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Hey y’all! I’m just starting to get into MTB. I’ve been riding pretty much my entire life but I never got into riding trails until recently. In the military and stationed over in Germany so I have so many good trails around me it’s insane. When my wife and I came over here we needed something to get back and forth since our car wasn’t here yet. We found a good deal on a 2 Cannondale Trail 7’s for $400 both! Now one year later I want to use that bike for some trail riding. I was wondering if anybody knows how that bike would hold up. I’m going to get it fully tuned here shortly and switch out my peddles to metal since their still plastic. Any other hints/tips that I could do to the bike before I hit some trails or should I just ditch it completely and start looking for something better. Thanks for any help! 😀
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there is a review here,, https://www.singletracks.com/bike-reviews/Hardtail-bikes/Cannondale-Trail-7_9425
Bottom line, decent starting bike for green and easy blue trails. Ride it until you break it or are ready to go for harder trails. Once you get ready to move up,, HT or FS, I recommend you go with a full air fork.
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Thank you for that! 😀
What would be the recommendation for a step up above that but nothing more than $1k?
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I always recommend starting with what you have. Once you have ridden for a while you will start to learn what type of riding you like best, what is important to you, and how much you are really willing to spend. I recommend a few months on the Trail 7. If you buy something now, you may regret it 6 months down the road when you really know what you want.
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Where in Germany are you stationed? Army? I am now Army retired but first rode dirt trails in mid to late 80s in Furth and Munich in their Stadt Parks on a Peugeot City Express i bought at the PX. My most fun bike riding until now when i moved to Tallahassee Florida and have seriously gotten into mountain biking. I used to explore German countryside for hours after work in summer and on weekends. On one ride i came across the Munich movie studio where Never-ending Story was filmed.
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Laurel, I’m stationed in Kaiserslautern. Yes, Army. Love it here, having so much fun hiking everywhere and now that I’m getting more into MTB, it’s so much fun!
C-Lo, I have seen you post a lot of reviews on some of the trails that I’ve been looking at here. I’ll look into Wheel Sport. I just took my bike over to Fahrradladen in Ramstien. I love that place, the people are really awesome and have helped me out greatly. I thought I needed a new chain/sprockets. The guy straight up told me that if I were to buy them there he would just be taking my money. There was no point. Very honest, I like it. I have heard of people meeting up at Nanstein castle over in Landstuhl every Sunday from one of my buddies but I forgot the time. Really would like to start riding with people that know the trails, and are better than me. You happen to know of any Facebook groups from the K-Town area? Thanks bud!
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New, if you stay hard tail, there are a few really nice bikes right at the $1k mark. Look for something with a full air fork and hydrylic brakes. I like Giants, so would recommend the Fathom. If you decide to go full suspension the only bike under $2k I would recommend is the Giant Stance. That is what I ride, but I do my own work and have about $700 in options to make it better. The jump to the Trance 3 for $2300 makes a huge difference in feel. If I had it to do over again, and wasn’t cheap, I would go straight to the Trance 2 for $2700. To me that is the sweet spot between economy and performance.
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Thank y’all for your input! Really appreciate it. I’ve been doing a lot of research for MTB. Watching a lot of GMBN videos. Can’t wait to hit a few trails soon. Probably gonna go out to one today!:D If any of y’all are around Germany, let me know!
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I am with Alan. Ride till it breaks. Find out why type of riding you like to do Cross Country, Enduro or Down hill. Then when you upgrade, you know what to be looking out for. In the meantime you can holler at my man Frank Dressler at Wheelsports in the K-Town area and he can hook you up with maintenance and a good deal on a Bike when you are ready. They also do Mountain bike rides every Saturday with lessons during the season.
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Also, quick questions y’all. Anybody know of any good sites that are going to have cyber Monday deals for any MTB’s parts? I would like to upgrade a few things; pedals, seat, etc.
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Little things will make a huge difference at this point. Your bike is fine for starting out, just make sure you lube the chain after the ride. Platform pedals will make you feel like Superman, and some gloves will dampen the shock to your paws (they don’t have to be forty-dollar Fox Racing gloves, I wear Mechanix half the time).
Ease into it, enjoy what you’re doing, and realize that you’re probably going to outgrow the bike in about a year if you ride a lot.
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For best result of mountain biking in the area get in good with the locals (Bike Shops). All of the trail I did except for the trail around Landstuhl were with Germans. They love mountain biking and hiking. Just ask around! They will get you hooked up real quick. I was riding every Wednesday night with a local group.
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