Decathlon Rockrider ST530S Budget Full Suspension - Dropper Post and Tubeless Tires

A bike this cheap shouldn't ride this good! I'm questioning all the thousands of dollars I spent on my other bikes...ok, maybe not quite. Seriously, it's really good with just a couple changes (tires and dropper post. I was hitting a really nice flow on the trails this evening and couldn't believe how much fun I was having. You don't need to spend a small fortune to have a fun bike.
Bike: $216.00 (Curated.com)
Dropper Post: 49.00 (Amazon)
Pedals: $18.69 (Amazon)
Tires: $15.00 (Facebook)
Tubeless Valves: $10.99 (Amazon)
Dropper lever clamp: $7.34 (Amazon)
Grips, tire sealant, rim tape, cable/housing, and bottle cage were all parts bin items, so I will assign a misc items value of $25.
Sales tax: $25.92
Total: $366.94
I don't want to discourage people from utilizing their local bike shops for their bikes and parts and you can see 95% of the money I spent went to online retailers. Not everybody has the skills to assemble and work on bikes, so this isn't a realistic scenario for many people. I am very self-sufficient when it comes to bicycle repair and maintenance.
I still think this bike is a great deal of you have to take ot to your local shop for assembly and setup and pay them $100 or whatever the going rate for a new bike assembly is. The shop still gets to make a few bucks and you have a peoperly functioning bike. This applies for any online bike purchase. Plus, a lot of bike shops have bins full of new take-off parts (tires, saddles, handlebars, etc) that they may sell to you for cheap. That's a great way to upgrade your ride!

[@lioneldm5130]

Decathlon sells the st 540 s with the same frame and an xfusion rear air shock that is really cheap but good enough. I got mine for 60 euros, I think you can find it cheaper. I got also a cheap Rockshox recon rl air damper(straight headtube and 120 mm air shock). Some shops are getting rid of them, everybody wants a tapered headtube. It makes the bike much lighter and tighter.

[@aaronbehindbars]

I have been considering at least a rear shock upgrade. There seems to be plenty of inexpensive options for that. I will probably leave the fork alone as I don't want to spend a lot on this bike.

[@armandocardenas6094]

DNM air shock, Rockshox Silver TK air fork, TransX dropper post and MT 200 Shimano brakes and you a have a decent bike .

[@aaronbehindbars]

I have 2 of those 4 things already...a 3rd is on the way

[@batucetin9606]

These bikes are all the rage in Turkey. Dont relly on the frame too much if you are not a welder. I have seen heard and seen a lot of these530s full squish rockriders crack in the rear triangle. İ cant say how overcrowded the second hand market is with these bikes and their parts. İ hope you didnt get the doomed lot. Cheers none the less

[@aaronbehindbars]

I'll hope for the best. This bike is very low cost for me, so I can afford to scrap it if it fails.

[@SmokiCiuaua]

here in romania this bike is very common, you should be careful with it tho, in my country a lot of those bike crack and the rear shock just snaps in half...

[@aaronbehindbars]

I will keep an eye on it and inspect it regularly. It is a little worrying that more than one person has warned of this type of failure. I hope it does not happen, but it's a cheap enough bike that I don't care all that much .

[@sluzbazaorganizacijucentra4050]

Yes because people see it as high end mtb and start jumping and going down the stairs so it breaks. Also the most entry level bicycles are not for heavy people but for 50 up to 90kg and thats all.

[@aaronbehindbars]

@@sluzbazaorganizacijucentra4050 The rear shock has settings for rider weight up to 105 kg, so I expect it's good up to that weight at minimum.

[@sim_dude]

i've been looking for someone doing something like this to one of those. They are super common here, I find some second end for not too much and was always curious to turn one into a cheap project bike.

[@aaronbehindbars]

It's a great project bike! Best of luck with yours when you get one!

[@sjanzeir]

Can we get any footage of you actually riding this thing? Thank you.

[@aaronbehindbars]

Likely not. I don't have any camera equipment. I use my phone to shoot these videos.

[@velk00s68]

Hey, today i got the same bike, i think im hearing the same clunking sounds from back suspension. Did you find any solution to it or its nothing to worry about ?

[@aaronbehindbars]

I have a 2nd one of these and it makes the same noise. I think it's just the nature of a cheap coil rear shock. Everything seems to function fine, so I'm considering it normal.

[@velk00s68]

​@@aaronbehindbars Thanks for the reply, lets hope its functioning normaly. Well now only thing left to do for me is to fix gear changing because they are not shifting smoothly.

[@aaronbehindbars]

​@@velk00s68The derailleur hanger may be slightly bent. Rough handling in shipping can cause those to get slightly bent in which will make tuning the shifting difficult.

[@sluzbazaorganizacijucentra4050]

The angle of rear shock is kind odd. The rear triangle also goes slightly up towards the pivot point for the shock, also the fork for the other joint for reat shock seem thin. Dont know why but this geometry and angle of the rear coil just feels like its break ready so for sure it isnt for any jumping or agressive ride. Good lookin, best for its price but nonsence in some details.

[@aaronbehindbars]

I don't think it's that weird. The layout is pretty similar to a Santa Cruz Superlight. I'm not an engineer, but the upper/forward shock mount looks like it spreads the load along a wider section of that top tube. Additionally, under the compression, the load forces going into the shock are going to be more or less parallel to the top tube, so you probably don't have a tone of shearing forces that would try to pull those shock mount tabs down and break away from the top tube. I will concede that the overall construction of the rear triangle and those forward shock mounting tabs are fairly light. This is not an all-mountain/enduro/aggressive trail bike. It's for XC and lighter trail use which is what I'm doing with it. I have Specialized Stumpjumper and a Specialized Levo for when I want to ride more aggressively. I ride single track and keep the bike close to the ground. It's designed for that usage and I don't have any real concern that it will not hold up to that usage. Anything is possible and I am ok with tossing the frame in the bin if it fails. Thanks for watching and I appreciate the discussion.

[@kanserpro0]

you should change the rear shock because if you dont change it your frame can be crack if you can buy a air shock I recomend it

[@aaronbehindbars]

I'm no structural engineer, but I can't imagine the frame would crack from this shock. It has a little bit of abruptness as the shaft reverse direction from compression to rebound, but it's just making a little noise. I'm 99% sure it's just the way it is on a cheaper damper mechanism like this. I am considering an air shock upgrade down the road if I decide to hold onto this bike. I mainly bought it to experiment with, but I am kinda getting attached to it...time will tell. Thanks for watching!

[@kanserpro0]

​@@aaronbehindbarsI hope it doesn't crack, but my friends had that problem with this bike. but they don't ride in the off road they are urban riders

[@AlphaFan90]

:-)

[@GaLaxY-1905]

Cheap bike = high risk

[@aaronbehindbars]

Not always. This is an entry-level bike, but the components are all durable. It was built to handle off-road use and meets ISO 4210-2 standards. What this bike is not: light. The old saying applies here: Cheap, strong, and light - pick two.