What mountain bike for a beginner?

iWish

iWish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2011
Messages
451
Reaction score
42
My wife and I are shopping for mountain bikes. Would like to know what you guys think.
The giant revel 0 (2012) looks nice but I have only read bad things about the fork. It is a SR Suntour XCM fork. Should I even worry about something like that?
My other option is serfas xcr3 at a good price.
I thought of the silverback stride 10 for my wife.
Any suggestions? Our budget is max R5000 per bike.
 
Also check out Gumtree. I recommend getting a 2nd hand mountain bike as they depreciate more than motor vehicles these days, so you can score some serious bargains. Just got my GF a Scott Scale 60, Rockshock Tora, Shimano Deore XT rear derailer and Shimano Deore in the front for R3000. Another benefit is that 2nd hand bikes usually come with all the kit included, eg. helmet, cycling computer etc.
 
Suntour is fine for your wife but if you weigh over 100kg like I do you going to want to get yourself a decent shock in front. Rather spend the money up front and get a Rockshock or Fox fork. Disc brakes are also a must have if you're going off-road.
 
Napalm2880 said:
Suntour is fine for your wife but if you weigh over 100kg like I do you going to want to get yourself a decent shock in front. Rather spend the money up front and get a Rockshock or Fox fork. Disc brakes are also a must have if you're going off-road.
Click to expand...

Decent (or acceptable even) discs are going to break his 5k each budget :p
 
iWish said:
My wife and I are shopping for mountain bikes. Would like to know what you guys think.
The giant revel 0 (2012) looks nice but I have only read bad things about the fork. It is a SR Suntour XCM fork. Should I even worry about something like that?
My other option is serfas xcr3 at a good price.
I thought of the silverback stride 10 for my wife.
Any suggestions? Our budget is max R5000 per bike.
Click to expand...

I fitted a XCM to my MTB and weighed 95kg last time I went for a proper rid. Not a bad fork and if your looking for something better then be prepared to pay. With a mountain bike its better to start basic and then upgrade as you get experience.

Even though my weight is back to 100kg as I seldom get time to ride, I decided to rather get a better crank set with my recent upgrade. Its all personal.

But also checkout the thehubsa.co.za, its a forum for cyclists in South Africa and you will get lots of advice.
 
Thanks for the info. My weight is below 100 kg so I think the suntour fork will be adequate. Still thinking of the giant revel 0 bike. Just shopping around for the best price.
 
iWish said:
Thanks for the info. My weight is below 100 kg so I think the suntour fork will be adequate. Still thinking of the giant revel 0 bike. Just shopping around for the best price.
Click to expand...

Where are you situated?
 
The bike I currently have is a 2012 GT Karakoram 3.0 - its a 29er and it has excellent disc brakes. They go for about R5000 new and I can highly recommend them. I have done 2000km on mine and it has never let me down. The triple-triangle-design does help a bit as this bike feels a lot more stable on rocky downhills than my previous bike felt. SR Suntour XCM is a pretty good shock, mine is still working like new.

Complete specs on the bike is here : http://www.gtbicycles.com/2012/bikes/mountain/trail/2012-karakoram-3-0
 
Rouxenator said:
The bike I currently have is a 2012 GT Karakoram 3.0 - its a 29er and it has excellent disc brakes. They go for about R5000 new and I can highly recommend them. I have done 2000km on mine and it has never let me down. The triple-triangle-design does help a bit as this bike feels a lot more stable on rocky downhills than my previous bike felt. SR Suntour XCM is a pretty good shock, mine is still working like new.

Complete specs on the bike is here : http://www.gtbicycles.com/2012/bikes/mountain/trail/2012-karakoram-3-0
Click to expand...

I can also recommend GT bikes... I used to build them and yeah... quality right there.

Ooh... they've got cable disks.... yeah. Better than cable v-brakes, but personally I don't like them.
Last time I looked at a mtb though, the GT 1.0 disk went for R6500 (it had hydraulic disks).
 
Last edited:
The reason you can get these GTs for slightly less than competing setups from Giant or Merida is because they are very clever with their parts sourcing. The frames are built in China and while I had my doubts about that initially I can safely say that 2000km later all doubt has been removed. They use the same frame for the 3.0, 2.0 and 1.0 models with the only difference being the level of parts on the bike - and that is how they make a price range from R5k to R10k. Then again even on bottom level 3.0 you get good quality parts and an exception ride.

Upgrades are easy and considering you get Maxxis Aspen tyres you will find it very easy if you plan to go tubeless. No matter what brand or bike you go for do yourself the favor and go for a 29er - you will not be disappointed.
 
Bla bla what?
GT bikes are built by Merida (last I checked they still were).
GT outsourced the frame building and the company thought "well why don't we build our own bikes too?" and they started Merida.
 
For real? I knew they were partnered with Schwinn back in the 90's but that partnership split up long time ago. Someone told me Titan was the in house brand for Merida.
 
Rouxenator said:
For real? I knew they were partnered with Schwinn back in the 90's but that partnership split up long time ago. Someone told me Titan was the in house brand for Merida.
Click to expand...

Yup. I worked in a bike shop some years ago, it was around that time that Merida made a return, or rather its debut, as a competitor to international markets.
Merida's been around since the 70's, they made their own bikes back then, but small-scale and mainly for the local market.
 
Impressive! Seems they know a thing or two about making good frames then, I see on their wikipedia page they also made DiamondBack bikes which I still remember from my school years. I guess their is some truth behind them making frames for Titan then.
 
iWish said:
I am in Pretoria.
Click to expand...

Go to:
Hot Spot Cycles (Atterbury Value Mart) for GT/Merida
Bruce Reyneke Cycles (Hatfield) for Giant
Cycle Lab has a store on the corner of Lynnwood and Lois. They also sell Merida and GT.
 
Rouxenator said:
The bike I currently have is a 2012 GT Karakoram 3.0 - its a 29er and it has excellent disc brakes. They go for about R5000 new and I can highly recommend them. I have done 2000km on mine and it has never let me down. The triple-triangle-design does help a bit as this bike feels a lot more stable on rocky downhills than my previous bike felt. SR Suntour XCM is a pretty good shock, mine is still working like new.

Complete specs on the bike is here : http://www.gtbicycles.com/2012/bikes/mountain/trail/2012-karakoram-3-0
Click to expand...

Where did you purchase your GT?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X