Let's talk mountain bikes

[lilduke]

I have a hard tail I use for down hilling at Revy, fernie, golden, baseline mountain, jump park in red deer, moose mnt, probably try Whistler out here soon. It was about 1200$ new. I modded it a bit though.

Rear suspension sure would be nice though lol

 

[Zrock]

Stock levels in stores are the ****s. I was more looking for best styles for entry level to the downhill stuff if I chose to go that route. Would maybe try the Valemount bike park if we go out that way this summer.

Nothing wrong with the Canadian tire bikes as a entry level... I have had one for years just to get out and ride with my kids and some trail riding.. Watched the sales you can get their higher end bikes for the same price as the cheaper ones.. Or watch your local buy and sell for a good used higher end bike but in my experience you do not see them for cheap very often. Personally i can not understand why people need to spend $2000-$10000 for a bike to ride on trails? When i was a kid we did the same thing on bikes we bought from Canadian tire or built yourself..
You can always start out cheap and upgrade in the future when you know for sure this is something you want to do..

 

[lilduke]

You definitely don't want to downhill a crappy tire bike haha

https://youtu.be/wkMnk_eCDQU

 

[rknight111]

Lol, interesting video. That was a Walmart bike probably similar to Canadian tire. He didn’t hate it and he went down a black diamond that the bike is not designed for. I wonder if he could return it now.
Does Costco sell bikes in the season.

 

[TylerG]

Lol, interesting video. That was a Walmart bike probably similar to Canadian tire. He didn’t hate it and he went down a black diamond that the bike is not designed for. I wonder if he could return it now.
Does Costco sell bikes in the season.

Costco did have some bikes, they were 389.99, but they only had 1 frame size.

 

[ferniesnow]

I have rode bikes for years Tyler; mega miles in the flat NWT and the prairies of Saskatchewan. I accomplished my goals of losing weight and getting into shape. The bike was a medium priced bike back in the early 1990's. I was going to get into riding again when we moved to Elkford but the terrain was not conducive to what I was used to. I found I needed a dedicated mountain bike to enjoy what I thought I would enjoy and at the time money/time was tight with building a new house. So our bikes sat unused for 20 years.

We rode 54 days last summer mostly along lake shore paths and flat pavement. The bikes and ourselves couldn't cut the "mountain trail" riding. Similar to the video above "WallyMart Huffy" chains of events happened; gravely decents, steep climbs where we had to walk/push, out of control steeper downhills through close knit trees, and a myriad of other things that were too much for us. We stuck to the flatter terrain and got into better shape and are looking forward to starting this summer. I was blown away on the Kettle Valley Rail trail with a 2% grade with how we had to continuously peddle for 4 km to reach the first goal of the first tunnel (that was a struggle) and how fast we came down to the trucks without peddling. We have bought some e-bikes and hope to do some of the quieter, more mellow logging roads. It is and will be a learning curve for sure.

Good luck and do your research so that you don't end up in a serious mechanical failure. 280# isn't for just any bike on a mountain. Lots of great advice above and IMHO, much better advice than what some run of the mill sales person is going to give you.

 

[TylerG]

I have rode bikes for years Tyler; mega miles in the flat NWT and the prairies of Saskatchewan. I accomplished my goals of losing weight and getting into shape. The bike was a medium priced bike back in the early 1990's. I was going to get into riding again when we moved to Elkford but the terrain was not conducive to what I was used to. I found I needed a dedicated mountain bike to enjoy what I thought I would enjoy and at the time money/time was tight with building a new house. So our bikes sat unused for 20 years.

We rode 54 days last summer mostly along lake shore paths and flat pavement. The bikes and ourselves couldn't cut the "mountain trail" riding. Similar to the video above "WallyMart Huffy" chains of events happened; gravely decents, steep climbs where we had to walk/push, out of control steeper downhills through close knit trees, and a myriad of other things that were too much for us. We stuck to the flatter terrain and got into better shape and are looking forward to starting this summer. I was blown away on the Kettle Valley Rail trail with a 2% grade with how we had to continuously peddle for 4 km to reach the first goal of the first tunnel (that was a struggle) and how fast we came down to the trucks without peddling. We have bought some e-bikes and hope to do some of the quieter, more mellow logging roads. It is and will be a learning curve for sure.

