'cruiser':
breezer cloud 9, specialized hardrock, most bikes are here
- longer stays (17.5)
- relatively shorter top tube
- 100-120mm fork
- comfortable, corner carving, for covering lots of smooth ground
Idea is that there's some small set of bikes that a new buyer could try so efficiently grow their bike vocabulary (learn what the different sorts are) and be able to focus on what is important for them and their local terrain. Then can search amongst the infinite choices to find what really suits their wants and budget.
What do you think: suggest more/better categories? suggest better set of bikes to try?