[Animal {-Vt-}]

Ok, so I've been riding BMX for about 6 years now and I'm actually pretty good at it. Especially dirt jumping. A friend of mine is going to start getting into the mountain biking thing because we both used to be pretty hardcore mountain bike freaks( for 8th graders) and kinda fell off. Anyway I'm going to get into it with him. I've been doing some online "window shopping" and I'm stuck. I don't know weather to get a single or dual suspension bike. I plan to do alot of freeriding and dirt jumping so I figured a single suspension freeride bike. But then again, I wan't to be open to different styles of mountain biking, so I thought the DS would be the better choice in case I wan't to start going down some sick trails. Herein lies my dilema. I've become very fond of the Cove foreplay and the Iron Horse Yakuzza Ojiki. Basically I can only spend about $1100 but i'm willing to spend a teeny bit more if I have a good enough reason to. I realize $1000 will buy me a better single suspension than a better dual. But I figured having the DS in general would benifit me more in the long run. Like I said, I'd really like to do alot of dirt jumping and I'm not sure if a single SS would benefit me more than a DS. I chose to ask this question on MTB because I've seen the thousands of threads and reply's from extremely experienced to rookie riders and I'd love to get feedback from anyone that knows what they are talking about.

 

[BikeMk]

Some things to consider:
-A hardtail will be best for dirt jumping and urban style riding.
- If you're going to be riding hard and going large, consider the components you'll be getting. The better quality components you'll get on a $1k hardtail will last longer than lower quality components on a $1k full suspension bike.
-Replacing componets all the time is both expensive and not a good use of time.
-You can ride gnarly trails on a hard tail, it just takes more skill and you get a bumpier ride.
-If you really get into ripping rough trails fast and after a while you want to go full suspension (which will allow you to ride ever faster with equal or greater control), you will 1) have more experience mountain biking and thus know what to look for in a mountain bike, 2) have time to save money for a nice full suspension rig, and 3) be riding smoothly because you will have developed the ability to pick great lines (& smoother=faster)

Ultimately it's a call you have to make, but if you're planning on throwing down large from the get go, I'd lean toward the hardtail. If you plan on trail riding more than launching yourself off of large-ish jumps and drops, I'd lean towards full suspension. Also consider your weight: if you're light you can get away with less burly components for a lot longer.

 

[SHIVER ME TIMBERS]

Some things to consider:
-A hardtail will be best for dirt jumping and urban style riding.
- If you're going to be riding hard and going large, consider the components you'll be getting. The better quality components you'll get on a $1k hardtail will last longer than lower quality components on a $1k full suspension bike.
-Replacing componets all the time is both expensive and not a good use of time.
-You can ride gnarly trails on a hard tail, it just takes more skill and you get a bumpier ride.
-If you really get into ripping rough trails fast and after a while you want to go full suspension (which will allow you to ride ever faster with equal or greater control), you will 1) have more experience mountain biking and thus know what to look for in a mountain bike, 2) have time to save money for a nice full suspension rig, and 3) be riding smoothly because you will have developed the ability to pick great lines (& smoother=faster)

Ultimately it's a call you have to make, but if you're planning on throwing down large from the get go, I'd lean toward the hardtail. If you plan on trail riding more than launching yourself off of large-ish jumps and drops, I'd lean towards full suspension. Also consider your weight: if you're light you can get away with less burly components for a lot longer.

great advice...but something to add.....whatever bike you decide to buy all I can say is buy used...a used bike can be purchase for a lower price and will give you time to decide what you really want

 

[RobsterCraw]

Get a fully, you already have a bmx bike, why would you restrict your riding to DJ? Not to say that you can't hardtail a trail but you can take the fully anywhere the BMX can't and vise versa. Go watch the collective, NWD, or whatever and decide what kind of riding you want to aim for. I say 6 - 7 inch coil shock fully like a bullit, stinky, session, or a sixpack, or if you want to hit even rougher rides you can look at any one of the many awesome FR bikes with 8 inches of travel.

A hard tail might be good for getting a hell of a lot better you will have a lot more fun on a fully becasue you can basically take whatever line you like, When I first got my bullit it was after a year of riding a XC hartail on the same trails, when I got the bullit I was instantly twice as fast on the way down. I didn't have a lot of finesse but I got that going now. Getting a hardtail just so it will force you to learn the hard way would be failing to account for fun and motivation. What good is all that "skill" when you might not stay interested in riding. You will have more fun on a fully. I know I did. I also just got my Urban hardtail and I have a lot of fun on that but you already got BMX so getting a hardtail would be kinda monolithic.

 

[BJ-]

considering youve been into BMX for so long, i dont feel your going to miss rear suspension. your jumping style/riding style will appriciate the HT, at least in the short run as you get used to the bigger wheels and what they can and cant ride...

