Yep and that's more or less the reason I make these resources as I am active on reddit. And I wanted to strike a balance between the people saying 'get anything' and the people saying 'only mid range and above LBS bikes are worth the money'. Aside from tone deaf it's just not helpful. The most important thing is knowing when a company is cutting corners. Whether its a frame design thing (like quick release open drop outs) or a part choice (SX drivetrain or Xfusion shock). From there it's just about maximizing value for your budget. Whether its used or new, d2c or LBS.

Please send me a nice shiny hardtail :)

r u more north LA or south? inglewood has a pump track which is basically a full body exercise. el monte has a mini bike park which is super fun. ken hahn park has some secret mini jumps on the north end. and there are some mini jumps hidden behind white point reserve in SP. its tough pickins out here. lemme know if you need help

@@TeddyParker I’m in North Hollywood. Just got a FS trail capable bike a few weeks ago. Been thinking about checking out Stough Canyon in Burbank (verdugo mountains) but some spots look a little sketch for my current skills. I want to find some small jumps. I went to Florida in January and rented a tallboy carbon. Hit some smaller jumps at the vortex in Ocala and got hooked. I appreciate the reply and suggestions bro! I will def do my googles on those spots.

@@justjay4405 ah ya north LA is kinda rough. whether its small or big jumps you have to basically kill yourself up a hill to find anything. since ur willing to drive, trek bike park in santa clarita is a decent option. as well as El Monte as mentioned.

ya given the footy we got this is my new fuckin niche. OK titles

that would be the intention, yes.

El Monte! Wish it was a bit closer tho...

@@sirflappington2484 it's safer for her to fall off to the side and not get wrapped up in an extended seat post. And there's no reason to keep the seat up on a pure descent trail. You can still saddle rest with it dropped (as I did).

A lot of reasons. Namely she doesn't know how to 'actively' sit while still on terrain. (Feet level while still evenly weighting the front and rear wheels.) A lot of times if you see more of my bike in the video it's cuz I'm sitting on my slammed saddle as well. I could probly do this entire trail sitting on a slammed saddle without issue... However, when she does it she drops her front foot and 'leans' forward on the bike. Nearly guaranteeing a pedal clip OTB Also if you can't see the edits, we are frequently taking breaks.

Yep! That is something I noticed looking back at this footage. As she does have concerns about basically limb length for height. General foot positioning. And ya she looks splayed out there so we're gonna figure out what the bars are and cut em down to like 740-760. I'm hoping Kona was thoughtful enough to at least do 780s but for all I know they could be full length 800s which would be horrible.

@@TeddyParker Yeah like, mine on my Norco are 760 and I already find them a bit wide, I'm also very short though. I plan on putting on BMX bars. I see what you mean with the pedals, whenever she had her left one down, I was expecting it to clip. Those soft sand corners are worse than water man.

@@ragingbull5883 ya she actually went down off camera in a little sand box. bruised her ribs. the frustrating part was her asking 'what she did wrong' and i didnt have much of an answer. other than look out for sand. but it can happen to any of us tbh

@@TeddyParker That's something you just gotta learn yeah, it comes with a few months, and even years of riding the same bike, knowing exactly how it will react.

ya replaced them with something that has a more common bolting pattern, instead of that style that ends in the middle of the pedal and you cant hardly notice if its starting to loosen itself

lol sadly i basically got no riding done. man i have bad luck at bike parks. i miss our local spots :( fuggin sux man

@@TeddyParkerI know the local spots were the best because they were so close but the surrons just took it over

I'm probably a better coach than rider at this point. I'm great at showing people safe progression but can't follow my own rules sometimes :/ I wish my falls were as slow and soft as these lol

we did not have fun lol. sadly. but ya going on a week day is goated but getting thunder blocked over half the day is... not goated. (hence riding this little track)

@@TeddyParkerwhat runs did you do when you were there

@@brycewatson6042 did going green with the lady. thunder struck. wait around forever, got so bored walked up and did this little skills run. lifts start, go up and try to do a warm up kinda do turtle to miracle mile or something. thunder strikes. wait for like an hour and just leave -_- same shit low key happened my first time, and the weather was like real nice and clear in the morning and on the website... meh

