zapshe

Hi, I'm buying my first mountain bike, and I'm hoping to get a good value for around $500. I can always spend more, it has to be really worth it. I plan to test out some bikes before I buy, but I do want to know if this is a good bike:
bikesdirect.c om/products/gravity/hd-comp-275-29er-mtb.htm

I heard from an avid biker that bikesdirect has really good and cheap bikes since they don't really have brand named bikes. Website looks sketchy, but my computer instincts tell me it's fine. Moreover, the actual website has plenty of other bikes: bikesdirect.c om/

I'm wondering if the bikes on this site are actually good or not. The specific bike I linked has some pretty decent hydraulic brakes. However, the rest of the specifications leave me no better off than simply looking at the bike. So I hope someone here can give me some insight on the matter. Thanks!

As a spam deterrent, it seems the website wont allow me to post links, so I have added spaces that need to be removed before you can access the websites.

Cyclist0108

I got my kid a bikes direct Gravity road bike. It is OK. "Really good" would be an over-statement. Also, you have to be willing to assemble it and adjust it. I spent quite awhile on it to get the shifting to work.

For this bike
Save up to 60% off new Mountain Bikes - MTB - NEW Gravity HD COMP LongTravel Forks + Double Wall Rims Shimano Hydraulic Disk Brake Mountain Bikes in 27.5 or 29er
it looks ok. The suspension fork is not going to be the finest, but if all you want to do is test the waters, you should be ok. It is pretty hard to find a "good" suspension for for the price of that whole bike, so it is appropriate for the price point. Just don't take it to Moab.

zapshe

Thanks, wgscott for the insight. You wouldn't happen to have any recommendations for a bike within the $500 price range, would you? I'm not going to be tearing through wilderness with this bike, but I've managed to destroy every bike I've ever gotten (including a cheap $100 mtn bike but I don't even count it as my first mtn bike since it broke the first day). I abuse my bikes, so I'm hoping a good one will be able to handle me.

Also, if you have any brands that I should check out that you know of, that would also be helpful. Thanks!

EDIT: I'm also looking for a bike that comes with a good pair of hydraulic brakes, they could be the difference between jumping of my bike to save myself or simply braking really hard (life in the city is life-threatening). And again, I'm in the market for something around $500, but it's not like I couldn't spend $5000 on one. I just need something that is actually worth the money and will have a difference I can feel.

zapshe

rei.c om/product/124764/cannondale-trail-7-27529-bike-2018?cm_mmc=aff_AL-_-171877-_-219805-_-NA&avad=219805_f123d8789&cm_mmc=aff_AL-_-171877-_-219805-_-NA&avad=219805_b1288bd95

^A bike I found that seems to be pretty good value for the money. It wont show you the price unless you add it to your cart, but it's $649. It has many Shimano parts, which I'm always seeing good reviews on almost all their parts.

I know that the bike I should buy will depend on personal taste, but I want to be sure the parts aren't going to slow me down and such. Thanks.

Keiffith

Bump your budget up to $1200.

That's where the law of diminishing returns starts for bicycles

zapshe

Hi Keiffith, thanks for that advice. So above $1200 is where quality wont improve significantly enough to justify the price? If you have any recommendations around $1200, I'd be thrilled to take a look. Money isn't an issue, but I also don't like wasting it. Thanks!

zapshe

rei.c om/product/106334/co-op-cycles-drt-13-bike
rei.c om/product/106335/co-op-cycles-drt-21-bike?cm_mmc=aff_AL-_-38931-_-52463-_-NA&avad=52463_c1288e305
rideonline.konaworld.c om/2018-cinder-cone.html

I've found some bikes that seem to be good. They are a bit pricier, but I couldn't tell you why. Are these bikes good for the price?

Cyclist0108

REI is generally a safe bet, because they don't sell junk and they back everything they sell -- you can return it. Shop around because their prices are often at the high end of the spectrum.

Co-op is their own brand, so in general those will be a best buy, although occasionally they will have significant discounts on other brands like Diamondback.

I don't know enough about those models to give you more specific advice, but REI in general is a safe bet, and their generous return policy is worth paying a bit extra for.

Another option for keeping the price down is to get a good used bike.

grubetown

+1 on the $1000-1200 price point
Search is your friend - this question is asked about every other day here and on MTBR.
Best of luck with your purchase.

