Bike recommendation & Giant Trance X

Ah, Alysum (I read that as 'Asylum' to begin ) you've come to the right place....

Bike choice is slightly contentious, with a good bit of banter, most recently discussed in Newbie to site!

Most riders will tell you what they are riding is the best. Of course I don't have to tell you that, it speaks for itself - buy an entry level Cannondale Rush, so long as it has the Lefty you can upgrade the other parts later. Of course that's said slightly tongue in cheek (TIC) but for your budget you can get one so don't rule it out.

And jokes aside, Specialized seem OK, plenty people ride 'em. Not for me, but then again, lots of people don't like having half a fork either!

You can't go far wrong in this price range with a Giant either, look at a Trance X or Reign if you want to get more aggressive.

On the shop front, I think Matt has had good things to say about Woolys - hopefully he'll be along shortly with good advice.

Not sure how bad you think your Trek is, but if it gets you out on the trails that's a good thing. Come along on a ride and have a look at a few bikes people rock up on. Look at what they have changed, what is worn out, what is broken - that'll be everything in the case of Lorrie's Spec!

OK, OK, see what I mean about banter?

Never mind what Rob said about the Lefty forks, as he is obviously insane, so will shortly be off to the real Asylum. His recommendation of a Rush is okay. But I would get real big banger forks and tell the retailer to leave the lefty sh*t in the shop. But that's personal preference.

mtba had a duellies under $3000 rundown recently. The Spec. FSR comp got a 9/10. They said the x-fusion shock was a standout spec, not perfect, but better than the others on offer. The rock shox recon fork was a lower spec of a reliable brand. Verdict was 'A fantastic handling entry level dually. It's rear suspension, sturdy frame and handling characteristics are top notch, giving the buyer the ability to upgrade without fear of over-capitilising.'
Also best to buy local if you can - these are the people who will keep your bike running nicely and give you (hopefully good)advice.
The mtba article didn't mention a Cannondale.

wow so many replies already thanks for all the tips.

I will checkout CycleWorld, shame they don't have a website ! Will checkout cranks at North SYdney too where I actually work. What about this store in Chatswood Avanti, is it any good ?

Interesting those Ghost bikes you get all XT for $2000 but I don't know anything about that brand; are they reliable ? I see they are germans so as long as they are as good as all their cars it's cool
I will keep an eye on the Giant bikes too, though the Trance X is a bit off budget and would probably prefer the Spec Enduro for that price
Must try get a hold on this MTBA mag too, that would be perfect a duel under $3000

Regardless of brand, think about what SORT of riding you want to do... as they are many "types" of dual suspension.

If its cross-country you'd like to ride (fire trails, single track, not too many jumps/drop offs), then the FSRxc and others like it will be great. These have rear suspension for grip and comfort, not "bomb-ability"...

Free-ride, all-mountain type bikes etc however are a little beefier, so you can do more jumps and drop offs etc... but will be fairly heavy to ride back up the hill.

The reason i make this statement is because when i started mtb, i was on an FSRxc and i just wanted to do jumps... and funnily enough i ruined the suspension completely!!

Cheers,
Lance.

i have a few bikes with different brakes from bottom of the line right up th blingy expensive ones and found the juicy three's on my old jump bike absolutely no different to the fives on another bike. i'd even put my neck out and say they were almost as good as the magura's i have on the 'posh' bike. i think a lot to do with brakes is how you bed the pads in and how you maintain them. ive contaminated the pads on the magura's and have been too lazy to fix the problem so have an awfull squeak and poor performance.

As Rob mentioned earlier I like Wooly's Wheels, but mainly because their workshop guys are always willing to have a chat, and they have a great selection of tyres. When buying a new bike I'd be looking first online for a good deal as long as it had a decent frame warranty, you'll likely save heaps, even with the shipping, you just have to use a decent retailer and find one that'll ship whole bikes. Bike mags also are a great source of inspiration.

Now as for brands you can't go wrong with Giant at your price point for just overall goodness! This is personal opinion but Specialised/Scott/Trek etc. are just not stand-out enough in the trailbike range, a bit like a Ford vs a Subaru. (Ducks for cover...) You might also get a decent Kona or Norco for your price too.

