Latest Mountain Bike Technology
Mountain bikes: High end or Mid range?
Is it better to buy a high-end bike and keep it five years or a mid-range bike and get a new one every two years. I’m talking from both a maintenance/wear standpoint and having the latest technology. I’m a 1000 mile a year semi-aggressive dirt rider.
I used to ride at least 30 miles a day, 6 days a week. I trashed my spine in a roll over truck wreck and within a year had to quit riding all together. My mountain bike was in the bed and got tore up bad when the truck actually landed on it. It was a Schwinn that I bought at a bike shop. That was the only place you could get one.(before the son ran the company into the ground). Soon after, AMF bought the company and they became department store junk. That bike cost me $400. When I got back to San Diego I upgraded to the next best model costing $600. We travelled all over the country on the job so I rode on a vast array of surfaces. The extra $200 made an incredible difference. The extra cost was mainly in the drive train plus it was about 5 lbs. lighter. It had Shimano Rapid Fire shifters that would shift as fast as I could flip through all 27 gears. The front shocks were pre-loaded with compressed air which was adjustable as were the shocks themselves. I used to ride on pavement quita a bit as well. I loved going on 10 mile sprints, going full bore the entire distance. That thing would flat out fly. It was also awesome on dirt, gravel, sand, and many combo surfaces. I rode my buddies $1100 Giant. For my purposes it was no better and required drivetrain adjustments about every 15-20 miles. I was a fanatic about the derailluers being just right. My Schwinn would go as far as 100 miles with no adjustment. My point is this. For me, the more expensive bike was not worth the extra money as the basic performance was really no better. Ya, it had disc brakes, but the V-Brakes on my Schwinn were just as good for the riding I was doing and required less maintenence. To me, my bike was like my ’68 Mercury Cougar. It wasn’t the latest technology, but it had sentimental value and did what I needed it to as well as anything out there. On top of it all, I used to ride off road by a lake where some semi-pro riders practiced and noticed a few of them riding a 2000 GSX just like mine and they swore that they would ride them until the frame broke in half. I met one guy that had a 1997 GSX and he had no trouble keeping up with everybody. I met a lot of guys that spent over $1500 on their bikes and had trouble keeping up with even the mediocre Scwinn riders. You probably know this but unless you are rock climbing/jumping a rear shock is a hinderence. When you crank on the pedals and the rear shock compresses, it is taking energy away from the rear wheel markedly decreasing efficiency. All in all, I’d stay in the medium price range. You might give up a little performance, but in most cases the mid-range bikes are not as finicky. Please remember. When riding off road, the only thing you should leave behind is a Yeeeeee Ha echo and a big fat tire print. Man do I miss riding! God bless and happy trails.
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