Need a fairly cheap fairly light XC bike.

Tell us more about yourself and the kind of riding you'll be doing and the conditions in your part of the world. How much do you weigh and will you jump the bike or be hitting rocks and stuff at speed? Do you want to weave around tight singletrack or descend fast fireroads or both? How muddy are the riding conditons in your area? So on and so forth.

Make your decision based on fit, suitability for the type of riding that you will be doing, reputation of the bike brand and reputation of the shop. Fit is most important thing. Don't buy a bike that is too small because you think it looks cool with a long seatpost jacked up high (common problem).

Take a bathroom scale with you and weigh the bikes yourself and take notes. Test ride the bikes. Take a tape measure and measure saddle tip to handlebar and handlebar width and take notes. How far away and how far apart your hands are makes a lot of difference because that is your position. If you're new to the sport don't make the mistake of getting something that sits you too upright. You need to be bent over some to use your quads and gluts correctly. You'll get used to it in time.

Make the bike shop a big part of your decision. Choose a shop that will take care of you after the sale. That doesn't mean free parts to replace ones you trashed or wore out. But you should expect free tuneups for awhile and they should take care of you if you do have legimate warranty claims. A bike shop that sponsers local racers and organizes local rides and shares information about good places to ride would score points with me.

And have a good time. There are so many good hardtails to pick from in your price range that the hardest part will be making up your mind 🙂

SomeGuy said:

What's a good XC bike that can be had for not much over AU$1000? That's probably bikes around US$700-800. I want something that's fairly light, and I really don't think I need a full suspension bike - weight is more important.

I've currently got a Giant Rincon (19"😉, which weighs over 16kgs/35lb. Good bike, but it seems to be oh so heavy compared to other bikes.

Thanks for your help 🙂.

Edit: Hmm, Kona Blast seems nice but heavy. What about a Cannondale F400?

Also, mate, visit the Mountain Bike Forum and MTB Tech Forum. You'll probably get more mileage with the regulars there. In this room, you'll find more MTB posers, like myself.

😉

You mean there's no magic solution? Nuts!

["How much do you weigh"]

Around 65kg/145lb I think.

["weave around tight singletrack or descend fast fireroads or both"]

Both of those I things I think I will be doing a fair bit of, jumps and rocks not so much. It also doesn't tend to get too muddy around here.

The bathroom scales are a good tip too, thanks 🙂.

Rincons and Yukons are not inherrently heavy frames. In fact an XTC is only a pound or two heavier. A friend of mine made a 25 lb Rincon by changing components. The fork is a big one, the stock(lets assume it is) is almost 2 lbs heavier than a basic competition level unit. The crank is almost 3/4 lb heavier, see where I am going with this? If you look in the right places you can make all of these improvements for very little cash.

Conniebiker said:

Rincons and Yukons are not inherrently heavy frames. In fact an XTC is only a pound or two heavier. A friend of mine made a 25 lb Rincon by changing components. The fork is a big one, the stock(lets assume it is) is almost 2 lbs heavier than a basic competition level unit. The crank is almost 3/4 lb heavier, see where I am going with this? If you look in the right places you can make all of these improvements for very little cash.

Hmm, interesting. The crank, I assume that doesn't include the pedals? I've already replaced the steel ones with wellgo clipless pedals.

"If you look in the right places"

Where would that be? Thanks for your help btw, upgrading is probably a much better idea.

The fork actually seems to be a reasonable weight, at a smidge over 2kg (4.4lb). Tyres seem to be a better bet, Nokian Lites look pretty cool and cheap (not to mention saving about a 450gr(1lb)).

Not sure if I can replace the wheels for a resonable cost, the front weighs about 1.15kg(2.55lb).