Mountain bike for beginner

[Alton Chetty]

Hi Members.

I'm looking for a used mountain bike , came across the below. Which would seems best for its price and lasts longer

Titan calypso vbrakes 2750
Titan Cruz 2300
Titan racing 3000
Merida miami 3500
Scott aspect 3850
Specialized 26er 3000

Thanks

 

[rh1]

Have you ridden any of them? We all built differently.
Make a list, what year model, what components etc.

 

[karnuffel]

Dont go for the 26er. Whats your budget (guessing 3500 max?)? Also have a look at Silverback, normally great value for the money.

also what size bike are you looking for?

 

[nazmo]

1. go 29er. its just smoother
2. Avoid ANY makro special
3. Buy a used big brand, like GIANT, scott, silverback.... (Specialised gets too pricey)
4. Cheap bikes are so heavy (like 15kg plus) vs 10-12kg for a big brand bike, that you actually get put off riding, especially up climbs.
5. Should you start enjoying the rough stuff, cheap bands are terrible, steering goes out, cabled brakes or horrible, brake fade. shocks are bad.
6. You want hydraulic brakes, 29inch wheels, tubeless conversion, the right size! super important. Understand the different type of bikes. you get downhill, cross country, trail. whats your intention? Do you want to do a quick blast down the black trails at tokai? or do you want to do a 160km marathon on mostly gravel? (I do both).
7. Stay away from dual suspension as a beginner. reason being, no cheap dual suspension exists. if you cheap out, you will get a 20kg beast thats terrible. hard tail is cheaper, ligther and faster. If you choose to upgrade, then dual sus is king, but a good quality one is exceptionally more money when you try to match the lightness of a hard tail.

Now, you dont need to break the bank! Sure, you can buy new for R2999 at game. but Ill rather save a bit more, and spend R5kish on a used GIANT or Silverback, Merida or even our local company MOMSEN. and if you dont like it, re-sell it for virtually no loss.



I was a Roadie. I then borrowed my boets MTB and fell in love. However i was used to decent tech so i got myself a used full carbon, quality groupset GIANT for R16k (about half price new)... its now 6 years later and i still use it. Good bikes last.

Other things to note:

1) Helmet, you will need one. Goto Chris Willemse, you dont need expensive, you just need quality assured. Its your head after all.
2) gloves, i prefer full finger gloves for the inevitable fall, but up to you. once again. go cheap at first
3) Shoes (and pedals). go flat pedals, and takkies at first. should you eventually want to. cleat up, its way more effecient. but dont ever cleat in as a beginner, you will fall and get terriefied.
4) Shorts. You bum will get sore. but you dont need to dress like a tour de france roadie. get baggy shorts with built in cushioning. and a similar loose fitting cycle top....

 

[c3n0byt3]

Hi Members.

I'm looking for a used mountain bike , came across the below. Which would seems best for its price and lasts longer

Titan calypso vbrakes 2750
Titan Cruz 2300
Titan racing 3000
Merida miami 3500
Scott aspect 3850
Specialized 26er 3000

Thanks

My 2c, as a beginner as well.

- Your size really does matter. I need an XL bike and it was hard to find.
- Second hand is of course the way to go, but note that sometimes components have been changed by previous owner. Sometimes to upgrade. Sometimes something broke and the cheapest one replacement was found.
- Depending on how much and how hard you ride, bike servicing is a consideration. There's also general wear and tear items.

Out of those listed, I'd go with the Scott depending on condition.

 

[The_David]

Hi Members.

I'm looking for a used mountain bike , came across the below. Which would seems best for its price and lasts longer

Titan calypso vbrakes 2750
Titan Cruz 2300
Titan racing 3000
Merida miami 3500
Scott aspect 3850
Specialized 26er 3000

Thanks

Check out Bikehub for 2nd hand deals. They even have a safe payment platform.

 

[Paul Kemp]

4) Shorts. You bum will get sore. but you dont need to dress like a tour de france roadie. get baggy shorts with built in cushioning. and a similar loose fitting cycle top....

My cost saving solution is a pair of the cheapest padded Lycra pants I can find and then just wear swimming baggies over them.

29ers roll better, no debate there, but could you not get more bike(better components) in a 26in form because everyone avoids them now? I haven’t actually looked into buying one in a long time but it seems plausible.

 

[PhireSide]

@Rouxenator

 

[pinball wizard]

My cost saving solution is a pair of the cheapest padded Lycra pants I can find and then just wear swimming baggies over them.

My cost saving solution is to simply wear my regular road cycling kit on the mtb...

29ers roll better, no debate there, but could you not get more bike(better components) in a 26in form because everyone avoids them now? I haven’t actually looked into buying one in a long time but it seems plausible.

Yeah, but you'll want to upgrade to a 29er so fast and you'll be left with a dog of a 26er with zero resale value. Also, a 26er may have better specs, but it will be much older. So whereas a newer 29er will come with a 1x10/11/12 setup, a 26er will be stuck in the dark ages with a 3x8/9 setup. things like that make a huge difference.

 

[Paul Kemp]

My cost saving solution is to simply wear my regular road cycling kit on the mtb...

Yeah, but you'll want to upgrade to a 29er so fast and you'll be left with a dog of a 26er with zero resale value. Also, a 26er may have better specs, but it will be much older. So whereas a newer 29er will come with a 1x10/11/12 setup, a 26er will be stuck in the dark ages with a 3x8/9 setup. things like that make a huge difference.

Ja, didn’t consider resale or gearing.

