Woohoo! MTB ordered.

"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen) 07/29/2014 at 16:07 • Filed to: Mountain Bikes

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I went with a bikesdirect.com bike. The components aren't impressive, but the price is right and the price is better than what all the major mfr'rs are offering. Bike prices are seriously inflated these days in my opinion, so I think bikesdirect is a very good thing to bring some sense to the market.

For $450 I get SRAM X4 shifting and derailleur's, WTB tires and seat and the bikes, likely, biggest drawback, a Suntour XCT fork. But I'm a beginner and I think this is a great entry level bike. If I notice I am pushing the limits of these parts I will upgrade them as needed. Or as I spot good deals on lightly used parts.

Also, Check out that black on black on black. :D

In addition I got the following bits and pieces from Amazon (partially courtesy of a $70 gift card for getting their credit card). Any other things you think I really really need?

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Wishin & workin for an E39 M5 > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:09

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Nice, I love me some disk brakes; be they for bikes or whatever.

HammerheadFistpunch > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:09

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get a good helmet

Brian Silvestro > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:10

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*ignores rest of post*

MTB.....

Manual Transmissioned BMW?

NICE!

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > HammerheadFistpunch 07/29/2014 at 16:12

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I have a Specialized helmet, I've already been mountain biking, so that was my first purchase, but I was riding on a borrowed bike, discovered I dig this enough to get one of my own :D

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Wishin & workin for an E39 M5 07/29/2014 at 16:12

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Yes, these are hydraulic too :D

HammerheadFistpunch > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:14

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Happy to hear. I just did an excellent 15 mile ride this weekend. Reminded me that I love Mt. Biking.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Brian Silvestro 07/29/2014 at 16:15

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Haha Yup!

Funny thing is, you can get a more manual manual on a bike than you can a car.

On older bikes shifters don't have distinct position, you just adjust the lever till it jumps over to the next gear and kind of judge if it's not being overly noisy/running smoothly.

What if a cardid that? Lol. It would just be like a joystick that you push in out of general vicinity's of gears :P

Wishin & workin for an E39 M5 > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:15

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I have hydraulics on my Cannondale SL-4 Helix 3piston front and rear.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > HammerheadFistpunch 07/29/2014 at 16:16

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Yeah! I can't wait to take this thing for a ride on the local trails! This thing is a 29er too, I am very interested to see how a 29er is on the trails.

Brian Silvestro > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:16

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Sounds like kind of a "fuck it, let's see what happens" way of going about it. Cool!

HammerheadFistpunch > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:21

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Where are you again?

PowderHound > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:21

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Still half the price of my used Specialized Stumpjumper I got a few months ago… mountain biking is so much fun though, I really love a well made berm

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Wishin & workin for an E39 M5 07/29/2014 at 16:25

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Wow, your brakes sound serious, haha.

Mr Oh Shag Hennessy (Key and Peele)

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > HammerheadFistpunch 07/29/2014 at 16:26

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West Side of Michigan, Grand Rapids.

Wishin & workin for an E39 M5 > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:29

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Lolve those guys

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > PowderHound 07/29/2014 at 16:29

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Yeah, this bike should give me the confidence to actually hit them at speed, haha.

I was riding a 15 year old bike with shot shocks, bad shifters, stretched chain, noisy brakes, etc, etc. 26 inch wheels (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), oh and the tires started rubbing on the frame because they were just so clapped out from years and years.

That bike sat idle for much of the last 5-10 years and then I started beating the fuck out of it on the trails and that's when everything went bad on it that I described above, lol.

I was already keeping up with people on new bikes, people on 29ers, on that piece of junk. This will be awesome!

HammerheadFistpunch > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:29

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Gotcha, that should be a great choice out there.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > HammerheadFistpunch 07/29/2014 at 16:33

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Yeah, should be, we have a ski resort here that uses its more forresty area as a mountain bike single-track, it's pretty brutal, I've conquered all but two climbs, on the clapped-out-as-fuck bike I was riding.

