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I need a Mountian Bike

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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
I am 6'4", 200lbs and used to ride bmx in my youth so i am very comfortable on a bike fwiw.

im looking for a full suspension that has an emphasis on xcountry, but can also be pretty servicable as a freestyle type bike.


I am looking at getting a used bike, but a very recent model- 1-2 years old. Im trying to keep the price less than $2500.


What size, and model of bike should i be on the lookout for (craigslist and pinkbike)?
May 9 2012 11:50PM
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gotti
Posts: 4269 - Karma: 4,550
and i need a million dollars. but we can't all get what we want can we now.
May 9 2012 11:52PM
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skithesprings
Posts: 9086 - Karma: 1,349
buy an xl specialized pitch. ride the fuck out of it and be happy.
May 9 2012 11:54PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
i like you.
May 9 2012 11:56PM
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bermbuster49
Posts: 7445 - Karma: 90
he said XC not DH


look at Specialized Camber lineup, the have great geometry and the 29ers are sick (i have one), starts at $2,200, i got mine for 1,800 at the dealer on sale.

if you want more travel in the front check out the stumpjumper FSR.


or look at Trek or any of the other great brands of bikes out there, dont hold yourself down to one company or another, especially if your picking it up used
May 10 2012 12:03AM
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gotti
Posts: 4269 - Karma: 4,550
i love you
May 10 2012 12:04AM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
the issue is i literally know nothing about mtn bikes, so i need suggestions.

May 10 2012 12:09AM
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KyleA
Posts: 865 - Karma: 510
What I consider to be an XC bike is probably not what most people would consider to be XC.  I ride in Utah, so I do more ascending and descending than most.  My theory is that the uphill will always suck no matter what bike you are on, so you might a well have as much fun as possible on the way down. But I'll offer my opinion anyway.

I personally ride a Specialized SX Trail and love it for riding everything Utah has to offer.  My daily ride consists of a 10 mile loop with a 2000 foot elevation change.  If you want a more XC style bike that can still do it all, look into a Specialized Enduro Evo.  It has 6.5" of travel with the plushness of a coil shock on the rear.  With pro pedal on the new fox shocks they pedal extremely well.

At 6'4" you should probably go with an XL frame with a shorter stem. 

Legitimately every major manufacturer makes a bike you are looking for though.  So it all comes down to personal preference and what you can get for a good price on pinkbike. 

A list of bikes you should look at include:
Specialized Enduro
Yeti SB66
Yeti 575
Yeti ASR5
Trek Scratch
Giant Reign
Intense Tracer
Intense SS (possibly not what you are looking for, but one of my favorite frames)
Transition Blindside
Transition Covert
Cannondale Claymore




 
May 10 2012 12:14AM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
as thanks for this superb response a stripper and an 8 ball will arrive at your door tomorrow btween 10 and 2.
May 10 2012 12:18AM
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Big_Spence
Posts: 16177 - Karma: 4,352
Specialized Enduro or SX Trail.
May 10 2012 1:04AM
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TheStamos
Posts: 9311 - Karma: 910
Find a stinky on CL for like 600 bucks then throw another 800 on components and you will be stoked...
May 10 2012 1:13AM
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skithesprings
Posts: 9086 - Karma: 1,349
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA you think a pitch is a downhill bike? maybe AM but to call it a DH bike saves you a seat on the short bus.

Maybe you ride pussy shit and don't need a plush xc bike, but I like to tear the shit out of descents when I ride singletrack, and you're certainly not going to be tearing the shit out of anything on a 29er with 80mm of travel.

I consider short travel 29ers like skis designed to carve up groomers, catered towards people who want to go fast on lame terrain. All mountain bikes such as the pitch are more like all mountain skis, they tear the shit out of gnarly terrain but can still hold their own on the groomers.

