Mountain Bikes?

Overboost

Overboost

Forum Member
Anyone here ride? I'm looking to get back into it. Started looking at new bikes and I'm a little overwhelmed at the changes since my old 26". I'm planning on doing a mix of dirt roads, single tracks, and trails. My budget is $1000 or so. What's good, what should I be looking for, etc.?

So far, the bike I'm most interested in is the Trek X-Caliber 8. My concern is the drivetrain, as I'm not familiar with SRAM stuff. I've also looked at the X-9, but don't know if the $200 bump is worth it.
 
Look at Airborne bikes. Dollar for dollar it's hard to beat their Goblin. They are a mail order only company. I bought one 3 years ago and love it.
 
I've been interested in biking as well. I drive 8 miles to work which would be no thing on a bike since I take all side streets anyway.
 
Overboost said:
Anyone here ride? I'm looking to get back into it. Started looking at new bikes and I'm a little overwhelmed at the changes since my old 26". I'm planning on doing a mix of dirt roads, single tracks, and trails. My budget is $1000 or so. What's good, what should I be looking for, etc.?

So far, the bike I'm most interested in is the Trek X-Caliber 8. My concern is the drivetrain, as I'm not familiar with SRAM stuff. I've also looked at the X-9, but don't know if the $200 bump is worth it.
Click to expand...

If you’re “just getting back into biking”, I don’t
recommend spending $1,000. on a new bike.

Try a nice used Trex & if all goes well this summer,
then treat yourself to a new one next year.

You can find some really good deals on slightly / lightly
used.




bad466 said:
Look at Airborne bikes. Dollar for dollar it's hard to beat their Goblin. They are a mail order only company. I bought one 3 years ago and love it.
Click to expand...

If Airborne is “mail order only”, how do you test out the bikes?
 
4Gas$ said:
If you’re “just getting back into biking”, I don’t
recommend spending $1,000. on a new bike.

Try a nice used Trex & if all goes well this summer,
then treat yourself to a new one next year.

You can find some really good deals on slightly / lightly
used.
Click to expand...

The reason I chose that price point is because I don't want to have to upgrade shortly after. I used to ride 10-12 miles 3-5 times a week when I was doing it before. I can spend $500 on a bike, but I'll probably find things I want to change or break others. The $1000 price point in bikes is a sweet spot for most manufacturer's, and it's a good mix between good/durable components and overall solid build.

The scary thing about MTB's is that you can easily hit several thousand dollars without breaking a sweat.

Look at Airborne bikes. Dollar for dollar it's hard to beat their Goblin. They are a mail order only company. I bought one 3 years ago and love it.
Click to expand...

Wow, that Goblin is a nice bike! I'll definitely have to add that one to the list.
 
Last edited:
Go to a local bike shop and ride bikes within your price point. Buy what you feel is the most comfortable fit for you. There's nothing worse than buying something that you won't ride. SRAM makes great components. I'm just not a fan of the twist shifter.
 
I bought a Diamondback 29er style and love it wish I would have spent the extra money up front and got one with a better front fork. I used to work at a bike shop and you are right about the 1k tipping point. I spent 600 on a nice mid grade with disk and a hard tail. My 5 year old daughter gets a kick out of dad busting through ditches and crashing. Ill buy a bike with better components off craigslist next time a lot of people go over kill and then decide they don't like it or get hurt and sell out.
 
Im personally not a trek fan.

Kona makes some nice stuff you may wanna look into them. You can buy a cheap trek, look for companies that dont sell a cheap version of thier bike, I know that sounds weird.
 
347convert said:
Im personally not a trek fan.

Kona makes some nice stuff you may wanna look into them. You can buy a cheap trek, look for companies that dont sell a cheap version of thier bike, I know that sounds weird.
Click to expand...

Trek cuts good deals on previous year models too. A friend of mine and his girlfriend both bought them a few years back and ended up getting them for $600, marked down from $1000.
 
Tin said:
Trek cuts good deals on previous year models too. A friend of mine and his girlfriend both bought them a few years back and ended up getting them for $600, marked down from $1000.
Click to expand...

Here is what I see trek doing.. try and follow, the nicer the stuff the higher the number.. 1 is base model.

