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 Post subject: New bike
PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:27 pm 
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As posted in another thread my bike is deemed 'retired'. I need a new one.

Now, before you go and shoot my head off with the brand I'm still not 100% sold on it.

I'm looking at getting a Diamond Back.
Either this one...
http://www.diamondback.com/bikes/mtn-ha ... ve-pro-08/
Image
or this one
http://www.diamondback.com/bikes/mtn-ha ... rdrive-08/
Image

Although, this one
http://www.diamondback.com/bikes/mtn-ha ... rrento-08/
REALLY appeals to me because of the color and price.
Image

I had a Raleigh and loved it. I'm currently riding a Specialized road bike and really like it as well. But I'm looking at Diamond Back because I was given the opportunity to get one for cost to the company. Let's just say it's a LOT less than what retail is.

Thoughts?

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:41 pm 
a few questions to help better assess what you need.

1. how much riding do you do
2. how experienced are you with riding
3. what are you going to primarily use it for
4. are all three bikes affordable to you at whatever price they offered


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 5:15 pm 
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Wickedsurf wrote:
a few questions to help better assess what you need.

Awesome! Thanks man
Quote:
1. how much riding do you do

I've been riding to work lately to cut down on gas, so a couple times a week for that. And been doing 9 miles a night for exercise. I'd like to get back into mountain biking though

Quote:
2. how experienced are you with riding

It's been a few years since I've been mountain biking, but I used to go every weekend to some local trails. I biked hardcore for about 5 years give or take a long time ago. Heck, put my own suspension on my last bike. :)

Quote:
3. what are you going to primarily use it for

Getting to work (6.5 miles) and getting out in the trails with some buddies again.

Quote:
4. are all three bikes affordable to you at whatever price they offered

Yes, the Overdrive Pro (top one) is the most expensive but doable...
My big attraction to the Overdrive ones are disc brakes and 29" wheels, which for my size (6'6") is important - from what I read it makes biking a lot easier.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:40 pm 
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I would go with the best you can buy and the LX components are great at a good price. I'm not a big fan of mechanical disc brakes, they are not much superior to V brakes, if you can go hydraulic. There is almost no maintenance.


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 8:57 pm 
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I jjst gave my son a new MTB for his birthday...I want a new one too. :-(

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:14 pm 
as much as others may flame you with buying a diamondback, although they lost quality through the years from loosing a lot of solid frame welders to diff companies, theyre still not too bad of a brand. Components are components the name on the bike does matter to much when it comes to hard tails,

i asked what you were primarily using it for because if it was strictly trail riding i would reccomend nothing less than a solid full suspension frame, logic being theyre not that much more expensive and most set ups not so much diamond back but other companies make the bikes feel like your riding a hard tail with the aggresivness and absorbtion you get with a regular full suspension...anyway i digress...

lx set up is not bad i have XT full set up on my bike right but its over 5 years old, usually every 3 years shimano releases significant changes to their entire line up and with those upgrades each are superior then the years past meaning

if you have a 3 year old bike with an xt set up that is equivilant to LX technology now and so on and so forth.

I would definitely the top of the line one for the set up and components, theyll be the most reliable for what your using it for and also give you a little more forgiveness on the trails, as far as commuting to work if its possible, if you can get a pair of shit disc rims which you can find a lot of times on chainlove.com when they have them for sale or pricepoint or anywhere else put a pair of slicks on them. Riding off road treads on the road create substantial wear and drag on the tire. If you dont want to get an extra set of wheels its fairly easy to change the tires back and forth just more of a pain in the ass....thats your choice


hope that helped....let me know if you need to know anything else


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:17 pm 
also not to rag on daggerdoggie but mechanical disc brakes are far superior to rim brakes, Rim brakes are a thing of the past, the first time you get your rims dirty in mud youll understand why, also if your out on the trail or ever going on a trip and you have hydro lines which i have and this is happened, its a pain in the ass if you fall and your line rips spewing fluid everywhere. Most bike places will be able to give you a new cable for a mechanical brake where as most will charge you a lot more for a new hydro cable and bleeding process...there a hell of a lot easier to change out and way more effective then rim brakes.....again im not calling anyone stupid, ive just been in the bike industry for a long time and do work at a local bike shop in town


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:01 pm 
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Brian,
If you can, take a look at www.diamondback.com and look at their bikes. See what you think of them.

