Lewbuu

Trying to get into to biking to help me get back into shape before i move, i have been looking at getting a mountain bike and was looking at the Gravity fsx 1.0 vs the Gravity Base camp 27.5 ive been doing a decent amount of research and these are two bikes in my price range with good reviews. plan on doing distance with my buddy and his road bike but also want something that can handle trails when not going for distance and didnt know which tail style was better for doing both

Kindaslow

Tell us more about the riding you will be doing, both street and off road. What kind of shape is your buddy in? What kind of shape are you in? Without more info, the answers you will get will be all over the place, and possibly meaningless.

Lewbuu

my buddy prefers roadbikes and is in better shape than i he does mostly paved paths so ill be starting out on those with him but was hoping to hit the dirt as well im about 6' almost 270lb hoping to get back to 200 or less

Canker

In your price range forget full suspension, they are all junk.

Maelochs

Let me start by saying I started about where you are height and weight-wise--close enough the differences don't matter.

I would suggest getting a cheap road bike and sticking with your buddy for now. Two riders means a lot more motivation, a little healthy competition, and if you are riding to lose weight, it is a lot better to have a partner who can tell you to get off your butt when you don't want to and vice versa.

Also, off-road riding can tend to be burst-riding: blast over an obstacle, go easy to catch your breath before the next obstacle. Not as good for weight loss (tons of fun though.) Also, off-road is more a full-body workout---you need to lift the bike a lot. If you are heavy and not too fit, you will find that a real chore.

Once you lose some weight and gain some fitness, off-road will be come Loads more fun.

Also, when you are heavy, you are asking a lot of the suspension and it simply cannot work as well. So, you either need to buy a much more expensive bike ... or wait until you are a little lighter.

In any case, a cheap full-suspension bike is not recommended. if you are spending less that about $1200 you are basically buying headaches and weight, not suspension.

The same figure might be half that for front-suspension only.

And a big guy (or girl) on a cheap F/S bike is just a series of expensive mechanical failures waiting to happen, unfortunately probably not interspersed with fun rides. too big a rider on too cheap a shock and ... it just won't be fun.

For several hundred dollars you can buy a very decent brand-new road bike and share the miles with your buddy. Maybe you will like it and not want to go off-road. if you still feel the urge, you will enjoy it a lot more because you will have the fitness.

Even so, if you plan to rice actual trails, where you will be slamming rocks and roots and maybe getting a little altitude, forget cheap suspension. For anyone much over 200 lbs, it would be wiser (IMO) to spend a little more to get a little more. N one enjoys blowing a seal on their shocks.

(by the way, I went with a n almost -new used F/S bike which was worth (new) a lot more than I paid for it. It was an accidental Craigslist find ... but maybe stop in on CL every now and then ... it is like that one-in-a-million Ferrari in a barn ... if you happen to see it the one day it is for sale for way less than it is worth, you will be psyched for years.)

Retro Grouch 

One of the questions that I always ask first time buyers is if they have a group that they picture themselves riding with. Since you do, I'd get a bike that's similar to your buddies.

katsup

I would agree with the others, get a similar bike as your buddy. You will have trouble keeping up with a road bike on a mountain bike and you make get discouraged or your buddy not wanting to ride due to having to wait all the time.

clydeosaur

Depending on the trails you are looking at, I'd either go 29er hard tail or a gravel/cyclocross bike. Either convert to the road easily with a pair of tires. Regardless as to what you pick, wheels will be where you have trouble.

Crawdaddy

Gravity BC 27.5 if between those two bikes Id suggest. But just realize your not getting a $700 bike for $300 from BD.