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As an avid mountain biker, this article reminds me about the pure fun of riding in the outdoors. You don't need to spend 5K+ to do so. The technology in mountai

by vondur 12y ago

As an avid mountain biker, this article reminds me about the pure fun of riding in the outdoors. You don't need to spend 5K+ to do so. The technology in mountain biking has really taken off in the last 15 years. I can ride trails that only people on downhill bikes would have done 10 years ago, and the bike weighs less than 30lbs, making pedaling up hills not a problem. Enduro mountain bike racing has really taken off in the last few years and really captures the essence of mountain biking. It's a good time to be into mountain bikes. Here are a couple of examples of the new generation of Enduro Bikes: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/reign.advanced.27.5.1/18765/76217/#technologies http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/reign.advanc... http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/enduro/enduro-elite-650b http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/enduro/endur... Both are relatively decently priced with good specs.

tempermanent 12y ago
> you don't need to spend 5K+ to do so links to two five-thousand-dollar bikes
- jmspring 12y ago
  You don't need to, that said, there are a lot of riders that have more bike than they have the skills for. Sometimes I feel like I am in that category. I just spent a weekend in Whistler at a mountain bike camp where a young lady on a maybe $1400 hard tail bike was rolling the same stuff I was on the rented $5k bike. She grew up riding Vancouver's north shore. My advice for those looking to buy a bike that aren't already gear heads is: 1) Pick your budget 2) Test ride a bunch of bikes in that budget range 3) Pay attention to how the shop you test ride at is treating you -- you want a shop you are comfortable with Fit of bike and how it feels to you is probably most important. If the bike you like is at a shop you aren't fond of, you can always use another shop for service.
- mmariani 12y ago
  Pick your time. Usually bike shops have their sales in the fall when you can get a previous year model at a good discount. Avoid carbon fiber frames and pro level gruppos. Go for an alumninum frame and a Deore gruppo as it's gonna save you a load of cash and give you a good bike to get started. Save some cash to buy a new saddle. Usually the saddles that come with lower cost bikes are incredibly uncomfortable. Money spent on a good saddle is money well spent. Most importantly, enjoy your bike as much as you can!
- jedrek 12y ago
  The thing about these bikes is that they're bikes you can take out to a DH race and win on. They are the F1s of cycling. I think the most expensive DH bikes top out at $10-15k. It always bugs me when amateurs look at professional equipments (literally: equipment you use in your profession which you should be making money on) and go, "hmpf, that's too much!" Same thing with tons of software - if you're not making money with it, there's rarely reason to buy it. And if you are, then it shouldn't be a major expense in the context of your profession.
rcraft 12y ago
Any advice on bikes if I don't want to spend $5k?
- collyw 12y ago
  Something like this will be good enough to get an idea if you like the sport or not, and is a fraction of the price. http://www.eriksbikeshop.com/Specialized-2014-Hardrock-Base-Mountain-Bike/PR3C12480/Product http://www.eriksbikeshop.com/Specialized-2014-Hardrock-Base-... Many bikes in this price range have similar frames and components. The components won't last as long as on a better bike, but will be good enough to get you started. After that you pretty much get what you pay for in improved components. Its like buying a computer - the more you spend the better components you get but the higher you go, the less gain you are likely to notice (unless you are really pushing limits). If you are keener to commit and spend a bit more trail centres should be able to rent you a trail bike.
- utefan001 12y ago
  Ebay has lots of good deals. You need to research things like the difference between shimano xtr and shimano altus or sram "x" vs sram "y". I got a great 2009 shimano xtr light weight mountain bike for my son. Note 29 inch wheels (29ers) are all the rage now. This means 26 inch mountain bikes are going way down in value but are still great bikes. Lots of good info on youtube as well.
- flexd 12y ago