If you want to buy a real bike however you might look at a Santa Cruz, Orange or Ellsworth, they all make superb 5-6" trailbikes that'd be right up your alley, and you could probably find a few of these at Burwood Cycleworld, who are also one of my favourites, good prices and a friendly workshop.
It's worth spending a little extra to get a really good frame too.

You mentioned "the odd downhill" in your original post. When mags etc. mention that they mean the odd run down a track with huge drops, suspension bottoming rock gardens and super steep techy sections, which is a world away from the Oaks! Unless you're going to tackle drops bigger than you are tall then a decent trailbike will do you fine.

Lastly, it's a very personal thing buying a bike, so don't let any of us make your mind up for you, whatever you get, if it makes you happy when you ride it then it's a great bike ;-}

Hello,
Sure I plan to look at a couple of stores and see how nice they are to me lol before making a decision. I have a bit of a back problem so I will have to find one that is comfortable too (i.e. handlebar not too low).

As for purchasing bikes cheaper on the web, I'm not sure about that here down under as there don't seem to be all that many online bike stores compared to europe. Please mention which ones you are talking about.

As for warranty; I suppose most stores offer one free service, 1 year warranty on parts and a couple of years for the frame ?

I have one newbie question; what are those 5/6" measurements ? Which part of the frame is this ?

Cheers,

I will defer to more knowledgable types on the answer to your question.
But if you can, you should bring your 'cheap trek' to the newbie ride Sunday. We all like nothing better than talking about bikes.

Alysum I know how it feels to be sweating over your first choice of quality bike.What seems like a large outlay of cash should be viewed as investment because no matter which brand you put your faith in your new bike will last a very long time,simply by being in the price point of $2000 for $3000.
For what it's worth my opinion is that you should by the bike that most appeals to you that you can afford.Brand loyalty,expressed by others, will get you nowhere.An individual will gel with a certain product and and you need to look for that gel and trust your instincts.Even as a novice,you will be perfectly capable of judging your own taste.
For now don't confuse yourself with design features,clever suspension axle paths and the nuances of geometries unique to a brand.It takes a long time and a lot of riding to find your own preferences for various parts and features.For the above price bracket there's no such thing as a crap bike.You'll get a great machine that will stay great for a long time.And this won't be your last new bike either.
Stick to these guidelines and you'll be fine;
Don't buy a complete bike online.At least not yet.One needs to be very savvy rider and shopper with good mechanical know how to do follow this path.
As a novice you need bike shop support.So find one you like with staff you like.This goes back to personal judgement.
All new bikes feature a retail price and a warranty.Study these prices and look for a special.Warranties are always valid no matter what special price you paid or bargain you received.When things go wrong and it's not through your own foolishness,the shop will rectify the problem.
For your first bike go for a big name brand,not a boutique brand.Mass production is a good thing and lessens the chance of a Monday morning screw up.It might be nice to tell your friends that your frame tubes were milled between the thighs of an Italian virgin on her seventeenth birthday but it matters not when a weld breaks and the importer tells you it'll be twelve weeks before his next shipment arrives and a new frame can be sourced.
For true off road riding get full suspension.It'll save your bones in the long run.
If you upgrade any part on your bike,make it the seat.OEM seats are usually horrible.Your body touches your bike in only three places and this is arguably the most critical.
And for the fun bit.How much suspension travel does one really need?This is a question bandied about and argued over more than any other.The answer is simple.The less travel and a bike will be lighter.The more travel and it will be heavier.So you should choose the bike that you are happiest to drag around with the fattest tyres you are happy to push.You'll will get to a point where you'll find a bike and decide that it is too heavy to be bothered with.Buy the bike that's lighter yet has similiar attributes.
With your first full suspension off roader you're taking your first step into a much larger world which is full of so much choice it's easy to become confused.So make it easy and trust your guts and after a while you'll have gained the experience to identify your personal tastes and move onto your second bike.
Happy shopping.BTW,if you like I could accompany you to a couple of shops.Just ask.

from Mr Delicious
I've bought 2 bikes in a year as my riding style 'developed' (for want of a better word). Currently I am saving madly for a frame tube milled between the thighs of an Italian virgin on her seventeenth birthday. Oh yeah.

Where the hell do you find one of them?

(I'm not talking about the frame either)

Calm down guys

Alright I went to Cranks today during my lunch break. They have Giant and BMC. Pretty dear the BMCs but they do look very nice.