OP, don't limit yourself to riding like a bitch, when you see something to jump off of you don't want to have to ride around because your bike can't handle it because you want to be able to climb hills a second faster. If you're not racing anyone why not have some fun?

this is a pitch

Click for larger image

and this is a downhill bike (demo 8)

Click for larger image

and for the record, I have a HiFi with 150mm of travel front and rear for xc/am, and a norco a-line for downhill. Two incredibly different bikes, and DH bikes should never be lumped with xc/am bikes because they literally are worse riding uphill than just walking.
May 10 2012 1:22AM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
da fuck is a stinky. laymen terms only please
May 10 2012 1:26AM
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skithesprings
Posts: 9086 - Karma: 1,349
a stinky is a low end freeride bike made by Kona. do not buy one if you plan on ever going up a hill.
May 10 2012 1:29AM
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TheStamos
Posts: 9311 - Karma: 910
Lies. If you replace that vanilla with something better/adjustable you will be fine. Its no XC bike but you could honestly build it into one if you wanted. Its a basic but burly as fuck frame.
May 10 2012 2:12AM
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Yeezy
Posts: 1652 - Karma: 206
Wrong, wrong wrong.
One of the most poorly acquitted frame designs in the history of biking, burly yes, strong NO.
Nice and stable on rough DH-yes
able to pedal from the car to the trail-NO
The suspension is meaningless if your geometry is off, such as the stinky.
Dont listen to this guy OP
May 10 2012 2:37AM
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TheStamos
Posts: 9311 - Karma: 910
If you havent owned one, built it how you wanted it and pedaled it all over the fucking place then you should shut your mouth. If you built it like a DH bike it would suck. If you had an adjustable ProPedal(im a few years behind) RS then you could take it anywhere you wanted.... Would it be as effeciant as a PUSSY XC bike ... ABsolutly not. But could you do it , yeah if your not a little bitch... then you could SMOKE your friends on the downhill sections even with that stiff RS. What the fuck is the difference between burly and strong.. Stinkys are known for the ability to take beatings... WTF are you talkin about?
May 10 2012 2:45AM
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Yeezy
Posts: 1652 - Karma: 206

First of all, i have owned one, the headtube snapped it was warrantied promptly, and i sold it to someone who cracked the seatube. I had it on a float WITH propedal, and it was a pain in the ass to even ride it on flat for more than a mile WITH clipless.  If you want a bike BUILT for all mtn then get a bitch or enduro. Sure you could put a full XTR set with a fox float+brain on a Demo 8 II, that does not make it good for cross country you fucking idiot. It has nothing to do with how big of a pussy you are if you want a decent bike suitable for your riding aspect.

May 10 2012 1:00PM
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SkierX
Posts: 16253 - Karma: 538
You are a bigger guy and as a result I would not recommend a 29er. That is a LOT of stress on the added wheel diameter and you will not be happy if you push your bike hard on rougher terrain.

I'm in the AM camp. I am not afraid to pedal around a 30lb bike that may not climb the best will let me run it hard on the downhills or when the trails turn flowy and technical. Not to mention that I weigh 185 lbs during the summer and fighting over a few pounds on my bike would be absolutely pointless.

An all-mountain bike with 5-6" of travel is in my opinion, the best sector of bikes out there.

If I was in the market for a bike right now, I'd be looking to get my hands on a Cannondale Jekyll. It can change shock valving and geometry from 90mm to 150mm with the flick of a lever handlebar-mounted switch. 90mm gives you an efficient uphill bike that can pop back to 150mm and just crush the downhill or flowing level sections.

May 10 2012 1:40PM
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Spic-N-SpaN
Posts: 2002 - Karma: 1,465
Would a Transition Vagrant be something the OP would be looking for?

I'm in the same camp as the OP, I want a bike that I can ride XC but can take a beating and jump off things and I'm not to worried about making bad time on the climbs, I just want the descents to be fun, only I want a hardtail
May 10 2012 2:30PM
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B-runge
Posts: 16558 - Karma: 361
I was in the same boat as the OP and went into the bikeshop one day to get a new water bottle cage, walked out with a 2010 Trek fuel ex 9 (my dad bought it which i am very grateful for, i would never impluse buy anything for that much money)
Its been great for XC, rockgardens, and drops under 4 feet or so but i took it DH riding at the local ski hill and definitely fucked it up getting rad air, haha

get a bike that you know you wont fuck up getting rad on
May 10 2012 2:50PM
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
I would go for a Giant Reign or any other bike in that same class of 6-inch travel all-mountain bike. They don't suck to pedal uphill any more than a five year old XC bike, and they're a shit ton of fun. A lot of people qualify that they're a ton of fun going downhill—they're wrong, that class of bike is a shit ton of fun, always. Uphill and down.

