[thunderchunky13]

I am in Western New York right now and looking to get a Mtn Bike for downhill. I talked to a guy I work with who has at least a half dozen bikes and knows quite a bit and he said for where we live a pure DH/freeride bike is too much bike for where I live because there isn't really a place to ride it for just DH.

So I am completely new to this. I am wondering what exactly I am looking for here. Originally I was looking to spend around 1k-1200 on a used cheap DH bike because I know you gotta drop the cash for a DH bike, but now since I am not getting a pure DH bike my budget is around 300-450.

I am gonna be using this about a dozen times a summer and that's it really. Not looking for it to last more than 3 summers. This would be my first bike and I am looking for something cheap I can have fun on. I am super lazy so any riding I'd be doing would be on a trail with decline or flats, not really any uphill.

Any advice would be awesome. I am looking on bikesdirect.com, pinkbike.com, and have been wondering if I could get away with a hardtail Diamondback from Dick's since I have really low expectations. I would post a bike I am looking at but I really have no idea what I am looking at here

Thanks for the help. Just really confused and wanna get one soon as it's quite boring here and it's summer already.:madmax:

 

[SHIVER ME TIMBERS]

listen to your friend and buy a bike off him

 

[charging_rhinos]

I'd get a used bike for sure. Your budget will be a big limiting factor, but not impossibly so. A hardtail will fit your budget, but it won't easily keep up with full suspension bikes when the trails get rough. While hardtails are cheaper, if you're pounding laps on rough trails, you'll wear a cheap hardtail out pretty quickly. Especially if it's a cheap one from ***** Sporting Goods. You're not expecting it to last forever, which is good. I just don't want you to expect to get 3 seasons out of it, and only get 1 before things start failing.

I'd suggest getting something in the 5-6" travel range if possible, like maybe a used Giant Reign or Trance X. They can be found for relatively cheap (500-700 for a 2008ish bike). They perform very well, can handle a lot of downhill-esque things, and can pedal well enough that you just might not end up hating pedaling to the top. As long as it's been taken care of, it will be a much better bike than a cheap new hardtail. Much of that will also depend on how well you take care of it though. No matter how new/good the bike is, if you don't take good care of it, it'll become a crapper very quickly.

 

[Carrera911xc]

Sorry wrong thread.

 

[carbuncle]

Sounds like a used Kona Coiler or Coiler Deluxe would do the trick for you, and probably come in around $1k, give or take a couple hundred bucks.