I'm new... and i bought a schwinn..

Are you having fun riding? If so that is the most important part.

If you haven't eaten it yet, you're not really riding! I always say - if you don't know why you'll be spending extra money on a bike, don't do it. - Better to spend a ton of money later when you know what you're doing.

Yea try the sport of Mountain biking and if you love it...then invest in a bike that will hold up to a good beating and be nice and light and fit your body good.

RM'ers are very experienced and smart riders. We love to argue but I have not seen any snobbery to beginners.

I am sure you know already there are better bikes, but I would not worry about it. Ride to your skill level, and the questions will flow.

good bike for a beginner. i started out with a bike i broke in 2 weeks so im sure yours is better than my first mountain bike

I started out on a Royce Union with a Ballistic front shock. It held up amazingly well untill the seat post and stem snapped. The less you worry about your bike the more fun you will have. But remember that you rely on your bike to do certain things. Like if you going off a drop, think at the top about if you bike will break when you land. This is one example. This will help you from getting hurt. Safety first, fun second, other stuff third.

mr2monster said:

I went to a golf course today.. yeah i know... but it was actually really fun. There are plenty of hazards that double as jumps and the paved path makes for an easy entry.

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You rode on a golf course!!! What are you, some kinda of punk!!!!

F*ck GOLF!!!

True Alpentalic said:

..... Royce Union ....

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Man - I haven't heard that name for a while - I'm surprised they still make those. If I remember correctly, those POS's are a step below Huffys!

Hey did you know Huffy filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Oh no!

Actually I like Golf. Its fun. But so is biking.

golf is great!

It's a good starter bike; I started on a schwinn too. If you like the sport and want to get more involved then there's a good chance you'll want to upgrade. Have fun though, and don't be afraid to eat a little dirt now and then.

pretty nice bike!

True Alpentalic said:

I started out on a Royce Union with a Ballistic front shock. It held up amazingly well untill the seat post and stem snapped. The less you worry about your bike the more fun you will have. But remember that you rely on your bike to do certain things. Like if you going off a drop, think at the top about if you bike will break when you land. This is one example. This will help you from getting hurt. Safety first, fun second, other stuff third.

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My first mountain bike was an Independent Fabrications with XT and a Marzocchi Bomber. Guess what, my bike was way better than its rider!!!

Welcome to the sport. I remember when I first started. Yeah the sport can be expensive if you really enjoy it, but it's worth every penny. Even if my wife doesn't agree with that statement! Ride Hard, Ride Safe......

Welcome and enjoy! I started on a Mongoose that held up to some decent abuse for about 2 years before it started falling apart. Have fun and ignore any of those bike-snobs you'll meet from time to time.

That's perfect for your first bike. I had one just like that, it was a hardtail though, but i loved it. Have fun. And get a helmet if you don't have one already.

thanks for the comment, but leave dead threads alone

dirtjumpP.1 said:

thanks for the comment, but leave dead threads alone

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yeah, why would anyone want to bump a dead thread?

sanjuro said:

My first mountain bike was an Independent Fabrications with XT and a Marzocchi Bomber. Guess what, my bike was way better than its rider!!!

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Hey guys,
I'm still pretty new to this awesome kick ass website. Anyway, my first mountain bike was a Shogun Trailbreaker. I NEVER heard of them before, and still haven't heard from them since. I got the bike when i was 15 in 1993. Then I spent 800 bucks or so on a Raleigh m80 in 97. It was a pretty good bike till it got stolen, so now I have a '05 Diamondback XSL. I really really dig this bike.

That brings me to sanjoro's comment. Is it a bad idea to buy a bike a few steps above the riders level? I ask this, because I kind of want to get into DH biking... but I thought a decent XC bike would be a good starter (more like reintroduction) bike.

I don't plan on dropping my bike (with me on it) off anything larger than 3 feet or so... god forbid... should I bother even stepping upto a dh bike? Is it possible to setup a xc bike to do DH?

And now on to even more noob questions. What's the difference between Freeride, All Mountain, Trail and DH? I assume that Trail and xc are the same thing. DH speaks for itself... and all mountain i guess is a mix of DH and XC. Yeah... i don't get it.

Let me know,
KG

P.S.
Sorry about the really retarded questions.

KindredGhost said:

Hey guys,
That brings me to sanjoro's comment. Is it a bad idea to buy a bike a few steps above the riders level? I ask this, because I kind of want to get into DH biking... but I thought a decent XC bike would be a good starter (more like reintroduction) bike.

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I had actually bought the bike for bike touring. I could have gotten a touring bike, but I figured I would be mountain biking in the future. I spec'ed a rigid fork originally, and it rode great on my bike tours.

KindredGhost said:

I have a '05 Diamondback XSL. I really really dig this bike.

I don't plan on dropping my bike (with me on it) off anything larger than 3 feet or so... god forbid... should I bother even stepping upto a dh bike? Is it possible to setup a xc bike to do DH?

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I looked over the specs of the XSL Trail and Elite and the base model. For small drops your bike should hold up fine, but most likely the fork will go on the base model (a Judy) , even from very rigorous trail riding. I recommend getting an used coil Marzocchi. Those things are reliable and feel good even after 3-5 years.

KindredGhost said:

And now on to even more noob questions. What's the difference between Freeride, All Mountain, Trail and DH? I assume that Trail and xc are the same thing. DH speaks for itself... and all mountain i guess is a mix of DH and XC. Yeah... i don't get it.

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A simple way to analyze it:

XC: 3-4 inches of travel (front/rear)
Trail/AM: 4-6 inches (just marketing terms, pretty much the same bike)
FR/DH: 7-9 inches. There are other subtlies, like lighter components on a DH bike or a double chainring on a FR bike.

Most bikes today are Trail/AM, so can you do a little of everything. Older bikes were mostly XC because of suspension design limitations (no bob-free with 4-6 inches). FR can be a DH bike that you can pedal uphill, and a DH bike can handle well under high speeds. But the line between the two is narrow.

its not an evil thing buying a bike that is better then the rider, after all if people stopped doing that Trek would probally only sell 50 madone's this year.
The only problems I see buying to much bike is if you hurt your self finacially (never take food off the table) or if you become a bike snob, but if your heads on straight and you got extra coin why not buy a bike that you really want......