Mountain bike advise

Grimspoon

Grimspoon

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I am looking to buy a mountain bike.

I have been offered a Trek 4500 probably around 2000 model or there abouts and sounds like it is in good condition. Front shocks apparently are not fantastic but fine.

Now I am also looking at 2 brand new Avalanche's from Sportsmans warehouse, the one is R2k.

I can't decide if it would be better to buy a new bike that maybe isn't as good or get the Trek that is possibly a better bike all round.

The only thing that concerns me with the Trek is that it is about 10 years old after all.

Advice please.
 
How many kms has been done on the bike ?
Who has been riding it ?
The trek 4500 even 10 years old will have better components than the avalanche. However it depends on how it has been treated. A good tip would be to take the trek to a bike shop and ask them to evaluate the condition
A picture of the trek would help.
 
You'll get some expert advice if you post your query on thehubsa.co.za forum :)
 
Problem with Trek is finding a store that deals with them, specially in cape town....

I have a Trek 4900 Disc that I'm selling for R4000 - wrong frame size :( Done 250km in 5 years :p
 
pilks said:
How many kms has been done on the bike ?
Who has been riding it ?
The trek 4500 even 10 years old will have better components than the avalanche. However it depends on how it has been treated. A good tip would be to take the trek to a bike shop and ask them to evaluate the condition
A picture of the trek would help.
Click to expand...

I have no idea how many K's it has done.

I work with the chap that is selling it and he is the kind of person who would really look after his things.

He has offered it to me for the weekend when I get it to check it out and see if I am happy with it.
 
Grimspoon said:
I am looking to buy a mountain bike.

I have been offered a Trek 4500 probably around 2000 model or there abouts and sounds like it is in good condition. Front shocks apparently are not fantastic but fine.

Now I am also looking at 2 brand new Avalanche's from Sportsmans warehouse, the one is R2k.

I can't decide if it would be better to buy a new bike that maybe isn't as good or get the Trek that is possibly a better bike all round.

The only thing that concerns me with the Trek is that it is about 10 years old after all.

Advice please.
Click to expand...


Firstly, this is the wrong forum. Come on over to thehubsa.co.za and get the real advice your looking for.

2nd: There are just too many factors involved here. I don't know the particular Trek but I can say that an Avalanche are good. Many guys buy entry level Avalanches and complete major MTB races.

One guy even did the hectic Cape Epic on pink sub R1K bike his daughter got from Makro.
 
xrapidx said:
Problem with Trek is finding a store that deals with them, specially in cape town....

I have a Trek 4900 Disc that I'm selling for R4000 - wrong frame size :( Done 250km in 5 years :p
Click to expand...

what size? :D

@ OP: what you want to use the bike for?
 
Just be careful parts become scarce on older bikes.
 
There are a few ways of looking at it.

I had the option to get a better bike second hand and it has worked out ok. I think that what you have to realize is that you will want to upgrade the 2k bike in about a year or so.
So either way you are going to be spending more money later on.

Have a look at the trek, feel how heavy it is compared to the Avalanche, does it have lockout shocks, how well do the gears change etc.

Avalanche is a great starter bike, its locally assembled and is good quality. I got my wife one and I got a second hand bike for about the same price valued at 2k more.
I have had to spend a little bit of money on it but its really light and rides so well.
 
Brawler said:
what size? :D

@ OP: what you want to use the bike for?
Click to expand...

Well I would like to use it to get fit, I want to try get into the bush or trails on the weekends if possible otherwise after work I want to do a few laps around the neighborhood just to get some exercise in.
 
Nerfherder said:
There are a few ways of looking at it.

I had the option to get a better bike second hand and it has worked out ok. I think that what you have to realize is that you will want to upgrade the 2k bike in about a year or so.
So either way you are going to be spending more money later on.

Have a look at the trek, feel how heavy it is compared to the Avalanche, does it have lockout shocks, how well do the gears change etc.

Avalanche is a great starter bike, its locally assembled and is good quality. I got my wife one and I got a second hand bike for about the same price valued at 2k more.
I have had to spend a little bit of money on it but its really light and rides so well.
Click to expand...

I went to Sportsmans warehouse yesterday after work and had a look at what they had.

The Avalanches look ok. I am sure it would do the job but didn't wow me much. The only one that look nice was the Atx375.

I saw a Mongoose they have on special for R4999. Its the Tyax comp 2010. Awesome bike!!

Wife doesn't even want to entertain the idea of me spending R5k on a bike. :o
 
cbrunsdonza said:
Firstly, this is the wrong forum. Come on over to thehubsa.co.za and get the real advice your looking for.
Click to expand...

So you don't think anyone on here mountain bikes? ;)

I think all news related stories should be posted on iol.co.za, all sports stories on the supersport forums......



OP, if you are just getting into the sport then just get the best bike you can afford. You may end up getting hooked on the sport but you may equally find that the bike just ends up sitting in the garage. If you do get hooked you will find that you will always want a bike better than the one you currently have no matter how great it already is. There is always something that "needs" to be upgraded.

The ten year old bike is going to be showing wear and tear no matter how well the owner has treated it. Gears, chain, cables, derailleur, brakes, tyres etc etc all get worn eventually. You are in Jhb but you also need to be on the look out for rust. I am also not a label person. Some people will say steer clear of this or that but at the end of the day a lot of these bikes are using the same components anyway. You need to focus more on the components being used rather than name of the bike.

Does the 10 year old bike offer you more? As in dual suspension versus hard tail, disc brakes as opposed to v-brakes, is the gearing system superior...
 
Last edited:
Grimspoon said:
Well I would like to use it to get fit, I want to try get into the bush or trails on the weekends if possible otherwise after work I want to do a few laps around the neighborhood just to get some exercise in.
Click to expand...

I just sold my Cannondale for a really good price. I got bored of mountianbiking and got a proper trails bike.
 
Brawler said:
I just sold my Cannondale for a really good price. I got bored of mountianbiking and got a proper trails bike.
Click to expand...

Nice, I ride a motocross bike as well, that is my first passion but its not always easy to get out every weekend.

Mountain biking I think would be a great way to exercise seen as though I hate going to gym.
 
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