Getting into the sport of mountain biking is not necessarily an inexpensive leap. Sure, there are plenty of different factors that influence the cost of entry one way or another — where are you going to ride? How often? What are your expectations of performance from a bike? Do you plan on upgrading it ever? The list is endless. I’d say that a lot of people I know, as kids, had some help from their parents with their first real bike. I know I did.
While some parents will happily drop $10,000 on a 20 lb carbon bike for their kids to use in high school NICA races and some spend large sums of money on bikes, parts, and travel for their kids to go to camp at Whistler without thinking twice, other parents are a bit more reserved. To each their own. I’m not here to judge.
At some point, as many kids did, I had to start working to pay for the bikes and parts I wanted, at least to an extent, and the timing went hand-in-hand with me getting more into the sport and wanting more expensive bikes. I was experiencing inflation firsthand, but it was due to broken bikes and parts needing upgrades to save the same fate from happening again. Did I need all of this to ride? No. However, I was breaking wheels, bending cranks, and using my XC bike as an urban freeride dirt jump machine, and it just wasn’t working out.
My first real bike - a Trek 6500. It was to be my “forever” bike - I wouldn’t need a nicer bike than this…or so my parents said, and I’d be able to grow into the large frame. I guess I still have some growing to do here, decades later. Nevertheless, it was a big deal to have such a nice bike, and I was fortunate to get it. It was several hundred dollars, but bikes were what I did, and there’s no way I could have bought it on my own. It was an investment in my future.
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While the 6500 stood up to several years of heavy riding, from jumping down sets of stairs to rugged rides in Pisgah National Forest around 1999-2000, it had its limitations. I’d shown some consistent dedication to riding bikes, and I was able to mow a lot of yards and trade in my 6500 to get a Trek Fuel 90. Full suspension would surely help me with the loading dock drops to flat and sets of stairs. The Fuel lasted for a long while into high school. One broken headtube, some bent crankarms, and a number of other parts later, I wanted a big bike. (Not pictured: hammer and screwdriver to remove headset cups.)
Hold the comments: this photo was taken after I had traded the bike to a buddy for a Kona Stinky Six. I had nothing to do with the 24” front wheel and longer rear shock, and the geometry was marginally “better” under my ownership. Who doesn’t want a bike with a 2002 Marzocchi Monster T, 24” wheels, and a 3” wide front tire? Nevertheless, I struggled to break anything on this bike, and it had my back through countless hucks and drops to flat.
