giant atx 780 comments please

[tiktak]

okay, I'm still shopping around for a good starters mtb. I got a local
deal (I'm in canada) on a used giant atx 780.. the guy says later 1990s is
the manufacture year.. quadra shocks 21r... all LX components, except tubes
I think.

all this for round $280US. supposed to be GREAT shape. I'm sure he's
telling the truth. its 18", hope its good for my 5"11 size.

any comments on this bike? and on the price.

thank you!

please remove spam if emailing me.

[Ride-A-Lot]

tiktak wrote:
> okay, I'm still shopping around for a good starters mtb. I got a local
> deal (I'm in canada) on a used giant atx 780.. the guy says later 1990s is
> the manufacture year.. quadra shocks 21r... all LX components, except tubes
> I think.
>
> all this for round $280US. supposed to be GREAT shape. I'm sure he's
> telling the truth. its 18", hope its good for my 5"11 size.
>
> any comments on this bike? and on the price.
>
> thank you!
>
> please remove spam if emailing me.
>
>

Quadra shock? In canada? Wasn't that an elastometer fork? You might
as well get a rigid bike because when it's cold, that shock will be
rigid anyway.

You could do better on a used bike for that price.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

[tiktak]

"Ride-A-Lot" > wrote in message
...
> tiktak wrote:
>> okay, I'm still shopping around for a good starters mtb. I got a local
>> deal (I'm in canada) on a used giant atx 780.. the guy says later 1990s
>> is the manufacture year.. quadra shocks 21r... all LX components, except
>> tubes I think.
>>
>> all this for round $280US. supposed to be GREAT shape. I'm sure he's
>> telling the truth. its 18", hope its good for my 5"11 size.
>>
>> any comments on this bike? and on the price.
>>
>> thank you!
>>
>> please remove spam if emailing me.
>>
>>
>
> Quadra shock? In canada? Wasn't that an elastometer fork? You might as
> well get a rigid bike because when it's cold, that shock will be rigid
> anyway.
>
> You could do better on a used bike for that price.

thanks for the tips.
well, honestly, I don't know that much about bikes or shocks for that
matter. thats why I came to ask here.

so how cold are we talking abotu for this shock? I don't plan to be out when
its below zero. yep, the guy does say its a 21R quadra rock shox. I think
he did mention its elastomer, not as good as oil/air. I just don't know
what he was talking about.

is this a good bike, despite the shocks? good frame? I assume deore LX
components are gonna last me a while until my rides get crazier.

as for the price... well I'm sure I could get it for say $250US putting cash
on the table and all. honestly, we don't get that many used mtb deals up
here.. in the LX+ range especially... I just don't have that much to
chose from... a new cheapo alivio/acer kona bike is about $400 brand new in
stores around here. this isn't the US as far as mtbs go and their prices.

[Ride-A-Lot]

tiktak wrote:
> "Ride-A-Lot" > wrote in message
> ...
>> tiktak wrote:
>>> okay, I'm still shopping around for a good starters mtb. I got a local
>>> deal (I'm in canada) on a used giant atx 780.. the guy says later 1990s
>>> is the manufacture year.. quadra shocks 21r... all LX components, except
>>> tubes I think.
>>>
>>> all this for round $280US. supposed to be GREAT shape. I'm sure he's
>>> telling the truth. its 18", hope its good for my 5"11 size.
>>>
>>> any comments on this bike? and on the price.
>>>
>>> thank you!
>>>
>>> please remove spam if emailing me.
>>>
>>>
>> Quadra shock? In canada? Wasn't that an elastometer fork? You might as
>> well get a rigid bike because when it's cold, that shock will be rigid
>> anyway.
>>
>> You could do better on a used bike for that price.
>
> thanks for the tips.
> well, honestly, I don't know that much about bikes or shocks for that
> matter. thats why I came to ask here.
>
> so how cold are we talking abotu for this shock? I don't plan to be out when
> its below zero. yep, the guy does say its a 21R quadra rock shox. I think
> he did mention its elastomer, not as good as oil/air. I just don't know
> what he was talking about.
>
> is this a good bike, despite the shocks? good frame? I assume deore LX
> components are gonna last me a while until my rides get crazier.
>
> as for the price... well I'm sure I could get it for say $250US putting cash
> on the table and all. honestly, we don't get that many used mtb deals up
> here.. in the LX+ range especially... I just don't have that much to
> chose from... a new cheapo alivio/acer kona bike is about $400 brand new in
> stores around here. this isn't the US as far as mtbs go and their prices.
>
>
>

While the frame and drivetrain (LX is a tank) will probably hold old
long enough for you to decide if you want to take it further (i.e.
better bike), that shock is a monster. As soon as it hit 0 celcius,
that shock is going to live up to it's name ROCK. If you are OK with
having no travel, then there's no problem. If you can save up a little
more US$400-$500, you'll get a much better NEW entry level MTB.

