Choosing a Mountain Bike


With the many different brands of mountain bikes on the market how does one go about choosing a mountain bike? This is a question that many beginners surely ask as well as parents of teenagers when buying that first bike. When you are looking to buy bike, you have to consider how often you intend to use it and for what purposes.

If you just want a mountain bike to use on weekends for the occasional off-road ride and maybe a competition or two, the best bike for your needs is one with no rear suspension and short travel front suspension. The typical bike for this purpose would be a 24-speed bike. If you intend to engage in mountain biking three or more times a week, then your best option in a bike would be one with a hard tail and 80-100 mm travel shocks. These bikes also have higher grade aluminum or carbon frames.

Then there are the mountain bikes best suited for endurance runs. These bikes are full-suspension bikes, but are lighter than other models. However the suspension systems vary greatly from one manufacturer to another in this style of bike. If you spend most of your time riding mountain trials or engage in downhill riding or freestyle, you will need a bike with different suspensions. The best advice when choosing a mountain bike is to test it out to make sure you feel comfortable when riding it.

There is more to choosing a bike for your needs, though, than making sure it has the proper suspension. When you decide what type of bike you want to purchase, take a look at the brakes. Bikes can have disc brakes or rim brakes. Disc brakes are the ones experts recommend because they are lightweight and offer more control over the braking. These brakes are on the handlebars and on long descents your arms can get quite tired if it takes a lot of pressure to keep the brakes on for the descent. You won't have this problem with disc brakes.

Choose a mountain bike with full suspension no matter how often you intend to use it. You may start off only using the bikes for only short off-road rides and then become so enthralled with the experience you graduate to rougher terrain and competitions. Then you will need the full suspension, so you can save yourself money by purchasing this in your first bike.

Along with choosing the bike for your needs and comfort, you also have to look at the price. Most people buying a mountain bike have to keep within a budget. While this may prevent you from buying the top of the line bike with loads of bells and whistles, you can still get a good quality bike with which you will be pleased.