Then we have another course that I hear is considered the only "flow" course in the state. It flows very nicely and if you are very good you can carry massive speed through the whole course. It's scary watching the pro's on there with go-pro's. A 29er should be great on this one. It's my favorite course so far.

Those are both on the shorter end, the one's I still want to try offer some longer loops, but are likely less technical and more speedy. Also good for a 29er.

I've seen some of the pictures of the areas you ride, looks awesome! I must make a cross country trip with the bike sometime :D

HammerheadFistpunch > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:35

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Still trying to figure out the deets on the oppo Moab meetup if you are interested.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > HammerheadFistpunch 07/29/2014 at 16:42

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Oh maybe? Are there any details at this point yet?

HammerheadFistpunch > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:45

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no, the main issue im running into is that I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but I hesitate to call it an oppo meetup and have people come from across the country for whateves (even though it would still be amazing)

The main problem is there is no money for a big event and I don't even want to think about the liability of a sponsored trail ride. it would mostly be a meeting up of like minded people to bike, do trails, raft, climb...whatever people are into.

ZDMW > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:45

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Awesome! I recently bought my first mountain bike as well. I was very tempted by some of the bikes direct bikes but ended up getting a very good deal on a used Stumpjumper FSR on craigslist. It was shocking what people were asking for for used bikes, I had almost given up. I'll be very interested in what you think of the bikes direct one.

First off number one thing to buy is a helmet. Make sure you get one that fits properly too, your head may fit one brand better than others.

If you are using it on the roads with cars I very much recommend getting a good set of flashing bike lights (especially a red one for the rear).

As for other little things that you'll probably get over time; plastic tire levers, bike tool/multitool (I used to just carry a few of the correct Allen keys with me, which worked great), gloves (I use a pair of Mechanix I got for cheap), and if your on the bike enough a pair bike shorts make a surprising difference in comfort.

I also always carry some zip-ties with me, which are surprisingly handy in a pinch.

As for something free (if you have a smart phone) I use Mytracks or Strava to keep track of my riding. (A Ziplock sandwich bag works great at insuring the phone does not get wet)

PowderHound > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 16:46

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I wasn't super big in to biking before but after riding some friends bikes I knew I had to get something full suspension and could take a hell of a beating. I have some weird penchant for going down a trail and thinking, "that went well, now let's see how much faster and how much shit I can scare out of myself".

A 29er will be nice. I hear they pretty much just roll over anything

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > ZDMW 07/29/2014 at 16:56

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Awesome, thanks for the tips! I do have a good helmet, I got a Specialized as I liked the feel of it best, even compared to a $200 helmet. Upon asking what was nicer/different about it, I got: It's a little lighter (mine is already really light) and it uhm... Has different airflow. $40 helmet it is :D

I definitely have been wondering about the tools I'll be needing, I want to try to do most of the maintenance myself.

Another thing I have wondered is the phone, where to put it, I suppose a good saddle bag or a frame-mounted bag will do the trick?

I also thought of going the used bike route, but just wasnt getting what I wanted so that prompted me to pour hours of company time into research on bikes direct bikes and all the various parts they come with. I came out feeling pretty confident they actually make a good bike.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > HammerheadFistpunch 07/29/2014 at 17:01

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Hmm sweet.

Problem is, it's a 22hr drive for me, haha. It would definitely be an awesome trip though, through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas (maybe not this part?), Colorado. I have been wanting to visit my buddy in AZ again, I've considered road tripping it.

Or perhaps fly one way and drive a rust free car/truck of some sort back up to MI.

Also does part of your plans include offroad driving?

HammerheadFistpunch > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 17:02

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it almost certainly would.

OkCars- 22k Crossroads > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 17:28

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looks like a 29er.

Niice!

OkCars- 22k Crossroads > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 17:30

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oohh i need thosee.

Mine are cable and you do get tired of your fingers

BeaterGT > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 17:49

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I got a Motobecane off Bikes Direct too! 26 inch wheel though and I love it, great starter bike. On that note, gonna go ride it!