Bike A. Frame =1 comp set = 1 wheel set = 1 cost 299.99
Bike B. Frame =2 comp set = 1 wheel set = 1 cost 399.99
Bike C. Frame =2 comp set = 1 wheel set = 1.5 added disk brakes cost 549.99
Bike D. Frame =3 comp set = 1 wheel set = 2 cost 599.99

Good company bikes....

Bike A. Frame = 1 comp set = 5 wheel set = 3 cost 599.99
Bike B. Frame = 2 comp set = 5 wheel set = 3 cost 799.99
Bike C. Frame = 4 comp set = 6 wheel set = 4 cost 999.99

Larger companies in my opinion buy larger numbers of lesser quality components and wheel sets and then try to package them on frames that are really not a step up and then act like they are worth the exta $100 or $200. Where as a company like Kona has a nice component set and a nice set of wheel on there bottom frame. Then 1 step up, makes it nicer. Then 2 steps up is an entire new level of performance but none of their bike has junk.

Imo the bottom trek is almost a Walmart bike, where the bottom Kona, Felt, Scott and others is an actual enthusiasts Product made for heavy use.
 
Last edited:
so i kinda been into mountain biking for last 10-15 years. I've rode everything from old school rigid to full suspension to more recently just picked up a fat bike. they all have pros and cons. but if you already allocated 1k for bike, why not look for a used full suspension and maybe a fat bike. modern full suspension is great, little to no pedal bob so you dont loose alot of power on pedaling but still absorbs bumps so your body dont hate you when your done. then get a try a entry level fat bike, they are great in the snow and just tons of fun all around. i would check craigslist or mmba.org should be able to get a nice used giant anthem or trek fuel for 450-650, then if interested in a fat bike i picked up a se f@e at nashbar for 600 to my door (always have 20-25% off just wait a day or two) or bikeisland i grabbed a gravity knockout for my fiance and put some 4.0 tires on it and she loves it.
 
I have a specialized hard rock 29'er

No complaints at all.

Hydraulic disc brakes are nice too.

Had a trek 3900..... Well I still have it. Just don't ride it. Got it from petri I think. That was years ago. But I had no complaints with it either
 
4Gas$ said:
If you’re “just getting back into biking”, I don’t
recommend spending $1,000. on a new bike.

Try a nice used Trex & if all goes well this summer,
then treat yourself to a new one next year.

You can find some really good deals on slightly / lightly
used.






If Airborne is “mail order only”, how do you test out the bikes?
Click to expand...
That's the only downside, you don't get to test ride them. Look at the components on them and then compare to specialized, trek, giant or anyone else in that price range. I couldn't be happier with mine, and yes I did ride a lot of different bikes before I bought mine. The only only I liked as much as Goblin was the Salsa Mamasita, but it was $2400.
 
I own a trek. My experience with them has me not wanting to go back to them for a few reasons.

The recalls they push out are pretty severe. Enough to question how something of a recall slips past engineering, test, and quality.
Propriety of parts and parts information. Try finding factual data easily available is a needle in a haystack. Once you find the information, the price to purchase is stupid and an aftermarket substitute (if it'll fit) ends up being superior.
Poor aftermarket support. A lot of common use accessories do not fit well or fit at all. You're cornered to "TREK" brand loyalty.

I recommend going with Specialized. They've been known to last and customer service seems top notch where they are sold locally... they also don't mirror TREK as exampled above.
 
Last edited:
Couple things "in my opinion" some people will disagree, get a 29 inch tire bike, I have a trek wahoo, and a giant my wife has a trek and a specialized all of them are good bikes. Just like cars a lot people have their own preferences. I bought my trek and my wife specialized, both 29” bikes as year old models I paid 650.00 for my trek she paid 750.00 for hers. She rides more and harder the I do, but they both are great bikes.
 
I have no brand loyalty at this point. The Trek I mentioned was the first bike I looked at in a store, and I liked the feel of it when I took it around the parking lot. Granted, not a ton of time, but first impressions were good. I'm not in any rush to buy, so going to multiple stores and looking at a variety of brands is key for me.

I do know this, I don't want a fat tire bike. Full suspension isn't off the table, but I doubt I can find them at the price point I want without making other sacrifices.

Thank you to everyone who chimed in so far.
 
The Facebook link I shared above is full of cyclists who upgrade their bikes, then sell them after a while to get a newer bike. A lot of components are also sold on that site for the same reason. Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top