Any Mtn Bikers on RME?

[benjy]

Might be my favorite bike builds ever. My girls were ready to move on from their 20” trail crafts. Used no name china carbon frames. “High end” rattle can paint, built the wheels with stans crest wheels, nova tech hubs, tubeless schwalbe rocket Ron, manitou machete fork, deore hydraulic brakes, sdg slater jr saddle/bar/grips/pedals, advent x 10 speed drivetrains. Oddly enough getting 140mm cranks was the most challenging part of the build. Finished up just in time to be under the tree

 

[Tonkaman]

Might be my favorite bike builds ever. My girls were ready to move on from their 20” trail crafts. Used no name china carbon frames. “High end” rattle can paint, built the wheels with stans crest wheels, nova tech hubs, tubeless schwalbe rocket Ron, manitou machete fork, deore hydraulic brakes, sdg slater jr saddle/bar/grips/pedals, advent x 10 speed drivetrains. Oddly enough getting 140mm cranks was the most challenging part of the build. Finished up just in time to be under the tree View attachment 144355

That’s awesome! How much savings did you end up with compared to a similar bike you could buy pre-built?

 

[Gravy]

Holy smokes that's awesome! I can't believe your girls are big enough to ride that big of bikes now!

 

[Corban_White]

Sweet bikes! I love building kids bikes!

 

[benjy]

That’s awesome! How much savings did you end up with compared to a similar bike you could buy pre-built?

Hard to say, I didn’t keep track of costs (don’t want to know). These builds are a little better spec’d than the $1800 aluminum trail craft pineridge, but nowhere near the spec
of the $4k carbon pineridge… If I had to guess I probably landed about $1600 each.

Holy smokes that's awesome! I can't believe your girls are big enough to ride that big of bikes now!

No kidding, they look so big compared to their 20” bikes. With the seats slammed the girls look right at home on these

Sweet bikes! I love building kids bikes!

For some reason it is more fun than building an adult bike!

 

[J-mobzz]

This past summer I took my kids up hiking at Snowbasin a few times where we ride the gondola to the top. There are obviously tons of mountain bikers that take the bikes to the top and then ride down It has my kids really wanting to do that this year. We've always just had BMX bikes and since I have to buy three bikes I'm trying to keep it somewhat reasonable in like the $1500 each range. With it being twins they kind of need the same bike so trying to find two used bikes doesn't really work out because one ends up being nicer than the other one. I know absolutely nothing about mountain bikes but these particular bikes are in stock and they look kind of cool. and more importantly, they're in my budget. They seem super heavy but honestly, we're not really mountain bikers we just want something to ride down the hill with.

https://www.binghamcyclery.com/prod...OPAvLErDeveAEGQ8qWEk8IbYAmfu5byoaAqn3EALw_wcB



what's your feedback on this bike or do you have any other suggestions for bikes in my price range?

 

[jeeper]

Looks good to me!

However, I am a believer in earning your ride down. Gondola up is the lazy man's ways.

 

[Kevin B.]

Gonna be hard to find a $1500 bike that'll survive being hurled down the mountainside by adrenaline-fueled boys. That Atroz is a low-end trail bike with kinda old geometry that would serve well for the sorts of trails that you pedal to the top of. It will not tolerate the sort of big jumps and brutal rocks that you'll find on resort trails. That fork in particular will not hang with the torture your boys will put it through.

 

[J-mobzz]

Gonna be hard to find a $1500 bike that'll survive being hurled down the mountainside by adrenaline-fueled boys. That Atroz is a low-end trail bike with kinda old geometry that would serve well for the sorts of trails that you pedal to the top of. It will not tolerate the sort of big jumps and brutal rocks that you'll find on resort trails. That fork in particular will not hang with the torture your boys will put it through.

I think you overestimate my boys level of extremeness hahaha. They are not full send jump anything kind of kids to be real.

Looks good to me!

However, I am a believer in earning your ride down. Gondola up is the lazy man's ways.

I hear you. I'm a believer in fun days making memories with my kids. So what that looks like is different for everyone I'm sure.

 

[Kevin B.]

I think you overestimate my boys level of extremeness hahaha. They are not full send jump anything kind of kids to be real.

Maybe worth a pull then? Don't pay full price though. Do this, or maybe somebody you know that gets a corporate discount can hook you up. I won't name names but I know there's at least one.

 

[J-mobzz]

Maybe worth a pull then? Don't pay full price though. Do this, or maybe somebody you know that gets a corporate discount can hook you up. I won't name names but I know there's at least one.

