re: Went to Bogue Chitto state park today to ride the bike trails.

For those considering purchasing a mountain bike, I earlier recommended buying a hardtail from a local bike shop. That's good advice, but I will say that the used bike market is absolutely crazy cheap right now. A ton of people got into the sport during COVID and are now unloading their bikes. Supply chain issues have also created an overabundance of new bikes for bike dealers... so those are also cheap.

If you DO decide to look into a used bike... it's hard to know what to look for. Here would be my list:

1) 1x (1by) drivetrain. Meaning a bike that only has 1 chainring in the front. 1x12 or 1x11 would be most common.

2) Disc brakes (not cantilever).

3) I would focus on bikes make in 2019 and later. Modern geometry for bikes is vastly superior.

4) Dropper post. If the bike doesn't have one already, it should be your first upgrade.

5) Tubeless ready rims/tires (or already set up tubeless).

If you ever find something on social media and would like me to look it over and tell you whether it's worth buying or not, I'm happy to do so. A buddy of mine just picked up a 3500 dollar carbon XC race bike for 1k, which lets you know the kind of deals that are out there currently.