Where to buy a new bike in Sydney?

greendream

Likes Bikes
No, serious. It's been sometime since I've needed to go bike shopping and I was hoping you burners may be able to help with some shortcuts?

My nephews dad has asked me to help him find a new pushy for the boy since he knows i like 'em my bikes.
So we have a fair idea of what might be suitable and of course I'd like to ask you if you may have suggestions for the bike itself and then importantly where do you get one from? I've had look around on the interwebs and found that I had no idea about the "out of stock" situation.
I'm sort of leaning towards purchasing from a bike shop, local preferably, because I'm not sure of how capable the boys will be to look after the bike. Or, is online the go nowadays & the old uncle will set things up?
the young fella, will mainly ride the suburban streets and has intentions to get out on the trails and parks with his mates when they are able to again.

alloy hardtail
med. frame
air forks, 100-120mm?
29"
prefer shimano running gear
budget $1500 but it appears to me that as you get closer to $2000 there's a step improvement in the spec?

Thanks in advance.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
How old is the kid? Which part of Sydney are they in? Do you really think an xc type bike is what he wants? Or is he going to want to smash jumps and stairs and spend all his spare time at bare creek?

Check out bicycles online. I've had a few bikes from them and they are good value.
 

greendream

Likes Bikes
How old is the kid? Which part of Sydney are they in? Do you really think an xc type bike is what he wants? Or is he going to want to smash jumps and stairs and spend all his spare time at bare creek?

Check out bicycles online. I've had a few bikes from them and they are good value.
Cool, thanks.
almost 13. Inner west.
You're right I was initially thinking something more urban orientated but then he might lose out in the rough stuff. What would you suggest?
 

nzhumpy

Googlemeister who likes bikes and scandal
I got a bike for my young fella from 99Bikes in Stanmore a few months back, it wasn't on their website (showed out of stock but they got one in).

This is bang on the top of the limit with the discount applied.

 
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pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Cool, thanks.
almost 13. Inner west.
You're right I was initially thinking something more urban orientated but then he might lose out in the rough stuff. What would you suggest?
13? DJ bike...every time. Plenty of good skate parks, stairs, hucks and street rides around the inner west (have you seen the setup at Dulwich Hill?). Plus he can probably get to Hornsby easily (light rail + train) or bare creek with the mum/dad taxi for maximum sends. A balanced DJ type bike will ride ok in the rough stuff (but how rough really? Like...rock gardens of death? Or just the noob induced brake bumps and ruts at regular trails?)...until he needs to climb! One with gears wouldn't hurt (SRAM 7speed is cheap and effective). Don't let him be the kid trying to ride jumps on the awkward shaped bike with tacos for wheels because xc is where it's at for adults.

With a budget of 1500, hold off and boost it to 2000. Wait for bicycles online to mark the polygon Trid zz down for clearance and have a happy couple of years out of it.

I could be wrong though. It wouldn't be the first time.









Or get something second hand.
 

moorey

call me Mia
Disagree on a DJ. Really not suited to trails.
There’s s some excellent hard tails getting around with longer travel fork and great geometry under $2k…(marin, norco)..if you can find stock.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Disagree on a DJ. Really not suited to trails.
There’s s some excellent hard tails getting around with longer travel fork and great geometry under $2k…(marin, norco)..if you can find stock.
Marin have some good stuff, same dealer as polygon. Only setback I have seen on both brands is their love of Shimano hubs for their duellies.

Only norcos I've seen lately are dualities as well. Seems no kid around here rides hard tails anymore unless they are shitters (like fluid).

I don't have any kids, just basing my recommendations on what I observe locally (which pre-pandemic includes a good chunk of Sydney rides). Glenrock has 1 all mountain/xc loop that branches off into a few different finishes but now includes a "flow" style section with a few small jumps and berms and 3 mid sized jumps and 3 (older)I'd sized jumps, 2 official sets of dirt jumps, about half a dozen unofficial short freeride style trails, and a lot of fire road. It's currently filled with schoolies each day. The kids plague up hard on the 2 dirt jump sections and 2 of the main freeride lines (the ones with the jumps). Sure I see a few on the xc loop (I have been riding the new jumps out there to avoid the crowds) but they are mostly riding out to the jumps, and even then in the minority by a long way. It's a similar story when I ride Hornsby (Sydney's most easily accessed bike trails) with most of the kids blasting the DJ area. I don't know this particular kid of his ride friends, so perhaps they are all keen for smashing kilometres of trail, but if I was laying uninformed bets...

