It's not an MTB...just an aircraft-grade stainless steel work of art....from the pioneer of dual suspension bikes...

pioneer of dual suspension bikes

pioneer of full suspension? doubt it unless you are talking about turner or cannondale.....

http://www.dreambike.com/history2.htm

2002 XTR Group - sorry about that. I added the date to differentiate from the new XTR stuff and blew it anyway.

Pffft. No one offers more component value than Giant. Your road bike opinion is as misguided as most hiker's opinions of MTB'ers.

Last time I checked this was Mountain Bikers Anonymous not road bike anonymous.... IMHO Road bikes are a waste of material and money.

I bet I can find a kona that has better parts for less money!

For Example:

You got this: (different color, newer model I believe)


The specs are:
Specifications:
NRS Suspension Info
Learn more about the NRS - see the Bike Short Video
color Team Blue
size 16.5", 18.5", 20.5", 22.5"
frame ALUXX SL double butted aluminum NRS suspension, integrated forged headtube, double intergrated gussets, 3.75" rear travel
fork RockShox Sid Team w/remote lockout, 3" travel
derailleur Front: New Spec Shimano XTR, Rear: Shimano XTR
derailleurshifters Shimano XTR
cranks Shimano XTR 22/34/44T
pedals none
handlebar Titec Enduro XC, 7075 butted
stem Titec Fast Al
headset FSA integrated, cartridge bearings
levers Shimano XTR
brakes Shimano XTR hydraulic disc, 6" rotor
saddle WTB Rocket V, leather w/ ti rails
seatpost Titec X-Wing Pro, 27.2
rims Mavic Crossmax Disc SL UST Tubeless, 24H
hubs Mavic Crossmax Disc SL UST Tubeless, 24H
tires Hutchinson Python Tubeless 26x2.0" Kevlar bead
rearshock RockShox Sid XC w/ rebound adjust, 3.75" rear travel
cassette Shimano Deore XTR, 11-34T 9-speed
spokes Mavic Crossmax Disc SL
Includes Shock Pump

At my local bicycle shop that bike goes for $4,099.99


You could have got:




it has:


And a price tag of $1599.99!

OR

You could have got:



It has:





It has a price tag of $1899.99

So you wasted alot of money and you claim giant has alot of quality? You could have bought 2 konas for the price of that giant.....

and the Mountain Bike war begins....


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And ends.....

I just can not justify sticking that much $$$$$ into a bike when I know I can get a low end Kona and upgrade it to all XTR for under $2500.00 or less! After all I have been running a bike shop for years I should know.

But on the flipside Giant makes a good HARDTAIL!

Kona.....Moulton fist developed dual suspension bikes in 1960....I have ridden one since 1965.....I doubt Fischer even knew what a bike was back then...

Fisher did not invent the first mountain bike... that is just a rumor. Joe breeze did. Mike siyard of specialized actually made the first production mountain bike.....

needless to say I have a healthy dislike for gary fisher... >

Count the years, Kona....we are talking 43 years ago....

The modern day mountain has only been around for 29 years. We Americans invented it. PROVE ME WRONG! But I will stick to what I read in the mountain bike hall of fame and smithsonian reports.

http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/history.cfm?page=3

Chew on that since the mountain bike hall of fame is the first and last voice of the fat tire bikes!

First fat-bike with a derailleur ridden off road: As far as I know it was Russ Mahon of Cupertino, California (75 miles south of Marin County), who came up with this combination, in 1973. He grafted derailleurs onto a 1930s balloon0 tire bike built by the Cleveland Welding Company. He also put thumbshifters on this bike. Three Cupertino riders including Mahon showed up at a Cyclo-cross race in Marin, December 1974, pollinating Marin with these ideas. They then departed the scene for more than 20 years


First fat-tire bike with a derailleur and good brakes: Again, as far as I know, it was Russ Mahon’s bike. In 1973 he put front and rear drum brakes and motorcycle brake levers onto his bike.


First fat-tire bike with a derailleur and good brakes in Marin: Gary Fisher’s 1938 Schwinn-built B.F. Goodrich (Excelsior-type), Fairfax, California, September ’74 or summer ’75. This much-photographed bike is equipped as it appeared in late 1978, but it is basically circa 1976.


First fat-tire bike with a new frame and all new parts: Breezer # 1, frame and bike built by Joe Breeze for himself, Mill Valley, California, (Marin County), Oct. 1977. This was one of ten Breezers I built at the time. The frames were built of straight 4130 large-diameter, thin wall tubing. The term “clunker no longer applied to all bikes ridden on Mt. Tam.


First fat-tire bike regularly available: 1979 Ritchey/MountainBikes. In 1979 Tom Ritchey of Redwood City, California (50 miles south of Marin) started building fat-tire frames. From 1980 onward he built hundreds of fat-tire bike frames each year. These were the first bikes sold by Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly, founders of MountainBikes (later the Gary Fisher Bicycle Company). Fisher and Kelly assembled the frames into bikes and sold them for about $1400.00. In 1979, MountainBikes became the first business to sell mountain bikes exclusively.


First fat-tire bikes widely available under $1000.00: There were two; the 1982 Specialized Stumpjumper, made in Japan for Specialized Bicycle Imports of San Jose, California and the Univega Alpina Pro, also made in Japan for Ben Lawee, owner of Lawee Inc. parent company for Univega in Long Beach, Ca. These bikes, which first appeared at a bike trade show in September 1981, became available in 1982. The price for the Stumpjumper was $850 and the Alpina Pro was $695. Over the next two years, thousands of these bikes were sold.

Kona....do not argue...I am talking about 'full-suspension bicycles'...and fact, when I was 10 I had one between my legs and learned to ride on it....I still have it today, and it was built in April 64.....

no one is argueing. I am just asking you to get your facts straight. I know for a fact where mountain bikes started and when they started.

As for your full suspension bike, obviously it dosen't have fat tires and derailluers.

go to www.mbaction.com and ask them guys when mountain bikes started and who started them and you will get the same answer....

Oh...it was bought for 39 pounds 9 shillings and sixpence....for my birthday in September and I'll be 49 this year [next month]...

Good God, Paul! You're gonna be 50 soon

I also remember a US Bike mag 'Bicycling' chatting about how some American invented recumbents....in the 70's or there-abouts.....except I had been riding a 1933 Velocycle that same day as I read that....and even my father built one [a recumbent] in Sydney just before the second world war...

Yes, China....horrifying, innit!....

So you are saying what jafo? that your bike was the first full suspension bike? give me a few hours on mountainbike.com and I will prove you wrong. Maybe a bike with 2 springs but NOT a mountain bike!

What's horrifying... Is I'm not too far behind you



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decides I would feel ashamed of my name if it really was a mountain bike. It all started in 75, here in America, trust me.