Conference noted::bicycle

       
       I bought a Mongoose Hill Topper late last year for under
       $300. And I've been ridden it a lot on trails even in the
       snow and/or rain and I feel this is a good bike to begin with
       if you're not a very serious MTB rider. 
       
       Although, the bike may not carry top of the line components,
       to me, this bike has got everything I need on trails. 18
       speeds, cantilever brakes front and rear, click shift for
       freewheels, 4130 chromemoly frame (not including fork). The
       tires are 1.5 inch wide but still give enough traction when I
       lower the tire pressures to about 18 psi on trails and shift
       weight further back during climbing. There is enough room if
       you'd like to upgrade the tires to 2.0 inches. If you pump
       the pressure to about 45 psi, this bike works well on streets
       too, because there are links between the knobs near the
       center ridge and ease the road resistance. 
       
       I noticed the Hill Topper on the catalog doesn't have the
       same chainrings I have on my bike. My Hill Topper has 3 Oval
       Chainrings up front (28, 38, 48) while the catalog shows
       regular round chainring with a black protector on it. I am
       not sure whether it's enhanced by the dealer or what. But
       I wouldn't buy it if it's 10 or 12 speed bike. 
       
       There are no quick releases on the wheels and seat post. I
       have put a quick release for the seatpost for about $8.00.
       It's a good investment since my wife and I share the same
       bike and I do lots of trail riding which requires lowering
       the seat most of the time. 
       
       If taking front wheel off will be common to you, you may want
       to add the cost of quick releases to the bike and compare it
       with other bikes with these gadgets. 
       

       Han

    My wife picked up the Hill Topper last year for about $270.00. 
    I think it's the best deal around for that price.  Quality materials
    for the frame and wheels.  As .1 mentioned, the components are not
    top of the line, but they are decent; besides, you can always upgrade
    later if you want something better.
    
    Regards,
    Denis
    

I have another question about ATB's. Have any of you heard of 
Giant bikes? The dealers will say only that they are a Taiwanese 
company that sells a lot of its bikes to other companies, like 
Schwinn for example.


It seems that they are are a little less expensive than the Mongooses
for basically the same frame.  I had never heard of Giant before last 
night and was curious to know if any one knows anything about their
bikes.

JC

    As I understand it, there are only about 3 or 4 factories in Taiwan
    that make most of the imported Mountain bike frames.  Giant is one
    of these companies.  I was in a bike shop last week and I looked
    at a Schwinn mountain bike and, sure enough, it had a little sticker
    on the frame, near the rear drop out, that said GIANT.   I guess
    that Giant is now starting to market bikes under their own name,
    too. 
    
    I also looked at Offroad mountain bikes.  I was told that Offroad
    is a company that makes motorcycle after-market stuff and they decided
    to get into the mountain bike business.  They buy imported frames
    and add their choice of components (just like everyone else).  I
    saw these bikes in Nault's in Manchester, NH.  The Offroad bikes
    were on sale and they offered the best components for the money.
    Anyone know anything else about Offroad.

    My wife just got an Offroad Mountain Ranger for about $325. It has
    Shimano Light Action derailleurs and cantilever brakes front and
    rear. It has very cushy seat (both padding and springs). She has
    not had much chance to ride it due to being sick, but it looks like
    a good combination of stuff for someone that is not going to do
    a lot of real difficult off-road work, but needs something to fool
    around on. The frame angles are relaxed, something like 72/69
    (seat/head) as I recall. It has bars with about 3" of rise in them.
    The model is more intended as a city-bike than an offroader, but
    it does have 18 speeds. She's happy with it and that's what counts!
    
    Oh, it comes with Cheng Shin City Bike tires 1.5 x 26 which are sort of like
    Ritchey Quads in appearance. They have interlocking blocks, not
    a center strip. I swapped them for Quads from my bike when I got
    a pair of Panaracer Timbuk II's, which, by the way, work great off
    road on gravel, rocks, and trails (haven't tried them in mud yet).
    

>    Anyone know anything else about Offroad.

When I was looking for a mountain bike I also went to Naults and saw the 
Offroad bikes.  After riding several bikes at Naults and other local 
shops, I decided to buy the Offroad Mountain Pro.  No other brand of 
bike I saw could offer the same quality components at the same price 
Offroad does.  I was a little concerned about buying the bike (as you 
seem to be) since I'd never heard of the brand before.

Now I've had the bike for about a month and am very happy with it.  I've 
been doing a combination of road/trail riding and the bike has been 
great.  Handling characteristics offroad seem really comfortable to me, 
and the components are all top notch.

If you have any specific questions about the bike, let me know and I'll 
try to answer them.

-scott

I discovered something very interesting while looking at the Specialized 
line of bikes. They also use the Giant frames. The Rockhopper which 
sells for around $475 ($440 on sale) is identical to the Giant 740AT 
which sells for $389 on sale. The only differences that I could see was 
that the headset is sealed on the Rockhopper, and the tires are 
different. All else is the same. They are both using the Shimano Exage 
Mountain matched compnents set.

Oh, and you don't get the electric neon paint job on the Giant. :-)


JC

    	re: .3
    
    	There's an article in this month's issue of Bicycle Guide
    	about Giant, Taiwan's largest manufacturer of quality bikes.
    
    								Mike
    

    What did you decide......the giant or the mongoose or a good used
    bike or what??why??

Well.........


I decided on the Giant AT740 for the reasons mentioned in a previous 
reply (i.e. basically a Rockhopper). I chose it over a good touring bike 
because lately all of my riding has been with my 2 year old on the back. 
This made stability very important. Also I wanted to have the future 
possibility of riding off road.


Here comes the depressing part. I got to point where it was all decided 
and I just couldn't bring myself to plunk down $400 on a bike. So after 
all that I whimped out!  

But if in a fit of impulsive passion I do get the nerve to spend the 
money it will be something along these lines. But that won't come until 
after the new furnace, vacation, repairs on the house, etc. etc. etc....


Domesticatedly yours,

JC

    If you haven't totally given up the idea, you look at it from a
    different perspective.......look at used bikes. I have a Schwinn
    Sierra and a Specialized Stumpjumper....and I bought both of them
    at half price. Of course, I had to buy the Sunday paper on Saturday
    night for three months. I bought the stumpjumper for $450...it was
    nine months old and had never been offroad!!  My point here is that
    there are a lot of really fine ATB's out there at half price because
    people bought them for reasons other than riding offroad. When they
    realize that they should have bought a street bike, or that they
    bought more bike than they could ever use, the sell it CHEAP!!.
    There are often Ross bikes or Schwinn bikes out there for $200,
    and you could resell them for that if you decided on a better bike
    later on (which is not to say that they are bad bikes. I have the
    Schwinn so that i will always have a riding partner).  If you think
    that you might be interested in a bike, read that paper!! Sooner
    or later you will see a really good bike at a fraction of the cost
    for a new bike. 
    

    	I recently found railroad tracks and open land near my home
    in Lexington!  I'm not a mountain biker now, but that may soon change.
    .
    .
    .
    	I'm thinking of picking up a 1988 Nashbar XCD6000 for $279 at
    the Nashbar Outlest Store
    
    	SunTour XCD 6000 Accushift - 15 speed
    	Tange oversize MTB straight guage Cho-Mo
        Diacomp BB mounted U brake (OK if I stay out of deep mud?)
    	Araya 36 hole RM20 wheels
    
    	Tell me sage noters...Should I go for it, or is there a better
    price performance combination out there?
    
    Thanks,
    		Nick B...