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As far as mountain bikes go, at the bottom of the barrel of new offerings that you can buy that probably won't kill you is the Walmart/Ozark Trail hardtail: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-29-Ridge-Mountain-Bike-Medium-Frame-Gray-Adult-Unisex/1656914661?athbdg=L1600 You will likely need to know how to/pay someone to give it a once over to make sure it wasn't set up incorrectly and your bars won't fall off mid-ride or something.
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Mar 21, 2024 17:51
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So after talking with some co-workers I decided I was just going to keep what I have for now and ride it until it breaks... not gonna put a dime in to it, but try to tighten things up and ride it till the wheels fall off. Planned to start saving some money and looking for a more quality bike while I see if I continue to ride this one. So I get home and my tires were a little low so I filled them up to 50 PSI. Two minutes down the road and the front tire pops. Luckily its supposed to downpour the next few days as I decide what Im going to do.
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Mar 21, 2024 22:11
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Link your local Craigslist and your height + leg inseam and the max you can spare at this point.
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Mar 21, 2024 22:14
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5'9" 34 inseam. Budget 100-300 (can go more but don't really want to) https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/ I have two actual bike shops, Dicks, and probably some other sporting places around me. And of course Walmart. Im in the suburbs so.. pretty much anything. Polish fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Mar 21, 2024 |
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Mar 21, 2024 22:22
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as an aside, 50psi is pretty drat high pressure for a mtb tire
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Mar 21, 2024 22:25
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Yeah I felt that too but the tire claimed 45-60..so I went on the lower end. Should of factored in the 20 year old rubber.
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Mar 21, 2024 22:26
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Polish posted:5'9" 34 inseam. Budget 100-300 (can go more but don't really want to) If you're in or near Philly take whatever bike you end up with to a co-op like someone mentioned above. They typically will help you fix your bike, providing tools, space, and help as needed. You'll end up with a more functional bike and learn how to fix and maintain it at the same time. Here's one I found that looks legit: https://neighborhoodbikeworks.org/fix-your-own-bike
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Mar 21, 2024 23:27
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Would something like this: https://www.guysbicycles.com/product/gt-aggressor-sport-385459-1.htm Or this: https://www.mthollybicycles.com/product/gt-palomar-385458-1.htm Be pretty decent? Just trying to gauge what to look for. Yesterday I was gonna pick up a 100 dollar bike on amazon now you guys got me looking at 500 dollar bikes. In reality a department store bike will probably fit my needs completely, but I 100% agree with what everyone has said in here. If anything.. I'll drop 500 bucks on a bike it will definitely motivate me to use it. I do have lots of bike trails in various parks near me, nothing like the videos posted in here, but I could go on them.
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Mar 22, 2024 03:15
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I see 3 that are solid components in the 1-200 range, sorted roughly by component quality best to worst: https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/d/garnet-valley-giant-escape-hybrid/7729167856.html https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/d/philadelphia-cannondale-quick-hybrid/7714925355.html https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/d/philadelphia-vita-elite-large/7728886706.html The 1st one would be great provided everything works _and_ it's your size. Do you have a short torso? If so, it might fit ok. Or it might feel really cramped. The seat is really high in the picture, but possibly about where you'd need it. This is what you're looking for, something with medium sized smoother tires, no suspension fork, 700C wheel size. Ideally 9 speeds for better availability of cheaper quality replacement parts. 7 speed to be avoided cuz that uses a different tier of older generation parts that, sure, you can get replacments for, but it's never gonna be particularly well built, so you're still throwing more money away.
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Mar 22, 2024 04:08
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Hard pass on the rim brakes and freewheel (14–34, seven‐speed) at that price. Polish posted:Would something like this: GT Aggressor is a classic of cheap bikes. Dick’s has the eight‐speed cassette model for less. I’m not seeing a downside to that other than the wheel size, but that’s not worth two hundred dollars. I don’t know how much they charge for shipping though.
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Mar 22, 2024 04:34
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29" wheels are big for a short king like myself, so don't think of 27.5" as inferior, just a different option.
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Mar 22, 2024 05:20
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I have 26" now and that is fine for me so 27.5 would probably be ideal. Whats the deal with the lack of kickstands? I get at a higher level shaving weight and everything, but down at the lower level, don't most people need to eventually rest their bike somewhere?