Seems that the Shimano wheels might be reserved for the jewellies!



Seems the only hardtails I like at bicycles online aren't available anyway...

 

DougalStrachan

Likes Dirt
My young fella has the San Quentin 3, love the geometry on it, he can do trail and jumps with ease (Loves sending jumps). Not sure how much of it is wank in term of it being built for jumps, but it looks the good. 100% do not regret getting the hardtail verses dually for him as the increase in component v price. (and me having one less thing to service) is showing, he does a lot of Km's on it. The San Quentin 1 and 2 look pretty good, I think some of the other ones out there might beat it on some of the components but the way the San Quentin rides suited the young fella.
 

RealizE

Likes Bikes
100% what Poodle said!

the young fella, will mainly ride the suburban streets and has intentions to get out on the trails and parks with his mates when they are able to again.
Real-Life Translation: the kid will never ride in the trails and will spend most of his time sitting on the bike whilst talking shit with mates. The kid just wants a new bike and is throwing out as many justifications as possible to increase his chances of getting a new bike. I bet he's going to "ride every day" too!

Unless the kid has specifically stated that they want a mountain bike to ride in the bush, then what the kid actually wants is a cool bike that he can stuff around on at the local oval, or building crappy jumps in the nature reserve etc. There are a few kids around here (Northern Beaches) that are fully decked out on carbon enduro bikes that ride the local trails, but they are a very small minority. The lucky kids are on dirt jumpers and the rest are mostly on shitty hardtails because that's what their parents thought was the smartest choice. "Oh, this multi-use bike will be great for Johnny; he can ride in the bush and go on long rides to the shops, the gears will help with hills, we can just slam the seat down; he will grow into it...."

In reality, those kids would swap that shitty hardtail for a DJ bike/BMX in a heartbeat. I can guarantee if I ride my DJ bike past any group of kids on bikes, at least one of them will say "ohhh, sik dirt jumper man".

Kids don't want an efficient means of transport or a sensible choice. For a kid, Image and cred is more important. They would rather push a DJ bike up a hill and look cool the rest of the time than have a sensible mountain bike that will never see a trail.
 
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greendream

Likes Bikes
Real-Life Translation: the kid will never ride in the trails and will spend most of his time sitting on the bike whilst talking shit with mates. The kid just wants a new bike and is throwing out as many justifications as possible to increase his chances of getting a new bike. I bet he's going to "ride every day" too!
WTF? and here I have his mum telling me he wants to be just like his uncle and get out into the bush (but without the stacks his uncle has from time to time). She even had to convince him that a black bitch bin chicken probably wasn't the right bike for him at this time.:(
I'd have to agree with you as the soft inner city boy is long way from the "happy hills" and the trail head 100m from his front door. I'm looking forward to him bringing up his new pushy up and going for a spin... he could even try out the recently upgraded BMX track.
 

RealizE

Likes Bikes
Don't get me wrong; if you're lucky enough to have a nephew that really is genuinely interested in riding trails and has a means to get there every week then that's friggin' awesome! I'm sure there are heaps of people here who wish their own kids were so inclined.
 

greendream

Likes Bikes
Don't get me wrong; if you're lucky enough to have a nephew that really is genuinely interested in riding trails and has a means to get there every week then that's friggin' awesome! I'm sure there are heaps of people here who wish their own kids were so inclined.
no not all. I was taking the piss. It's all good.
Well see how it turns out. I'd suggest many a resolution has been made during this farkin lockdown. Those of us whom have regular unfettered access to trails are most fortunate.
 

birddog69

Likes Bikes and Dirt
An update. The nephew went with the Marin San Quetin 1 and he loves it. Appears to be the right bike for his needs so far, blasting around the inner city and along the river.
Thanks for helping me out with the search & making a young fella happy.
A bad day on a bike is always better than a good day at work/school.
 
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