cyclebits.co.uk MTB HOW TO

 

MTB HOW TO: get

out there.

 

Your mountain bike can be as basic as you want, whatever gets you around the trails, over the jumps or down the hill. One of mine is an old Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative hybrid with a pair of mountain bike tyres and a 50mm travel Suntour fork from a shopping bike, ok I don't do many jumps on it.

How much do you need to spend to get a half decent new mtb? I would say £300, you could argue that for £200 you'll get something worthy of the name mountain bike, but you would have to settle for V-brakes and just 21 gears, but you'd still get an aluminium alloy frame with some kind of front suspension and good handling. What I would steer clear of is twistgrip gear change on any adult bike, always go for the indexed slick shift, the twistgrip style is thankfully reserved for the throwaway bikes. Strange how twistgrip gears work well on kids bikes, better quality components possibly.

£300 to £450 will buy an mtb with a well designed lightweight aluminium alloy frame typically 13.5 to 14kg (compared to the sub £100 mtbs 20kg), cable  disc brakes, basic front suspension with 50 to 100mm travel, 21 or 24 slick shift gears.

Mountain bikes at this price should have good geometry, giving you the confidence to do some serious mountain biking and they should also have components with a spares backup and can even be upgraded at a later date with hydraulic disc brakes, better front suspension with adjustment, gears   and shifters, this will not seem important at the time of purchase but once your skills and confidence grow it will.

 

MTB HOW TO: the next level of mtb.

Got £500 to £700 to spend?

Now we're getting into mountain bikes with better quality components which are more reliable and will feel more precise and give you that little bit more confidence to tackle tougher trails.

The frame should be of a strong but light manufacture, the reduced weight (some bikes getting down to 13kg) adding to the fun, controlled ride. Reliable hydraulic disc brakes and front suspension with better damping and possibly some adjustment to the preload of the forks. Shimano Alivio or    even Deore rear mech/derailleurs/shifters  and 27 speed transmission should be present.

Mountain bikes in this price range will be more than capable of tackling the UK trail sites, some to consider are the Specialized Hardrock Pro Disc, Cannondale Trail SL5, Giant Talon 2.5, Ridgeback MX5 and Marin Northside Trail.

So I suppose it comes down to how much do you want to spend.

What do you get for £100? Not much to be honest unless you get a decent quality second hand mtb.        

The sort of bikes available new for £100 are not to be recommended for mountain biking especially those with undamped springs at the back, it is better to stick to a hardtail at this price as a full suspension bike with a junk spring at the back will end up puting you off mountain bikes for good and maybe even causing an injury if you overestimate its abilities.