Best beginning mountain bike for thrill seeker under $500?

I am an athletic 5’11″, 170 lb male who just moved to E. Tenn and would love to start mountain biking. I want something that will last a while and is pretty durable (I am a bit of a rebel). What brands or models should I be looking at? I heard that aluminum frames and disc brakes are the best. Is it worth it to get full-suspension and what size should I get?

Well if you are into mountain biking the biggest choice you are going to have to make is weather you want a hard tail or a full suspension. full suspension bikes are more expensive and heavier, but are better for downhill. Hard tail’s are cheaper, lighter, don’t have petal sag from the rear suspension, and generally better for riding uphill. If I were you, with your budget, definiteley do not get a Full suspension. If you do you will get stuck with a cheap bike that will break very quickly.

Regardless, the things you should be looking for on a bike (as the seller should provide a list of parts) are, disk breaks (yes, they are nice), a fork that is either, Rockshox, Manitou, or RST.(RST is not the best but is in your price range.) Look for either Sram of Shimano drive train parts. Frames really dont make that much of a difference as far a performance, but make a difference in weight. But with your budget I would stick to worrying about the performance parts, and not the frame. Don’t worry about the manufacturer that put the bike parts together, as long as the parts themselves are nice.

If you are 5’11 you should get either a 19 or 20 inch frame. I’d get the 20 inch.

One last thing is that bikes are an investment and you should be willing to pay the extra Pennie for a nicer one if you are stuck. You will probably have it for a long time so get a nice one and you will be glad in the future. Good luck!

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