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Mar 22, 2024 12:44
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The only time you should be stopping is at breweries with bike racks
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Mar 22, 2024 15:04
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This is true. Anywhere else you can generally just lay the bike down or lean it against a building or sign. I've never really missed having a kickstand on any of my bikes.
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Mar 22, 2024 15:20
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If you dont have something to prop it on, always lay it down on the non dreaileur side. Bars are so wide now it'll rest on tires and the bar end. It wont rest on the pedal as long as its an up position.
Boogalo fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Mar 22, 2024 |
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Mar 22, 2024 16:14
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The first time you hit a decent bump or dip at speed you'll understand why no one uses kickstands.
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Mar 22, 2024 17:17
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I had a kickstand on my crosscountry bike and was like “this is convenient. I’ll keep it.” Then I did some work on the bike where I removed it and forgot to reattach it before I put on the wheel. It turns out that I didn’t miss it, so I never put it back on.
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Mar 23, 2024 00:07
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I think it's fine as long as it's the usual kind that points backwards when not in use. If you've got one that points forwards then yeah maybe it could get flipped down and cause a crash.
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Mar 23, 2024 00:20
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Went out today to go look around. Went to Dicks to look at that GT Aggressor which is completely out of stock everywhere. Moved on to a local bike shop that was very helpful and had a Diamondback that was nice but it was a 20" frame with 27.5" tires, which is a tad too large for me. So since its Sunday and every other local bike shop is closed I went to Walmart just for shits and giggles, mainly to sit on a few different size bikes. I ended up getting a new tire tube just to make my current bike useable and I'll go out and Friday and continue the search.
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Mar 24, 2024 18:35
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Polish posted:Went out today to go look around. Went to Dicks to look at that GT Aggressor which is completely out of stock everywhere. Moved on to a local bike shop that was very helpful and had a Diamondback that was nice but it was a 20" frame with 27.5" tires, which is a tad too large for me. So since its Sunday and every other local bike shop is closed I went to Walmart just for shits and giggles, mainly to sit on a few different size bikes. I ended up getting a new tire tube just to make my current bike useable and I'll go out and Friday and continue the search. pinkbike.com buysell, put in your area, your budget, do the 'all mountain' or 'xc' bikes, the ones that look good link the listings here and we'll let you know.
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Mar 24, 2024 18:42
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Well in a turn of events, I just took my bike out with the new tire tube, this time filled to 40 PSI.. and it pops after ten minutes. Turns out the outer tire is ripped right at the bead, exposing a metal bead ring which was slicing the tube open. My brother in law just gave me his Schwinn mountain bike that he has used all of two times, its about ten years old and in great condition. I rode it around for an hour and it was way way better than what I had. So back to my plan to ride this thing around save up some cash and then find something a bit better.
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Mar 24, 2024 21:23
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Polish posted:Well in a turn of events, I just took my bike out with the new tire tube, this time filled to 40 PSI.. and it pops after ten minutes. Turns out the outer tire is ripped right at the bead, exposing a metal bead ring which was slicing the tube open. My brother in law just gave me his Schwinn mountain bike that he has used all of two times, its about ten years old and in great condition. I rode it around for an hour and it was way way better than what I had. So back to my plan to ride this thing around save up some cash and then find something a bit better. For what it's worth (this wasn't the problem this time) you generally want 22-28 or so PSI in a bike tire.
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Mar 25, 2024 03:05
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you're definitely getting the Cheap Old Bike experience. random poo poo failing in weird ways cause it sat outside for a decade or more and now you're riding it a bunch. my first city bike was my childhood department store mountain bike I took with me to college, and i rode and repaired it until some poo poo i couldn't fix finally broke (I bent the axle jumping off a train platform during critical mass)
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Mar 26, 2024 16:07
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VelociBacon posted:For what it's worth (this wasn't the problem this time) you generally want 22-28 or so PSI in a bike tire. Is this for more off-road, on road, or both? I have more of a thinner tire with somewhat aggressive tread, its certainly not any of the fatter tires I saw on the nicer bikes. I've been riding for about an hour each day trying to get my leg strength and endurance up cause I'm an out of shape piece of poo poo, but I took to the local woods today. Everyone around my neighborhood seems to be maintaining the trails and everything isn't over-grown yet. I really need to work on my front tire hop, which I can only get about 3-4 inches off the ground. Also need to get a better gauge on what gears I should be in when doing things. I typicaly stay on the middle gear for just about everything and stick to the higher smaller gears when riding around on pavement. I kick it to lower gears while going uphill, but even that didn't help in the woods with roots and bumps everywhere. I'm sure my current physical level isn't quite there yet. I'm having fun and even though this isn't the best bike, it'll do what I need it to for now. I had mountain biking in high school, and generally just rode a bike when I was young so I have some idea of what I'm doing. But fast forward twenty years of bodily abuse and cheeseburgers, and I kinda just suck at stuff now.