It’s weak but I’m uncomfortable doing the whole budgy smuggler thing and I’m anti spending money on dedicated gear when a T, swimshorts and sneakers will do. Padded short are a must though.

 

[pinball wizard]

It’s weak but I’m uncomfortable doing the whole budgy smuggler thing and I’m anti spending money on dedicated gear when a T, swimshorts and sneakers will do. Padded short are a must though.

Yeah, after so many years on two wheels I have an entire room just for cycling kit, so it helps.

 

[c3n0byt3]

Oh and another thing @Alton Chetty , factor in the cost of a bike rack (unless you riding from home or have a bakkie).
Looking at your price range, unless you have a towbar, the bike rack can be at least half the price of your bike!

 

[Neuk_]

Hi Members.

I'm looking for a used mountain bike , came across the below. Which would seems best for its price and lasts longer

Titan calypso vbrakes 2750
Titan Cruz 2300
Titan racing 3000
Merida miami 3500
Scott aspect 3850
Specialized 26er 3000

Thanks

At this price point, there won't be much in it as they will all use the same or similar components and will use mass produced frames, most likely all from the same factory. My first question would be what are you looking at doing? There are so many options out there in terms of brands, types of bikes, variations in the same types of bikes, etc, etc. and the cost of bikes both in terms of purchase and maintenance has risen sharply the last few years. If you want to see if you are interested in riding then I would suggest borrowing a bike and if the bug bites look at a decent second hand bike from Bike Hub or Bike Market or similar.

When I started riding again a few years back I hadn't been riding for a while and the technology had moved on massively, 29"er's, hydraulic disk brakes, tubeless, full suspension, 2x11 gear sets. etc. I borrowed a bike for a while and was then lucky enough to be offered a decent second hand full suspension bike for a stupid price so took it and haven't looked back.

 

[Neuk_]

Yeah, but you'll want to upgrade to a 29er so fast and you'll be left with a dog of a 26er with zero resale value. Also, a 26er may have better specs, but it will be much older. So whereas a newer 29er will come with a 1x10/11/12 setup, a 26er will be stuck in the dark ages with a 3x8/9 setup. things like that make a huge difference.

Can you even get 26"er's with decent components on these days? Everything I have seen besides kids bikes is geared for 27.5" or 29".

 

[Tacet]

29er vs 26er vs 27.5er

Basically, wheels are flywheels. So a 29er will take longer to build momentum, but it will have more momentum than a 26er. It is slower on the turns, a bit slower out of the blocks, but once its going it goes so much smoother. And it goes over obstacles easier. Personally I'm a 29er fan - the wheelsize is so forgiving when it gets to obstacles.

26er - nimble, faster out of the blocks, but has less momentum and makes for a less smooth ride. Bricks are more significant obstacles than with a larger wheel.

27 1/2 - the fence is such a comfy place to sit on.....


Scott vs Giant vs Silverback vs.....
Everyone has their favorite brands. But you'll find that the components used on the known named brands are all the same - shocks are either Fox or RockShox, gears are Shimano or SRAM.... The frames may differ a bit, but Scott, Giant, Silverback, Canondale, Specialized, Norco... are all good brands.

PS
Note on your list above - stay away from v-brakes on mountain bikes. Single suspension is fine, but make sure the shock is a good brand.

 

[Rouxenator]

Seems your budget is under R4k so that does complicate things a bit. I would not buy new in this price range.

Ideally you want a bike with a frame size that fits you and you should really aim for the following in order of importance :

1) As mentioned above the frame size to fit your length
2) 29er wheels (I do love my 26er as 2nd bike)
3) Disc brakes, preferably hydraulic
4) Tubeless tyres

You can forego 3 and 4 if you plan to upgrade later but getting it off the bat will be a bonus.

Coincidentally the 26er I have checks all those boxes except for being a 29er, it one of the most advanced bikes available in 2004 and I got it for about R3k in 2018.

Check bikehub and gumtree for good used bikes from known brands as mentioned above.

 

[nazmo]

My cost saving solution is a pair of the cheapest padded Lycra pants I can find and then just wear swimming baggies over them.

29ers roll better, no debate there, but could you not get more bike(better components) in a 26in form because everyone avoids them now? I haven’t actually looked into buying one in a long time but it seems plausible.

you can defiantely get a 26er well specc'd for cheap. It does once again come down to what you want to do. if you going to do the occasional single track and just have a jol, nothing wrong with a 26er. If you eventually want to do longer rides, events, gravel, 29er is just better. I did a 160km MTB race on a 29er' hard tail. If I did it on a 26er i think my back would be broken.

 

[pinball wizard]

Can you even get 26"er's with decent components on these days? Everything I have seen besides kids bikes is geared for 27.5" or 29".

Not new. There's some well specced 26er's secondhand on bikehub.

 

[Neuk_]

Not new. There's some well specced 26er's secondhand on bikehub.

Yeah, as I thought, my future FIL has a high end 26" Yeti in his garage which looks like a child's bike next to our 29"er's.

 

[Rouxenator]

I did do last years 109km Argus on the 26er just for the fun of it. Most of the time I ride my 29er, I did all 6 Transkaroo 240km rides on a 29er.

As for padded pants, I have two baggie ones but most of the time I ride in normal shorts since I use these saddles : https://www.rapide.co.za/product/rapide-tf-147-saddle/

My biggest issue with the 26er was getting well prices tubeless tyres for it, something is it months before Evobikes have some at affordable prices.