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > OkCars- 22k Crossroads 07/29/2014 at 17:50

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Yep sure is :D

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > OkCars- 22k Crossroads 07/29/2014 at 17:51

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Yeah I did a little bit on the mechanical brakes I had on the bike I was borrowing.

ZDMW > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/29/2014 at 18:16

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Nice, yeah the difference in price in helmet for 95% of them is just lighter materials. Fit is far more important.

Yeah I was very frustrated with the used market. I got my bike for literally half of what one guy was asking for the exact same bike.

For my stuff and phone I have a saddle bag and an old camelbak that I fluctuate between using. I have seen people mount phones on the handlebars so they can use it as a map while riding but I'm scared about having it exposed if I fall.

I'm working on learning the maintenance myself as well. There is nothing specifically difficult about working on the bike it just takes practice. Most of the basic maintenance can be adjusted with a set of metric Allen wrenches, screwdriver, and some pliers. Wheels take some special equipment (spoke wrench, truing stand) I know people who have bought broken bikes to take the forks and make their own truing stand for cheap.

Also a great resource: http://sheldonbrown.com/ . It may be internet 1.0 but there is a ton of information on the site about bike maintenance among lots of other good other stuff.

bob and john > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/30/2014 at 08:37

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fork is definatly the weak point in this build, as I spy hydraulic disks. notbad.jpeg.

also, when servicing, AVOID WD-40 LIKE THE PLAGE!!!!! If you get that shit on the rotors and pads they will need to be replaced. use citrus degreasers and bike specific lube.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > bob and john 07/30/2014 at 08:50

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Yep, I heard about this WD-40 thing, I will keep it far, far away from my bike, I think i came across it when reading an article about greasing/lubing.

I cant wait wait wait for it to get here! Haha, I keep refreshing the UPS tracking, lol.

That Fork is definitely a weak point, I will ride it a few times and get an idea if it's holding me back or not, if I can even tell at this point, haha.

bob and john > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/30/2014 at 09:19

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well bud, you have a thumbs up from me.
once its built, take it to a shop and make sure everything is installed right, you dont want to be out riding and have your forks fall off (seen it happen to someone once. it was kinda funny. )

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > bob and john 07/30/2014 at 09:59

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Haha yeah. They say it comes 90% assembled, so I think assembly should be pretty straightforward, but if I have any doubts I'll take it over to the shop down the street.

I think they are mostly a road bike shop, but they'd know what to check right? I've been thinking about getting their groupon anyway, $30 for a full greasing/lubing/tune-up.

bob and john > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/30/2014 at 10:08

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if they only do road bikes, then they are not a bike shop. they are some hyped-up hipes who think they are too good to get their hands dirty lol.

they should be ok, bikes are pretty straight forward.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > bob and john 07/30/2014 at 10:22

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Lol, I do get kind of an sense of uppity-ness when I enter this place, it's a strange strange feeling that is hard to describe. But anyway, at that price, it's worth a shot and it is also pretty awesome that they are in walking distance.

Mattbob > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/30/2014 at 11:03

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Which trail is this "flow" trail? I am going to visit my sister out there, and I need to decide what trail to go riding on.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Mattbob 07/30/2014 at 11:13

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It's called Merrell, it's just north of Grand Rapids (you'll be visiting GR?)

http://www.mtbproject.com/trail/4066312

Mattbob > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/30/2014 at 11:54

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now that I look at a map, I realize I will be nowhere near GR. She is in Marshall. Its a habit of me to just assume Marshall, Kalamazoo and GR are all just neighbors.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Mattbob 07/30/2014 at 12:58

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Haha they do form a big triangle, I go to Marshall once in a while, I have a few friends there. Neat little town.

Not familiar with the MTB'ing around there though, haha.

Mattbob > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/30/2014 at 13:05

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btw did you hear Dark Horse got it's own TV show? I don't know how I feel about it. My second favorite brewery going so mainstream. My inner hipster is dying.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Mattbob 07/30/2014 at 14:08

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Yeah, i saw an ad for the show, never watched it though. I do order their beer from time to time when I see their shotgun-tap, haha.