I've been reading this site for several weeks now, and decided its about time I say hello to you all. This site has provided some great reading materal and been very informative and helpfull to me so far.
I live in Cape Town, South Africa and have recently decided to take up mountain biking on a more serious level. I've been riding an old Avalanche MTB which is about six years old and has no suspension, so I think I deserve the upgrade
My problem is that since I am a little behind with MTB developments, I'm finding it hard to pick a decent hardtail to get started with. We have some nice forests and bike-friendly nature trails here, so I'd be doing mostly light XC and roadwork with the bike.
Since I'm only starting out, I don't want to spend much more than R4000 (about $560 USD). My local bike store has three bikes that I've narrowed my selection down to - The Trek 4300, the Giant Rincon, and the Scott Montana (Performance Series).
All are in the same price range, but the Scott has Alivio components, a step up from the Rincon's and 4300's Acera components.
I took the Rincon and the Scott for a test run outside the shop, and I must say that the Scott shifted a lot smoother and felt more responsive than the Rincon. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to climb onto the Trek, but I've heard many mixed reports on the Trek 4300.
I haven't found any Scott-related threads on this forum, so I've had a hard time trying to gather reviews and form an opinion.
Of these three bikes, which do you think would be the best choice? What is your opinion on the Scott range of mountain bikes?
Thanks for your help and the great forums
I live in Cape Town, South Africa and have recently decided to take up mountain biking on a more serious level. I've been riding an old Avalanche MTB which is about six years old and has no suspension, so I think I deserve the upgrade
My problem is that since I am a little behind with MTB developments, I'm finding it hard to pick a decent hardtail to get started with. We have some nice forests and bike-friendly nature trails here, so I'd be doing mostly light XC and roadwork with the bike.
Since I'm only starting out, I don't want to spend much more than R4000 (about $560 USD). My local bike store has three bikes that I've narrowed my selection down to - The Trek 4300, the Giant Rincon, and the Scott Montana (Performance Series).
All are in the same price range, but the Scott has Alivio components, a step up from the Rincon's and 4300's Acera components.
I took the Rincon and the Scott for a test run outside the shop, and I must say that the Scott shifted a lot smoother and felt more responsive than the Rincon. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to climb onto the Trek, but I've heard many mixed reports on the Trek 4300.
I haven't found any Scott-related threads on this forum, so I've had a hard time trying to gather reviews and form an opinion.
Of these three bikes, which do you think would be the best choice? What is your opinion on the Scott range of mountain bikes?
Thanks for your help and the great forums