@@TeddyParkernext time u go there you should do party wave it’s pretty fun and you could definitely do it with your skill level

@@brycewatson6042 i was tryna warm up to it! i didnt even get to do blue steel :( it was a cursed day

i only list whats relevant. cuz my shit is so random. easier for people to find similar content to the newest post. my channel is seriously ugly if i leave up all my vids. me no likey

@@TeddyParkeroh that makes more sense

@@brycewatson6042 ya i guess i could make 2 channels but the thing is ive been uploading skim and bmx videos at the same time for nearly 20 years so... lol and ya my bike stuff gets more views now (it used to be the opposite tbh, more skim than bike)... but its not like i take the channel seriously. just doin the same thing i been doin since posting videos online became a thing lol (im old...)

@@TeddyParkerI want to start making skim videos, but u right it’s a dying sport, when surfing is going up, we need to get skim on the radar

Good work

Which person? The guy actually catching waves or us mere mortals who could barely get to the white wash?

@@TeddyParker if you know everyones then everyones but if not then your board

@@thatonesurfingkid6637 jaiden is on his signature retro log from velocity. i had my velocity el huevo but the waves were so shit i just used my exile beast, inch thick 5 foot long board. and ishan was on his old crap grape but hes getting a new board soon. so ya not very helpful collection of boards to 'choose from' lol check out Velocity Skimboards on instagram

Most (basically all) bike shops will offer a free service for up to one year. And bike shops can also help facilitate warranty claims to get parts. Whereas with a direct order brand, they may ask you to ship the bike to them. And some companies have even been said to not reimburse that charge. Also the general inconsistency of customer service with direct order brands. Some brands like Polygon and YT are actually quite good. Brands like Canyon have a fairly awful reputation. Despite being a larger company. I don't think this should keep anybody from buying direct (maybe skip Canyon if you're worried), but if you are not knowledgeable of bike maintenance and identifying faulty parts a bike shop purchase is ideal. For those who love the wrenches, direct order is a GREAT option.

Not that I know of. When I think of Whistler I actually think more enduro borderline DH tech. Though the jump lines are very popular. Still kinda limited in how they build jumps due to the bike park nature. Just table after table in a nearly straight line. Not THAT compelling outside of getting comfortable at speed and going bigger. I'd love to hit that one hip though.

@@TeddyParker i’ve done like nearly every tech trail already they were more interesting than the jump trails but tiring. i really just want to do a no hander or one foot table on the big dirt merch step up then i’ll be happy

@@TeddyParker i just uploaded a short of some footage btw

@@Conner21230 lfg have you gone to Kenter yet? we need to make an edit of you at Kenter. theres a perfect trick jump (lil small tho)

I would pick up the OneUp dropper on sale now. Sadly there isn't an ideal budget option for droppers right now. I would be setting it up tubeless and changing contact points and riding it as is. Long term you can think about a fork upgrade and wheel upgrade, but in that idea it would have been much better to just buy a Marin San Quentin 3. Though I know the prices aren't CLOSE right now. So I get it. Poseidon current price you could probably legit build that same spec for the same amount. 275 forks are cheap right now. And of course probably the brakes eventually. I'm not sure how those perform. It's a very interesting concept. It's possible with proper pads/rotors they actually perform well.

While the Aris do have merit especially as horst link bikes with a good reputation, they do suffer from what I would just call 'odd' low end builds (not even bad but odd as values). CUES instead of Deore on the Elite and then DVO suspension which is good but less familiar to most... It's a tough call. If you do have 2500 to spend, there are a LOT of good options right now that may be superior to that Cascade. Such as the Giant Trance, a Polygon T8, or a YT Jeffsy. I would be matching each bike up on 99spokes and then choosing SIZING and GEOMETRY. The rest of the value and parts you can kinda work out later. Can't change a frame though. At the current sale price, that Jeffsy can NOT be beat: 99spokes.com/compare?bikes=ari-cascade-peak-elite-2024%2Cpolygon-siskiu-t8-2023%2Cyt-jeffsy-core-1-29-2024%2Cgiant-trance-29-2-2022

@@TeddyParker thanks for your reply so very much! Yeah I could have 2500 to spend but I’d need to save for longer, the T7 is much more attainable for me so I think I’m going to go for that one.

