newbie help...

[mr636]

hey couple of questions for someone fresh to the sport. im looking to get a bike, but want some advice from u gurus. i rode manly dam the other day on a GT avalanche 0.5 and it was wicked fun. i dont ride shite at the moment other than the bus...
are gt good bikes, do they stand up to the punishment? ill be doin a little bit of street riding as well, so how do they fair on the street?
basically i want somthing to primarily use off road, but that i can ride to work occasionally on.
can u guys reccomend any other bikes worth their salt for that sorta money? dont really wanna spend more than 13-1400.
oh and cheapest/ best bike shops in syd?

some other newbie questions. i saw someone mention having to hide from rangers and coppers. whats the deal there? i live in chatswood and wanna ride all the tracks around oxford falls/ manly dam etc. can some one link me to a thread with the local tracks please.
right sorry for all the qs, but this damn bug bit me hard!

[slo]

im assuming that your getting into downhill :p dont know the area...
havent had much experience with gt's. and personally not a fan of them for DH, but every one to their own.

maybe have a look at a norco sasquatch with a 36t ring up the front plus chain device. it'll be a red hot bike to learn the basics of DH on, and should be throwable on the street. and if you pull the seat up, should be alright for the old commute to work. there a fairly bulletproof frame too... easily upgradeable when need be...

my LBS was doing them for about 1300 last time i was down... hope it helps mate ;)

[mr636]

yeah shoulda been a little more specific. dunno what u class it as. i guess its kinda cross country... hmmm the locals can tell me that too :confused:

[slo]

probably steer clear of the sasquatch for cross country purposes then, may be a little heavy, and if you only had the 36t ring on the front, may not have the range of gears for climbing.... anyways, hope there was something helpfull there for ya :p

[-DAvo]

hey mate, welcome to farkin.

anyway from what i gather from reading your post.... you want a bike that can be used for : Street/Commuting/DH

well you could go the norco sassquatch route.. i mean you cant realistically have a bike to cover all ranges, so you can maybe chuck some slicks on for street/commuting work (ie maxxis holy roller), and some offroad tires for dirt... weight, yes it will be heavier than most commuting bikes etc etc but big deal!

you could do the dually thing but 1. it'll suck ass for street, 2. the only dually within your price range is the giant ac....

anyway just my 2c. good luck with it buddy ;)

oh and in terms of gt bikes... no experience with them recently but i remember when the GT Zaskar was THE bike! :P complete with judy sl (bright yellow) and xt v brakes! woot!

[zids]

hey mate welcome to fakin. I personally recomend to you possibly a kona stuff, great quality bikes that can cop alot of abuse, and aren to heavy either. also look arounf the "for sale" forumright here, you just might find a great bike at a great price!

[wilko]

hey if u want a really cheap fun bike get a gt chucker the are about $700 slap some better forks and brakes n its a good street rig i recon funnest bike i have ever ridden

[Mahoney_007]

Yup my STuff is still going after 2 years, albeit Ive bought new rims(on layby), tyres, forks(in my mates cupboard), derailuier, axles blah blah haha its all wear and tear man. I wouldnt recommend commuting on it, its to low slung, but for general trail use and street thrashing its a bloody perfect starter bike, heck I can even do some trialsing on it.

The question you should be asking yourself is, do you wanna get the thing airbourne? Now I'm no DJer but had I bought a slightly lower priced bike or something more XC it would be dead by now.

Here is some food for thought:

Kona Stuff, cowan
Norco Sasquatch, 125, bigfoot
Avanti Hot dog (or similar)
Giant STP (very popular)
Dabomb molotov, xlr8

there are heaps out there mate, dont be a dick and buy the first thing you see, and try this site out www.mtbreview.com most bikes are on there. Check out all manufacturers websites then go to the bike shop and ride ride ride.

A guy at my work spent 1700 on a bike that was pretty good specced, but for what he wants to do on it , its not worth a pinch of puppy shit, all because he was to eager to get a bike on layby and didnt want to wait a week to look at other bikes.

As for the GT, they are sweet cars but I've never ridden one, maybe you should PM Rik. I'm pretty sure he has had a ton of them.

[-DAvo]

acctually just sprung into my mind, the haro escape range, their frames are basically the same as avanti hotdog,onedog,manic frames and their specced pretty well.. i owned a 2004 8.2 but upgraded it to be basically 8.3 spec and it rode so well!

the 2005 escape 8.2 looks the goods apart from a dodgy fork but it'll be a good starting point.

[mr636]

right thanks heaps for all that! guess i got a bit of stuff to research.
the main use for the bike will be trail riding, with a bit of DHing. ive also got access to a lodge in thredbo that we never use in the summer, so guess ill have to go hit thredbo up too. and im guessing thats mainly down hilling. one last question i promise....
i had a trek salesman giving me the hard sell on a 6700 or somthing, anyone got opinions on treks?

[dmwill]

Treks are ok, but not the 6700 for your intended use...it is more of an XC bike.

As with most people...the Norco Sasquash would be the way to go.

Davo's suggestion of the Haro Escape series would be worth having a look at, though they have phased them out for 2006, you might be lucky to pick up a 2005 model at a clearence price though! There was an Escape 8.3 at my Local Bike shop for half price, just because they are being phased out.

As for GT...the Avalance is an awesome bike, but still intended for XC only, Have a look at the GT Ruckus 1.0 and 2.0.

Now is the time to buy a new bike though...alot of 2005 models have been reduced heaps and there is a fair few introductory specials on 2006 models.

Good Luck!