A good Mountain Bike?

[Heltor Chasca]

No rush. Is there?

On a budget, best paint job and my favourite geometry? GT

Best spec? XT

Middle ground? NX

Crikey, the USA is in the dark ages when it comes to web design.

 

[fossyant]

But times move on. You can't compare old 90's bikes to modern MTBs. They are an absolute world apart..

Quite.

Uphill and cross country, not much in it on speed, old tech much more uncomfortable. Downhill, then forget it - new tech. Soo much quicker even for slow people like me. Up hill, however, the new full suspension bikes work very well even on smooth gravel compared to an old skool rigid, where you would expect the old one to be faster on relatively smooth stuff.

 

[fossyant]

GT's are good !

 

[I like Skol]

I had a look at the motobecane bikes and they were just a big turn-off for me. Not sure if it was the shouty market trader type hype on the website or the fact that they are not actually cheap bikes like they are trying to claim. REMEMBER, all bikes are not priced on the sum of the individual parts. You can never build a bike for the cost a manufacturer sells at. They get HUGE discounts on the components, so don't take any notice of claims of $xxx wheelsets and $yyy forks. It just doesn't work that way.

To be honest, the motobecane bikes might be good, but are maybe a bit overkill at that price for your described intended use. Once you factor in your intention to commute then if a 'one bike does it all' requirement is still the plan then something a bit cheaper will be more suitable without compromising the fun of the leisure rides.

 

[zapshe]

I had a look at the motobecane bikes and they were just a big turn-off for me. Not sure if it was the shouty market trader type hype on the website or the fact that they are not actually cheap bikes like they are trying to claim. REMEMBER, all bikes are not priced on the sum of the individual parts. You can never build a bike for the cost a manufacturer sells at. They get HUGE discounts on the components, so don't take any notice of claims of $xxx wheelsets and $yyy forks. It just doesn't work that way.

To be honest, the motobecane bikes might be good, but are maybe a bit overkill at that price for your described intended use. Once you factor in your intention to commute then if a 'one bike does it all' requirement is still the plan then something a bit cheaper will be more suitable without compromising the fun of the leisure rides.

Thanks for all that. Yes, that site does hype a lot for nothing, I checked prices myself as well. I suppose the GTs will I assume work fine for actual mountain biking, too. As you said, the other bike may be a bit overkill and I also don't mind spending less!

No rush. Is there?

There's no ACTUAL rush, but I'd rather have it sooner than later is all. The suspense is killer.


Thanks guys! I suppose I'll go for the more budget GT. I will be using it for travel, so I don't want to buy something super expensive that may get stolen. Sorry to ask again, but one final comparison. They are both GT bikes, I'm just not sure which would be more suited for me. I want something that I can destroy with. I'm never easy going on my bikes, so it has to be durable and something I can trust not to fail when I need it most. I'd rather not have to ditch-jump the bike because I felt something wasn't going to handle a specific maneuver, especially if it could save my life. With all that in mind, I don't mind paying a bit more for the Avalanche Comp. Other than the lack of a fork lock (which I may buy the Avalanche Comp for anyway), how else would these bikes compare?

https://www.gtbicycles.com/usa_en/aggressor-expert-1468
or
https://www.gtbicycles.com/usa_en/avalanche-comp-1431
(Thanks "I like skol" for these recommendations btw, GT bikes seem to be pretty good!)

Thanks again guys for everything! Truly helpful.