It's a bit complicated with the demo bikes; only some of them can be hired either for a day or just to go around the block and those are usually the top ones such as the BMC trailfox 01 which is, hips, $6145. There were no Giant trances for demos which is a shame. Anyway this is only the first store I've been to.
Actually there is also this store next to my office in North Sydney called Bike Bug, but I don't know anything about the brands they sell: Merida and Felt. Anyone know anything about them ?

Oh and no need to mention Cyclery in the city, I think everyone knows them already with their rip-off Treks

I love my NORCO, fitted with a Rohloff chain u r on a winner!!!
Bernd

As previously mentioned when it comes to bikes and bike shops it always is personal. When it comes to bike shops there was a thread recently http://nobmob.com/node/4268 about bike shops. I am a bit like GAZZA and a bike shop tart as I probably haven’t found one that suits all my needs. Recently I did buy one from Cycology at Tuggerah and they seem to have the best discounts buy a long shot and this even applies to new models. They also did spend time with me swapping stems to test different sizes. They also set the front and rear suspension sag for me which is a whole lot more service then I have had from other shops. They do a lot of advertising on http://www.mtba.asn.au in the for sale section. The only annoying thing for me is they're not on the northern beaches.

Another bike shop is Supreme Cycles and they do offer test rides around Manly Dam http://www.supremecycles.com.au/news.php and they call it the no air ride. I took a specialized expert around for a lap. Nice ride.

Bike Addiction offer test bikes at $75 per day and if you proceed with the purchase they take it of the price.

I posted a similar question http://nobmob.com/node/4009 and ended up buying a higher spec then I started looking at which generally happens with any purchase like this. The bike is awesome but I would take the advice of getting out on the trails and looking at what other people ride and asking lots of questions.

PS. You know when you made the right choice when you’re in a bike shop and you don’t feel the urge to look at other bikes. Well, not at least until the new models are out

personally mate my 2 cents is major number 1 most important thing as others have mentioned is to figure out what kind of riding you want to do..this is soo important, its all very well to want a super light super flash 10kg xc bike, but you might find you enjoy the odd jump or drop, and might start leaning towards some more dh kind of stuff (as it sounds you might), and then your screwed..or same vice versa..these days a very popular new option is the invention of your "freeride" or "all-mountain" style bikes, the latter being more xc based with bigger travel (5-6 inches) but still pretty light and can go anywhere with relative ease and can drop and jump and even do the odd run at thredbo..and the former being basically a modified full blown DH design, with a bit less travel (6-8") then your full dh rigs, and designed to be able to do a "bit" of uphill (usually with the addition of a 2nd front chainring, and a normal rear cassette, instead of a dh one, and usually more your four bar/floating pivot or freaky specialized style linkages rather than your single pivot dh style, so you get less "bob" and have an all round more comfy experience when pedalling flat/up.. basically bomb proof, but still capable of riding anywhere, if albeit a bit tougher than your lighter designs (where as dh rigs can pretty much just do dh!)
anyway i personally went for the freeride design, as i wanted something that simply could take whatever and have fun doing it, and am very happy and havent looked back. others who would be doing alot more xc and less jumps and drops might not be so happy, just know if you think you might want to ride like a maniac down a steep hill one day and do some drops and jumps and a bit of this and that, an xc bike will not naturally take it very well...and a cannondale will snap in 2 hahaha oh just jokes..but it prob will

number 2 thing is go in to heaps of shops once you know what style of riding you want to do, and haggle haggle haggle! these guys have HUGE mark ups on there bikes if they are selling for RRP, and im sure you can get prices down nicely, try year or 2 old models as well, youll save yourself a bundle, and often year to year changes arnt too massive, especially with frame design..
example for me is i got my bike from clarence st (trek rippoffs as you said) and i got a $6500 bike for $2000 because they couldnt move their dh/freeride line very easily and wanted to get rid of all their 2005 stock.. so u can find a bargain if you look around, act serious, know what you want or at least appear to, and just try to be the right person in the right place at the right time!
..end rant..
hope it helps!

