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I started in Sept. 2018. I have 2 bulging discs in my lower back. So I knew from the get-go I wouldn’t be riding crazy (would’ve love to though). I guess you can ask yourself what kind of riding would you like to do eventually? If you have an idea of what that would be, then that would be a good start.
In Sept. 2018, a couple guys took me out to a local trail (suited for intermediate riders) and OTB’d twice (OTB is when you go Over The Bar and crash in case you didn’t know). I borrowed one of their full suspension bikes. Here’s a few things I wish I knew/did better on:
1. Climbing: I wish the guys told me to lock out the suspensions when climbing. I was bobbing a lot, which made climbing undesirable and not fun!
2. Decending: I was shown the attack position, but it was hard for me to remember it when the track was fast and next to a cliff. I also failed to remember not to hit the front brake too hard, which caused me to OTB.
3. Don’t go too fast on the decents, especially on turns/switchbacks.
4. If you lay your eyes on an item (such as a big rock) 99% of the time, you will go toward it. Running into a big rock caused me to OTB.
I got into mtn biking almost a year ago and had the same question then. Here’s what I did:
1. 2018 Marin Hawk Hill 2. Got it new in Nov 2018 for $1850. But soon I realized my climbing sucked. Even though I kept riding to increase my stamina and improve my climbing, it felt like nothing was helping. I sold it a couple months ago.
2. 2019 Santa Cruz 5010 CR+: I bought new it in March 2019 for $3999. I love it. Took it to trails with longer singletrack decents. Helped a bit with climbing. So I replaced the chainring from 32T to 30T. This helped me with climbing.
3. 2019 Trek Stache 5: bought it new in Aug 2019 for $1499. I was looking for a bike that can help with longer, non techy climbs on fire trails. There are several places near by that offer that. Also, I was looking for one that helps eat up rocks. The 5010 certainly did that, but I thought a 29er would also help more with climbing. This Trek has been my go-to bike. But it’s not ideal for techy climbs/decents like tight switchbacks. I’d use my 5010 on these types of trails.
Hope this helps.
2 bikes:
2019 Santa Cruz 5010 CR+ has a dropper post.
2019 Trek Stache 5 also has a dropper.
Can’t imagine riding without a dropper post.
As a beginner, my biggest challenge is feeling my lower quads burn during a climb. Lactic acid buildup has always been an issue for me, even when lifting weights.
Mostly solid green. With your idea, there are some decals I can cover with the wrap.
Yeah at this time, anything over $100 to either repaint of put powder coat on my bike costs too much for me. I may have to revisit the wrap vinyl film idea if I no longer can stand the green color.
I just found mine last week: Brushy Peak in Livermore, CA.
As a beginner, it’s enough for me, plus the loop is really short, like 5 miles around. Lots of steep climbing (I walked most of the time), but the decents are really fun.
I ordered the wrap on Amazon last night… then after looking at the small parts and tight areas of the bike, I said forget it and then canceled the order. I’m just too lazy to put in the effort.
I watched some spray can videos on YouTube but I think you’d have to sand out the current paint job first. I’m afraid I might do a crappy job.
I may look into the powder coat shop option.
I’ve recently decided to try mtn biking as it looks fun and am also looking for a MTB, preferably a FS. I’m a roadie but it seems MTB has more thrills – by a long shot. I’m up there in age but I think I need a bit more heart pumping action. With that said, I keep getting ads from Lightinthebox.com. So I checked out their site and it seems they only sell cheap bikes – brands I’ve never heard of. Has anyone bought a MTB from them? If so, could you tell me the quality of the bike?
The entry level FS bikes I’m looking into are the DB Atroz 3 and the 2018 Marin Hawk Hill 2 (which has a 1×11 drivetrain and a dropper post).
If anyone has any of these bikes, I’d appreciate to get your thoughts are on it, thanks!
