Sorry for another newbie bike questions but I was having trouble finding the information I was looking for. Most of the threads here say that a good first step is to go to my LBS and talk to them to see what some options are. Maybe it is because of where I live, and the people are a bit more well off, but the LBS spent a lot of time trying to convince me that the only option for a MB is a full suspension costing a minimum of $2500. When I told them that was out of my budget they said that the only other option was a $1200 hard tail. I understand the motto of buy once cry once, but my overall experience in the store made me feel very discouraged and I felt that the LBS was trying to take . advantage of me. Now onto my questions...
So, I am obviously new to mountain biking. I am fit, and ride a hybrid (cheap one) roadbike to work most days. I am not certain of the type of riding I would like to get into, but I am thinking I will cap myself at intermediate to moderately hard single track. I cant see myself doing any massive jumps or incredibly steep terrain, but I will definitely be challenging myself. As far as how much time I plan on riding, I will strictly be a weekend warrior since I work during the week.
As far as new vs. used, I usually lean towards used because you can get more bang for your buck. I would prefer to do a little clean up work on something to get it back to like-new condition than to spend extra money on a new bike of the same value. I will not be buying for a few weeks at least, but when I am ready, I would probably be looking around the $750-900 area.
I realize there is no perfect answer, and in the end, I will be the one making the decision, but any advice you could offer would be immensely appreciated.
Thank you very much for your time!
So, I am obviously new to mountain biking. I am fit, and ride a hybrid (cheap one) roadbike to work most days. I am not certain of the type of riding I would like to get into, but I am thinking I will cap myself at intermediate to moderately hard single track. I cant see myself doing any massive jumps or incredibly steep terrain, but I will definitely be challenging myself. As far as how much time I plan on riding, I will strictly be a weekend warrior since I work during the week.
As far as new vs. used, I usually lean towards used because you can get more bang for your buck. I would prefer to do a little clean up work on something to get it back to like-new condition than to spend extra money on a new bike of the same value. I will not be buying for a few weeks at least, but when I am ready, I would probably be looking around the $750-900 area.
I realize there is no perfect answer, and in the end, I will be the one making the decision, but any advice you could offer would be immensely appreciated.
Thank you very much for your time!