Asylum, I am in a similar situation to yourself. I am looking at general trail bike, for XC and all day riding with the occasional drop thrown in. I used to ride downhill but just got bored with it. I have been looking at the specialized fsr xc comp and expert too and was impressed by the quick test ride I had. But I have been looking around, trying to find a bargain and I also came across the ghost bikes on torpedo 7. They are a great looking bike with a fairly high quality spec for a good price as they are like 40% off. But I have heard nothing about them and have been sceptical about buying one. I too would be interested in finding out more about them. But for now the Specialized is probably at the top of my list.

Many of the bikes with 5" - 6" travel are quite a bit heavier (around 16kgs+) thus making long rides/xc type riding rather difficult I would think?? Or is this an acceptable weight for this kind of riding? I personally agree with having more travel but i dont want it to be at the expense of my bikes rideability. I want to go up hills just as much as down.

This years Trance XO comes in at 11.5kg. Thats lighter than most big brand xc bikes 3 or so years old and lighter than your average bike now

I think the fact they can't get enough supply into the country, since well before xmass, is probably enough of an indication to the quality of this ride

Agreement with Carlgroover's comments.
Giants are great value for money. If I had the money my next purchase would be a Giant Reign X0. Mind you the Trance X0 also look awesome.
Currently ride a Scott MC40, it has 5.5 inches of travel. Great for the all day rides but also great for the more technical stuff. It weighs in at around 13kgs.

Once again as this has been said before, its a personal choice but if you get the opportunity ask to ride some of the bikes out there. NobMobers are good for letting you take their bikes for a quick test ride.

Cheers
Evan

When you are at the bike shop ask them to weigh it. Most should be happy to. Also I have heard that rotational weight is also important on making a bike feel lighter. This means look at wheel sets, tyres etc.

do, My Norco Fluid is about 16kg!
the newer models are, I think about 12.5 to 14.5 depending on the gear on it, which reflex a lot on the $ you will have to spent!!
Bernd

I remember the weight of Norco bikes used to be listed on their website, but looking at the site today, I can't see the weights listed anywhere. My Norco Six Two is 17.5 kgs. A new '08 model would be lighter though. It has better standard parts, and the frame design is quite a bit different. Norco claim that the centre of gravity is now lower. So even though the same amount of alloy is used in the frame, it sits a bit lower to the ground. I would like to test that claim, to see if it feels different, or is noticeable. Maybe, maybe not.

is that the theory behind the one legged fork so that it's lighter to carry ?

Let me tell you about giant bikes.They are tops.When the current design was released in 2005 I kept a close eye on how it was going to fare in the cut throat world of copyright and also how the punters would take to it.
Three years on and giant have been victorious in the pursuit of making a great suspension design that someone else thought of appear to be of their own making.I for one couldn't care less who invents what.What I do know is that this design works.I have an 07 reign 1 and an 07 glory 0 and I can speak from experience that the suspension within the frame absolutely sucks up the terrain that passes by.Combine this with a quality fork and one can experience a terrific ride.
Everyone seems to be aware of giant value.This is no accident.Giant as a corporation price and spec their product to fit into a certain market place.And to dominate it.Other brands appear expensive because there is no Santa Cruz Australia or BMC Australia.These and many other brands are sold by a distributor who are on the own.The exceptions would be Trek Australia and Shimano Australia,yet I'm still no closer to understanding why these two corporations wish to charge us more than in other markets.Yet that is another topic...
Now about weight...
Bikemad,you are a genius.Yes it is always best to lose weight from your body first before fretting over removing 326 grams from your bike.Having said that,someone mentioned rotating weight,or more correctly,rotating mass.Motorcyclists refer to this as unsprung weight and refers to any part separated from the frame by the suspension.So,hubs and rims,tyres and tubes,rotors and the swingarm.And anything else I've forgotten.In the case of the wheels,once they turn there is an effect which increases their mass by a factor of 2.6.And as the swingarm is being rebounded by the shock,the factor is 3.2.Lighten these parts and not only will your bike be easier to lift into the back of your ute,it will steer quicker,respond to pedal input better and be far easier to ride overall.
I don't wish to be seen as encouraging people to go all crazy about lightening their steed.Sometimes light weight equals flimsy and it almost always equals expensive.I prefer tough above all else.
I just find this sort of thing interesting....
By the way,my reign weighs 13.8 kg and my glory weighs 18.1 kg when in Thredbo spec...