I want to try biking out. My exercise of choice is running, however I'd like the variety of a bike from time to time. I would like a full suspension mountain bike for $1500 or less what do you recommend??

Yikes! When I got into biking again a few years ago, my budget wasn't even $500! But then again, I am a tightwad....

Nevertheless, you mentioned that you want to try biking. I got a surprise when I went bike shopping to find that things had moved on considerably since I was hacking around in my youth. And since there was such a range of choices and technologies, my approach was to low-ball the whole thing - that way, I could make a small investment into a bike and build up an idea of what I want. Three years later, and my very modest Giant cross country bike is still doing me, although I've made drivetrain mods, not to mention that it could do with shaving about 20lbs off it somewhere....

Things to consider:

- what terrain do you see youself using it on? A full suspension is fine, but if you're doing a lot of cross country, you'll lose a lot of energy into the rear spring unless you have a lockout.
- Sizing is a personal preference. I went up a size on my x-c bike because the smaller one felt like a unicycle. My intended use was commuting and longer rides (30+ miles). The longer wheelbase I felt was great, but when I took it on singletrack, I felt like a RV on a mountain pass.
- Decide whether you want an 'out-of-the-box' bike, or whether you want to go custom. $1500 in my book would get you a nice one of either. That kind of money will start to get you better frame choices, component sets and brakes, which you could select youself, or just go with what the manufacturer has on there. Or somewhere in between.

Sorry Bob - I know this probably doesn't answer your question, but I thought it might help to get some perspective of how I've been going about my bike purchases.

I suppose my point is this - don't spend more than you need to until/unless you know what you want. That way, you can use that first bike as a test bed to find out where you need to tweak replace things to make you happy. Kinda like wheeling a stock jeep to give you a feel of where you would like to see things changed. I was at Veloswap in Denver last month, and couldn't believe my eyes at the amount of prime hardware rolling around the floor with substantial 4 figure price tags, and was just as surprised at the amount of it being shifted. I ended up buying my friend's father's touring bike for $100, so I could get into road biking as somewhat of a learning experience for me.

And as for that Giant - it still gets me up the passes and around town. Now I want to do more things, and I know that that bike won't cut it for more technical stuff. But I've had a blast finding out.

So, what do you see yourself doing with it? Perhaps Jason or YJ Dave might have some input into the specifics of which bike to get. It's a slow day at work. Can you tell?

$1500 isn't a bad budget to work with. My current (and older) Cannondale killer V 900 was about $1300 when I got it. I'll see what the current manufacturers have out. Been thinking about updating the mountain bike this season to get some more racing in.

I'll be back.

Jason

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I'd look at the Cannondale scapels and the Trek fuels to start with. Both are more of a softtail than a conventional downhill bike. I've had good luck with the Cannoldales so far (I've got 3).
my 1996 or so killer v is still going strong. shock still works well and I've got the scars to proove that use it.

put about 3000 miles on my 1999 R600 road bike last year. its still happy.

The '03 CAAD 5 race bike is also still working well.

Jason

I really like my Trek 4300.

Bob,
I forgot to ask. Do you plan on racing at any point? That could help determine what you are looking for. If anything. I'd make sure the components are at least shimano deore LX. They go from LX->XT->XTR for the 'raceable' components. A normal bike in the $1500 price range will have a mix of LX and XT with possibly some SRAM and gripshift mixed in depending on the manufacturer.
Disk brakes are the shizzile if you can afford it. The first disk bike I've ridden was a gary fisher full suspension at Camp Jeep this summer. The brakes were awesome, though the bike was a little heavier than I'd like.
Personally (though I haven't let the wife in on this yet) I've been looking at hitting the trails racing again next year on a Scapel 2000 or so.

Jason

Thanks for the replys. I've been away from the computer for a week or so. I'm looking at the Cannondales. I really like the look and feel of the Gemini series bikes. I may get just a bit more into it than my budget, but I'm going to keep this thing for long time. Is the 3000 vs the 2000 gemini worth the extra $$ or would you go another direction like a frame set and some mix and match components??

i really like my trek fuel 90 its great and ive had no problems with it it rides great

Kona makes a wonderful bike.... i personally like the build quality more than some of the much bigger brands

I've got a Cannondale f300 my first mountain bike. Granted it's a hardtail but for now i'm really happy with it. Out the door under $600. There was a guy here in town after I bought mine with a Jeckel for $400. And me out of money. Darn Jeeps anyway.

Hi!! Does anyone knows the brand "Berg"??

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