Would love some advice asap on a few 2nd hand all mountain bikes

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Would love some advice asap on a few 2nd hand all mountain bikes
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flag rjenz
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Posted: Mar 3, 2012 at 0:13 Quote
Hi there, I'm after a full suspension bike for the first time having dragged an entry-level Giant hardtail around my local trails for years.

I'm gunning for an all-mountain-ish kind of bike. I usually do a fair mixture of up and down, but would need it to handle some reasonable downhill and small dropoffs and jumps. Would be nice if bigger stuff was tackle-able should I progress towards that. That said, not a fan of anything that weighs a ton and will be a mission to climb with. Current bike is 33 lbs, wouldn't want to go above 40. I'm a hair under 6' and 132 lbs.

I don't have the budget for anything new, so I've been scouring my local buy/sell site and am considering:

- 05' Kona Coiler - - - (mtbr reviews) - - - NZ$700. Pushing it with weight. Seems to be popular and showered in praise on mtbr.

- 09' Merida Trans-Mission TFS 500-D - - - (bikeradar review) - - - NZ$750-850. Might not handle downhill that well? Good condition and fairly new though.

- Scott Reflex FX 25 - - - NZ$900-1500. Is it more for XC? Could be a fair bit more expensive.

Does any of them have significantly better components? Any advice about which might suit me best? Or experiences/opinions to add? Asap would be nice as the auctions finish in the next day or two. Cheers.

PS: I'm down in New Zealand, so please don't suggest something else from say pinkbike Smile
flag JoeeeCunningham
Posted: Mar 3, 2012 at 11:19 Quote
I would say save up a bit more
flag rjenz
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Posted: Mar 3, 2012 at 15:03 Quote
JoeeeCunningham wrote:
I would say save up a bit more

So you don't think a lower-level full suspension's worth it?
To be honest I don't think I am serious enough/go biking enough to justify spending much over over NZ$1000.
flag JoeeeCunningham
Posted: Mar 3, 2012 at 15:07 Quote
Not so much seriousness but quality I made the mistake of being a pos and spent all my time fixing it in the long run you will probably save more
flag brianl
Posted: Mar 3, 2012 at 19:04 Quote
If you can find Giants in your area - Trance and Reign can sometimes be found at decent prices and most have pretty good parts.
flag MtMedic31
Posted: Mar 3, 2012 at 19:13 Quote
Of the three in your first post, I'm only familiar with the coiler. That would be hell to go uphill with. I'd save up. If you wanna start now, You can find good deals on frames on Ebay, I pieced a Titus el Guapo together off ebay, taking the better parts off my old bike, and I'm into the whole thing about $1500 now. It would take a while, bidding on parts and such. Otherwise, there are some great deals on older new stock at Cambria Bike outfitters, and HucknRoll.com. There's a Kona Tanuki on Huck n Roll, all new with nice components for $1200. That bike would most likely fit your bill nicely. Otherwise I'd say an El guapo, or any of the Pivot bikes. BTW my El guapo is set up for heavy trail, and mild downhill, and weighs in at just over 30lbs. I took it to Kicking Horse in Golden, BC last summer, and it worked great. Cheers man.
flag jaymac10
Posted: Mar 3, 2012 at 22:18 Quote
Look at an older used Specialized XC or Stumpjumper FSR. The 2006-2008's could probably be bought for around the $1000 mark.

In the early summer of 2011, I purchased a 2010 Stumpjumper Expert for $1,800 that was mint.

I had previously purchased a older 2005 ish (?) Specialized XC pro, but after 1.5 seasons of riding a bit more serious, I soon grew out of it and upgraded to the 2010.

So I would say save up a bit more and get a bike that's going to last you and be able to keep up with you as your skills improve!

Cheers,

Jay
flag rjenz
O+
Posted: Mar 4, 2012 at 0:12 Quote
JoeeeCunningham wrote:
Not so much seriousness but quality I made the mistake of being a pos and spent all my time fixing it in the long run you will probably save more

Hey thanks for all the help guys. Seems to be a common theme here and other places I asked for advice that it would be better to save up for quality. Could anyone elaborate on what I should be looking to get quality at a lower level/price?

With that in mind I had went back and found some bikes that might be better:
- 2006 Specialized Enduro Pro - - - Apparently is a great all mountain bike according to bikeradar...
- 2009 Specialized Pitch - - - bikeradar are also quite enamoured with this as a do-it-all...
- 2009 Giant Trance X2 - - -
- 2009 Giant Trance 1 - - -
- 2009 Giant Trance X3 - - -

Is this more along the lines of what I should be trying to get? Any thoughts on what I linked to, or how they compare?

Very Random PS: How do I change my country flag? Can't for the life of me figure how to change from Canada to NZ! (Nothing against Canada though Smile )
flag JoeeeCunningham
Posted: Mar 4, 2012 at 1:08 Quote
Yeah there much better the giants look pretty good so does the pitch
flag Big-Burd
Posted: Mar 4, 2012 at 7:56 Quote
It sounds like you know what you want. I used to own a Kona Tanuki, I got it for 1,050$ off H&R and it was awesome, except for the frame was made wrong or the BB issues were impossible to fix. It was also a little more on the XC spectrum of trail bikes. And even though I rode the crap out of it, they still gave me my money back.
Check out the GT force on Giantnerd.com . I just picked up the Force 2.0 and am THRILLED with it. They also have the 3.0 for 1100 I believe, and I'm pretty sure they're still doing a 10% off. I would find a complete bike that you love the frame and go from there. It would be nice to have something that's at least all deore or sram x7 but you can upgrade suspension and components as you go. Hope this helps, and sorry if I broke forum rules about posting vendors but I didn't see anything about it..
flag Clutt225
Posted: Mar 4, 2012 at 8:06 Quote
I was in the same boat. Though I was riding an older FS bike. I had a 03 Devinci Sagauro and just picked up an 09 Trek Fuel ex7.
I have yet to hit the trails but for 900$ can. I feel I can't have gone too wrong.
Just keep searching local classifieds you may find that diamond in the ruff that some one had for three to four years and put less than a seasons riding on it. It worked for me.
flag rjenz
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Posted: Mar 4, 2012 at 17:10 Quote
Clutt225 wrote:
Just keep searching local classifieds you may find that diamond in the ruff that some one had for three to four years and put less than a seasons riding on it. It worked for me.

Yeah sounds like a plan. At least you guys have got me on the right track now Smile


I did actually find another 2009 Trance X2 that I might be able to land cheaply, though it's pretty custom and was built up from the frame/rear shock. Do the components look sound?

And this Marin TARA (Wolf Ridge?) also looks pretty decent.

Thanks for all the help guys. I'll keep an eye on my classifieds and try score something along these lines for a bargain.
flag Big-Burd
Posted: Mar 4, 2012 at 20:37 Quote
If you look at the classifieds and have patience there is no reason you can't find a full suspension in your price range. It's out there or will be soon. Best of luck
flag iffy
Posted: Mar 7, 2012 at 3:13 Quote
cant say i,ve ridden them all by my cannondale prophet is nice and light, climbs faster than my rigid marin nail trail(which climbs like a goat), let it get some speed downhill and it just starts to float over everything (tweek ur suspension settings VITAL) and you can pickem up cheap, single pivot= low spanner time

5 minute XC to DH makeover with an allen key....okay i,d better stop myself, but i´m a fan.

if you pick up the MX version its a bit beefier for rough stuff.
flag rjenz
O+
Posted: Mar 12, 2012 at 18:19 Quote
Hey guys, just an update to say thanks for all the helpful suggestions, I ended up grabbing the Pitch for NZ$1200.
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