exploring MTB - need advice

[rrattani]

Hello All,

I was looking to get into a new outdoor sport and finally settled on mountain biking. Some of the videos and pics I saw, man the sport looks interesting. But I havent done MTB before in life...just looking to get started.

I have bought SCOTT Sportster P4, the guy at the store said that it would work both for commuting and off-road riding. But I would ask for your advice if the bike is fine for a beginner.

I live in Watertown, it would be really awesome if I could hook up with memebrs from watertown who could guide me a little.

Thanks.

Rahim

[antonio]

The Sportster, which looks to fall into the "Hybrid" style of bikes, isn't really made for mountain biking. Hybrids tend to be ok on the occasional tame dirt path, and ok on the roads, but don't really excel as either a road bike or a mountain bike (Just my opinion). I'm sure it would perform fine on some fireroads, but once you start hitting some of the rocky, chunky trails we have in the area, you'd find the Sportster lacking. The gearing and the tires are made for riding on the road.

Since you are already interested in mountain biking, I recommend you get a full-fledged mountain bike. You'll appreciate the additional travel, trail-friendly gearing, a frame that is likely stronger, and clearance for bigger, knobby tires. Should you ever decide mountain biking isn't for you, you can always throw a pair of slick tires on your bike and have a more road friendly ride.

Regarding beginner friendly rides, GB Nemba has regular weekly rides at the Middlesex Fells that are beginner friendly, on Weds and Thurs evenings. Also, as of last week there will be a weekly beginner ride every Friday evening at Great Brook Farm. Should you show-up to either ride, you'll find plenty of friendly folks who enjoy bringing beginners into the sport.

edit - The sportster is listed as a road bike on the Scott website
http://scottusa.com/us_en/product/74/691/sportster_p4

[hogboy]

your bike will be fine on dirt. run it, and don't worry. cyclocross is a type of bike that is a road bike
but is ridden in dirt all the time. your bike is the same type of deal. a skinny tire bike that
will be fine on dirt. u might want cyclocross tires (knobbies) on it.

[antonio]

your bike will be fine on dirt. run it, and don't worry. cyclocross is a type of bike that is a road bike
but is ridden in dirt all the time. your bike is the same type of deal. a skinny tire bike that
will be fine on dirt. u might want cyclocross tires (knobbies) on it.

The bike will be fine on some dirt. There's A LOT of New England singletrack where his bike would not be fine.

If a person is interested in mountain biking, why recommend they keep a bike that is going to limit where they can ride?

[Slappy]

Hey Rahim,

Personally, if I went to a shop and asked for a mountain bike that I planned to ride off road and the salesperson steered me to that bike, I would be on the phone with the store manager today getting the situation resolved. While it looks like a fine commmuter, it is in no way cut out for mt biking as most of us know it (and as I imagine you've seen in pictures, etc) and will be tougher to handle, more uncomfortable to ride, and far easier to break than what is typically considered an off-road bike.

Salesman....
:soapbox:

[Pinecone]

Rahim, welcome to the best sport on earth, dude.

Are you planning on riding primarily on pavement or in the forest? If you need the bike for both, i would suggest getting a seperate set of tires and rims. Switch them up for what you are planning to do on the bike. If you get some knobbier tires and stronger rims, you will find trail riding to be easier.

A great place to start mountain biking is in the Middlesex Fells. The bike loop only has a few technical spots. Great place to practice.

[hogboy]

The bike will be fine on some dirt. There's A LOT of New England singletrack where his bike would not be fine.

If a person is interested in mountain biking, why recommend they keep a bike that is going to limit where they can ride?

incorrect.


because there is no need to shell out dollars NOW before you know u like mtb or not


and I would ride that bike everywhere and show u what it is capable of doing. no drops or jumps. everything else though...roots, rocks, gravel, sand, deep mud, pine needles, climbs, underwater....

[antonio]

incorrect.


because there is no need to shell out dollars NOW before you know u like mtb or not


and I would ride that bike everywhere and show u what it is capable of doing. no drops or jumps. everything else though...roots, rocks, gravel, sand, deep mud, pine needles, climbs, underwater....

Incorrect?

You're entitled to your opinion, I guess, even if it is flawed.

I could ride the Scott bike and show YOU what it's capable of, but we're both experienced and skilled riders (well, I'm assuming you're skilled). I wouldn't recommend that a beginner take that same Scott out on a beginner ride at the Fells or GBF, as they wouldn't have as much fun as everyone else riding. Isn't having fun a key way to get hooked?

The OP and I communicated via PM. He asked if he should return his bike and get a mountain bike. I sent him a few links of threads with pics here on the NEMBA forum showing what NE mtb'ing is like, and suggested he get an actual MTB if the pics looked intriguing (and maybe a pair of slicks).

[Slappy]

and I would ride that bike everywhere and show u what it is capable of doing. no drops or jumps. everything else though...roots, rocks, gravel, sand, deep mud, pine needles, climbs, underwater....

Hey - ain't you the guy that swears a certain brand, model and set-up is all but a requirement to go out in the snow?

;)

[hogboy]

Incorrect?

You're entitled to your opinion, I guess, even if it is flawed.