Your other option, depending upon how close to the border you are, is to
get a used one on eBay and pick it up in the states.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

[Craig Brossman]

Ride-A-Lot wrote:
> tiktak wrote:
>
>> "Ride-A-Lot" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> tiktak wrote:
>>>
>>>> okay, I'm still shopping around for a good starters mtb. I got a
>>>> local deal (I'm in canada) on a used giant atx 780.. the guy says
>>>> later 1990s is the manufacture year.. quadra shocks 21r... all LX
>>>> components, except tubes I think.
>>>>
>>>> all this for round $280US. supposed to be GREAT shape. I'm sure
>>>> he's telling the truth. its 18", hope its good for my 5"11 size.
>>>>
>>>> any comments on this bike? and on the price.
>>>>
>>>> thank you!
>>>>
>>>> please remove spam if emailing me.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Quadra shock? In canada? Wasn't that an elastometer fork? You
>>> might as well get a rigid bike because when it's cold, that shock
>>> will be rigid anyway.
>>>
>>> You could do better on a used bike for that price.
>>
>>
>> thanks for the tips.
>> well, honestly, I don't know that much about bikes or shocks for that
>> matter. thats why I came to ask here.
>>
>> so how cold are we talking abotu for this shock? I don't plan to be
>> out when its below zero. yep, the guy does say its a 21R quadra rock
>> shox. I think he did mention its elastomer, not as good as oil/air.
>> I just don't know what he was talking about.
>>
>> is this a good bike, despite the shocks? good frame? I assume deore
>> LX components are gonna last me a while until my rides get crazier.
>>
>> as for the price... well I'm sure I could get it for say $250US
>> putting cash on the table and all. honestly, we don't get that many
>> used mtb deals up here.. in the LX+ range especially... I just
>> don't have that much to chose from... a new cheapo alivio/acer kona
>> bike is about $400 brand new in stores around here. this isn't the US
>> as far as mtbs go and their prices.
>>
>>
>>
>
> While the frame and drivetrain (LX is a tank) will probably hold old
> long enough for you to decide if you want to take it further (i.e.
> better bike), that shock is a monster. As soon as it hit 0 celcius,
> that shock is going to live up to it's name ROCK. If you are OK with
> having no travel, then there's no problem. If you can save up a little
> more US$400-$500, you'll get a much better NEW entry level MTB.
>
> Your other option, depending upon how close to the border you are, is to
> get a used one on eBay and pick it up in the states.
>

My wife's first shock fork was a Q21R. You can replace the elastometers
with an air cartridge, which used to be made by a company called Englund
IIRC. I think they have a new name and are in GJ area.
Still not a great fork, but much better than stock.

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado

Owner/Operator of the Pekingnese Ranch.

[GWood]

Where are you located, Tiktak?

There are few places in Canada that don't have at least some deals happening
in the used marketplace.

I did a lot of winter riding on frozen XC trails around Ottawa for years,
and found my oil/spring forks get pretty slow in action when it hits the
freezing point. You can start using lighter oils, etc, but most forks just
don't like extreme cold. Not sure how much worse an elastomer based fork
would be.

The other posters are correct, the Quadra 21R is pretty dated. Another
thing to consider is while the LX componentry might be a decent quality, any
parts that are >5 years old will be very suspect if they've actually had
some usage. Moving parts wear out. Moving parts in the drive train wear
out faster.

I agree that (depending on your location) you can do better with the dollar
amounts you're talking about. Bikes devalue real fast, so a 2-3 year old
one with decent parts might be the way to go. Also bear in mind that if
you're in the east, watch out for road salt. My first winter ride was a
lower quality steel frame, and the salt messed it up big time. And of
course it lived in my unheated garage, so washing it down in winter was not
an option - well, you get the picture.

Before anybody gets upset with the idea of riding XC ski trails : We were
big XC skiers, and would ski after every snowfall. Within a few days the
trails would be super packed down, and between snowmobiles and foot traffic
they'd be just like hardpack. The skiers would abandon them until the next
snowfall, so they were perfect for biking!

"tiktak" > wrote in message
...
> okay, I'm still shopping around for a good starters mtb. I got a local
> deal (I'm in canada) on a used giant atx 780.. the guy says later 1990s is
> the manufacture year.. quadra shocks 21r... all LX components, except
tubes
> I think.
>
> all this for round $280US. supposed to be GREAT shape. I'm sure he's
> telling the truth. its 18", hope its good for my 5"11 size.
>
> any comments on this bike? and on the price.
>
> thank you!
>
> please remove spam if emailing me.
>
>

[Nath]

"tiktak" > wrote in message
...
> okay, I'm still shopping around for a good starters mtb. I got a local
> deal (I'm in canada) on a used giant atx 780.. the guy says later 1990s is
> the manufacture year.. quadra shocks 21r... all LX components, except
> tubes I think.
>
> all this for round $280US. supposed to be GREAT shape. I'm sure he's
> telling the truth. its 18", hope its good for my 5"11 size.
>
> any comments on this bike? and on the price.
>
> thank you!
>
> please remove spam if emailing me.
>


Oopsy! :-)

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml97/97051.html

[[email protected]]

You could spring that 21 with Mountin Speed Spring. I
did a RS Q 4.