From: tlt38517@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Terry Thiel)
Subject: Re: WANTED: mountain bikes, and info on mountain bikes, ...
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 19:52:23 GMT

gilgalad@dip.eecs.umich.edu (Ralph Seguin) writes:
>Hi.  A friend and I are both looking at purchasing mountain bikes.
>My price limit is about $700, and his up to $1000.  We'd like to get
>new bikes, but we are open to offers on used bikes in excellent condition.
>What we'd like to find out is:
>-opinions, gripes, ...
>-is it worth the extra $200 to go with Deore DX over Deore LX?
>-Is suspension front fork worth it?
>-which frame has a better ride (religious issue) :  Alum, Carbon Fiber, Steel?
>-...
>The bike models we are interested in are:
>-Trek 950, 7000, 8000, 970, 990, & carbon fiber models
>-Cannondale 500, 700, 1000
>-Specialized StumpJumper, RockHopper
>-Raleigh
>-Klein (if they can be had inexpensively)
>-any suggestions?

First of all you should ride the bikes.  Nothing any of us tell you will
be anything more than opinion until you have ridden the bikes and
listened to what your gut tells you.  In answer to your questions;
1.  Yes I think Deore DX is worth the $200 extra, it appears to have
been discontinued for 93 though so you should probably look at 92's.
2.  I don't know enough about suspension to answer this question but
it seems like it depends on the type of riding you'll be doing.
I would consider it more important to get a high quality frame first.
3.  I'm primarily a roadie but the mountain bikes I've ridden don't
seem to be much different due to frame materials, probably because they
have fat tires.

Treks
-I don't like Treks.  Their geometry feels screwy to me and they pretty
much all use rapidfire (underbar) type shifting which I think is inferior
to thumbshifters.  This is only my personal opinion so don't anybody
freak out.

Cannondales
-I've always liked Cannondales having had several of their road bikes.
However I've heard story after story after story of `dale mountain bikes
that had cracked frames.  My brother lives in Chicago and he has heard these
same stories.  They also tend to put lower quality components on their bikes
because of the cost of the aluminum frameset.

Specialized
-These are OK.  The bike seems to generic to me and the sterring feels
kind of slow

Klein
-Haven't ridden a Klein mountain bike but alot of people are fantatical;
about them.  The only decent prices I've seen are from Bikeology which
advertises in Mountain Bike Action.  They've had some really good prices
on Kleins.

I don't know anything about Raleigh mountain bikes.  I also suggest you get
ahold of the September issue of Bicycle Guide because they review several
of the bikes you have mentioned.  My advice would be to buy a Bridgestone
MB-3 for around $749.  It has really nice steering and is lighter with
better components than most of the bikes in its price range.  That bike is
also reviewed in the September BG.  Now is a good time to buy because the 93's
are coming in and you should be able to get some good deals on 92's
-Terry


k
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