How to choose a mountain bike depends on what you're going to do with it, whether you want your new mountain bike to be just a nice leisurely ride along the canal trail or a ride in the woods with the dog, but unusually you need a full-suspension downhill machine with 4 inches of travel on forks and a fully articulated rear end with damping and rebound control.
+ Where to start.
If you want to go for a light ride in the park you don't need to spend too much, if you think you will be riding off road then you might need big tires but if you think you might try some rough stuff then you will need suspension . The gears will probably be Shimano, the brakes must be V-brake, but they can be made by several different manufacturers, all other MTB components will depend on how much you can spend. If you go to your local bike shop or big sporting goods store and see what they have on offer then buy it or look online and you might find the same thing at a better price.
+ Another step up.
So maybe you want to be a little more adventurous, more off-road, more forest trails and dry bouldery riverbeds, then you'll need something a little lighter with suspension forks. All this will cost you more money, but the added enjoyment and adventure will make it worth it. With a better mountain bike, it will have sportier handling and because it is lighter, it will be easier to fight up the hills before coming down the other side. Again, the components will be Shimano and the quality will depend on how much money you spend. V-brakes and Rapid-fire shifting along with a Shimano chainset, center console and headset. The handlebars, stem and seatpost should be alloy, and along with a comfortable saddle, you'll be ready to hit the hills.
+ More money, more bikes.
The next rung on the mountain bike ladder would be good enough for racing. There is a lot to choose from, get on the net and browse bike manufacturer sites and all shop pages along with magazines for juicy bike photos. The best manufacturers in this price range I would say are: - Trek, Giant, Specialized and Cannondale, these companies make the nicest frames with the best mountain bike parts available for the price, gears will be either Shimano or SRAM, brakes could be V-brakes or cable disc brakes, both are very good and light, most other MTB parts will of course be Shimano and as usual you get the best you can afford. There are many combinations of hubs and rims to create your wheels; hubs from Shimano and rims from Mavic are the usual combination. Then you have to choose which suspension forks to put on your bike, you may not have a choice, it depends on what bike you buy, the main ones are Suntour, Marzocchi, Manitou, Fox, RockShox and RST, buy any of them and you won't go far poorly.
+ The best bikes…. Best money.
If you want what the pros ride, you're going to have to pay a lot of money for a professional MTB. As with a top of the line road bike, you can specify what you want to build your dream bike. The best bike frames to spend your money on might be Klien, Scott, Rocky Mountain, Gary Fisher, Santa Cruz and K2; these are some of the most sought-after bike frames in the world and could be the envy of your friends. Probably the best fork to put on the frame would be the RockShox SID's, they are light and do everything you need with full function controls, there are many others to consider as well, look at how much travel and rebound they have and damping systems. Gears will again be either SRAM or Shimano Rapid fire, XT or XTR, more money could be spent on carbon or very light alloy cranks, brakes should be hydraulic discs from Hayes, Pace or Magura or stick to the trusty V-bakes. Wheels from Shimano or Mavic or some fancy carbon wheels, but remember they will take a lot of punishment, so it might be better to go for reliability over light weight. Carbon handlebars, stem and seatpost and a lightweight racing saddle and Time or Shimano SPD clipless pedals, then your choice of tires will depend on the terrain and conditions you will be riding on.
Downhill bikes are very different, more like a dirt bike but without the engine, low center of gravity and lots of suspension travel on the forks and rear, disc brakes, wide rims and fat tires, gears are rear only, one chainset is used as usual. Unless you're going to do a lot of downhill racing, there's no point in buying one because you have to go up the hill before you can go down, and since light weight isn't an issue with downhill bikes, they're very heavy. get up the hill without using a tow rope or ski lift
You must be logged in to post a comment.