tardman91

What's the consensus on these bikes compared to the $500-$700 offerings from the likes of Trek and Specialized? Are they mostly the same at the lower end?
I'm considering giving mountain biking a go since they recently put in some nice single track trails very close to my house. I have road bike experience and ride an Allez. The last time I owned a mountain bike it was a big box store one in grade school. I don't want to drop a ton of money on one since a) I might not love it, and b) with a baby on the way I'm already pretty broke. They have some good deals at Dick's and with gift cards and coupons, and maybe selling one of my older road bikes I could pick one up for little to no money out of my pocket. I know fit is the most important thing, and I'm looking for a hard tail 29er. I just don't want to get a hunk of junk or get laughed off the trail. Thanks for the opinions.

Canker

They are all pretty much the same in that price range unless you go online and/or find a deal. My good bike is a diamondback sortie 29er.

tardman91

Any good places to look online? I can handle basic assembly and then take it to a shop for fine tuning. The only one that I'm aware of Bikes Direct, and they didn't have anything that looked all that spectacular in the $400ish range.

Canker

Well $400 is pretty hard anywhere including online unless you go used. Once you get up to $600-700 online opens up some options.

Airborne Bicycles. Guardian 2.0

And all the normal sites like pricepoint, jenson, rei, nashbar, ebay...... they will often have left over last year bikes for a good deal. Just have to get lucky on those because when they do have something it is usually in limted frame sizes.

BikeIsland.com - Bicycle Parts, Accessories and Clothing at Affordable Prices with Free Shipping
bike direct's scratch and dent site.

D1andonlyDman

You can generally get a pretty good quality USED hard-tail mountain bike off Craigslist from a private seller, from the reputable brands, like Trek, Specialized, Gary Fisher, etc. for $120-200. Especially if you are capable of doing the basic maintenance yourself. As a first foray, that's what I would recommend - then if you determine that serious mountain biking is for you, you can turn around and sell that used bike for close to what you paid for it, and invest real money in a new one.

tardman91

I've been searching but my problem is usually size. I'm 6'3" so I usually need an XL frame from most manufacture. There's not a big selection of bikes that size on the used market.

clydeosaur

diamondback sport/comp or mason in size xl have been bouncing around nashbar, performance, amazon, etc... starting around $450 & up. Many companies are offering up to an addition 20 % & up off as well as free shipping for the holidays.

tardman91

Thanks for the info. I have some Dick's reward cash and am expecting some gift cards for Christmas, so I'll probably look there. I can order online and ship to store if need be. I am leaning towards a Diamondback after doing some more research. They seem pretty good for an entry-level cheapie.

clydeosaur

I just picked up an Overdrive 29er myself. I have an old Specialized FSR 26er , but have been wanting to try a 29er out without jumping in with both feet. Understanding bikes are very price point, I still think I got a decent price for entry level.

tardman91

Yeah the more I look around and compare specs it seems that most of the entry level stuff is pretty much the same from the big box stores in the $400-600 range to the big name stuff in the $700-800 range. Save for some hydraulic discs and other little upgrades here and there it seems you're just paying for the name at the entry level.

Canker

Hydraulic brakes aren't always better either when you are looking in that range. I'd take a nice set of Avid bb5/7s mechanicals over a lot of the cheapo hydraulics they stick on those lowend bikes. Lowend shiimano hydraulics are still pretty damn good but the rest are bleh.

clydeosaur

My Overdrive comes with Shimano (acera level? ) hydraulic brakes. I'm interested to see how they compare to my BB7's on my FSR which have been quite fail-proof over the years.

Salt Air

Why is the D back overdrive sport 29 er .Blue almost every were but nashbar has black ?Could it be a 2013?

clydeosaur

I believe it's a 14. The blue is a 15.

osco53

Service after the sale Is what you get at your LBS,

priceless when you need it...


Just saying.

clydeosaur

The only thing I don't do on mine is build wheels.

roccobike

When I compared Nishiki to LBS prices, I found almost no difference list price to list price. The cheaper priced Nishikis don't have a comparable bike with the LBS brands because they don't make one with that level of components. The better Nishiki level compares to the entry level Specialized/Giant. IMHO, the best buy at the barebones, under $500 is the Giant ATX 27.5 2. At $440 for a 27.5 wheel, with a Suntour fork and Tektro mechanical discs, its a pretty good buy.

clydeosaur

My DB 29er was $ 449.00 out the door with shimano hydraulics, 8spd. acera drivetrain (minus the sr crank) thru Nashbar.

tardman91

I actually went the LBS route and put a deposit on a 2014 Raleigh Talus 29er. They did me a solid and honored a mis-priced bike from their other location (I had to drive to their other store for the one in my size). The 2013s were supposed to be close out priced, not the 2014s. It was too good a deal to pass up. Guess it pays to be a good customer. I've bought a few bikes from them. Now I just have to wait until my birthday in January and the wife will go pick it up for me.

clydeosaur

Nice find!