Bike Options?

[jessmarimba]

Oh boy. As far as what bike to get - I would try everything for now, because it seems to be a lot of personal opinion. But I'll tell you what I ride and why.

I have a 29er. For me, the bigger wheels really aid in getting up stuff. Going up hills in general, and going over stuff when you're going uphill. That's also aided by the fact that my bike is really light. I might've compromised and bought a bike with 26 inch tires if I could've found a really, really nice full-suspension bike at a price I could afford (Yeti 575, Santa Cruz, etc)...but that didn't happen. But the first time I rode a 29er I came home and told my BF something along the lines of "Now I understand why women buy giant SUVs for what seems like no reason" - the feeling of power was enough to really boost my confidence.

I ride a hardtail. Few reasons here - I couldn't afford full-suspension AND have everything else as nice as I wanted. The bike is lighter without rear suspension. And I had a pretty limited list of full-suspension bikes that I knew would work, and none of them came up in my price range while I was looking. But there's also the fact that, with how I ride and where I ride, I will be out of the saddle on the bumpiest sections of trail anyway, so rear suspension wouldn't do as much good. It'd be nice to have the option sometimes, but I get along fine without it. Especially with the larger tires, which give you more squish than on a 26 hardtail.

One other suggestion I have, is that if you want to avoid bumps/jars/bobbles - do everything you can to get the nicest front fork you can afford. I know when I was looking through the Giant catalog, there were two bikes at about the same price - one had good components and an ehhhh front fork, one had crappier components and a really nice fork. You can always save and upgrade the components in pieces, but a nicer front fork will be a big chunk of money all at once time if you upgrade later.

[WindingRoad]

My budget is under $2000.

Thanks Jess, that's good to know about the front fork. I will try to get the best one I can afford. I test rode a 29'er yesterday and it wasn't anything special but I definitely noticed the SUV and squish factor you mentioned. It felt really easy going over the bumps. I need to go ride some 26 inch full suspension bikes. I was looking at the Cannondale Lexi 2, Giant Cypher 2 and a Trek Fuel EX5 WSD as possibles. I plan to try them out here in the next couple of days.

[limewave]

My personal opinion is that if you don't plan on racing, get a full-suspension bike if you can. It's a plushy ride and a lot of fun. It may be a bit slower, but if you aren't racing, so it's not a big deal. I loved my full-suspension bike and it was the perfect bike to introduce me to the sport. I had a Trek Fuel.

The nice thing with 26" bikes is that they can be snappier in tighter, twisty sections of trail.

That being said, I do love my 29er I just got which is a hard-tail. I'm still getting used to riding a hard-tail and having the saddle bounce-up every time I go over some roots or rocky sections. I rode the full-suspension for 6 years, so adjusting to the hard-tail is taking some getting used to. I used to bomb on the downhills, but now its a bumpier ride and I'm learning how to descend all over again.

[Nick]

I'm new to mountain biking, so I have limited experience so far. However, I went from a hardtail to a full suspension this summer. I did a lot of research before buying and also considered a 29er as an alternative. I decided against that because of my size. I'm just barely 5'4, petite in build, and need to feel in control of the bike. A 26 inch full suspension gives me plenty of height, and a 29er was more than a tad too high for my comfort level.

There is a huge difference in feel with the fs vs hardtail. I have the Juliana RXC (Santa Cruz). This bike is much lighter than my hardtail, and very fast. She floats on trails and glides over glass and rocks. The Juliana actually feels "harder" on regular paths than on mb terrain. As soon as I hit terrain she seems to light up and start to fly.

[Catrin]

My FS Jamis Dakar XC Comp would fit in your budget! I HATE how she feels on pavement, but she feels just fine on dirt. I think there are a good number of other FS bikes that would as well, and you are taller than I so you would likely have more choices.

As far as PA being more technical than Indiana, I've been told that it depends on where you ride in Indiana, there are people who come from PA to Brown County to ride our single-track there. I've also heard the trails are much rockier further east because of the terrain.

That's about all I can contribute, but am glad to hear you are considering this again. Let me know if you want to ride the beginners loop at Fort Harrison, it is totally flat, no edges at all, just twisty-bendy through trees and across a couple of VERY low bridges.

[Becky]

It really depends where in PA you're riding. There's a lot of trail diversity. Generally, it's rocky and rooty. You'll see a wide variety of bikes....rigid singlespeeds to full-suspension trail bikes. For me, I think that the ideal "only bike" would be a short-travel (3"-4") 29er...something like a Niner Jet 9 or a Salsa Spearfish.

Do you have a shop in PA that you like? If so, I would ask the staff where they're riding and what type(s) of bikes they're riding for those specific trail systems.

[Aggie_Ama]

I love my 29er FS and have liked the 29er HTs I have rented but given you are trying to love the sport I would go with a 26" FS. The full suspension will help with the fatigue. If you aren't completely hung up on the speed then something plush with 5" of travel would be good but it is going to be heavier. You cannot get a FS 29er for your price but there are some 26er options that will fit.

My typical course is a mix of rock gardens, punchy climbs (ie short usually somewhat steep but not long), twisty, some roots but not as large as what I have heard the NE has. It is good to compare what people ride to see why they like what they ride.

[WindingRoad]

Bike is gonna be here soon..... can't wait