Conference noted::bicycle

1794.0. "Need a Mountain Bike!" by UNXA::WEISS () Tue Dec 04 1990 12:37

    I would like some help deciding on which Mountain bike to purchase. The
    club I belong to, here in New Jersey, does a lot of normal road riding
    during the winter.  There usually isn't a lot of snow and avg winter
    temp. is around 40 degrees.  This year, a lot of people have started
    Mountain biking just for a change of pace (we all seem to get a little
    burned out by November by the amount of miles and intensity we do).
    
    I've looked around a bit at the $600-$700 range, and so far have come
    up with two choices, the Diamond Back APEX, which has Shimano DX
    components, or a Cannondale 3.0 Aluminum with Suntour components.  Some
    friends say go for the Cannondale frame, others like the Shimano
    shifting better.  I don't intend to start racing Mountain bikes, this
    is for a change of pace only (and to keep a little warmer on those
    nasty days) so I would like to keep this bike for a long time.
    
    Is there any problems with the Shimano Rapid-fire components?  The
    higher end bikes seem to be going back to normal SIS shifting.  I also
    saw a bike with Suntour grip-shifts.
    
    Does anyone have any suggestions on which bike or are there others in
    my price range that I should look at?
    
    Thanks in advance,
    Rick

    
      Try notes 1077 or 1425.
    
      Other possibles notes 68,249,371 or 619
    
      John C.
    

    
    	I have the APEX and like it OK,
    I have beat the sh*t out of it and still have not adjusted the shifter
    mechanism.
    
    	Roger

    For what it's worth, I beat the heck out of my $400 Specialized
    Rockhopper with Exage 400lx and it hasn't missed a beat either.  The
    only thing I find a annoying is when I shift from large to small
    chainring it skips the middle ring and goes right to the small ring.
    This is an intermittent problem but it seems to happen at the least
    opportune times.  My bike is heavier and geared higher than what you
    are looking at but if you plan on mostly road riding and not much
    technical (i.e. rocky, rooty) hillclimbs you may be looking at more of
    a bike than you need.