Mountain Bikes Buying Guide
August 19, 2009 by Janet7
When choosing a mountain bike you must consider what you are going to do with it, if all you want your new mountain bike for is going for a nice leisurely ride on the canal path or a ride in the woods with the dog well you wont need a fully suspensioned downhill mountain bike with 4 inch travel on the forks and a fully articulated rear end with damping and rebound control.
How to Begin.
If you do want to go for an easy ride in the park you do not need to spend too much, if you think you will do any riding off road then big tread tires maybe all you need, but if you think you might try some rough stuff then you will need suspension.
Gears will probably be Shimano, brakes must be V-brakes, but could be made by a few different manufacturers, all the rest of the MTB components will depend on how much you can spend. If you go to your local bike shop or big sports store and see what they’ve got to offer, then buy it or have look on the Internet and maybe you might find the same thing at a more affordable price.
The Next Step Up.
So maybe you want to be a bit more adventurous, more off-road, more forest tracks and dry boulder river beds, then you’ll need something a little lighter, with suspension forks. All this will cost you more money, but will be worth it for the extra enjoyment and adventure. With a better mountain bike it will have a sportier handling and because it is lighter, it will be easier to struggle up the hills before you come flying down the other side. The components will again be Shimano and the quality will depend on how much money you can spend. V-brakes and Rapid-fire gear shifters, along with Shimano chain set, bottom bracket and headset. Handle bars, stem and seat pin should be alloy and along with a comfortable saddle you’ll be set to take to the hills.
More Bike – More Money
The next rung up on the mountain bike ladder would be good enough to race on. There are many to choose from, get on the net and surf the bike manufacturers sites and all the shop sites along with the magazines for juicy photos of the bikes.
The top manufacturers in this price range, I would say are: – Specialized, Trek, Giant and Cannondale, these companies make the nicest frames with the best mountain bike parts available at 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 of the other MTB parts, of course will be Shimano and as usual get the best you can afford. There are many combinations of hubs and rims to make up your wheels; hubs from Shimano and rims form Mavic are the usual mix. Then you have to choose which suspension forks to put on you bike, you may not get a choice, depending on which bike you buy, the main ones are RST, Suntour, Marzocchi, Fox, RockShox and Manitou suspension forks buy any of these and you will not go far wrong.
take a look here: Assuming you are in the US and I believe you are this would do fine for your price range I think and it is all 105!
Saw Cannondale, Kuota, and Argon… I guess now that I think of it I am surprised no Giant. Lots of boutique, custom stuff.
LMAO! well said, bravo.
Yes they are good bikes and yes they are comparable to the other brands you've mentioned. There's no average price for a Specialized bike unless you are after a specific model which would be sold for an average price, there's many different models that range in price from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars.
As mentioned by another poster:
Quote – "They are actually regarded as a very exclusive manufacturer and have a great reputation for making high quality frames"
They aren't what you call a 'very exclusive manufacturer', they are just a smaller company that isn't as common if you compare them to a large company like Giant. Most of their frames are made in Taiwan by a bicycle company called Merida who is the 2nd largest bicycle manufacturer in the world they also own about 30% of Specialized. Some of their frames are even outsourced and made by Giant (also from Taiwan) who is the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world.
You'll do fine on a 26" bike. Look at a GT they tend to feel a little bigger due to the triple triangle frame. You may also look at getting longer cranks. 180mm vs the standard 175mm or 170mm.
Ahh, simplicity. Cleaning out the factory grease from 2007 SRAM XO grip shift. Included in that is dirt from 2008, 2009 Cape Epics…
Finally got all of the pics from my trip to the TCA up on the store facebook page…truly the trip of a lifetime!
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Looks great! New scenery, great weather, new camera angles…I’ll be there in June!
Guys, matibay ba merida tfs-900? Can’t remember the exact model but eto yung madalas ko makita kela paulina’s.(Trans-mission ata ito but pls correct me if I’m wrong) How’s it’s performance and ride comfort? Ilang inch travel nung rear shock? Any better alternative frames at the same price level you can recommend? Also eyeing on a Giant Anthem X3 Frame, how much better is the Giant compare to the merida frame above?
Complete your ideal travel collection with this 11 piece Ultimate Value Set. It has 2 expandable rolling vertical suitcases, a rolling carry on, dome duffel bag, and a tote bag. It comes with 6 bonus non woven eco friendly reusable bags. These bags include a 40 inch garment cover, 16 inch shopping tote, 16 inch shoe bag, 16 inch laundry bag, 12 inch packing cube, and 10 inch travel kit.
29rcowboy: White Brothers showed a prototype 35mm legged 150mm travel fork which will replace the 32mm travel Fluid 150 eventually. Other than Niners W.F.O. 9, ( a bike shown first at Eurobike) there wasn't anything indoors to report on. At the outdoor demo I did get to ride the new six inch travel LenzSport Lunchbox, an excellent bike I might add.
RT Be on the lookout for stolen bikes RT: Giant TCR full DA and custom Cannondale w/bamboo n dragonflies paint scheme full DA
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Notable absence at Cycle Mode : GIANT and Cannondale.. or I was blind … #cyclemode
A DH bike is fun for a few parts of the ride but you will suffer way too much on the climbs and flat parts. There is nothing too rocky or technical that requires a real DH bike, and some of the tight and twisty stuff is too much work on a big bike. Even if you go slightly faster on the fast parts wtih a DH bike, with all the pedaling you will be way off the back by the time you get back to town. It's fine if it's all you've got, but as noted above the best way to go is a 5 or 6 inch travel bike with relatively relaxed angles and some beefy tires. A gravity dropper or maverick speedball is a great thing too. Also, remember that there are other rides up there that require a fair amount of pedaling to get to, so once again think “beefy trail bike” as opposed to a DH machine.
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Notable absence at Cycle Mode : GIANT and Cannondale.. or I was blind … #cyclemode
Notable absence at Cycle Mode : GIANT and Cannondale.. or I was blind … #cyclemode
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Notable absence at Cycle Mode : GIANT and Cannondale.. or I was blind … #cyclemode
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Notable absence at Cycle Mode : GIANT and Cannondale.. or I was blind … #cyclemode