Advice on getting back into biking

proteus

Retro Newbie
I've been getting back into biking and my current bike, a marin, was kindly donated by a mate kindly many years ago is ready for scrap. I was well into biking in my teens and the last bike i bought was a yeti - a long time ago, 1992ish. I would like a full sus bike but as it's only something I getting back into slowly I'm not looking to spend too much. I always liked kleins and thought a 2nd hand palomino would be a good buy, or maybe a cannondale scapel or stumpjumper. If any can give any advice on these it would be appreciated - would like to spend around £500 to £700 :?:
 
proteus":10ebfu4p said:
I've been getting back into biking and my current bike, a marin, was kindly donated by a mate kindly many years ago is ready for scrap. I was well into biking in my teens and the last bike i bought was a yeti - a long time ago, 1992ish. I would like a full sus bike but as it's only something I getting back into slowly I'm not looking to spend too much. I always liked kleins and thought a 2nd hand palomino would be a good buy, or maybe a cannondale scapel or stumpjumper. If any can give any advice on these it would be appreciated - would like to spend around £500 to £700 :?:

Even from all the way over here I can hear Legrandefromage sprinting to your dumpster at the mere mention of the word 'scrap'! 8)
 
I realise this probably isn't the best place to ask about newer bikes, i love old bikes too, still wish i had my old pk ripper and gt bmxs and yeti, but i definitely want to move onto suspension. I do a bit more googling...
 
If the frame isn't cracked then you Marin isn't ready for scrap.
Assuming you want a hardtail, then £500-700 will get a decent bike.

Full sus at that price will have some serious compromises, not least in weight.
 
Its easy to go full circle, or should i say its fun to go full circle. I did up my old beater Marin in 2002 with fresh bits and DIY neat paint job, and got perverted by a DDG Shooter of all things! :roll: I decided to sell the Marin as fitting sus forks and modern brakes would cost too much. and went through two heavy lumpy alu moderns long story short, I have just competed some retro builds and had some real good fun getting back to basics and rediscovering the limits. I have a full suss Santa Cruz frame I still not found the mojo to build, having just built a modern cromo HT.

It all depends what you want, if you really want a modern or semi modern or even classic Full suss then go for it once you sussed the right one. meant to be some real clever full sussers about, like XC ones that help you up hills shock horror, and i quite like the slopestyle type things if ya cool enough to so do some styling. loads of trick bikes on the market. I'd get the marin to work nice and go on a Retro Bike organised ride first. ;)
 
hamster":27vcpdab said:
If the frame isn't cracked then you Marin isn't ready for scrap.
Assuming you want a hardtail, then £500-700 will get a decent bike.

Full sus at that price will have some serious compromises, not least in weight.

Thanks for all advice. I thought that sort of money would get me a decent bike second hand. I've seen a klien palomino go for £500 that was spanking clean and understood they're a good full sus although maybe not the very latest technology. The only reservation i had about the klein was obsolete/unobtainable parts and something i read on this forum about weak/thin tubing, which i was surprised about as i always thought they were top draw bikes? I've seen decent second hand fs cannondales go for this sort of dosh too so thought that was a fair budget?
 
proteus":2495cy2w said:
Thanks for all advice. I thought that sort of money would get me a decent bike second hand. I've seen a klien palomino go for £500 that was spanking clean and understood they're a good full sus although maybe not the very latest technology. The only reservation i had about the klein was obsolete/unobtainable parts and something i read on this forum about weak/thin tubing, which i was surprised about as i always thought they were top draw bikes? I've seen decent second hand fs cannondales go for this sort of dosh too so thought that was a fair budget?
I have a Rocky Mountain Element TSc, which has a 5.3lb scandium frame (incl Fox shock), overall weight 25lbs with SID fork, hand-built wheels and XT kit. If I put it on eBay, I doubt if it would reach £500, so you really should get plenty of bike for your budget.

Cannondales and Kleins are quite expensive, for whatever reason, and you do sometimes hear about concerns of that kind. I think Stumpjumpers and Marins are perhaps better value, and a Santa Cruz Superlight is still a pretty good bike. Start from how much travel you want and the kind of riding you plan to do, and take it from there really.
 
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