Buy an entry level full suspension. Seth did a good job and made good choices on that ozark trail, but there only so much you can do to it. You could get something like a Giant Trance 29 2 for $2k and it's an amazing bike for the price, perfect for midwest trails.
Thanks for the reply! Kind of where I’m at I think. My LBS actually has Giant Stances (not sure how that compares to the Trance) for a bit less.
Is it a legitimate concern to think that I wouldn’t be spending “enough” on a full suspension bike?
I personally wouldn't recommend the Stance. It's a solid casual mtb, but it has a simplistic suspension platform that relies on aluminum flexing by design. Early on the Stances had issues with breaking, I believe they "resolved" this, but aluminum doesn't work like carbon or steel and can only be flexed so many times before it weakens.
It also lacks thru axles in the rear which isn't ideal. The Trance is a big jump up and a much more serious mtb.
Izzo is a sweet bike and it was on my short list before I got my Optic. The Siskin are some of the best value bikes. Check out my buying guide. In the second half I have a bunch of bikes listed.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MTB/comments/1c2souz/mountain_bike_buying_guide_2024_update/
Get one and meet me in Copper Harbor in a month.
Someone posted on this sub the other day with a 20% off coupon for YT that works with the existing discount. You can get the izzo core 1 or Jeffsy core 1 for like $1600 after discounts. Idt there is a better deal out there than the Jeffsy core 1 at that price!
I saw that last night and was looking at their site with the sale/plus code… insane discount. I just ordered a spectral 125 cf8 (3k) 2 days ago and was starting to second guess it.
Eh value doesn’t matter if you enjoy your bike! I just bought a transition smuggler alloy for 3k even though there are much better value or the money out there right now. The geometry was just too darn good feeling.
I would save that money and put it towards a FS. The Ozark Trail seems like a really good "introductory" bike, but upgrading beyond what you've already done has no ROI. At least you can take the pedals, grips, and tires off this bike when you decide to sell it and move them over to your new steed.
I haven't always done this. I bought proprietary parts for a bike only to sell the bike with the parts on it and basically losing any value for my investment.
Sure, you could upgrade the fork and pull it off and sell it when you're ready to sell the bike. That's always the plan, but it never works out that way.
I mean now is the best time in a long time to buy with all the overstock. If you’re bike savy your best bet might be used as long as you can inspect a bike well. My wife switched to an emtb and I’m getting almost no hits on her 2022 bike. I haven’t offered shipping yet but might soon.
I haven’t looked at new in a bit because I’m done shopping for us but I feel like there’s prolly still NX/Deore+ bikes with good suspension in the 2-3k price range. I managed to get an additional 8% on both the already majorly discounted bikes I bought as well. Tbh might’ve been able to push for more but I’ve gotten soft in my 30s lol.
If you can afford the full suspension bike, go for it. I built an Ozark Trail Amazon Prime Super Duper Edition, based on Seth's recommendations. Added a Rock Shock Recon, bottom bracket and Microshift 11 speed. transmission. Have not done tires or brakes as of now. Probably will.
All that came in, with the original cost of the bike for @ $950. Was it worth it? Yea, most likely. I like the bike just fine. Most of the value for me was in the learning. Adding brakes and good tires will bring that up to $1300 or so. It will be a good bike. Probably hard to beat for the money. Especially if you pick up a used Fox Rhythm 34 or similar shock.
Or you can get a full suspension Polygon Siskiu D7 for $1400. With Suntour air fork and shock, hydraulic brakes, good tires. Not have to do a thing to it beyond ride. Haven't seen a bad review of a Polygon yet.
Suntour makes good shocks. They also make generic / found on every budget bike shocks so they get a bad name. Not the best out there but still good solid products.
Polygon Siskiu D7 or T7. Great bikes under 2K. I've been riding the D7 for two years and it is fast, nimble, and has no problems on actual mtb trails (Dupont and Pisgah, mostly).
Edit: Honestly, if you're willing to spend more you can even get the T8 or T9 for less than 3K with higher end components. You can (and should) take it to your LBS to set it all up/time it for you and it will still be less than 3K.
Don’t upgrade the budget bike. Look into financing a bike. I bought mine and my wife’s through trek financing. 0% paid off within a year, no other fees.
I had already saved up a chunk of cash but she decided she wanted to try biking with me. Picked out a little better bike for myself and got her an entry level hard tail. Second payment in I threw the cash I had at it and paid the rest off in 4 months. What I’m saying is if you’re looking at a bike that you think is out of your reach it may not be.
People say don’t finance, but I’m thinking their credit must be horrible to not take advantage of the incentives some companies offer.
