The call of the wild

Men's Fitness, April, 1999 by Roy Wallack

With top-end features available at lower prices than ever, there's never been a better time to buy your first mountain bike

You've seen them cruising out of town in their trucks, the raw equipment of their sport strapped to the top, a wheel spinning in the wind. Mountain bikers. Something deviously mirthful spreads across their faces as they abandon the city, and the smog that hangs overhead like bad karma, and head for the hills. You try to deny their pull, the envy they create, and dismiss them as pariahs. But the image lodges in your head like shrapnel. You imagine yourself bombing down some mountainside; you smell the pine, the wood smoke, the earth.

Then one day on your lunch hour, you find yourself skulking through the aisles of Sam's Club, fingering the plastic components of a $229 mountain bike. Seems loaded with the essentials: a suspension fork to soak up terrain, 21 speeds to get you up the hill, a water bottle, even cargo pockets. A good deal, you think?

The truth is, you'd be lucky to get this discount ride out of the box in one piece, let alone up and down the side of a mountain full of rocks, roots and ruts. When even the best equipment on quality brand-name bikes from companies like Schwinn, Trek and Specialized is trashed after three or four years - and these are bikes with rugged welded steel or aluminum frames and super-strong heat-treated components - a $229 Sam's Club jubilee, with its heavy, spot-welded steel frame, cheap bearings and seals, cut-rate kiddie fork and slipshod assembly, doesn't stand a chance.

"Most department-store bikes won't last a week in the dirt," says Rich White, a Southern California cycling coach and industry consultant. Nicknamed "The Reverend" for his obsession with preaching the cycling gospel, White spent four years as the marketing manager for Mulrooney's, a large chain of Los Angeles-area bike shops. During that time, he watched countless disgruntled riders bring in their battered and broken dime-store bikes for repair. "I never tell beginners to buy expensive bikes, because you've got to see if you like mountain biking first," he says. "But your first bike still has to be tough enough to handle it."

It's hard not to be tempted by those $5,000 superbikes, the ones loaded with the same hardware that's found on the space shuttle. But fortunately, there are plenty of affordable, high-quality alternatives. A few years ago, you would have had to drop at least $700 to get a decent steel-framed hardtail (a rigid-frame bike with front suspension only). The rapid development of cycling technology, however, has vastly improved mountain bikes all the way down to dirt-worthy entry-level models. Today, $500 will not only put you in the dirt, but it will get you a stiffer, lighter aluminum frame to boot.

In fact, there are several decent sub$500 hardtails on the market this year. And for under $800, you can slip onto plush dualies (dual-suspension in the front and back) and performance racing bikes that ran $1,000 in seasons past.

The only better deal you're likely to find is a solid hand-me-down from a friend who's upgrading. However, if you take this route, make sure the bike fits - if you're cramped up or stretched out on the bike, your balance will be thrown off, making for an uncomfortable and dangerous ride. Remember, the idea here is to get a bike you'll use, not a piece of shiny garage furniture. Have your friend help you with the size, or ask him to recommend someone with the requisite expertise to tell you whether it's a match made for the mountains.

And before you shove your new bike into your trunk and search out the dirt hogs flowing mountainward, be prepared to drop at least another $150 for accessories: a helmet, eye protection, bike shorts, full-finger gloves, a pump, a patch kit, a water bottle, a tool bag and allen wrenches. Don't leave the store without them - nothing kills the thrill of conquering the back-country more than a cracked skull or a six-mile hike with a crippled bike slung over your shoulder.

Come judgment day, keep these words from the Reverend in mind before reaching for the plastic: "A new mountain bike is no good at any price if you can't ride it where it belongs - in the mountains."

Turn the page for a look at a few of the season's best beginner bikes to help you reach the mountaintop - and the bottom - in one piece.

1 Mongoose SX 6.7

Dual-suspension bikes allow anyone to ride longer and stronger on the mountain, but they're more of a luxury than a necessity for the first-time rider. However, this year finds many dualies, like the SX, slumming at unimaginably low prices, which make them extremely attractive first-time buys.

Strengths: An RST 281 fork with two inches of travel in front, three inches of travel in back, a journeyman 24-speed Alivio drivetrain with fingertip shifters, toe clips and a stunning brushed-metal aluminum frame.

Weaknesses: As you improve, you'll wish you had an extra inch of travel up front to match the suspension in back.

Bottom line: The SX is a great buy for the serious first-timer. As a bonus, it's the world's most beautiful budget bouncer. Take it anywhere to bring out its ugly side ($679).