Cyclist0108

https://www.bikenashbar.com/cycling/...mountain-bikes


Nashbar is another option

zapshe

Post 1
Thanks wgscott, I did hear good things about REI's return policy. However, I hopefully wont need to return the bike if it's as good as I hope it will be! I've narrowed down my search to these 4 bikes :

rei.c om/product/106334/co-op-cycles-drt-13-bike
bikesdirect.c om/products/motobecane/29er-mountain-bikes/fantom29-nx-tcs-mountainbikes.htm
bikesdirect.c om/products/motobecane/29er-mountain-bikes/fantom29-xt-tcs-mountainbikes.htm
bikesdirect.c om/products/gravity/29point4-29er-mtb.htm

I'm leaning towards the Co-op since it has good reviews and comes from a solid company (Rei). However, it seems to me that the other 3 bikes may be more bang for the buck. Again, I can't tell from looking at the specs. Generally, I want to pay less, so I hope you can give me some insight on the bikes in those links. Thanks!

I have to wait 24 hours before I could post my reply. I realize this is to fight against spammers and such, but it's VERY annoying.. 5 posts every 24 hours is not an idealistic limit. Moreover, It kept telling me that I couldn't post links.. Even when I didn't have a single link in the post so I had no idea what the problem was. I had to go paragraph by paragraph removing it them adding them to see which one was causing the false positive.
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Post 2
Thanks grubetown, but I unfortunately haven't had much luck in the search field in terms of mountain bikes. Only one I found was not being sold anymore. Lots of road bikes though.. Moreover, I think it's good to make another post since bikes are constantly changing, what could have been a good buy last month could be out shined now.

Thanks for the link wgscott, I checked them out. After adjusting the search field there were only 2 bikes! I filtered through Men's bikes, $600-$1500 range, hydraulic brakes, and 27.5" wheels. One of those bikes was $1399 and didn't come with pedals (cheap but I'd rather not have to buy my own)!

(Keep in mind this post is a 2 in 1 since I couldn't post before..) I think this is worth repeating. I really have no idea what I'm looking at when I look at these bikes. The fork, stem, shifters, I have no idea what brands (or models of these brands) are good. The bike links I put up are of bikes that I found to have a good brakes - and a variety of Shimano parts (which I always hear are good). I'm hoping I can narrow down a few bikes myself and have someone compare them spec wise so I can see what's best. Of course you guys don't have to if you don't want to, but it would be very helpful and appreciated. Thanks everyone for the helpful posts!
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Post 3
I've pretty much decided to get one of these bikes (That I linked earlier):

rei.c om/product/106334/co-op-cycles-drt-13-bike
bikesdirect.c om/products/motobecane/29er-mountain-bikes/fantom29-nx-tcs-mountainbikes.htm
bikesdirect.c om/products/motobecane/29er-mountain-bikes/fantom29-xt-tcs-mountainbikes.htm
bikesdirect.c om/products/gravity/29point4-29er-mtb.htm

I'm leaning more towards the REI since they do have that return policy and I wont have to assemble the ENTIRE bike (plus I can be sure bike is good and it looks really cool!). However, If the bikes from bike direct that I found have better bang for the buck, then I wont mind buying it and assembling everything. However, I'm still hoping someone here could let me know which of these bikes is best spec wise. Thanks guys!

Pchambers

zapshe

Yes, I do as well. I am a voice over talent and also a gamer. With both of these things, I started off cheap. However, the more I got into them, the more I saw the need for upgrades. Going from the MXL 770 Microphone to the TLM103 (audio interface changed too but not gonna get too technical) was a huge advancement. Going from a cheap crappy Lenovo G560 to my Lenovo Y720 was another huge advancement. However, the common thing was that I started cheap, then had to upgrade as I saw and understood the technical aspects. The same will probably be true for biking. Gas isn't getting cheaper, my muscles wont grow themselves, and I do love biking. I regret letting broken bikes stop me from riding for so long - So I've already discarded money buying bikes. While I don't understand the details of this trade, it's easy to see that a more expensive bike will serve me well for years to come. So I hope with this expense, I'll have years of biking ahead of me. Thanks for your input Pchambers.

zapshe

Well, I suppose I wont get much more feedback from here. I've pretty much decided on either

bikesdirect.c om/products/motobecane/29er-mountain-bikes/fantom29-nx-tcs-mountainbikes.htm
or
bikesdirect.c om/products/motobecane/29er-mountain-bikes/fantom29-xt-tcs-mountainbikes.htm

I may or may not come back to update on which one I've purchased, but it will most likely be one of these two. Thanks everyone for the help so far, it's been highly appreciated!

zapshe

Hi onyerleft, I did bump up my budget. But I'd rather not spend more than I need to. I found 3 good Fujis, but two of them were well over $1200. The last one is one I'm willing to buy, but I'm not sure how the specs on it compare to the rest of the bikes, take a look :

bikesdirect.c om/products/fuji/mountain-bikes-bicycles-mtb/fuji-reveal1p1-275-fullsuspension-bikes.htm
vs.
bikesdirect.c om/products/motobecane/29er-mountain-bikes/fantom29-xt-tcs-mountainbikes.htm
or even
bikesdirect.c om/products/motobecane/29er-mountain-bikes/fantom29-nx-tcs-mountainbikes.htm

^Which is best for the price? Thanks for your recommendation.