Bummer looks like they don’t do it anymore.
I’ll keep looking for a week or so before I pull the trigger. I kinda feel like once tax returns start showing up bikes will be gone again.

We’ve hiked down a few times and I would honestly be comfortable taking my 24” bmx bike down the main trail. So I’m not looking to do downhill type stuff. Just keep them off the computer games as much as possible.

 

[Gravy]

I had an Atroz Comp(the better component set though).
Kevin made fun of me on that one too.
My wife stole it and I had to buy a better bike. She still loves it though.

 

[rholbrook]

This past summer I took my kids up hiking at Snowbasin a few times where we ride the gondola to the top. There are obviously tons of mountain bikers that take the bikes to the top and then ride down It has my kids really wanting to do that this year. We've always just had BMX bikes and since I have to buy three bikes I'm trying to keep it somewhat reasonable in like the $1500 each range. With it being twins they kind of need the same bike so trying to find two used bikes doesn't really work out because one ends up being nicer than the other one. I know absolutely nothing about mountain bikes but these particular bikes are in stock and they look kind of cool. and more importantly, they're in my budget. They seem super heavy but honestly, we're not really mountain bikers we just want something to ride down the hill with.

https://www.binghamcyclery.com/prod...OPAvLErDeveAEGQ8qWEk8IbYAmfu5byoaAqn3EALw_wcB



what's your feedback on this bike or do you have any other suggestions for bikes in my price range?

In the summer they have races every week on either Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. Great family fun and have a course for your younger riders.

 

[Gravy]

Wait a sec here....
Kevin actually found me the one I bought... And still made fun of me.

Any Mtn Bikers on RME?

So Stratton, have a look at the Salsa Timberjack. The NX1, specifically, in the 27.5+ flavor. It's a hardtail, but it's got a component package that's more than suitable for a rider just getting into the sport, with hydro brakes, an air fork, and SRAM NX drivetrain. It's got internal routing...

www.rme4x4.com

 

[Gravy]

If you read one and two pages earlier in the thread Steve gave me some great educational posts. FYI

 

[Kevin B.]

Wait a sec here....
Kevin actually found me the one I bought... And still made fun of me.

Any Mtn Bikers on RME?

So Stratton, have a look at the Salsa Timberjack. The NX1, specifically, in the 27.5+ flavor. It's a hardtail, but it's got a component package that's more than suitable for a rider just getting into the sport, with hydro brakes, an air fork, and SRAM NX drivetrain. It's got internal routing...

www.rme4x4.com

You must be mistaken. I'm not in the habit of making fun of anybody that can ride my legs off.

And I stand by my assertion that that Atroz would make a terrible park bike. But it sounds like that's not how it's gonna get used, so...

 

[Gravy]

Truthfully the atroz you linked and the one I have are only really similar by the frame.

But Kevin is right the couple of times I've taken it to do lift service as a loaner bike for my brother it wasn't that awesome.

But I had to learn for my (stubborn) self the difference between the $1,500 bike and 3000 plus dollar bike. Thanks a lot you mountain bike jerks now I'm broke LoL

 

[J-mobzz]

I mean this is what sucks I really don’t want to spend $10,000 on bicycles. But it sounds like spending $4500 on bicycles is basically a waste of money. So maybe riding bikes down some trails won’t be a hobby.

I do appreciate the feedback. I certainly don’t want to make a mistake buying stuff that isn’t worth owning.

 

[J-mobzz]

Let’s say I do decide and we want to fork out the cash to buy some decent bikes. Do any of you guys have anything you could recommend? My boys are eighth graders but pretty small and lightweight. They’re definitely not going to be hard riders and they’re not going to be racing.

As far as a bike from myself goes I’m OK with looking at used. I want something that’s gonna hold up I’m 6 foot and 230 pounds but I don’t really want my tires to be leaving the ground anymore.

 

[Kevin B.]

I would have a hard time spending even $4500 on bikes that were only gonna get used a couple times a year. If riding the lifts at the park is the agenda, it might be worth just renting when you wanna go.

But for a casual trail ride, something like that Atroz is definitely a useable bike. For your use case I don't know that you and your boys need full suspension bikes? A good suspension setup brings comfort and extra traction to the table, but a low end suspension is heavy and smushy and doesn't really add a lot to the ride IMO. If you start looking at hardtails you bring the price down a notch, and they're simpler to maintain as well.

Besides Diamondback's lineup, check out Bikesdirect.com. Something like this has components that are a step up from that Atroz you linked, and plus tires to boot which I'm a big fan of. They add traction and take a little of the chatter out of the trail without the added complexity of a rear suspension.