Hi -- I'm considering buying a mountain bike and know little about them. I love to run but my 53 year old knees have undergone four surgeries and my ortho suggested, since his yacht is now paid for, I learn to love my bike from now on. I already have a 20+ year old steel frame Trek road bike. I do 15 to 30 mile rides a few times a week, but I can't seem to fall in love with it. And I know road cycling is dangerous. So I'm considering hitting the trails. We have some great ones around here.

I plan to buy used. Ideally, I'd like to keep it under $300. What type of bike should I be looking for? Full suspension, front shock only or hardtail? Any manufacturers to target or stay away from. What would be a decent weight bike for a beginner rider?

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Behind every great man is a great woman. Behind every great woman is a great behind.

Road riding is dangerous, but so is mountain biking. I would suggest if you do want to take the bike off road, then buy at least a 500 dollar new bike. The components are a little better. I like to take my bike on dirt trails and since San Antonio has a ton of parks, I ride on paved trails too.

Buy a brand that are available at bike shops. Most bike shops dont work on bikes that are from walmart

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1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

$300 won't get you anything worth taking on a trail unless you find an unreasonably good used deal.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I'm no expert so I'll just share what I have and why I picked it. You and I are around the same age and years of running track have taken their toll on my knees as well. I have an eliptical at home but it's a little boring just looking out the window or at the TV when I could have the wind in my hair...

Anyway, I was looking for something in between a road bike and a straight mountain bike that would work decently on a variety of surfaces. I ride almost exclusively on rail/trails so I ended up with this:

Specialized Bicycle Components

I really enjoy the bike and it's refreshing to ride something that's light and tight feeling.

Some of the features and reasoning behind them:

700c wheels - big, easy rolling wheels roll nicely on trails and the bike is faster on the asphalt.

Front shocks - the front really takes most of the beating when bumping over trails with roots and rocks, etc... The front shocks really soften the blow that the bumps transmit to your hands and elbows. A rear shock in my opinion, just sucks up energy that the pedals should be putting into the back wheel.

Don't fool with disk brakes - seems expensive and my straight brakes work well enough to put me over the handlebars.

21 Speed - I've used all of them at some point.

I've been extremely happy with the bike and there are plenty of excellent prepared trails to check out all over the country with more being built all the time. Some time in the near future, I'm planning on a week long ride on the Great Allegheny Passage. Check here: Great Allegheny Passage - The official website for the rail-trail system between Pittsburgh, PA and Cumberland, MD

Any questions, ask away.

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-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

$300 can get you some nice pre-suspension bikes like Fisher, Klein, etc... Look around, and you can get some high end stuff, albeit older that way. Less maintenance and moving parts. As a former moutain biker, the current crop are way too complicated for my tastes.

Columbia SC C/L : mountain bikes re-conditioned 8 ea.

If your doc doesn't want you running . . . did he specifically clear you for mountain/trails biking?

53 year old knees? Think about your 53 year old collarbones.....

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

That's easy, don't fall



.

Just what I wondered -- it depends on the trails, though. I ride on some smooth ones and some NASTY ones (horses banned because of the nastiness -- roots, rocks, steep drop-off about 20 feet down into a swamp, etc.). Of course, the latter trail is my favorite .

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Thanks for all the feedback.

- Definitely looking for a brand sold by bike shops and not just the big box stores. I'd rather keep looking for an older, better quality bike in good shape than a newer piece of imported junk.

- The $300 price point is a stab in the dark. I'll spend more if necessary.

- Thanks for the extensive feedback, Kartek. That Specialized bike is appealing. Just not sure if it could handle knarly trails. Being a beginner, I won't start there, but may eventually be hitting them.

- The phone number for the Columbia, SC CL add has an Atlanta area code. I suspect the seller is broadcast advertising, but I'll call him later anyway.

- The doc and I didn't specifically discuss mountain biking. I'm in pretty good shape for having passed 53 times around the sun. But I know my limitations. I specifically remember being about 8 years old and falling out of a tree from about 10 feet and landing flat on my back. Knocked the piss out of me, but within 10 minutes I was back up in that same tree with no after affects. Now, I feel like I could sneeze and tear cartilege.

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Behind every great man is a great woman. Behind every great woman is a great behind.

Even though you are a "beginner," you do not want a beginner bicycle. In general, you can ride every feature with a BMX if you were a good rider. But to make things easier you will want a bicycle that makes some things easier.

OK, what do I mean by features? You will want to at least do two things.

1) Roll over logs
2) Handle small drops
3) Corner on the downhills

You do the first by standing up, keeping your pedals even, and letting the front suspension do the work. You do the second by shifting your weight to the rear and once again letting the front suspension absorb the shock. Cornering well is achieved by shifting your weight to the opposite front side and keeping the opposite pedal down while allowing the front suspension to keep your front wheel in contact with the ground.

See the trend? A good front suspension is key.

I'm assuming the following about you as well. You don't need to move fast on the flats. You are not pedaling on the downhills. With that in mind you probably don't need that great of a drivetrain. You will probably use only one chainring up front and you'll be in a low climbing gear most of the time. I wouldn't worry too much about the drivetrain, a slightly better than beginner drivetraiin will work for you. You don't need ten speeds in the rear, nine will work. SRAM X4 will work, Shimano LX will work.

My suggestion is to find a bicycle with a good fork. One you have to fill with air and has a rebound adjustment. You can rebuild forks, they are relatively simple things, and they only need rebuilding every 100 hours or so, and that's if you're hammering on them. That's a lot of riding.

Bicycles are also simple machines. It's not rocket science. General maintenance will keep one running for decades.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

I appreciate this thread - Thanks Sunedog - I have always wanted a more serious mountain bike than what I have (90's giant). I was not impressed with what people were asking (on CL at least) for older/much older bikes that were a better brand than what I have - I'm thinking that you need to get to know some people/shops if you want something good for under $500

I can see how it'd work to go with a front-suspension only for a while - I've seen a few trails near Cincinnati here and they look like all you really need is knobby tires and front suspension. I've ridden a few already, but not very hard (on my current bike - no suspension, rim brakes...)

-John

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2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

This was one of my concerns as well and I brought it up with the dealer when I was trying the bike out. He assured me that it was up to the task. Being used to heavier bikes of older times, I was suspicious of the light weight of this one. So far, it's taken everything I've thrown at it, even on rough trails.

One thought is, do you know anyone you can borrow a bike from to try out on the trails? One thing I found out pretty quick is that mountain biking is really, really tough. It wore me out so badly that I pretty much gave it up for smoother trails. I consider myself to be in pretty fair shape and all I wanted to do after riding was to come home a sleep! I could probably go back and try it again with better results but I don't think I'd like another bike any better.

One cool thing about riding is that you can really see yourself improving - more stamina and strength over time.

One last thought, another bike I was considering was the Specialized Hardrock. It's a more trail oriented bike but it still has fairly large wheels for easy rolling.

Specialized Bicycle Components

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-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Fwiw, I have 2 so-called comfort bikes. These are fat-tire bikes but are optimized for riding on typical roadway and gravel. They have a shock absorber for the front wheel and also a shock absorber under the seat. They have high pressure capable tires that I run at about 70 psi, and the bike permits an upright posture, which is easier on the back.

Check out REI if you are looking for a new bike. Quality bikes don’t depreciate much over time and if you’re looking for a bargain check out pawn shops, as many around here anyway have a dozen or more usually in front of the store.