Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Any of you guys know about mountain bikes

Do you have a price range / budget in mind?

Go to a few bike shops and learn a bit. Then, look for a good used mtn bike. Us mtn bikers get upgradeitus and usually sell our old bikes for much less than they are worth. For your application I’d think you wouldn’t need a full suspension bike so maybe look for a hardtail with a decent fork up front. I’m now riding a full carbon Santa Cruz 5010.

I'm hoping this was tongue in cheek.

If not, then perhaps an explanation: That picture is of bikes that were rolled out (pun unintended) in China as part of a bike sharing explosion that has since died off. They were heavy AF single speeds designed to be used over and over again with as little maintenance as possible. Thing is though, is that they wound up being strewn all over the place becoming a public nuisance. You'll never see one of them here in the states.

Ford and Jump (others too, I'd imagine) are doing the same app based bike share here, though with much better equipment. In the case of the Jump bikes, you're getting an e-bike capable of a constant 20mph with not all that much rider input.

so China doesn't have an over supply problem with bicycles?

Bikes are worse than rifles for new hunters. Your price point will narrow it quite a bit.

Your son will grow out of his pretty quick. My advice is to start with something used out of the gate. Make sure the frame is the right size for you (or close enough) and just get out and ride.

If you get into it, you’ll start to see the differences between big box stuff and bike shop stuff, and how you want yours set up.

Your ass will thank you if you get some bike shorts. Helmets are a given. Make sure they fit correctly.


Bikes can be worse than shooting.

Try to get disc brakes, whatever you choose.

My aunt works part time at a bike shop that sells these. I took one for a ride. It was a riot. Really weird to get used to at first. But, once I did you could really fly!

Probably the best reason of all for your weight loss is doing activities with your boy. He will cherish the memories and you'll be promoting an active lifestyle for him.

16bore is right. He will outgrow his bike quickly so it doesn't make sense to buy top of the line unless you find a smoking deal on one for him.

If you go used, check the gear teeth and chain for wear. Look over new ones as a point of reference. Trail grit will grind them down. Use a dry wax based lubricant designed for chains and gears. Look for bent or damaged spokes and wheel wobble ... easy to check. Gear changes shouldn't take forever.

Suspensions ... they make a ride smoother, but they also absorb energy when going up a steep hill as they will flex some.

You ride them on mountains???

I lost the weight mostly because I didn't want him without a father too young. We are going creek wading in a little bit.

I appreciate the good info. You have to understand that I live in Po Dunk backwoods. I might find a bike shop a couple or three hours one way away. I live so far down in the holler that it's dark an hour earlier at my house than up on the main road. that's how far I live out here,we refer to the good road as the main road. I do have lots of dirt trails and such to ride. I rode 4 wheelers for 2 hours in the woods and through the fields a couple weeks ago and never saw the same thing twice. I was just too fat and sick to enjoy all of it before now.

I was asking about brands and such because I will likely buy used,or at least used for my boy. I guess I need to look into how to measure both of us properly and go from there. I would like to spend under $100 for him and I would like to spend $200 or more for me. I might go as far as the $400 range as suggested earlier on that site posted. I would however rather buy a $400 bike used, that somebody thought they would ride,for about $150.

Nope. They had a boom/bust of the app based bike share services. Practically couldn't find any of those pictured (Offo, Zhifubao, Mobike), on the streets, last I was there in August '18. Compared to a year prior, when they were overly plentiful.

Just noticed your son's age. At 10 years old, depending on his height, your son might be better served with a 24" WHEELED bike. That's wheel size, not frame size.

The thing is, is that in practically no time, be prepared for him to need a bike with full sized wheels.

Mountain bikes frame are usually sized in inches. I'm a hair under 6'2" and ride a 20 or 21 most comfortably. My son is 5'11" and rides a 19" frame and my wife at 5'8" likes a 17 or 18".

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No substitute for you and him going on a full day road trip to a town where there are bike shops, ya gotta see for yourself. Advice from bicycle people with actual bikes on the scene to try is worth a 1,000 even good posts on here.

If there's a college town go there, there will be a bunch of bike stores around a college and this time of year they should have a bunch of used bikes. I agree with others, you want "hardtail" mountain bikes with front suspension.

You need to go to a bike shop too to find a bike to fit your son.

However you get bikes, do not purchase a bike without also buying a tire pump, spare tubes, and tire levers to remove the tire from the rim. This will save you a long walk and a second trip to the bike store

There's back problems and there's back problems, if you do much riding on a bicycle where the riding position is such that the weight of your upright body is on the saddle, sooner or later you're gonna hit a bump, feel it in your lower back and the next day be introduced to a different sort of back pain called sciatica, which will linger for at least another six weeks providing you don't hit another bump, in which case it will last longer. Ask me how I know, and I ride bikes most every day.

You want your feet below you on the pedals such that they are bearing much of the weight and at least some of the weight on your arms.



A common misunderstanding of the concept. I ride a "27 Speed"; three chainrings up front connected to the pedals, and nine gears in back. I don't ride a "27 speed" I ride an 11 speed. Almost all the time the chain is on the middle chainring up front and the gears I use are the nine on the back sprocket set. If I need a lower gear I shift down to the small chainring up front (AKA the "granny gear"). If I need a higher gear than the regular nine I shift up to the large chainring up front.

So nine gears in back plus one extra-low and one extra-high up front = eleven speeds.

Why nine gears in back is better than seven is that the nine will have closer-spaced gear ratios, more gear ratios available right where you use them most often.

This, I'm willing to ride a 21 speed, or 24, bought my son a 24 speed bike that was a top of the line bike 8 years ago for $300 last year and its in great shape. He has dinged it up more than the previous owned had in 8 years.

RH, how tall are you? Do you think you can do basic bike set up? If not can you learn from short You Tube videos? If you can, you are a good candidate for mail order, and your dollar can go much further ordering online.

Avoid Wal-Mart bikes. They are heavy, poorly built and often assembled horribly.

I'm 6'2 and wear 32-32 jeans. I was looking at that online shopping link posted. I'm hopefully handy enough to figure stuff out.

Yea,I've met some of the assemblers at Walmart. I know I can do better than that.

Don't even consider a Wallyworld bike. If you don't know of an established bike shop, ask friends about good bike shops, they can set you up properly. Price is an issue, but decent bikes are out there that don't break the bank.