Help Find Me a MTB

bvibert said:

Even if you have a clue what you're doing trying to maintain your bike while raising a family is not easy. IMHO buying online is a perfectly good option for a seasoned rider who's comfortable doing their own maintenance and knows what they like for fit, but I don't recommend that route for the first time buyer.

Click to expand...

I just don;t want Chris to get the wrong impression. A bike shop is not going to maintain his new bike for free. They will handle warrenty issues and do minor adjustments for free ussually for a year. Most shops consider minor adjustments tweaking your der's due to cable stretch. But you are typically going to pay for everything else (tune-ups, repairs, wheel trueing, ect...). Some shops will give you one free tune at the start of the next season.

MR. evil said:

I just don;t want Chris to get the wrong impression. A bike shop is not going to maintain his new bike for free. They will handle warrenty issues and do minor adjustments for free ussually for a year. Most shops consider minor adjustments tweaking your der's due to cable stretch. But you are typically going to pay for everything else (tune-ups, repairs, wheel trueing, ect...). Some shops will give you one free tune at the start of the next season.

Click to expand...

My LBS gives free service for the 1st year, that includes tune-ups and wheel truing. Obviously if do something stupid and screw up the bike they aren't going to pay for that. IMHO just having them there to take care of warranty issues is worth an added premium in itself. All bike shops are different and it's worth asking what exactly they cover.

MR. evil said:

I just don;t want Chris to get the wrong impression. A bike shop is not going to maintain his new bike for free. They will handle warrenty issues and do minor adjustments for free ussually for a year. Most shops consider minor adjustments tweaking your der's due to cable stretch. But you are typically going to pay for everything else (tune-ups, repairs, wheel trueing, ect...). Some shops will give you one free tune at the start of the next season.

Click to expand...

i appreciate everyones input. if my lbs doesn't have a bike that fits in my price range i will more heavily consider buying online. one of my hs lax players works at the shop. when i mentioned it to the owner he discounted the few items i picked up last time i was in. i also plan on buying a kid carrier. when the wife gets sick of riding my old giant (or rides my new rig) she will likely want an upgrade. with one and maybe two kids down the line i would like to establish a relationship with the local shop. no matter which way i go, all i care about is that i am getting a new bike.

Grassi21 said:

i appreciate everyones input. if my lbs doesn't have a bike that fits in my price range i will more heavily consider buying online. one of my hs lax players works at the shop. when i mentioned it to the owner he discounted the few items i picked up last time i was in. i also plan on buying a kid carrier. when the wife gets sick of riding my old giant (or rides my new rig) she will likely want an upgrade. with one and maybe two kids down the line i would like to establish a relationship with the local shop. no matter which way i go, all i care about is that i am getting a new bike.

Click to expand...

The only additional advice that I have at this point is that if you're really stupid enough to have another kid at least wait more than 2 years between them.

Grassi21 said:

all i care about is that i am getting a new bike.

Click to expand...

And that, my friend, is the key here. You can slice and dice the cost, fit, components, etc. until you puke, but the bottom line is to just get out there and ride. A nice shiny new bike will encourage that more than anything and at this point in your MTB career, that's the most important thing.

bvibert said:

The only additional advice that I have at this point is that if you're really stupid enough to have another kid at least wait more than 2 years between them.

Click to expand...

:lol: A 3 year span is perfect. The older one should be out of diapers, past the "terrible 2s", and able to occupy him/herself when needed and in same cases actually help out with the little one.

bvibert said:

The only additional advice that I have at this point is that if you're really stupid enough to have another kid at least wait more than 2 years between them.

Click to expand...

mama wants to ski this season. that means no real attempts at baby making until the fall of 09. thanks for the advice. ;-)

Greg said:

And that, my friend, is the key here. You can slice and dice the cost, fit, components, etc. until you puke, but the bottom line is to just get out there and ride. A nice shiny new bike will encourage that more than anything and at this point in your MTB career, that's the most important thing.



:lol: A 3 year span is perfect. The older one should be out of diapers, past the "terrible 2s", and able to occupy him/herself when needed and in same cases actually help out with the little one.

Click to expand...

if our math works out our son will be turning 3 when the second kids is due. took him to dinner at the oxford airport tonight. i had him standing on the window ledge as he slammed the glass with his little paws as the planes took off. too funny....

Grassi21 said:

no real attempts at baby making until the fall of 09.

Click to expand...

Bummer. Gonna be a long year for you....

Grassi21 said:

took him to dinner at the oxford airport tonight. i had him standing on the window ledge as he slammed the glass with his little paws as the planes took off. too funny....

Click to expand...

Kids are cool.

Greg said:

Bummer. Gonna be a long year for you....

Click to expand...

:lol: No kidding

Greg said:

Kids are cool.

Click to expand...

