[iancg1]

Hi all! I have a lot of free time with me now and I plan to get into mountain biking. There are a lot of trails around here in my place and it seems so nice to explore them with a bike. Someone recommended the GT Avalanche 3.0 Disc to me. Is that a good bike? Any better recommendations at around the $300 price range? Thanks.

 

[Jibby]

A GT Avalanche 3.0 Disc is a good entry level. I definitely recommend something with disc brakes for trail riding. The components are low-end which is expected but should work fine for a casual rider.

A buddy of mine recently wanted to get into riding and wanted a bike that he could try a little of everything, and ended up with a DiamondBack Response. He spent about 400, which is a good price, plus it had the nicer Hayes MX Mechanical disc brakes. The Tektro Io on the GT are really..well...crummy.

If you stick to major brands and spend what you're thinking, you'll have a good working bike, just avoid wal-mart, target or any of those.

One piece of advice. When I first got back into biking after a 6 year hiatus, I got into Freeride/DH culture, a style which calls for the robust. As someone who came in specifically looking for a burly bike, and having a bit of sticker shock after a long time out, I spent about 650 on a dirt jump bike, and now, later have about $3600 in bikes. My point is, If you spend 300, you may immediately find yourself wanting a nicer bike, especially if you take to the MTB scene. I would suggest looking at deals at PerformanceBike.com. A lot of their higher end stuff is on clearance, some of which are as low as what you're looking to spend. And those msrp vs. their sale price isn't some way to get you to buy, they really do mark stuff down pretty low.

So, spend as much as you're able to, and then get out and have fun.