Best entry level Full Suspension Bike.

bobtjustice

Hi all.

Im starting to get into some trail riding, coming from a purely recreational/commuter cyclist background.

Can anyone recommend a good entry level full suspension bike?

Im quite fond of Kona's owning a 07 Dr Dew Hybrid (and loving it).

But Im aware that Cannondale do some fantastic full suspension bikes.
This one in particular I quite like the look of but it may be a bit too much too soon if you get me.
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=70679
I can go up to about €1500 on the price.

Cheers.
Bob

kona

kona kikapu, gt i-drive xc5, kona coiler.

you would pick up a clean 2007 stinky for a grand 2nd hand

kona

kona kikapu, gt i-drive xc5, kona coiler.

you would pick up a clean 2007 stinky for a grand 2nd hand.


where are you planning on using it?? are you going to be hitting jumps, drops etc??
a hardtail is the better choice for a beginner, you learn skills quicker as you dont just plough through stuff

bobtjustice

Nice one.. thanks.!

Hopefully going to be in use up round where I live, Sandyford, 3-Rock area, but I'll be travelling all over Ireland with it to ride as many trails as I can. Hopefully some jumps and drops yeah, nothing to huge to start with though.!

billyblanks

http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=233&idproduct=17861

Maybe consider a Lapierre......fantastic bike, I had the X410, loved it..

kona

if you are going to be hitting drops, and proper big stuff, the la pierre wont hack it, its a xc bike and the parts are not strong enough.

you will want at least 130mm up front a set of adjustable marzocchi 130 - 150mm would be perfect! and a good bit at the back.

if you are driving to and back id get the stinky, it will take a beating.

there is a really clean one on www.irishdh.com a lad called keitho69 is selling a 07 one and its like new, hes looking for e800 i think, thats e1500 off.:)

milod

My g/f just bought one of these...

http://fr.decathlon.com/b-en-7_119_943440.htm

It's full suspension, with Shimano gearset. Not sure whether it's stand up to 'real' trail riding but it seems sturdy enough...

bobtjustice

Sweet, thanks very much man.

fergalr

It's full suspension, with Shimano gearset. Not sure whether it's stand up to 'real' trail riding but it seems sturdy enough...

In case that post isn't a joke, that sort of bike wouldn't be applicable for the sort of riding (down hill) being discussed, not by a long way. You wouldn't even try and ride cross country with a bike like that.

bobtjustice

Ha Ha... my post was for "Kona" thanking him for his good advise, Milod beat me to the post. Indeed the bike in the link he posted looks like a deathtrap.:eek:
But thanks for your concern.

milod

bobtjustice wrote: »

Ha Ha... my post was for "Kona" thanking him for his good advise, Milod beat me to the post. Indeed the bike in the link he posted looks like a deathtrap.:eek:
But thanks for your concern.

(scratches head)

Well it's grand for jumping kerbs

And you did say entry level...

I'll never understand this cycling over bumps lark...

bobtjustice

milod wrote: »

(scratches head)

Well it's grand for jumping kerbs

And you did say entry level...

I'll never understand this cycling over bumps lark...

Thats a fair point !!!!!

kona

entry level bikes, and "bike shaped objects" are totally different:)

i read the title and thought dear god, its one of those threads, nice to see sombody actually wanting a proper full bounce here:D
as opposed to, this bike i got in dunnes for e99, is it okay to enter the NPS series on:D:D:D:D

fergalr

Ha Ha... my post was for "Kona" thanking him for his good advise, Milod beat me to the post. Indeed the bike in the link he posted looks like a deathtrap.

Yeah, don't normally post on the cycling forum, but saw your reply and thought I better not leave it to chance in case you rushed out to buy one!

In fairness, it's pretty confusing the way companies sell cheap full suss bikes spec'd so that if you actually hit bumps big enough to require the full range of travel that they have, the components or even frame would probably fail.

All that said, it'd be interesting to see how far you could push a bike like Milod mentioned in the hills before failure... sure it's not built to withstand proper trail abuse, but how much would one take? Someone must have done this?

kona

fergalr wrote: »

Yeah, don't normally post on the cycling forum, but saw your reply and thought I better not leave it to chance in case you rushed out to buy one!

In fairness, it's pretty confusing the way companies sell cheap full suss bikes spec'd so that if you actually hit bumps big enough to require the full range of travel that they have, the components or even frame would probably fail.

All that said, it'd be interesting to see how far you could push a bike like Milod mentioned in the hills before failure... sure it's not built to withstand proper trail abuse, but how much would one take? Someone must have done this?

took me 10mins to kill a new e130 dual sus.
wasnt even hitting big stuff i was just in the park.
wheels were buckled beyond repair, brakes and gears broke, as did the plastic pedals.....10 feckin mins, i was impressed at the crapness.

a steel frame will take abuse no matter what price, its the cheap aluminium you have to worry about:D
milods bike would probably last 30mins of fairly hard riding, before somthing important fails.

oh ye milod, were not being pricks, its the honest truth!
ive seen wheelsets that cost e500 explode on a downhill run.

bobtjustice

kona wrote: »

took me 10mins to kill a new e130 dual sus.
wasnt even hitting big stuff i was just in the park.
wheels were buckled beyond repair, brakes and gears broke, as did the plastic pedals.....10 feckin mins, i was impressed at the crapness.

a steel frame will take abuse no matter what price, its the cheap aluminium you have to worry about:D
milods bike would probably last 30mins of fairly hard riding, before somthing important fails.

oh ye milod, were not being pricks, its the honest truth!
ive seen wheelsets that cost e500 explode on a downhill run.

A couple of my friends are avid downhillers (and are getting me into it) and love it, but have seen and told me some horror stories of people on bikes that didn't know what they were doing and having really bad gear or having really good gear but not knowing how to use it and to be naive enough to think it'd be ok to take on a trail.
Hence my wanting some decent gear and start small and build up to a really good bike or something, and more tech trails as the confidence gets better. Though riding on the streets of dublin is enough to give anyone confidence I reckon:rolleyes:
Thanks for all the comments everyone:D