Good luck and do your research so that you don't end up in a serious mechanical failure. 280# isn't for just any bike on a mountain. Lots of great advice above and IMHO, much better advice than what some run of the mill sales person is going to give you.

Thanks Doug, I was following your adventures on Instagram last summer and look forward to continuing following them.

I'm down 20 pounds from where I was with a goal of about 240 by end of summer. So I don't want to give up.

 

[ferniesnow]

Thanks Doug, I was following your adventures on Instagram last summer and look forward to continuing following them.

I'm down 20 pounds from where I was with a goal of about 240 by end of summer. So I don't want to give up.

Good for you. I understand completely. I also understand about the boringness of walking; it is a struggle and change of trails is a good thing but not always readily accessible as "life" gets in the way. Salmon Arm is like many mountain towns and very hilly. We don't ride our bikes from home due to hills and too much traffic on the main roads. To climb up from the lake to our house is a 650' climb and we would be pushing our bikes a good part of the way so we truck them to where we ride. This summer will be better than last summer for us and we are looking forward to being back in the saddle to get the cardio working again. Keep up the good work.

 

[TylerG]

I think I missed out on a good one:

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-mountain-bi...lized-hard-rock-comp-mountain-bike/1560004777

 

[sirkdev]

right bike wrong frame size you will need to be in a large frame

 

[rknight111]

I’m currently doing a job at revolution cycle on Stoney plain road. They are having the same problem as many toy dealers. Low stock, there usually filled with bikes. Now limited selection.

 

[freeflorider]

Nothing wrong with the Canadian tire bikes as a entry level... I have had one for years just to get out and ride with my kids and some trail riding.. Watched the sales you can get their higher end bikes for the same price as the cheaper ones.. Or watch your local buy and sell for a good used higher end bike but in my experience you do not see them for cheap very often. Personally i can not understand why people need to spend $2000-$10000 for a bike to ride on trails? When i was a kid we did the same thing on bikes we bought from Canadian tire or built yourself..
You can always start out cheap and upgrade in the future when you know for sure this is something you want to do..

You should come ride with us then you will see why we ride 10000 bikes. Don’t see the boys on the red bull rampage riding a crapy tire bike.
this is all about putting our 2 cents in so Tyler can find a bike. Some of us come from big back ground in riding and my opinion is go with something used and yes you do not need a $10000 bike but a good name brand is better then a cheep-o ...been there done that. Tyler is a big guy and v brakes will fail along with the rest. Injury’s and nothing worth selling at the end. It’s to bad as I just sold my devinci Ollie dh bike in large for $375. That would of been the bomb! Keep your eyes peeled Tyler your on the right track looking at the specialized.

 

[Rjjtcross8]

Check out the buy and sell on pinkbike as well.

 

[sirkdev]

OMG... why does anyone need a 25k sled lol. Do what you do and enjoy!

 

[TylerG]

OMG... why does anyone need a 25k sled lol. Do what you do and enjoy!

I don't. I bought a 10k sled in 2014 and still ride it.

 

[Stg2Suby]

I've got my old Santa Cruz Bullit I'd sell, 2001 model (?) with large frame. Needs some TLC maintenance and wear parts but rideable as is.

 

[sirkdev]

If Tyler is not interested PM me details, my neighbour is looking for a vintage whip!

 

[Stg2Suby]

If Tyler is not interested PM me details, my neighbour is looking for a vintage whip!

I'd need confirmation your neighbour is an S&M member in need haha

 

[TylerG]

I've got my old Santa Cruz Bullit I'd sell, 2001 model (?) with large frame. Needs some TLC maintenance and wear parts but rideable as is.

I'm in.... As long as you can point out to this newbie what needs replaced/repaired

 

[FernieHawk]

I'm in.... As long as you can point out to this newbie what needs replaced/repaired

Santa Cruz Bullit was da machine in its day. Way way better than any CDN Tire bike you could buy.