I personally ride a Reign X (6.7 inches of travel, built a bit more beefy with slacker geometry than a regular Reign) and I love it for everything. Downhill shuttles? Check. 30 mile long, climb-heavy XC rides? Check. Everything in between? Pretty much.

If you want a bike that climbs like a squirrel on crack, then look at the 4inch XC bike, but my vote is a proper AM bike. I like Giant's suspension design, so I'll say Reign, but any good bike in that category will serve you well.
May 10 2012 3:33PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
top
May 11 2012 9:16PM
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brennanmidwest
Posts: 925 - Karma: 13
Giant reign or yeti 575
May 11 2012 9:49PM
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Backyard.Skier
Posts: 5397 - Karma: 1,497
you cannot go wrong with yeti been riding the 303 for years now best bike I've ever owned spend the money and get a yeti!
May 11 2012 11:51PM
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TheStamos
Posts: 9311 - Karma: 910
Ive snapped fugitives, does that not make it a durable ski? Its the situation.. Im a pussy? your bitchin about peddling a mile. To each his own, but the stinky is known for its durability. I would love to race you head on haha.. Child.
May 13 2012 6:45PM
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brennanmidwest
Posts: 925 - Karma: 13
just bought a reign 2, fucking stoked it is such a fun bike.
May 13 2012 6:57PM
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captainslack
Posts: 305 - Karma: 509
the stinky is an entry level DH bike/freeride bike. It doesn't matter how much money you throw at it, it's geometry is wrong for AM. You may have built it up light and been able to ride your bike around XC trails, i've had a blast riding my sunday at some trail centres. Doesn't mean its any good for AM.

If you want a kona specifically go for the coiler but kona's have been known to be entry level and for that reason not as durable or light as other higher end brands.

you may have ridden a stinky but have you ridden a proper AM bike like the pitch, the orange 5, Santa cruz nomad? if you had then you'd realise how awful the stinky is.


my vote goes to the orange 5, check it out, not as common in the US but in the UK (the home of mtbing) they're regarded as the top AM model.



May 13 2012 7:08PM
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Yeezy
Posts: 1652 - Karma: 206
.
May 13 2012 7:25PM
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uosdwiSrjewoH
Posts: 4220 - Karma: 122
you want a awesome motherfucking bike?

Click for larger image

http://www.specialized.com/ca/en/bc/SBCProduct.jsp?spid=62075&scid=1100&scname=Mountain

stumpy expert evo 29er. enough travel that it's fun as shit descending like a beast, but she still climbs like a goat. seriously, what i would consider a nigh perfect bike for the most possible conditions.
May 13 2012 7:26PM
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cwillygood
Posts: 6831 - Karma: 1,829
all i can say is 29ers are so much fun to ride, i would go with one of those if i was getting a XC bike
May 13 2012 7:29PM
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bermbuster49
Posts: 7445 - Karma: 90
easy bro, obviously its not a DH bike look at the head-tube, idk what i was thinking, simple mistake.

and i also tear shit up on mountain bike, yes on my 29er with 100mm of travel, fuck i'll rip shit up on a hard-tail i dont care. I'm not going to get into a 26 vs. 29er war because i think we all are over that fucking argument, but if you want the opinion of a professional dirt bike racer i would say the 29er allows you to plow over gnarly rock gardens and other small shit with way more ease. i'm with you on the low travel up front, which is why i'm selling my Camber and going to a Stumpjumper, but it will also be a 29er for the terrain that i ride.


but this is besides the point, OP, just get a bike and go out and ride! have fun!
May 13 2012 8:17PM
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