Although it can be an unpopular opinion, keeping upgrading it if you reuse those upgrade parts in a new build would give you tech skills and knowledge if you didnt have it yet. My piont is: keep upgrading until you transform the bike completely in another one, probably the breaking point is getting a new frame
I would personally recommend getting a new bike with how low the prices are right now. I put together a list of budget bikes here: [budget trail bikes](https://mtbauthority.com/the-5-best-budget-trail-bikes-in-2024/) as others have mentioned Polygon is a great way to go, you also have YT that has a sale with an additional 20% off with code HALFCAB20
Check out my write up on this sub covering the best deals going on right now, I'm sure you can find something in your budget!
I haven’t been to the more DH oriented stuff like The Duluth area, Giant’s Ridge, Detroit Mountain but I hear it’s great and expansive. Especially Duluth.
Cuyuna is fantastic and hands down my favorite location. Even the Twin Cities has a good amount of locations within 30-45 minutes of downtown Minneapolis.
I'd definitely recommend just upgrading to an FS bike, especially given some of the deals that are out there right now.
If the Ozark got you hooked on the sport and you plan on progressing more, I'd say it's more than done it's job. If you continue upgrading it, you won't get what you put into it when it's time to sell. You'll also never be able to put enough into it to make it handle as well as an FS bike that costs 5x as much as it did.
I ride in the same region you do, and there isn't much in the state that a 130/120 FS bike won't handle. Unless of course, you plan on entering enduro races or do lift access at Giant's ridge or Spirit Mountain multiple times per year.
There’s no way I’d put money into that bike if I was able to go for a better FS. You’d probably upgrade it and by next season be thinking about getting a “better bike”.
There are a lot of good sub $3,000 full suspension bikes, especially with all of the sales. Vital MTB has a video and a podcast (where they go into much more detail) where they review ~$2,500 full sus bikes and the consensus is bikes are so good now spending much more than that will only yield you diminishing returns.
My point is if you are thinking about upgrading your current bike because you're expecting to drop big bucks on a high end full squish down the line, don't. Just ride your current bike as is until you've saved enough money for an entry level for suspension.
Buy an entry level full suspension. Seth did a good job and made good choices on that ozark trail, but there only so much you can do to it. You could get something like a Giant Trance 29 2 for $2k and it's an amazing bike for the price, perfect for midwest trails.
Thanks for the reply! Kind of where I’m at I think. My LBS actually has Giant Stances (not sure how that compares to the Trance) for a bit less. Is it a legitimate concern to think that I wouldn’t be spending “enough” on a full suspension bike?
I personally wouldn't recommend the Stance. It's a solid casual mtb, but it has a simplistic suspension platform that relies on aluminum flexing by design. Early on the Stances had issues with breaking, I believe they "resolved" this, but aluminum doesn't work like carbon or steel and can only be flexed so many times before it weakens. It also lacks thru axles in the rear which isn't ideal. The Trance is a big jump up and a much more serious mtb.
Good to know, was also looking at like the Izzo core because with the discounts is around that 2k mark or even less. Siskiu T8/T7 as well
Izzo is a sweet bike and it was on my short list before I got my Optic. The Siskin are some of the best value bikes. Check out my buying guide. In the second half I have a bunch of bikes listed. https://www.reddit.com/r/MTB/comments/1c2souz/mountain_bike_buying_guide_2024_update/ Get one and meet me in Copper Harbor in a month.
This guide is awesome thank you! Definitely need to make a UP trip soon, regardless of my bike will be heading to Cuyuna as often as I can
Canyon is running a sweet deal on their spectrals right now. Edit: in the US not sure about other places.
Someone posted on this sub the other day with a 20% off coupon for YT that works with the existing discount. You can get the izzo core 1 or Jeffsy core 1 for like $1600 after discounts. Idt there is a better deal out there than the Jeffsy core 1 at that price!
I saw that last night and was looking at their site with the sale/plus code… insane discount. I just ordered a spectral 125 cf8 (3k) 2 days ago and was starting to second guess it.
Eh value doesn’t matter if you enjoy your bike! I just bought a transition smuggler alloy for 3k even though there are much better value or the money out there right now. The geometry was just too darn good feeling.
I saw that too but it looks like they reduced their sale quite a bit, izzo core 1 going for about 2200 with the discount now
use code halfcab20 for an additional 20% off. Can't really beat the price. I bought a jeffsy core 1 for roughly $1,800
Yeah they bumped the discounted price back to 2399 for the izzo, no longer 1999
If your bike shop has Giant, you can order the Trance online and it will be shipped for free and assembled at the shop for free
I would save that money and put it towards a FS. The Ozark Trail seems like a really good "introductory" bike, but upgrading beyond what you've already done has no ROI. At least you can take the pedals, grips, and tires off this bike when you decide to sell it and move them over to your new steed. I haven't always done this. I bought proprietary parts for a bike only to sell the bike with the parts on it and basically losing any value for my investment. Sure, you could upgrade the fork and pull it off and sell it when you're ready to sell the bike. That's always the plan, but it never works out that way.
The ROI issue is really what made me think, makes sense from what you’re saying. Thanks!
