Are there any Mountain Bike officianado's out there who can help me with an idea that I've got? Im wanting to buy a Mountain bike but dont have the first idea. I'm going to a local bike shop at the weekend but wanted some advice beforeheand. I'm after a lightweight bike that I can hitch to the back of the car (or the bus) and head out into the widerness. Im 6ft 3 and I seem to have worked out I need a 20 inch frame but there it ends for the minute.
All depends on budget really, frame and wheels are the most important things everything else is upgradeable over time if you wish, hardtail or full suss is a matter of preference. You'll get more spec on a hardtail but personally I'd never go back to one. Shop should advise on size because it depends on inside leg rather than height. Don't go too massive on frame have plenty of seat post it'll handle better. Orange really popular but any of the big names do good bikes Specialised, Cannondale Lappiere , Santa Cruz the absolute dogs danglers.🚵
I think before you buy a bike you should sit down and workout what kind of riding you want to do.........fast downhill......trails and towpaths....fun riding and a few dirt jumps ...trail riding etc. Ive been mountain biking since 96 and having gone through an expensive full suspension phase have ended up going back and building a well specced steel hardtail,[see pic] having worked out that endurance riding and single track is my thing. buy the lightest best specced bike you can afford.....and there are some bargains to be had on ebay.
yeah youll probably want a large frame. i personally would go hardtail if your using it for general cross country. Full suspension is overkill and will knacker your legs on anything flat or uphill. i would avoid halfrauds at all cost, youll pay £500 for a bike worth £250. and they all have the same chain, gearing issues. I would use pinkbike or ebay, you can pick up a mint bike worth £1000 for £400.
If its your first foray into MTB's and you really don't know what you're looking at be very careful down the second hand eBay route, if you can find a shop with last years model in stock you'll probably get a genuine bargain that you couldn't build for the price, also try for an ex demo bike, most good shops do them and then sell them off. I had my Cannondale on demo for the weekend then asked if they were selling the actual bike, got a £3,500 bike for £1750 it'd only been ridden a couple of times, still riding it 7 years later.
Well according to Flakey I have a dogs danglers full suspension bike however over the past 3 years I have ridden my 10yr old Trek hardtail considerably more. It really depends upon the sort of riding you are doing, mainly I do a bit of cross country with limited tech stuff, (easier to clean mud off the hardtail too) although I will be riding the hardtail at Coed Y Brenin this weekend and in the Lakes next weekend. I use the hardtail most as I also have the issue of going away and using bike both for my rides (like this weekend) and familly rides with the child seat attached. I believe that the new thing is a 29 er and that a hardtail 29 er is more forgiving than the old skool 26! If you want an online source of info try bikeradar.com What would I buy now adays? No idea always fancied a titanium hardtail something like a Cove Hummer but of late havent had the cash to get one Secondhand will be a lottery - some used components may be completely knackered, bent etc. last years model good way of buying a well speccd bike for less cash.
Just noticed www.chainreactioncycles.com have got 40% sale on at the moment they are the biggest on line retailer, the JK of the bike world well worth a look!
I've always liked konas personally, i like the riding position. You'll get a much better quality bike for the money if you avoid full-sus. Good full sus bikes are expensive and no matter what the makers claim, it's always more energy efficient riding a hardtail off road unless you're only doing dowhill riding. Now's a good time to buy new 'cause they really reduce prices of this years bikes because next years are in the shops already.
Great advice thanks, I'm going into the Newcastle cycle centre at the weekend for some more advice and a test drive. Think it will be more towpaths, country trails, slight cross country, I'm thinking a hard tail is my starting point. Cheers everybody........... Now to continue the search for the caddy
If your looking for a very well speced second-hand bike i might be parting with mine It is well used custom bike built round the last of the proper steel framed Konas but all the kit has been updated and the wheel ave only done 6 months before i put it away.
I built my own based on a Santa Cruz Blur LT frame and then imported most of the bits from the US, also did a trip skiing there so packed up some decent kit in my suitcase. Saved a huge bundle on UK prices. Id suggest going to a specialist shop and trying out their kit. As already mentioned, are you going for downhill, freeridem single track etc.
If there's a mountain bike hire centre it near you it'd be worth seeing if they sell off their old fleet. I got a one-year-old Kona hardtail half price from our local one. It was decent spec and had only been ridden 30 times, and two of them were me before I bought it. Also had the reassurance that it had been checked over by someone who knew what they were doing after every ride. I'm not expert but for the kind of riding you're doing I'd say a hardtail's what you want.
Cheap, light, strong - pick any two out of these three. You need to work out your budget, dont get a full suspension bike unless your budget is over around £700, even then you need to decide if you really need full suspension. It cracks me up how many people ride around on budget full suspension bikes which have clearly never been off road, they're lugging around alot of extra weight and bouncing down the road so the distance to the peddles is changing as they bounce. If your 6'3" it may be worth considering a 29er they are more stable for larger riders, the larger wheels roll over lumps and bumps better at the expense of slightly more effort accelerating. If your not going to do mad downhill stuff and more technical stuff a Cross Country or XC is a good trade off for mixed road and trail use
