I'm buying a bike as a gift for christmas, and really know little if anything about them. My rider is 5'8" or so female, about 165 pounds novice rider. For the money I want to spend, which is $500-$700, it seems like the best deal from my looking online is the 3 bikes below.
how important is a 29er for a novice rider with her height, weight? the one I am thinking is the front runner is the fantom trail DS, but it is currently only available in a 16.5 frame size and I wonder if that will be too small for my rider. I'm really close to making a decision, but would appreciate any input from the forum to help me pick the best one. THANKS!
haha, well...I appreciate your response and input. What I was hoping for, however, in regard to information from the forum, was input as to which of the 3 bikes I have linked above offer the best features, equipment, and so on.
The Roundhouse and Fantom are comparable bikes, both superior to the Gravity in terms of components. The minor advantages of riding a 29er is going to be lost on a novice. As long as your rider does not have abnormally long legs, a 16.5 inch frame should fit her.
Is your rider an accomplished off road rider or is she going to be riding some really intensely technical trails? If she is going to be a typical weekend rider on paved or hard packed gravel, you might want to rethink the full suspension and consider getting her a hardtail MTB with maybe a suspension fork. A full suspension bike is great off the pavement and hardpack and pretty much off the trail where you are going to be in terrain where you need the full suspension to maintain control over you bike while pedalling over tree roots and drop offs. If you are on pavement or hardpack, a full suspension only robs you of part of the effort that you put into pedalling. Each time that you push the pedals, a little of the energy is lost as it flexes the suspension and does not really offer any improvements in ride comfort. But it looks cool and helps support our Local Bike Shops when something goes wrong with it.
I have to agree with Old Guy though, it would be better if there was some way that you could let her decide which one she prefers.
ya know shes a really novice rider who's primarily going to ride the bike around the park with the kids or down the street. I think what her motivation is for wanting a full suspension bike is the "coolness factor" in regard to looks etc. also I kinda figured because the front and rear are both lockout it could function as a full rigid frame on demand.
btw thanks for the great information!! when I compare their features with name brand bikes their about half the cost. Are either of those bikes you mentioned worth what their charging? or would I be better off avoiding these no name bikes?
Both the Dawes and Motobecane are well worth the price that they are asking. These bicycles are manufactured in China by Kinesis Industry Co Ltd with headquarters in Taiwan. Kinesis was formed in 1984 by former employees of the Giant company. Besides all of the Bike Direct brands, Kinesis also manufactures bicycles for Diamondback, Felt, GT, Schwinn, Jamis, K2, Raliegh, Trek, Kross, and Kona. Besides, I have been noticing a lot more Motobecane and Dawes bikes showing up on the road in the last several years so they are losing their status as being "no-name" bicycles. I think it is safe to say that these bikes are good quality bikes. And if you search through this forum, you will find plenty of people who really like BD and their bikes, and a couple of people who don't.