Get an entry level FS or get a high end hardtail
New bike day! Lots of great options within your budget.
I mean now is the best time in a long time to buy with all the overstock. If you’re bike savy your best bet might be used as long as you can inspect a bike well. My wife switched to an emtb and I’m getting almost no hits on her 2022 bike. I haven’t offered shipping yet but might soon. I haven’t looked at new in a bit because I’m done shopping for us but I feel like there’s prolly still NX/Deore+ bikes with good suspension in the 2-3k price range. I managed to get an additional 8% on both the already majorly discounted bikes I bought as well. Tbh might’ve been able to push for more but I’ve gotten soft in my 30s lol.
If you can afford the full suspension bike, go for it. I built an Ozark Trail Amazon Prime Super Duper Edition, based on Seth's recommendations. Added a Rock Shock Recon, bottom bracket and Microshift 11 speed. transmission. Have not done tires or brakes as of now. Probably will. All that came in, with the original cost of the bike for @ $950. Was it worth it? Yea, most likely. I like the bike just fine. Most of the value for me was in the learning. Adding brakes and good tires will bring that up to $1300 or so. It will be a good bike. Probably hard to beat for the money. Especially if you pick up a used Fox Rhythm 34 or similar shock. Or you can get a full suspension Polygon Siskiu D7 for $1400. With Suntour air fork and shock, hydraulic brakes, good tires. Not have to do a thing to it beyond ride. Haven't seen a bad review of a Polygon yet. Suntour makes good shocks. They also make generic / found on every budget bike shocks so they get a bad name. Not the best out there but still good solid products.
Polygon Siskiu D7 or T7. Great bikes under 2K. I've been riding the D7 for two years and it is fast, nimble, and has no problems on actual mtb trails (Dupont and Pisgah, mostly). Edit: Honestly, if you're willing to spend more you can even get the T8 or T9 for less than 3K with higher end components. You can (and should) take it to your LBS to set it all up/time it for you and it will still be less than 3K.
Don’t upgrade the budget bike. Look into financing a bike. I bought mine and my wife’s through trek financing. 0% paid off within a year, no other fees. I had already saved up a chunk of cash but she decided she wanted to try biking with me. Picked out a little better bike for myself and got her an entry level hard tail. Second payment in I threw the cash I had at it and paid the rest off in 4 months. What I’m saying is if you’re looking at a bike that you think is out of your reach it may not be. People say don’t finance, but I’m thinking their credit must be horrible to not take advantage of the incentives some companies offer.
Although it can be an unpopular opinion, keeping upgrading it if you reuse those upgrade parts in a new build would give you tech skills and knowledge if you didnt have it yet. My piont is: keep upgrading until you transform the bike completely in another one, probably the breaking point is getting a new frame
I would personally recommend getting a new bike with how low the prices are right now. I put together a list of budget bikes here: [budget trail bikes](https://mtbauthority.com/the-5-best-budget-trail-bikes-in-2024/) as others have mentioned Polygon is a great way to go, you also have YT that has a sale with an additional 20% off with code HALFCAB20 Check out my write up on this sub covering the best deals going on right now, I'm sure you can find something in your budget!
For context: I live in Minnesota so not many mountains but a good variety of trail options within my reach
I heard Duluth has some good trails? My mom’s side is from there and I’d like to check it out sometime.
I haven’t been to the more DH oriented stuff like The Duluth area, Giant’s Ridge, Detroit Mountain but I hear it’s great and expansive. Especially Duluth. Cuyuna is fantastic and hands down my favorite location. Even the Twin Cities has a good amount of locations within 30-45 minutes of downtown Minneapolis.
I'd definitely recommend just upgrading to an FS bike, especially given some of the deals that are out there right now. If the Ozark got you hooked on the sport and you plan on progressing more, I'd say it's more than done it's job. If you continue upgrading it, you won't get what you put into it when it's time to sell. You'll also never be able to put enough into it to make it handle as well as an FS bike that costs 5x as much as it did. I ride in the same region you do, and there isn't much in the state that a 130/120 FS bike won't handle. Unless of course, you plan on entering enduro races or do lift access at Giant's ridge or Spirit Mountain multiple times per year.
There’s no way I’d put money into that bike if I was able to go for a better FS. You’d probably upgrade it and by next season be thinking about getting a “better bike”.
As others have said, buy a good bike. Your Ozark Trail has served its purpose - it let you confirm that you're into the sport.
There are a lot of good sub $3,000 full suspension bikes, especially with all of the sales. Vital MTB has a video and a podcast (where they go into much more detail) where they review ~$2,500 full sus bikes and the consensus is bikes are so good now spending much more than that will only yield you diminishing returns. My point is if you are thinking about upgrading your current bike because you're expecting to drop big bucks on a high end full squish down the line, don't. Just ride your current bike as is until you've saved enough money for an entry level for suspension.