I could ride the Scott bike and show YOU what it's capable of, but we're both experienced and skilled riders (well, I'm assuming you're skilled). I wouldn't recommend that a beginner take that same Scott out on a beginner ride at the Fells or GBF, as they wouldn't have as much fun as everyone else riding. Isn't having fun a key way to get hooked?

The OP and I communicated via PM. He asked if he should return his bike and get a mountain bike. I sent him a few links of threads with pics here on the NEMBA forum showing what NE mtb'ing is like, and suggested he get an actual MTB if the pics looked intriguing (and maybe a pair of slicks).


it is not flawed it is cost effective. but if someone really is going to be committed to mtb, then yes u may want fat tires. but there is NO requirement other than 'to have a bike', no matter what it is. run it.

[Superbman]

Hey Rahim,

Personally, if I went to a shop and asked for a mountain bike that I planned to ride off road and the salesperson steered me to that bike, I would be on the phone with the store manager today getting the situation resolved. While it looks like a fine commmuter, it is in no way cut out for mt biking as most of us know it (and as I imagine you've seen in pictures, etc) and will be tougher to handle, more uncomfortable to ride, and far easier to break than what is typically considered an off-road bike.

Salesman....
:soapbox:


+1 on this, you got hosed by that salesman.

Oh, and I'll meet you half way, Hogboy-you can certainly commute effectively on any bike (actually, I think a fat tired hard-tail is the ideal all-weather, all terrain commuter), and sure, you could ride any bike off road...

But, given his desire to dive into a new sport, do you really think that a road-oriented Hybrid is the sort of Bike this consumer should have been steered towards??

[huff'npuff]

If price is not a deterrent, then yes, he should get a better bike. But then again.....why spend a lot of money to find out if he'll like mountain biking ? What if he doesn't ? ( I know, I know.. who wouldn't ) Any of you guys remember Huffy ?? I'm sure a few of you started out small.

[bullitfreerider]

Hello All,

I was looking to get into a new outdoor sport and finally settled on mountain biking. Some of the videos and pics I saw, man the sport looks interesting. But I havent done MTB before in life...just looking to get started.

I have bought SCOTT Sportster P4, the guy at the store said that it would work both for commuting and off-road riding. But I would ask for your advice if the bike is fine for a beginner.

I live in Watertown, it would be really awesome if I could hook up with memebrs from watertown who could guide me a little.

Thanks.

Rahim

You didn't say how far you had to commute to work. In any case, I used to put over 3000 miles a year on one bike and it was my mountain bike......used it for MTB racing, training on dirt and doing big road training rides for MTB racing. The tires varied from Velociraptors to smaller sneaks. I didn't change wheels and I didn't own a road bike and didn't care if it was slower on the road. I don't imagine that as a newbie, you are going to want to get involved in swapping wheels between commuting and off road. Get a decent real MTB and keep it simple for the time being.

[Jisch]

Many years ago a friend of mine got a hybrid to try out mountain biking. I took him on a pretty mellow ride, though he put everything he had into it (i.e. he didn't shy away from speed or a little air time). At the end of the ride the seatpost, saddle and both wheels were pretty much toast.

John

[hogboy]

+1 on this, you got hosed by that salesman.

Oh, and I'll meet you half way, Hogboy-you can certainly commute effectively on any bike (actually, I think a fat tired hard-tail is the ideal all-weather, all terrain commuter), and sure, you could ride any bike off road...

But, given his desire to dive into a new sport, do you really think that a road-oriented Hybrid is the sort of Bike this consumer should have been steered towards??

no... because I rode what I had at the time everywhere in the woods of Maine, and it was junk compared to the bike in this thread, and I had zero issues with it and loads of fun for years.

run what ya brung.

[Slappy]

Congratulations on riding a shitbike, but you miss the point.

A man walks into a shop and says I would like to buy a mt bike.
The saleman sells him absolutely not a mt bike.

This not a case of making due with the hunk of junk in the garage just to try things out (in which case I'd agree with you 100%) this is going out and purchasing a $600-$700 machine for a specific purpose and getting totally failed by a shop/salesman. There's no reason Rahim should have to go buy more parts to make a bike useable for the purpose he told them he wanted to use if for in the first place, specially at that price point. There's no reason he should be stuck riding trails on a hybrid/road bike if that's not what he intended either.

Lets say you were building a special snowbike ('run what you brung' doesn't apply here I guess) and some shop or shady E-bayer ended up putting a set of Hookworms in your hands, would you be riding them all winter? Please...you know you wouldn't. If Rahim is looking to get into trail riding, he should be able to get a much more suitable ride for what he spent, and the shop should help him out.

[Fitch]

Just wrote out a response and it didn't post... stupid internet...

Rahim, welcome to mountain biking! It's the coolest sport in the world.

I'm a Watertown native as well and you live right down the road from one of the best places a rookie to MTBing can find - Rock Meadow. It's on Mill Street out of Belmont by MacLean Hospital. Plenty of flat double track networked with singletrack through the woods.

I'd be happy to meet up with you some evening or weekend and check out your bike and show you the basics. Drop me a message here if you want!

- Fitch

[agabriel]

I agree with Slappy. If he just purchased this bike and expected/asked for a MTN Bike the LBS should take it back...