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Mar 27, 2024 02:45
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Polish posted:Is this for more off-road, on road, or both? I have more of a thinner tire with somewhat aggressive tread, its certainly not any of the fatter tires I saw on the nicer bikes. For off-road. On-road maybe a little more but if it's a mountain bike you want to optimize it for trail riding basically.
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Mar 27, 2024 02:57
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Okay good to know. I am mostly doing asphalt right now and kinda dipping my toes in to some simple trails. I might lower it down to 30 and see how that goes.
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Mar 27, 2024 03:18
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Polish posted:Okay good to know. I am mostly doing asphalt right now and kinda dipping my toes in to some simple trails. I might lower it down to 30 and see how that goes. It depends a bit on how heavy you are but 40psi is too much on a mountain bike tire for anyone. Someone who rides more trail stuff please correct me if I'm misleading this goon!
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Mar 27, 2024 03:23
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I run tubeless at 18psi, but every gauge and bike is different. 40psi is probably way too high, but 30 is a good spot to start.
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Mar 27, 2024 03:25
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I'm 5'9" 180ish pounds trying to get to 165-170. The only reason I went up to 50 was because the tire claimed 45-60 PSI so I figured 50 was on the safer side. I am not too familiar with tube tires though so any information is helpful. e: Wait, they have tubeless bike tires? 
Polish fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Mar 27, 2024 |
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Mar 27, 2024 03:27
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Polish posted:I'm 5'9" 180ish pounds trying to get to 165-170. The only reason I went up to 50 was because the tire claimed 45-60 PSI so I figured 50 was on the safer side. I am not too familiar with tube tires though so any information is helpful. The numbers printed on the tire are the maximum pressure it is designed to withstand and not representative of what is good or useful. We are roughly the same spec and on inner tubes I’d be looking at high 20s to low 30s for pressure based on how smooth or rocky the trails that you ride are. With inner tubes you have to balance squish and grip vs too much squish will result in pinching the inner tube between the tire and wheel rim which leads to ripping the inner tube. If you put too much pressure in the tire it’ll ride like crap as in bounce off of obstacles vs deflect over them and also you’ll lose lateral grip which leads to sketchy cornering. Finding the correct tire pressure is a bit of an art; basically you start at a sane baseline for your weight and trail conditions and adjust to preferences as you go until you get a feel for what 28lsi feels like vs 30 or 33 and then you can get into advanced topics like front vs rear. Personally I like my front to have just a little less pressure and therefore more squish than my rear unless I’m riding in muddy conditions in which case I might sacrifice rolling resistance for as much grip as I can get without risking bashing the rim on a rock or root or having the sidewall fold over whilst cornering. On tubeless on a really messy ride I went down to like 10-12 psi, hills were a slog but the downs were magnificent even when I was two wheel drifting around corners! Edit 2: Yeah there are tubeless tires and they are amazing. Note: tubeless tires require compatible rims but you can often get take offs on consignment at your local bike shop for low $$$ vs buying a new set or having a set built. Arishtat fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Mar 27, 2024 |
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Mar 27, 2024 03:34
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I accidentally ran tubeless pressure in the 40s when the gauge in my pump was off. poo poo suuuucked doing desert mountain trails, not enough traction for climbs or descents to be enjoyable. Tldr: low-mid 30s is great to start
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Mar 27, 2024 03:41
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24 rear 28 front is a safe start on 29 inch mtb tires. If you feel its too squishy for your terrain, add 5 to each.
