Opinions for the noob

Hey guys, I've been lurking the group for a couple weeks now. I'm in the
market for another mountain bike. My current ride is a '94 Schwinn Moab SS.
I checked out some shops today and seem to be drawn toward a Jamis. The
folks at the shop are really nice people and easy to get along with. They
offered me a 2003 Dakar Sport for $700. Any opinions on it? I know its not
the best of anything but it fits my budget. My riding will be mostly XC
stuff with some rails to trails occasionally thrown in.

"Andy Mullins" wrote in message ...
Hey guys, I've been lurking the group for a couple weeks now. I'm in the
market for another mountain bike. My current ride is a '94 Schwinn Moab SS.
I checked out some shops today and seem to be drawn toward a Jamis. The
folks at the shop are really nice people and easy to get along with. They
offered me a 2003 Dakar Sport for $700. Any opinions on it? I know its not
the best of anything but it fits my budget. My riding will be mostly XC
stuff with some rails to trails occasionally thrown in.

the dakar is normally high on the list of decent entry level bikes.
good choice

g

Andy Mullins wrote:
Hey guys, I've been lurking the group for a couple weeks now. I'm in
the market for another mountain bike. My current ride is a '94
Schwinn Moab SS. I checked out some shops today and seem to be drawn
toward a Jamis. The folks at the shop are really nice people and easy
to get along with. They offered me a 2003 Dakar Sport for $700. Any
opinions on it? I know its not the best of anything but it fits my
budget. My riding will be mostly XC stuff with some rails to trails
occasionally thrown in.

If it's the model I think it is, my partner has one, although I've since
upgraded it a little with few extra goodies that I had lying around. I
wouldn't say that it's not the best of anything - Jamis has a good name and
I thought that it was well specc'd at that price point. I think that you'll
have a lot of fun with it and it's a good choice. Unless you are looking at
getting into the sport more seriously, then there is little good reason to
buy a more expensive bike at this stage.
Something like the Specialised Hardrock Pro Disc might be worth a look too.
--
Westie
(Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)

"Andy Mullins" wrote in message
...
Hey guys, I've been lurking the group for a couple weeks now. I'm in the
market for another mountain bike. My current ride is a '94 Schwinn Moab
SS.
I checked out some shops today and seem to be drawn toward a Jamis. The
folks at the shop are really nice people and easy to get along with. They
offered me a 2003 Dakar Sport for $700. Any opinions on it? I know its not
the best of anything but it fits my budget. My riding will be mostly XC
stuff with some rails to trails occasionally thrown in.



I have the Dakar Comp, bit up the meter from the Sport model. Jamis makes
rock solid rigs without the costs of other high end manufacters. The Sport
is a good entry level bike for the money, you really can't dp better. It's
equaivalent to an equal nike charging around the $1200 mark.

First thing I would do is change the pedals and seat. After that, ride the
wheels off the bike until it quits, then by the "Pro".