# I just bought a Cannondale Trail 5, not sure if I made the right decision.



## Suspension4321 (Mar 21, 2013)

Hello General fourm,

So I just bought a Cannondale Trail 5 2012. It feels like an awesome bike and a great ride, I took it to a local mountain bike park, "Duthie Hill" it was awesome. But when I was there I realized that I wanted to do more of this stuff and join the mountain bike club. Its a hard tail and I'm not sure if it can handle the more intense stuff. I got it from REI and they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so I can return it. So what do you guys think


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## Mookie (Feb 28, 2008)

If you want to ride at Duthie then get a full suspension. Plus you'll want to branch out and head out to Tokul, Paradise and Black Diamond among others so getting squish is a good thing (although a hard tail is perfectly fine for these areas). Is this your first mountain bike? There's a lot to choose from out there so you should spend some time reflecting on what kind of riding you want to do. Get a budget in mind and then do a little research on what bikes are available. But most of all go out and test ride several bikes before you buy. I would take your time in making this decision.

Good luck


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## santiagomo87 (Jan 2, 2013)

You can do a lot with a hardtail. The bike will handle all the intense stuff but it might be you who won't stand the intense stuff on a hartail. It's all down to which is more confortable/fun for you to ride.


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## Suspension4321 (Mar 21, 2013)

Ya, its my first mountain bike that isn't from target  I'm really doing the beginner stuff, the Pre-Bootcamp at Duthie. I was thinking of buying used.


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## Suspension4321 (Mar 21, 2013)

When I said "Intense Stuff" I meant trail races and simpler mountain rides. Not the bigger jumps etc.


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## Mookie (Feb 28, 2008)

Suspension4321 said:


> When I said "Intense Stuff" I meant trail races and simpler mountain rides. Not the bigger jumps etc.


That's good perspective. Ride at Duthie for a couple more days but you should head out to another area so that you sample a variety of terrain. So one option would be to just keep the hardtail and see if you like riding. Or you could go get a full suspension but you most likely would end up paying significantly more for the FS bike so that used option you mentioned might not be a bad idea.


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## Suspension4321 (Mar 21, 2013)

I am new to this, and I don't know a lot of good places. But I'm doing my research. I think I'm gonna keep this bike, and take a class at the Evergreen Bike Alliance.


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## Suspension4321 (Mar 21, 2013)

I can also upgrade parts to make it a better bike for the stuff I want to do.


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## Mookie (Feb 28, 2008)

That sounds like a great plan. I hear Evergreen's classes are really good so definitely go for it. Also check out their website for a list of trails-there's a bunch of them in the area. St Edward's and Big Finn Hill also come to mind as decent places to head out and get your feet wet.


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## Mookie (Feb 28, 2008)

Suspension4321 said:


> I can also upgrade parts to make it a better bike for the stuff I want to do.


That's another discussion but I'll just throw this out there. Upgrading with parts on an entry level bike is not very economical. If you find that you should move up in bike then generally speaking it's better to just buy a new ride. But hey, let's hope you find yourself making that decision before too long!


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## Suspension4321 (Mar 21, 2013)

nwbikur said:


> That's another discussion but I'll just throw this out there. Upgrading with parts on an entry level bike is not very economical. If you find that you should move up in bike then generally speaking it's better to just buy a new ride. But hey, let's hope you find yourself making that decision before too long!


Agreed, before I bought the bike I saw some discussion about the Cannondale trail 5's stock parts weren't very good, that got me worried. But I guess it's a "When the time comes" kinda thing  Before I went to duthie the first time, I thought that everyone would be riding thousand dollar FS bikes. I guess I was wrong, most of the people had hardtails, I'm excited to try the the other places too.


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## Mookie (Feb 28, 2008)

The Trail 5 is an entry level bike so it won't have the greatest component setup but that shouldn't be an issue right now. There's a lot of great places to try so go seek them out. Also lurk or post up in the Washington forum and you'll get some good riding ideas from that as well. 

Have fun on that hardtail.


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## Suspension4321 (Mar 21, 2013)

Thanks!


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## Learux (Jun 4, 2012)

I would keep it and ride it for a couple of years. You will end up a much better rider starting with a hardtail!


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## Suspension4321 (Mar 21, 2013)

Yeah, we have some really awesome places to bike here and some great clubs and classes.


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## JoePAz (May 7, 2012)

Back in 1998 I bought my first proper mountain bike. It as a Mongoose DX6.5. (This before they start making walmart stuff). Very basic bike, but solid. I rode that bike for 3 years everywhere and it never let me down. Nothing broke on it either. The bike just worked, but was a little heavy and the components were not as "slick" as the bike I built in 2003 with XT components. I still have this bike as back up bike and it works fine. Point is a solid entry level bike will take you anywhere and everywhere. I upgraded because I wanted a lighter bike slicker components. Plus it was a reward for ridding alot of miles on mongoose. I was single and the time and had some cash to spend so I did it. The new bike is better, but not so much as to turn me into a super rider or anything. I still have pedal it.


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