joshuatrio

Got my first taste of mountain biking/trail riding this past weekend at the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca yesterday.

**Disclaimer - I'm a bike commuter and have ridden only on the road - my current tires are 700x26**

My buddy and I demo'd two Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper Carbon FSR 29er's. I've never ridden on a real cross country/mountain type trail in my life until yesterday. We took them out to a 5 mile loop and had a blast. The first drop or two I had a hard time with, but really had a blast as I got more comfortable with the bike. It beats the heck of out being on a road.

Anyhow, I had my heart set on a new road bike until yesterday. Problem is, the bike I took out ran close to $10,000. My budget is more like $1000 max. My wife would be much happier if it were in the $500-800 range.

What do you recommend for a newbie? Brand, components? Does it have to have disc brakes, full suspension and stuff?

There's a ton of great trails out here. I'd really like to be able to enjoy them.

Glynn Sluder

$500? $1000? How much were you going to spend on the roadbike? $1500 is the new $500 for mtb's.

joshuatrio

Lol - that sucks. My commuters MSRP new was $7-800. I remember thinking that was expensive for a bike. The more I ride, the more I realize how inexpensive it is compared to other bikes.

Would you buy a used MTB? My concern is wear and tear from the previous owner.

DX-MAN

Your trouble is going to be finding quality in that price range -- a lot of people pop right out with "look on Craigslist", but unless you know what you're looking at, you might as well just hand your wallet to the homeless guy on the corner. But at your listed price point, you'll either go cheap hardtail (no rear suspension), or used full-suss. You MIGHT be able to find a deal on a base-level Giant full-suss at the top of your price range at an LBS....

Cfiber

Take a look at Bikesdirect and the Gravity HTX7

www.bikesdirect.com/products/gravity/htx7.htm

gunner65

Squeeze that budget and get a nice one.

https://www.airbornebicycles.com/prod...13-goblin.aspx

Ldosorio

Stumpjumper carbon is a XC Race bike, i f your budget is below 1000 and you liked Specialized try the Hardrock or ROckhopper both are good bikes.