A mountain bike you’d buy to ride for only 5 months?

Tech Tech - What to Buy
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I come to you searching for wisdom. This is a longer post than I’d originally intended but the tl;dr here is I’m wondering what mountain bike to buy knowing that I am maybe only ever going to use it for the next 5-ish months before my toddler gets prohibitively large and/or disinterested in riding with her dad.

I am a relatively inexperienced cyclist and the father of a two year old. Last year my wife bought a like-new Thule rear seat and I bought myself a Cannondale CX3 (because I wasn’t confident in my ability to safely ferry my daughter around on my dad’s old road bike, which is my usual ride). It’s been awesome for me riding with her and she has enjoyed it too.

What I DIDN’T know about/realize (and this excellent thread helped me solidify that this is where I’d like to go next) was (1) that front seats like the Shotgun Pro exist and (2) that (apparently) manufacturers of these front seats are pretty insistent you should only use them with mountain bikes.

So now here I am strongly considering buying both a mountain bike and a shotgun (or shotgun-esque) seat for us to finish out the rest of this riding season with. Maybe we’d get some mileage out of next year too depending on her growth/interest/ability & desire to ride her own bike. But in any event it won’t be long before this is no longer an option.

I am not being hyperbolic or falsely self-deprecating when I say that I know almost nothing about bikes. I read Ian’s pieces about working in his garage and I literally don’t know what any of the things he’s saying are (I still like the stories! I think it’s a vibe thing).

Perhaps unsurprisingly then my most relevant consideration wrt the hypothetical mountain bike is cost. I’m probably looking at like a $500 ceiling here, preferably lower (and I will definitely be hunting for used).

What is NOT a consideration is performance or comfort. Candidly I just don’t expect anything about this setup will be anything approaching optimal for my 6’4” frame. And I don’t anticipate riding this bike all that often. As far as I know there are no mountain bike trails near enough to me to replace my usual road routes. I am open to being, and would be delighted to be, wrong about all of that but my point here is that I’m just trying to find the right tool for this very particular job and I don’t really know where to begin.

Soooooo if you were me, looking to get maximum short-term bang for your buck before the inexorable march of time steals your toddler from you, what mountain bike would you buy?

Thank you!

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I’d look for something used and local, like on Craig’s list or a Facebook group that you could throw a leg over to see if it fit. Go for a hardtail (no rear suspension) and possibly even rigid (a rigid front fork) for ease of maintenance, if you’re just riding rail trails or on the road. If you wanted to get something new (or ideas of what to look for used), check out Surly Bikes for an Ogre or a Karate Monkey or something like that (Ogre | All Season Commuter – Surly Bikes). Hopefully that’s helpful, happy to answer questions.

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Father of 3 and have had a shotgun seat that they have cycled through 3 kids youngest is still using it for the past 5 years. I am 6’2” theyre really only comfortable and practicle on modern mtb with current geometry from 2013-2014 onwards like enduro bikes you need a higher front end to be able to sit upright and have them in the middle of you pedaling in an ok position. A xc race bike would tend to have both of you hunched over to much a mid 2000s earlier wouldnt have ebough dpace to fit them. They also can affect steering where a wider bar helps off set them. My wife is 5’4” and is able to ride with them her bike is a older 2014 Kona precept They do tend to occasionally try to climb off of them or if they fall asleep you get stuck carrying them while pedaling or they start playing with the brake s and shifters or computer. In my experience if I am riding more than a mile or 2 on a paved surface I use my thule maxi back seat and they seem way happier with whats going on and ability to snack and will chill and nap for 50 miles loops no issues. If youre not gonna be riding mtb loops and are not an experienced mtb rider there I dont know if I would rush to get a shotgun seat for a cheap used mtb.

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Thank you!!!

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Ohh ok interesting maybe I should just pump the brakes on this unless the right deal emerges

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Theyre a great tool if youre gonna be riding on rough stuff where the tradition seat cant take the flex and is a safety snapping risk. But wouldnt go buy a bike just to shift them there. Personally would throw that money more towards their first bikes or a nicer rear seat that will hold them longer, can be a gret way to get them out for 2-3+ hour adventures mixing parks cafe stops etc. Some of the adjustable rear ones will hold some pretty massive kids ive had them in those seats until theyre almost 4.