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Mar 27, 2024 03:46
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Alright, I'm quickly starting to "get it" with the whole mountain bike thing. Just this conversation about tire pressure has me all excited, I need to go back and read this thread. I was just doing this to get in to some sort of shape, but now I am thinking this could be a new stupid expensive hobby. What have you done. Are there some kind of beadlocks for running crazy low 5-8 PSI for like sand? How do you deal with a tubeless tires coming off the rim? Polish fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Mar 27, 2024 |
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Mar 27, 2024 03:50
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Polish posted:Alright, I'm quickly starting to "get it" with the whole mountain bike thing. Just this conversation about tire pressure has me all excited, I need to go back and read this thread. I was just doing this to get in to some sort of shape, but now I am thinking this could be a new stupid expensive hobby. What have you done. Tires don't really come off rims and people who want to ride on sand (sickos) can ride fatbikes with huge tires at low PSIs (probably closer to 15 or something I dunno).
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Mar 27, 2024 03:54
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I'm a mechanical engineer and a Jeep owner so this is all scratching all sorts of itches right now.. Theres an offroad youtube guy that just had some big event where Berm Peak drove up a trail in Utah and then rode his bike down it if you wanna check it out (hopefully timestamped): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn4U26UGvPc&t=1261s I dunno if this Berm Peak guy is good to watch to learn stuff, he seems pretty competent, but I don't know.
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Mar 27, 2024 03:59
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Polish posted:I'm a mechanical engineer and a Jeep owner so this is all scratching all sorts of itches right now.. Theres an offroad youtube guy that just had some big event where Berm Peak drove up a trail in Utah and then rode his bike down it if you wanna check it out (hopefully timestamped): He's fine, he's more of a content producer guy than someone who is trying to teach people about riding. His voice gets to me a little but I've watched a lot of his stuff in the past.
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Mar 27, 2024 04:01
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https://www.youtube.com/@natehills9388/videos this is the good no bs channel for high quality MTB videos. most people here will never be as fast/skilled as these guys (many are pros) but you get to see a lot of great trails from around the world.
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Mar 27, 2024 04:06
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Totally agree with the voice, but he seems to know what he's doing so I can tolerate it.
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Mar 27, 2024 04:06
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I think some super wide fatbike stuff on snow or sand is crazy low like 5-8 PSI. Weight and tire volume (size of the tire and diameter/width of the rim contribute) makes a big difference in reasonable pressure, back when we ran skinny rims with 1.9"/2.1" tubed tires, off-road pressures were like 25-35 but now with 2.3-2.5" tubeless its like 20-30 (super-rough numbers, lots of factors come into play plus some people like super low pressure and some not). Additionally, you can get away with less pressure using tubeless because you don't have to worry about pinch-flats (smashing the tube between the rim and a rock or curb). They sell foam tire inserts that allow running even lower pressures. Generally, lower pressure has better grip for offroad until you get flats or the tire starts to get squirmy and feel 'flat' even though it is holding air. Anyway, if you want to get a decent starting point for pressure you can use a calculator that takes into account tire size, rider/bike weight, terrain type etc like https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure. Maybe flip around between terrain types to get an idea of what is reasonable, but you can probably go up or down like 25% from the recommendation without catastrophe. e: Polish posted:My brother in law just gave me his Schwinn mountain bike that he has used all of two times, its about ten years old and in great condition. taqueso fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Mar 27, 2024 |
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Mar 27, 2024 04:12
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Polish posted:Alright, I'm quickly starting to "get it" with the whole mountain bike thing. Just this conversation about tire pressure has me all excited, I need to go back and read this thread. I was just doing this to get in to some sort of shape, but now I am thinking this could be a new stupid expensive hobby. What have you done. They really don’t de-bead thanks to the Kevlar cords in the tire beads, but they will just go flat and if you ride them enough like that (say in an emergency or racing) it’ll chew through the sidewall just like a car tire. Also stop now while you still can, this hobby is a total(ly fun and worthwhile) money pit. I sat that just having bought what I thought was just going to be a hub upgrade for my hardtail that turned into a full wheel set plus fork! Thanks to the NICA discount and my very accommodating friends at the shop this only cost a mere *cough* $1200 and basically doubled the price of the bike overall but I got a better fork, 5x110mm through axle (vs quick release) and a DT Swiss 350 54t hub on lighter Royal rims wrapped in a blackwall Purgatory up front and a Ground Control rear. TLDR is I now have a decently racy 29er hard tail to run the spring short track series on and teach kids how to race hardtails (once I learn myself that is). Arishtat fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Mar 27, 2024 |
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Mar 27, 2024 04:16
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