It’s official: I’m taking my talents to Columbus.
This means a lot of things: New job, new car, new apartment, cooking my own food again. It also means biking again! I’ve not been near a bike since moving to NYC–you ain’t getting me out on these streets without at least a ton of steel between me and everyone else.
I’ve got a Long Haul Trucker, which is fine for tooling around on the roads and paved trails, as well as being handy should I ever decide to light out for Seattle. 
But I enjoy single-track mountain biking too, and I don’t have one of those any more. I’m totally out of the loop on this stuff–I wouldn’t even know where to start looking, other than, y’know, at a bicycle shop.
So I turn to you fine folks for help. I don’t need the hottest, fastest, lightest thing out there–just a nice solid workhorse that’ll get me around the trails. 
Thanks all!
Specialized gives you about the most bang for the buck. Just go to a store that carries them, and see what fits your price range.
I had a specialized hybrid that kept blowing spokes and specialized did zippo…
Bikes have changed drastically over the last couple years. Just have to know what kind of riding you will be doing, singletrack, downhill, all mountain etc. Many are swearing by the 29’ner hardtail for single track are the ticket. Movement now toward 27.5" are are in play. I have a Cannondale F5 hardtail for single track. For my purposes that bike is spot on including the Mammoth Mountain Bike Park. But if I were to purchase another bike, I would look at the 29’ner, Cannondale, Giant, Salsa, Santa Cruz, lot of bikes out there now…just depends how much you want to spend.
I have no idea what type of mountain biking is available in Ohio. But I’d imagine that a hardtail would be perfect. 26 or 29, depending on your preference. I’d say the biggest changes that have taken place if you have been out of the loop in recent years is disc brakes and tubeless tires. Both are good. The brakes are pretty simple. And while the tubeless tires are also pretty simple (and worthwhile), take the time to learn how to mount the tire yourself. At some point, you will need to do it on the trail, and that is not the time to learn. A CO2 inflater (get one that can use the 12g unthreaded cartridges that are cheap at Wal Mart) is worth carrying around for tubeless tires. One trick I learned is to make sure the bead is clean of all debris before mounting the tire. Even bits of old latex sealant should be removed from the bead. But trust me, tubeless is worth the learning curve.
10 speed is now common, but IMHO a 9 speed chain is more durable, and 9 speeds are plenty.
I bought a 29’er recently and I love it (Santa Cruz Tall Boy). You definitely need to make a few choices before you can get a good recommendation. I’m going to assume you want a full suspension bike, correct? At this point I wouldn’t buy anything without disk brakes. You will need to decide between 26" and 29" and that may depend on how technical you want to ride. Other options include tubeless tires or tubed, and various levels of components.
My advice would be to go to a bike shop and ride a bunch of different bikes. A decent shop will let you take them out for a test ride. Then go to another shop and do it again. Ride, like, 20 or 25. Eventually you’ll find one that just feels right, because the ergonomics of it will perfectly suit your body size and riding style. Buy that one.
What he said. All the major brands are basically good bikes. It’s just a matter of getting the one that best suits you. The only way to know is to try them out.
That’s not a mountain bike. A mountain bike will have 3 gears in the front and anywhere from 6-10 in the back, for a total of 18 -30 gears (counting the redundant ones).
There is no need to ride 20 bikes to find one that’s good for you. The major brands like Specialized, Trek and a few others are all going to be good, and the geometries aren’t going to vary all that much. You may end up buying the one the closest bike shop to you carries because that way it’s easy to get maintenance done.
I’m pretty sure he’s talking about the number of gears on the rear cog, so the difference is a total of 27 or 30 gear ratios. You’re in violent agreement.
Cyclists refer to the number of cogs on the cassette when they talk about speeds. No one cares about the number of chainrings on the crank when determining what chain they need.
And I agree that as long as the frame is the right size, most bikes can be adjusted for fit by getting the right stem and seatpost.
I’ve had a Jamis Dakar XC from 2007. I’ve been really happy with it. Dual suspension, disc brakes, and good components for the money (according to the guys in the LBS when I got it). I paid $850 (msrp), and the LBS guys figured it could/should be closer to $1000. 24-speed. Blue.
Jamis isn’t a complete unknown in the cycling world, but it’s not up there with Trek, Specialized, or Cannondale. I don’t know a lot of people who own a Jamis, but the few people I’ve come across do like them. It’s certainly worth checking them out a bit.
We’re probably picking nits here, but I am a cyclist, hang out with lots of cyclists and none of us speak of “speeds”-- we speak of “gears”. Back in the day, a “10-speed” was a road bike (there were no mountain bikes then) that literally had 10 gears: 2 chainrings on the front and 5-cog cassette in the back.
Thanks all for the advice. I think the 9/10 speed comment had to do with the chain, which in turn relates to how many gears are on the cassette.
That’s exactly it. A 10 speed chain is narrower than a 9 speed chain, and in my experience the 9 speed chain is more durable. I have both a 9 speed mountain bike and a 10 speed mountain bike, and I wouldn’t let it be a deciding factor. But I wouldn’t think that a 9 speed is inferior to the 10 speed either, if I were buying a new bike.
Here’s one very specific question: clipless pedals, or traditional? I love the clipless on my LHT–only took me a few tumbles on the local high school grass field to get the hang of clipping in and out. But I’ve remained a bit skeptical of them for mountain bikes. I take many more tumbles on a MTB than I do on a road bike, and the notion of being semi-permanently affixed to said MTB scares the heck out of me. But I’ve had friends rave about clipless pedals for mountain bikes. What say y’all?
I can’t imagine serious mountain biking these days without clipless pedals. They provide the connection to the bike that you just can’t get any other way. If you need to get out, you’ll get out.
Another vote for clipless, even on the mountain bike. I started out without them, and switched over after a couple months. It took just a few easier rides to get used to them, and now I feel like I’ve got less control without them. Just like on a road bike, they become second nature and the dividends are worth it. I’ve never had such a bad fall where I couldn’t get out that I felt otherwise.
I’ve thought about getting a mountain bike (although with my car needing the upper engine rebuilt that’s not going to happen this year). Is their any advantage to a hardtail other than costing less?
It will be lighter, cheaper and simpler - many full suspension bikes use linkages with a number of pivot points meaning extra bushings and bearings that have to be maintained [less of an issue in sunny USA - something of an issue over here in the wet UK].
Most importantly, though, riding the HT is more fun on simpler trails (the majority of trails actually IMO). My suspension bike would be marketed as ‘all mountain’, at 140 / 150 mm travel front / back, meaning it’s designed to be capable up and down rough trails. I don’t really like taking it out on simpler stuff - it can be boring. Much more fun to blast the HT round.
The FS is a good idea if you’re older and the old joints / back are not what they used to be. There’s a marked difference in comfort with the suspension. Conversely, if you’re young and would like to become properly good at mountain biking you should always start with the HT (IMHO). You’ll become a better rider, more quickly, this way. You can’t properly understand what the rear suspension is doing if you’ve not ridden without it.
Another big change in MTBing (for the OP) is that manufacturers now know how to make good carbon frames and they are starting to be found in mid-range bikes. So you’d still need to spend some money, but nothing crazy - prob get below $1000.
Carbon’s been around forever, but only as a niche at the top end (for MTBs). Now it dominates the top end, even on quite burly bikes designed to take some punishment. I was a bit sceptical, because who wouldn’t be riding a plastic bike over big-ass rocks? But I’ve been on a cheap carbon HT for over a year now and it’s been flawless.