mountain/trail bike for ~$500

[Damnittsteve]

I had NICE gary fisher back in my camping days. look into those.

[jakesford]

Can't go wrong with a used hard tail specialized or trek... I have a rockhopper, that I have upgraded some of the components on it over time, or as I broke shit lol and it has been a great bike. I will say convert to tubeless, so much easier to deal with IMO.

[GrayStangGT]

I would look for a used Specialized Rockhopper, should be able to get pretty nice one that isn't very old for $500. I've got a rockhopper and a XC, both have been good bike.

Something like this you could probably jew them down pretty good.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/bik/4084051541.html

[SlowLX]

For your price range and location you should probably buy a good used hard tail. If you're willing to drop 700-1,000 you can find a damn good used bike that will hold up better than any new bike you can buy for similar coin. Or go full retard and buy a nice full suspension.

[lowthreeohz]

Thanks for the pointers everyone.

I'll keep an eye out for a nice specialized or something in the area that I can hop on. What size would I need? I'm 5'11. Anything else i should be especially aware of? Slider we close on my house this week so i'm not trying to tie up a bunch of money in a pedal bike, but i want something to hop on and ride in the evenings as there are tons of trails near the crib. I'm okay with a few year old front suspension, just didn't know if the bike market had changed enough that the lower end stuff wasn't total garbage anymore.

[Buick355]

19" should be about right.

[lowthreeohz]

That's what she said too.

[mustang_revival]

I've bought from www.bikesdirect.com and not had any trouble. I just had to mount the front wheel and do slight adjustment of the shirfters and fit the seat and handlebars. They have videos online to walk you through the process. This was for my road bike. I'm looking at buying another bike from them for my son now. Here's an example of what appears to be a nice MTB: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...venture_x5.htm

Good looking out. I've been looking to replace my old POS mountain bike and just brought a "29er" from these guys.

The one I bought - http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...t_slv-2100.jpg

Got a 17.5 frame size, I am 5'10"

[Ratt]

I had NICE gary fisher back in my camping days. look into those.

Trek bought Gary Fisher.

http://www.bicycling.com/mountainbikecom/featured-stories/trek-absorbs-gary-fisher

[GrayStangGT]

Thanks for the pointers everyone.

I'll keep an eye out for a nice specialized or something in the area that I can hop on. What size would I need? I'm 5'11. Anything else i should be especially aware of? Slider we close on my house this week so i'm not trying to tie up a bunch of money in a pedal bike, but i want something to hop on and ride in the evenings as there are tons of trails near the crib. I'm okay with a few year old front suspension, just didn't know if the bike market had changed enough that the lower end stuff wasn't total garbage anymore.

Probably a Large (18-19"), I'm 5' 10" and can ride a Medium with the seat pretty for up or a Large with the seat pretty low.

[juiceweezl]

Good looking out. I've been looking to replace my old POS mountain bike and just brought a "29er" from these guys.

The one I bought - http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...t_slv-2100.jpg

Got a 17.5 frame size, I am 5'10"

I've been nothing but satisfied with my road bike. It took minutes to mount up the wheel, seat, and handlebars. I had to slightly true the rear wheel, and make minor derailleur adjustments on the hi and low, but that was it. I bet I didn't spend 45 minutes on it, and half of that was watching videos on the derailleurs. I travel to Florida for work, and I've been to their retail store and test ridden several bikes. I'm no pro, but I swear the bikes feel as good as any of the ones nearly double in price at RBM or other places. The cheapest bike they could show me for my 10 year old was over $700 (He's 5' 4.5" so he needs an adult bike). I can get one for $339 with more features that appears to be just as nice of a bike. Even if I have to pay $75-100 for someone to set it up (which I won't), I come out ahead.