# novara ?'s



## WHC4TH (Mar 8, 2011)

i was wondering what is anyones opinion on novara bikes im just getting into mountain biking and i am part of the co-op with REI and i can get one at a very good price this weekend i am looking at the novara bonanza


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## zombinate (Apr 27, 2009)

Novara bikes are fine. Really in the industry if you find 5 bikes that are all $600, and intended for the same type of riding, they are likely going to be within spitting difference of each other. What makes a bigger differance is fit, and for that it is worth sitting/riding on a few different bikes of roughly the same size from different manufactures. As a company REI makes decent bikes in their Novara Line.


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## big_papa_nuts (Mar 29, 2010)

With the 20% coupon coming this weekend I expect to be selling more bikes then I can build. That'll be a hard deal to beat.


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## Straz85 (Mar 20, 2009)

My wife has a Novara Bonita, we got it model year old for 33% off, ended up being a great deal, but we jumped at it too quickly and it was too small I would say that you should be happy with one of their bikes, hers had good components for the money (even considering the regular price).


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## nachomc (Apr 26, 2006)

My wife has a Bonita and I had a Ponderosa when I started riding. Both bikes are great for what we paid and I think the Novara bikes are awesome as entry level rides. I'd also consider them for commuter bikes.

$2k plus? I'd be looking elsewhere personally.


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## G-FOURce (Aug 21, 2010)

novara frames, i believe, are made by Giant. if you want to dip your toe in the proverbial pool and see if you like it and then build up a better spec'd bike, its a solid frame that serve you well for a long time. i had a Novara and i loved mine. good luck...


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## mtbher (Jul 16, 2009)

I also own a Novara Bonita (had it almost 2 years now) and I love it for an entry-level mtb. I commute on it every day and I've done some decent xc mtbing on it.


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## big_papa_nuts (Mar 29, 2010)

nachomc said:


> My wife has a Bonita and I had a Ponderosa when I started riding. Both bikes are great for what we paid and I think the Novara bikes are awesome as entry level rides. I'd also consider them for commuter bikes.
> 
> $2k plus? I'd be looking elsewhere personally.


You'd have to. I don't think we have anything over 1500 at this point. We redid our line two years ago to bring it more in line with our core customer, recreational riders and commuters, and got ride of all the full suspensions and high end road stuff where we couldn't compete anyways. I like most of the new stuff though.

And FYI G-FOURce our frames are not made by Giant. I forget who makes them, I can check tomorrow, but it's the same factory as Jamis and Raleigh (I think).


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## UEDan (Apr 11, 2010)

G-FOURce said:


> novara frames, i believe, are made by Giant. if you want to dip your toe in the proverbial pool and see if you like it and then build up a better spec'd bike, its a solid frame that serve you well for a long time. i had a Novara and i loved mine. good luck...


Correct. Novara frames are made by Giant.


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## big_papa_nuts (Mar 29, 2010)

UEDan said:


> Correct. Novara frames are made by Giant.


Incorrect. UCC makes our adult bikes and Ace makes our kids bikes.


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## GFAthens (Sep 10, 2009)

There's a Ponderosa on campus thats on the same rack as my bike a few days a week. It's a pretty sharp looking entry level 29er, I definately would ride it, and I talked to the guy who owns it, and he loves his bike. He replaced his old 26er hardtail with it.


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## humanpackmule (Aug 3, 2010)

I ride a ponderosa 29er I got last year when they were clearing them out. $980 bike for $650. I'm very happy with the bike.


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## Straz85 (Mar 20, 2009)

G-FOURce said:


> novara frames, i believe, are made by Giant. if you want to dip your toe in the proverbial pool and see if you like it and then build up a better spec'd bike, its a solid frame that serve you well for a long time. i had a Novara and i loved mine. good luck...


While I can't confirm nor deny whether Giant makes Novara frames (not bikes, just frames, there's a difference), they do manufacture frames for several other companies, including Specialized. The quality of a frame depends a lot more on the design than the manufacturer (speaking only of mass produced bikes), so saying Giant makes someone's frames doesn't make those good frames necessarily.*

*General statement, I'm not saying anything about the quality of Novara frames


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## GFAthens (Sep 10, 2009)

Yeah, 650 would be a pretty darn good deal for the ponderosa. It's a nice looking bike.


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