Whats the Honda Civic of AM bikes?

[CabezaShok]

Need help searching for a used, practical AM bike on a blue-collar budget. When i think "Honda Civic" i think:
-relatively low cost
-plentiful, (can be found on Craigs list once in a while)
-easy to find parts (No "Lefty" forks)
-low maintenance/easy to service....(single pivot etc..)
-Doesn't do anything really awesome, performance-wise...but is not the worst either

Whats your favorite?

.......Team Murray?...AMF?...Huffy? THANKS!!

[cman8]

I think a SC heckler might fit into your description. and right now on the VPLS on santa cruz's website their like 550 bucks for a frame. very good deal.

[NoahColorado]

Turner RFX & Santa Cruz Nomad jump out in my mind.

[edispilf]

Turner Spot/RFX and a grease gun. If you can get it raw paint then you wont have to worry about anything.

[CannondaleF9]

The older models of the Cannondale Jekyll may be in that class. If not, then I would go with a Gary Fisher (if you can find one) other than that, RZ140 Cannondales and earlier model Giant Reigns may be more in the range you have said.
I would look at the Giant Reign.

[hitechredneck]

The specialized enduro is the civic of the all mountain world. You can find them everywhere and on a big group ride you will normally see 2 or 3. It is respected when others see it and has a almost cult like following.

[eastshorebiker]

Santa Cruz Heckler is about as close to a Honda Civic as you can get. I know because I've owned both.

[Diegobustillos]

Id say its either a specialized comp or a trek remedy. Low cost, big brand, good but not great..etc.

[XJaredX]

The specialized enduro is the civic of the all mountain world. You can find them everywhere and on a big group ride you will normally see 2 or 3. It is respected when others see it and has a almost cult like following.

This. I don't own an Enduro, either, but this is true

[mnigro]

I think a few bikes fall into this category but the Enduro isn't one of them. The giant reign, heckler and older nomad is what I'm thinking of when I think Civic. See lots of them up for sale at good prices.

[Spykr]

Used Santa Cruz Heckler or a used Cannondale Prophet! Always a good number for sale for around 1 grand!

[CabezaShok]

Awesome, so Ive been collecting pics of these recommended rigs using google image.
im drooling on the Heckler's single pivot/one piece swing-arm simplicity...also the Prophets. im still tryng to keep open minded tho, to better odds of finding something decent soon, rather than waiting months and months for that one type of AM to pop up on CL.

cheers!

[westeast]

yep, SC Heckler or any other well made single pivot.

[nauc]

Heckler

[sir_crackien]

yeah I agree with everything said here. the enduro is the civic of the mountian bike in numbers but I do feel the single pivot bike imcompasses the civics nature better. I have thought about getting a heckler many many times throughout the years but just never picked one up. a good friend of mine has been riding is Cannondale phophet for what seems like forever.

[RobinGB]

heckler/stinky fill the bill or failing that a reign..


There are soo many old stinkys and hecklers around, they seem to go forever and after the initial depreciation they keep a fairly steady price so long as they are kept up..

I dont know how much closer to a civic you can get.

[tryinghardrider]

Giant Reign of varying flavors (Reign 2, 1, 0, X etc) and Specialized Enduro seem to be the more common AM bikes even here in SEAsia. Especially the Reign.

[ddprocter]

Also look at yeti 575's: simple, stout, single pivot workhorse.

[PSICODROMO]

Santa Cruz Heckler

[Fix the Spade]

Need help searching for a used, practical AM bike on a

Mid range Giant, Trek or Specialized.

Nice bikes, the whole thing will be priced about the same as the some of the frames being suggested.

You can do a lot worse than an Enduro or Reign.

[mykel]

First thing to mind before even opening the post....

Heckler

Guess I'm not alone in that thought.

michael

[bluechair84]

There's a lot of people posting 'boutique' brands that don't really smack of cheap AM in my mind... Enduro as many people have said are a good cheap all rounder. Cannondale Prophet can be picked up cheap too and is probably a bit more classy than an Enduro. I've had one and liked it a lot.

[aedubber]

Ok before everyone keeps answering we need to know a PRICE... Whats the max that your looking to spend on a bike ?

What type of trails do you ride mostly ?

What matters the most to you ? Climbing up or going down ?- Pick one

Then you can get a better idea of bikes

Last time i recall , and Enduro wasnt " cheap " and it sure as hell could shred up trails from what i recall on my enduro but then again its mostly about the rider and not the bike .

[smmokan]

Turner RFX & Santa Cruz Nomad jump out in my mind.

Nomad? Unless you misspoke and meant the Heckler, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this one.

[lazarus2405]

There's a lot of people posting 'boutique' brands that don't really smack of cheap AM in my mind...

Santa Cruz is a "botique"? Now I know they aren't one of the "big four", but their bikes aren't hard to find on the used market. A quick search of the local Craigslists (Boston area in my case) showed a Heckler, a Nickel, and four Bullits listed within seven days, with prices ranging from $800 to $1800. With very little effort invested in searching I'd say that's promising at the least.

If you didn't mean SC, then I'm not sure what you're referring to.