I've got the price list for every bike on there for men. Hard tail and full suspension.

I wouldn't be against a full but I've heard they suck for road riding and they also suck for someone of my size and weight.

I definitely want disc brakes.

One of my other thoughts have been to get the cheaper end model for trails and find a cheap road bike and beat the crap out of that for riding to work...

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:27 pm 
ive had a lot of free time on my hands so i was looking into those bikes on the diamondback website....as i said before if you were using the bike strictly for offroad XC i would say nothing short of getting a full suspension...however after looking at diamondbacks linkage system they have no kind of anti bob technology the way that a company like giant has with their maestro system...basically it allows the rear shock to absorb force without recoiling and bobbing while your jamming up hills. The technology is beyond amazing.

I think for your case with commuting to work you should get a hardtail, the top of the line hardtail they have is ok....the rock shox sl can be locked out which would be good for you when riding on the road, its usually a dial which means that you can unlock it when you go on the trail.


the issue i have with the bike, its a 29 inch wheel base(which is good for your size) with only a 6 inch brake rotor. why is this an issue you may ask....well a traditional wheel is 26 inches and even with that down steep downhills i have an 8 inch rotor for better braking performance however, i ride pretty aggressively. They also skimped on parts for the

stem
handlebars
seatpost
headset
deore shifters

this company avenir i started seeing recently popping up on bikes you find at wal mart and those type stores

what this means for you, lower quality and more weight

the deore shifters will hold up alright but if your going ot be riding a lot you may run into issues....

bottom line.... the bike is ok...i saw a lot of people on the newx reccomending other bikes for you to check out...honestly none of those are going to be close to the price and you seem pretty set on diamondback which i understand


with that being said...you get what you pay for...diamondback is low end...for a commuter bike and a little riding on the weekends itll be great for you specially for that price.....if you want to get into more aggresive riding this isnt the way to go....pay more now and spend less later is what i like to say....people that buy cheap bikes and then want to ride a lot often find themselves paying more money then they would have up front, due to fixing broken parts and constantly having to tune the bike...ive had my bike for 5 years ive had to tune it only twice.


sorry that was a lot of typing but i think its all stuff you shoudl consider when buying a bike...when people come into the shop i work at, thats what i tell them in general...

any other questions let me know


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:41 pm 
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I'm not going to be nearly as agressive as you are with the thing. But we do have some trails around here I'd like to hit up again this summer and want to make sure this thing won't fall apart on me.

I guess I'm set on DB because of the pricing I can get. I can get that Pro for $536 so I don't think that's a bad price. If there was something just as legit or more near that price I would certainly entertain it!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:54 pm 
im a big giant fan

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bik ... 280/29353/
this is around same price range, comparable parts, little bit better frame construction
price is 550

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bik ... 9356/zoom/
this is more expensive but a way better bike, in terms of component selection
price is 700

however the diamondback is going to be comparable with the first giant, if your set on spending that kind of price i say go for it..its not a bad deal for what your looking for...itll hold up with light abuse, and like i mentioned earlier look into getting road slicks for your commute, itll make your life a lot easier and save the wear on your mountain tires for mountain riding...unfortunatly its hard to find a road slick for a 29 inch tire...if your interested ill try to see what i can do for you, maybe i have a few laying in the shop i can ship to you or something


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:01 pm 
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Cool thanks for all your help man.

Yea, and if you can check into some road slicks that would fit that would be great!

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