Delia Hogue

Hi, zapshe,
I click your link & I see the bike. Bikes brand is not important, important is it's quality & features. I read all the specification of this bikes. It has 2 different colors. MatteGray & LavaRed. two colors are very good. This bike has 27.5 & 29 inches different sizes wheels. This bike has 24 speed with SHIMANO SL-M310, this feature better than other. The front derailleur is SHIMANO FD-TX800 TOP PULL & rear is SHIMANO RD-TX800SGSL BLACK CAGE. This is perfect for a bike I think. The frame is made by 6061 aluminum that's also cool. This frame suspension is very smooth you can ride it on various terrains. 160mm disc brakes which give you to more power to stop the bike. Overall I like this bike. But this bike brand should add more features with this price.

zapshe

Thanks a lot Delia Hogue for taking the time to look at the bike's specifications! I'll try looking for a bike with similar specs with a lower price tag if you think it's a bit overpriced. Thanks again for reviewing the specs, it helps a lot!

grubetown

I would be wary of taking advice from someone with only one post.

grubetown

dminor 

Good advice. You are asking a lot of novice questions about an entry-level bike. BikesDirect is probably not a place you should be purchasing from if you have no experience assembling a bicycle from a packed box...or don't have a close firend who will do it for you.

BikesDirect is a site mostly geared for selling mountain bikes to unsuspecting roadies who don't know much about mountain bikes but know how to read a component list and get all frothy when they read the drivetrain groupo. ("it must be awesome, it's got all XT/XTR!").

hig4s

Bikes Direct has some decent bikes for the price. I got my son one, he rides mostly around town and does an occasional trail ride, works well for him. But if you are going to get serious about trail riding, do some demos and find out what really fits and what you really want.

zapshe

Thanks for the replies.. There are places where I can test out bikes, but I want to know more about the specs. When I go to test out bikes, I wanna have some idea of what I'm riding. Most likely though, I'll purchase online since there will be better deals.

I've decided not to purchase from bikes direct since I've been getting some bad feedback (mostly about their bloated advertising). I've found some nice GT bikes that I was recommended as entry bikes. I was thinking of buying those since I've only heard good about GT bikes.

Thanks again everyone for the replies.

cpach

Most bikes sold direct through the internet are in semi assembled condition similar to how they arrive in a bike shop. A basic hardtail mountain bike like this takes a skilled mechanic an hour or more to assemble to a professional standard, which at most shops labor rates you should assume is between $50-120 for equivalent labor to be done. Take this into account when shopping for bikes from places like BikesDirect--they're totally fine deals, and great if you are good at enjoy building your own bike, but I feel they're a little misleading regarding how much work the bikes need to be well adjusted.

The exception is some companies, notably Canyon, but also Diamondback in many cases really are shipping out bikes professionally assembled in larger-than-usual boxes which pretty much need the front wheel installed, the stem turned around and torqued (they even often come with a torque wrench for this purpose), and air in the tires and suspension (if applicable). Even then sometimes things get roughed up in shipping and it's good to have an experienced mechanic check the final assembly. These options cost a little more than places by BD, but are a good option for buyers who want to shop online but aren't experienced mechanics.

At lower price points I genuinely think independent bike shops provide a good deal--around $500-600, the spec sheet on a new mountain bike may be comparatively poor, but it'll be set up well, the shop can help you with sizing and fit, and may come with some degree of mechanical support. The shop adds a lot of value in these kinds of sales. On higher end bikes, the total savings may be significant enough that any additional services you need from a shop still don't negate the money you saved.

You're worrying too much about brand. Decide whether buying a off the boat boxed bike, a ready-to-ride consumer direct bike like a Canyon, or a bike from a local bike shop makes the most sense for you. Pick a price point that can meet your needs and compare actual features. In this range some brands will offer better value, but they won't vary wildly in design.

zapshe

Thanks for the advice cpach. I can assemble, adjust, and the everything else needed myself. I have lots of experience! Moreover, the brand doesn't bother me that much, it's just that I can't tell good specs from bad, so that made people suggest certain brands which will have bikes with good specs for each price point.

Thanks again for the advice, bike shop services are definitely something I should take into account.