advice on buying a new mountain bike

mitchellsmith

Hi I am 14 years old and am looking for a new dual suspension bike.My budget is about $1500. Can
anyone please tell me a good value brand or model, or what sort of things I should look for?
I have started looking at the Raceline EXT Sport, the Diamondback XLS Sport, the Felt Nasty Sanchez, the KHS XC 304 and the GT Idrive 3.0.
Are these any good??

any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks Mitchell

keller

[If you can try and get your hands on a Motobecane X4b 6.0. They retail at about 1800 but can be found new for around 1300 wich is hard to beat when you consider the components and build quality. But then again thats just my .02.

tomek07

well i can't say much about too many bikes since i've only owned a 4 bikes myself. Being from North Carolina, i basically have trek, giant, gary fisher, specialize- the big brands. i gotta tell ya, my 1st specialized hardrock was one good bike, steel frame was heavy but can take a beating, i bought it for less than $500 and got a few races into it before i upgraded. I would probably recommend Giant the most, most of the bikes (like the XTC and Rainier) are light and strong. I've upgraded my old rainier and raced 2 full seasons on it till i broke the frame. Since then i've been riding my baby Gary Fisher
SuperCal 29' . That thing can handle! Suprisingly around here 29' bikes are very cheap (GF 293 sold for $1400) These are just a few models i've tested and proven that are all under 1500 starting price. but it all depends on how you ride and what you want to do. i'm 16 and so i don't need a dual shock to protect my ass so that saves some money right there. Also if you're looking for a good bike to pop some nice wheelies and ground tricks the Giant XTC would be my best bet! I might've just been rambleing but i hope this somehow will help your decision, these bikes tested true for me.

Alnamvet

Cut your teeth on a hardtail, and after a few years of building up your skills, see if you really want a FS.

mitchellsmith

Thanks for the suggestions

mitchell

mitchellsmith

I'm just saw these bikes are they any good???

DBR BSX Comp
Mongoose Pro Wing Super

Alnamvet

Steer clear of mongoose...a Walmart/discount store brand..any Mongoose you may see on the Pro circuit are "other people's" bikes with Mongoose decals.

Duckwah

I think the first thing you need to clarify is what sort of riding you are into

A freeride dualie is a very different bike to an XC dualie.

So are you after an all round trialrider, an epic XC bike or a big hit free ride/DH rig?

then look at the big brands and see what they offer, then i'd look for a lightly used 2nd hand bike no more than a year old. You will get major savings and since you are 14 you will probably grow heaps and want to get a bigger bike in 2-3 yrs

mtblvr

Ditto on that one, I bought a second hand Santa Cruz Chameleon hardtail, with a Marzocchi Z1 , Ringle' hubs, and a Full XTR drivetrain for $599.99 at a pawn shop. I rode it for awhile, and sold it to a family member then spent almost $2K on a Ellsworth Isis Full Susser. Which I do like, however if I blew my wad on the first day, I doubt I would have gotten the bike I really NEEDED.

bikefreak101

Take a look at the Kona bikes at www.konaworld.com

trekrider4315

Once again(i know you dont want to hear it....but) you need to decide what type of riding to do. If you like big hits but plan to do some XC type stuff, look at a trek liquid 10(i got mine demo for $1200)but thats mostly for hits, not racing XC. If you are certain you like XC and plan to race then look at the giant NRS line. Sweet fs bike with the Xc works. Light and beautiful.
Hope it helps.
Also the NRS can run from (demo)$1100 to about $4000 new(thats the air model tho and its a monster)