@@coflyer2949 nothing wrong with the t7. and over time you can replace any shortcomings on the bike. and basically 'make a t8'. many people have done this.

Like at a sale price? (This video assumes MSRP prices for consistency.) Even at MSRPs, the issue is the Marlin is 'too close' to bikes like the Norton and Fathom in price. So for an experience that is similar to the Talon, you pay more. But you can def entertain the idea of Marlins and Rockhoppers as well. This video is more so demonstrating the specific bikes you should get at specific price points as a bare minimum value. Meaning, there are some bikes that still run QR skewers and coil forks for the SAME price as the Giant Fathom. So I would recommend avoiding them. Naturally there are some valid options between each 'price point' but I needed to simplify this video as much as possible to make a really quick one. I do have previous videos and the text resources in the description that go over MANY more options. That may be more compelling to you if you feel this video is oversimplified (it is).

if its DEEPLY discounted, its an okay bike. Just know that the frame is an open dropout frame with a basic QR skewer wheel. Ironically the reason I bring up the Embolden and not the Stance is it has been updated with a thru axle in the rear. The Stance actually HAS been as well but... It's not available in the US yet. So for kiddos/teenagers or lightweight adults it's def no biggie. Stance is an okay bike. For heavier kids or adults I would recommend getting a Giant Fathom with the same money right now. Having a solid axle that won't break is more important than a tiny bit of rear travel on a single pivot frame that flexes through aluminum.

@@TeddyParker thanks, i'm just a slightly chubby kiddo so i think i'm going with the stance, should i get the 29er or 27.5er?

@@ahmedmohamed-ku2xr well is it because its on sale? because if you fit it I would def get the Embolden instead because it comes with the updated thru axle. 29 is for stability and speed. 27 is for cornering and playful control. also for budget bikes 27 is easier for braking and handling because the bikes are often heavy. whereas a carbon on carbon 29er has less 'drawbacks. also 275 alloy wheels stay in true easier than cheap 29er alloy. so... i do personally recommend 275 on a budget build. depending on what the price is. id recommend looking into polygon or GT before committing to a Giant/Liv bike.

@@TeddyParker ok

@@TeddyParker ty

it has almost no advantages at its price points. it performs terribly and is very heavy as well, all while often being found on models that cost MORE than those with very solid Microshift or Shimano drivetrains. and while NX is better, we often see its on even MORE expensive models which reduces the value of its performance. same with GX. also SRAM SX and NX are the old HG-format so that can be bad for those who want to upgrade to high end stuff. however, it has the benefit of meaning you can cheaply swap SX out with Microshift or Shimano CUES/Deore. if you find SX at a DEEP discount, feel free to send it because with the money saved you can just change it out later. but if you have 2 options of the same price, try to get whatever DOESNT have SX ideally. again, NX is okay/better. but doesn't show up on these cheap bikes.

For hardtails? They are okay but not as valid with their build specs. The hardtails options are a lot more black and white in terms of value. Whereas the full suspension bikes have a lot of cut corners so you can make more arguments for the GTs and Polygons there.

Such a good bike. I was considering getting an RZ when I heard Kona 'died' but the original owners bought it back so... Nervously waiting to see what happens to the brand.

Nope, just uploading riding from that day since the initial 1080p upload got RUINED by youtube codecs. Sadly I probably won't be able to ride ride until fall. I'm gonna try to do XC riding in summer just to keep things going. I feel relatively okay but my back is far from healed. Can't ride a bike if lifting up a jug of milk is painful...

I think the sheer fun and general build quality of it all is what led me to that overshot of confidence on the jump at the bottom of the hill lol. Life be like