FreeRideMountainBike.net

.giant
avanti
trek
mongoose
wheeler
cannondale

my 3 would be giant,avanti or trek. the cannondale id consider lookign to.

they make very good quality bikes all brands and they have some great bieks for general riding, they are great bikes and have good reputation. i work in a biek shop and for the general riding and quality id use one of those 3 company’s

just so you know giant make the frames for specialized so dont bother paying the extra for the frame.
hope this helps

i know mongoose are mountain bikes but dimondbacks are the best if they are mountain bikes i think they are

My husband has a Claud Butler mountain bike. I won it in a competition and after research we have found it is one of the best brands avaliable. My hubby has always been into biking and not had one of these before and he says it’s the best bike he has ever had.
Rachel x x x

norco

Tough to answer this. Most brands have something good.

I like Giant and Cannondale. Both have very decent lower end stuff as well as higher end stuff.

Cannondale makes most of their stuff in the states, so quality is excellent. I have a Perp1 which has (as do many other of their frames) heat treated welds. These welds allow the weld, and the two peices being welded to become one solid peice. That’s pretty special. If you look around, you can find pics of a frame with this that has been cut in half (marketing material I know, but wow).

Cannondale lower end stuff is made overseas in Taiwan, but I don’t think that stuff is available for sale outside of Asia.

Giant stuff is very good as well. Not as dedicated to quality, but decent stuff indeed.

I’m a big fan of the Iguana Disc series and the Trance series (which is out of your price range). Both are well designed, well thought out and good strong gear.

But the best might actually be to drop in to your local LBS shops and check out what they have second hand.

Usually you can find a bike that’s a couple years old for around half the price. Nothing at all wrong with it. And you get a very nice ride (occasionally with great components) for Wal-mart break-easy prices – or close to…

Spend some time thinking about what you want regarding parts as well:

Three areas to consider:
Shifter pods – are they integrated (Shimano calls this STI)? If they are, and you need/want to change a shifter or brake setup, it’s costly and a hassle.

Brakes – how important are disk brakes to you? You can get *excellent* stopping power from well tuned rim brakes, easily the equal of mid-range or low end disc brakes. I’ve seen plenty of cheaper bikes with XT or similar quality Avid rim brakes that will stop on a dime. The big difference between disc and rim is that disc is less affected by mud and rain. But if you get a bike with rim brakes, you may have hubs that do not allow disc brakes. Hence if you want to upgrade later, you have to replace the hub which means you are looking at a full wheel rebuild = $$$$

You could get a bike with cheap disk brakes though and save the money from the new wheels to upgrade to better brakes quite easily…

Suspension – Do you want full or front? You are probably best to start with a hardtail since this will get the best bang for the buck. You could consider a fork that has lockout if you do a lot of climbing. If you are over 150 lbs, you will probably find that the stock spring is too soft, so ask the shop about the possibility of switching the spring if you need to – and how long after purchase is this an option.

Hope it helps.

Test ride at least three before you buy!

Never buy a bike based on brand.

Go to several bike shops with your budget and an idea of how and where you want to ride and get their opinions. Once you’ve compiled the info, take a ride on the top 3 contenders and make your choice.

If someone tells you that one particular brand is better than another without specifics, or that certain brands are “seconds”, walk out of the store.

You should never go to a discount store to purchase a bike. This includes walmart, Target, Sams Club, and those other places.