How To Choose A Mountain Bike
By: Andrew Caxton
How to choose a mountain bike depends on 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 full suspension downhill
machine with 4 inch travel on the forks and a fully articulated
rear end with damping and rebound control.
Where to Start From.
If you do want to go for an easy ride in the park you don’t need
to spend too much, if you think you will do any off-road riding
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’ll find the same thing at a better 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 Money, More Bike.
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: - Trek,
Giant, Specialized 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 Suntour, Marzocchi,
Manitou, Fox, RockShox and RST, buy any of these and you wont go
far wrong.
Top Bikes, Top Money.
If you want what the professionals ride you will have to pay a
lot of money a professional MTB. As with road bike at the top of
the range, you can specify what you want to build up your dream
bike. Top bikes frames to spend your money on could 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 would
be the envy of your friends. Probably the best forks to put on
your frame would be RockShox SID’s these are light and do all the
things you need with control of all functions, there are many
other to also to consider, look at how much travel they have and
the rebound and damping systems. Gears again will be either SRAM
or Shimano Rapid fire, XT or XTR, more money could be spent on
carbon or very light alloy cranks, the brakes should be hydraulic
discs from Hayes, Pace or Magura or stick to the trusted V-bakes.
Wheels from Shimano or Mavic or some fancy carbon wheels, but
remember they will have to take a lot of punishment, so maybe
better to go for reliability over light weight expense. Carbon
handle bars, stem and seat pin and a light weight race saddle and
Time or Shimano SPD clipless pedals, then your choice of tires
will depend on what terrain and ground conditions you are going
to ride on.
And Downhilling?
Downhill bikes are very different, more like a cross country
motor bike, but without the engine, low center of gravity and a
lot of travel on the suspension on the forks and the rear end,
disc brakes, wide rims and fat tires, gears are only at the back
as usually a single chain set is used. Unless your going to do a
lot of downhill racing then there isn’t much point in buying one
as you have to get up the hill first before you can come down and
as light weight is not an issue with downhill bikes, they are
very heavy to get up hill with out the use of a tow rope or a ski
lift.
Andrew Caxton is a the Webmaster and publisher of
http://www.bike-cycling-reviews.com. A free online magazine that
focuses completely on cycling reviews about road bikes, mountain
bikes and cycle clothing.
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