Yes they are. My son doesn't say a whole lot yet, but he's real good at pointing to stuff he can't reach and yelling "I want!" "I want!".

LBS advice.
When you shop, ask them if they're including a break in tune up with the sale.

Most bike shops will give you a free 30, 60, or 90 day tune up which will take care of any settling stretching or tweeking it needs after you abuse it a bit.

gmcunni said:

i wanted an 08 but the only color option available didn't appeal to me so i ended up with an 09.

when they ordered it for me (they ordered it without any money down so i could try it on for size before purchasing) it was listed as 08. when he got it they had sent an 09 and he split the difference on the price. they threw in kickstand and waterbottle. 1 year free adjustments is standard and i think a discount on parts (at least he gave me a discount on the pump and 2 tubes i bought at the same time) i'm going back in the winter to get my son a bike there for Christmas, i was very happy with the service.

Click to expand...

Sorry, the kickstand needs to go.

Real advice:

A) The spending doesn't end with the purchase if you get into serious riding. Leave yourself a swag budget. I highly recommend spending a little more at local bike shop if you aren't well versed at bike care.
B) Learn how to clean and lube your bike.
C) Get this book
D) We bought an Iron Horse bike for my son from a bike shop. For about $500 we got a decent hard tail with an okay fork and disk brakes. It costs much less usually to buy better components on a new bike than to replace them later.

Greg said:

Bummer. Gonna be a long year for you....

Click to expand...

:lol: you know what i mean...

ckofer said:

A) The spending doesn't end with the purchase if you get into serious riding. Leave yourself a swag budget. I highly recommend spending a little more at local bike shop if you aren't well versed at bike care.

Click to expand...

We were just talking about this Sunday - how MTBing is supposedly cheaper than skiing. Pshah!!!! Keep breaking stuff and you'll have to keep buying stuff! Plus you'll get into that cycle of wanting to upgrade... become a gear whore with all the other stuff... yeah, it's a tough cycle.

ckofer said:

C) Get this book

Click to expand...

Brian swears by this book. Good reading.

Good luck! Hope it works out well at the LBS today!

bvibert said:

The SRAM trigger shifters are like that while the Shimano use the push with the thumb, pull with the finger configuration. It's personal preference, but I prefer the Shimano setup myself.

Click to expand...

I have the SRAM X7 on my bike and that's how mine work too.

Greg said:

:lol: A 3 year span is perfect. The older one should be out of diapers, past the "terrible 2s", and able to occupy him/herself when needed and in same cases actually help out with the little one.

Click to expand...

No guarantees there (as far as diapers go, if you have a stubborn kid like we do :angry, but I do think 3 years is a little better than 2, if for no other reason than a 3 year old can occupy himself better. Then again, a 3 year old will occupy himself with things a 2 year old couldn't get into, and you don't necessarily want them doing, but that's a whole other issue... :roll: (Who said 2s were terrible! They didn't know 3s!! )

Another good thing about purchasing a bike at the LBS is that in the middle of ride season when they are busy, if you have a problem and bring you bike in they will probably sneak your repair in before a lot of the others that they have so you can get back riding.

I have basically had three problems with my bike. First the headset bearings went and had a noise in the front wheel hub. Brought the bike in Tuesday after work and they replaced the bearings and got the noise out of the hub and got me back riding Thursday and all covered under warranty. While there, they also adjusted the brakes and shift cables.

Then recently the dampening cartridge went of the fork, I dropped the bike off and they diagnosed the problem quickly. They were honest and up front stating that it was a manufacturing problem and that Cannondale wanted it back so they could go through it and make sure no further damage was done. When the tech called me to explain what went wrong with it he also mentioned that he was going to try and get me a loaner bike since sending the fork back would take a good week. They did this without me asking or pushing them for a loaner.

So basically what I am saying is that if you do mail order a bike and do not have a relationship with a shop already, warranty issue or not, you probably aren't going to be the shops top priority over the customers who made purchases at the shop and could end up missing a lot of riding while waiting for the bike to get repaired.

I am very happy with my shops service and the shop also ski shop so I plan on buying some equipment from them in the near future.

ckofer said:

Sorry, the kickstand needs to go.

Click to expand...

+5,000. Kickstand's a death trap in the woods. Just one more thing waiting to catch on a rock or a root and take you down. Pull that thing off quickly, man.

Wonder if he will come back with a bike, he better have a camera to take pics of it!

no camera but a new bike! cannondale f5 in a medium. they are giving it a once over since it has been sitting on the showroom floor for some time. he knocked off an extra 20 bucks. great guy and shop.

Grassi21 said:

no camera but a new bike! cannondale f5 in a medium. they are giving it a once over since it has been sitting on the showroom floor for some time. he knocked off an extra 20 bucks. great guy and shop.

Click to expand...

Sweet! Congrats. Plan on riding it tonight?