 

[Animal {-Vt-}]

considering youve been into BMX for so long, i dont feel your going to miss rear suspension. your jumping style/riding style will appriciate the HT, at least in the short run as you get used to the bigger wheels and what they can and cant ride...

Yea but can I get just as much air with a SS than a DS? Idk...it seems like everyone is leaning towards the single, but I'm looking at a bunch of these nwd and pink bike videos on there and it's been hard for me to spot an SS. So i just figured a dual would give me more opportunity to do you know...the crazy stuff.

 

[Jake HT]

for 1100 you can get a pretty sweet used hardtail...

 

[Animal {-Vt-}]

for 1100 you can get a pretty sweet used hardtail...

Where would one get a use bike anyway?

 

[RobsterCraw]

Like I said, hardtails excel at the smooth stuff but the full suspension bikes are for making anything rideable. It sounds like you are leaning towards the more freeride type riding so I say get a fully. There is a reason why nobody hucks on a hardtail. Maybe just a few hotshots. If the NWD huck and freeride type stuff is what you want to do, get a fully because almost everyone on this forum knows they themselves can never ride like that on a hardtail. I will say that I agree with SMT, look for an ever so slightly used bike. Don't go 3 years back or anything like that, R&D in this sport has come a long way since then and metal fatigue is a *****. Its best to save cost on your first bike just because after a year or two in the sport you will really come to understand what you want next.

You do have to take your budget into account despite what I've said. If you only have 1k to drop on the bike it will be difficult to find a good full suspension bike. In which case starting with a hardtail may be your best option.

Also you should provide us with some more info about you (height/weight/etc.) and the kind of riding you will be doing (nobody in those NWD films is pedaling up those mountains). We can also help you verify if you are getting a good deal or not.

 

[Jake HT]

Where would one get a use bike anyway?

You can get them here on the MTBR classifieds or on ebay....

It would be kinda difficult to look for stuff considering you probly dont know a whole lot about mountain bikes...

But find a bike that attracts you and ask back here we would be glad to let you know what you are looking at....

 

[Tracerboy]

you'v already been given some great adive but i also came from BMX so heres my take

so before you start riding you should think about what you will want to ride which you have, if you want to ride dirtjumps and freeride a long travel hardtail would work well. with 1100 you could get a decent HT with a fork that has travel adjustment so you could set it for what you were doing. HT's flow well in dj's like a BMX bike. A full susp. bike is more for the big hits and gaps, but won't really flow as well in the on going dj sections. you could get a very decent HT for 1000, but not a great FS for 1000. (assuming you buy new)

now for what bike to buy. i strongely recommend buying used, i did that and got a good starting out HT for around 600 and got my FS bike for under 2000. these also were everything i wanted and had upgrades. just try a used bike out, usually they ar tuned already and feel good and will have upgrades on them.

so you will probably find out more what your riding style is once you start riding. i recommend starting on an HT with a large fork and nice components spec, because starting on an HT made me a better rider, and i think that's the way to start out. single speed works well as long as you don't have to pedal uphill too much. hope i helped

 

[santaheckler]

take a look

at the harvey cycles frames (harveycycles.com) if you want to buy new. I've seen them in person and they are very solid! They ride nice and are made in Pisgah area of NC (they're named after the trails there). Solid black too. They are an excellent price and come with good rear shocks, so you should have enough cash left over for decent parts- you might buy some used and some new parts (Ebay/mtbr)...bottom line is it's cheaper to upgrade some parts here and there rather than the whole bike. Resale is never too good, which is why you can get such good deals on FR bikes that just sat in people's basements until they needed cash. Or decided to XC more after they got hurt...lol. Just start with a good frame (new or lightly used)- it's the biggest factor and expense. Parts will change no matter what anyway...we all want to change or try a new part(s) eventually. Building the bike is half the fun- atleast I think so!

 

[todd_freeride]

Get a Kona Cowan complete bike, its all you'll ever need. I ride a P.2 and I have done everything from downhill to skateparks. with a fully it for 1 isnt going to be as light, thus you having to throw more bike over the jump. I'm going to purchase a fully soon, but I will only use it for downhill and heavy trail. my P.2 can ride anything, and has taken anything that i've thrown at it. the Kona will do more.

as in terms of used www.pinkbike.com is the place to go. but if your going to buy used, make sure you know what your getting. you have to think about sizing now, like my P.1 is 14" perfict for DJ and urban my P.2 = 15.5 good for more 4X activities. coming from BMX you wont be happy with a fully, just get a hardtail and keep in mind, that with a new bike, yea its going to ride perfict, no flaws with a used bike, it might be a little screwed up.


https://www.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/2006/bikes/06P2_Sil_l.jpg The P.2

https://www.mysticfreeride.com/news KONA 2006 Cowan.jpg The Cowan