  Look for end of the season sales, or better yet, know someone that works for a supplier or store that can get you a decent discount. Mountain bikes are insanely expensive, but for local stores there mostly isn't a big profit margin (at least not here, Norway). The manufacturers themselves probably have a lot better profit margins, but I do not know enough to say anything about it. At this point, any "known-brand" mountain bike over or around $2000 new is a really solid bike that will work great and last a long time if taken care of properly. Above that you start to see carbon frames, higher end gruppos and mostly weight savings. For example a bike with a Shimano SLX groupset is basically as good as one with the XT groupset (one step up), the XTR groupset is lighter and costs way more. the Shimano SLX groupset is comparable to SRAM's X9 groupset in performance and price. Getting into the sport I would go for a hardtail (no rear suspension) first. They are a lot cheaper, and you will get more bike for the money. Spend $2000 on a hardtail and you have a really great and light bike with a near top-end groupset, but if you spend $2000 on a full-suspension bike you will get less bike for the money, and a hardtail is good for beginners anyway. When you do not have rear suspension you have to learn how to keep your weight on the bike and how to pick the best lines down, and a full-suspension bike is a lot more forgiving that way. I can ride down stuff on my FS bike I'd never dream of doing on my hardtail.
plq 12y ago
Are you sure about the rear suspension? Yes, it can save your wheel in some situations (which you should really be avoiding as an amateur), but %99 of the time it's unnecessery weight that also happens to eat some of the power that'd normally go to the wheel. (I'm not a competitive biker, mountain or otherwise, I'm just curious)
- sliverstorm 12y ago
  All depends on your terrain. My local trails are rock gardens, often with broken rock ranging from softball to football size. I still ride a hardtail, but I can tell you the shocks & bumps are so bad that I spend a lot of the ride down with zero traction.
- valas 12y ago
  In some terrain, rear suspension is advantageous both in climbing and descending. When descending, it keeps wheel planted on the ground for better control and braking. When climbing rough terrain, it similarly can keep the back wheel planted for better traction. Some folks also get bikes with rear suspension because it limits stress on the torso and knees when hitting bumps.
- alistairSH 12y ago
  It's not about saving the wheel, it's about keeping the rider fresh. Mountain biking on rough terrain is hard on the body. Look at elite level races - most of them switch between hard-tail and full-suspension, depending on the terrain. And for those of us who just play at racing, a full-suspension bike can take the edge off a long day of riding.
- josephlord 12y ago
  You don't need it and if you are on a limited budget you can get a good hard tail much cheaper than a good full suspension but if you have it you can stay in the saddle much more of the the time for efficient pedalling. It doesn't lose much of the pedalling power certainly if you spin the pedals rather than stand on the pedals in a higher gear.
- micro_cam 12y ago
PhasmaFelis 12y ago
I'm glad to see people encouraging cyclists, but I am struggling not to get angry that you call five thousand dollars "reasonably priced" with a straight face. You can get a solid entry-level mountain bike for $400. It is probably not suited for professional racing, but it's a perfectly good machine. If you check out used bike stores, you can find some excellent machines in good shape for less than that. I know you mean well, but linking these absurd prices out of context turns people off of cycling who might have really enjoyed it.
- jusben1369 12y ago
  $400 is not a real MTB. It will fail you if you really get into it at all But you can do $1500 via Bikesdirect.com
  - StillBored 12y ago
    I think the problem is that there isn't really a $400 category for mountain bikes. There is the $100 walmart/acadamy bikes, made without regard for quality/weight/etc. And then there are the $1000+ bike store bikes. That said, if you look at kids bikes at the local bike shop I think you will notice something. Those bikes tend to be just as good as the adult versions (good components, strong frames/etc) but they tend to cost under $250. I think it says something.
    - was_hellbanned 12y ago
      there isn't really a $400 category for mountain bikes ... then there are the $1000+ bike store bikes. That's not quite accurate. Here's a random example: http://www.rei.com/c/mountain-bikes http://www.rei.com/c/mountain-bikes You should be able to find plenty of decent hardtail low-end mountain bikes in the $500 - $900 range, particularly if you wait until the off-season to do your shopping. My personal advice would be to buy your way into a decent frame and upgrade components as they fail. If there's one thing I found from several years of avid mountain biking, it's that parts wear and break much faster than they do in road riding, giving plenty of upgrade opportunity. :-)
    - 12y ago
jacquesm 12y ago
The prices on those bikes are ridiculous. If you buy something like that please buy it second-hand from someone that had more money than brains and thought they were going to lose weight by buying a bike rather than using it. Usually these go for a fraction of their new value in mint condition once the new-years vows have worn off.
- jiggy2011 12y ago
  Those aren't the sort of bikes that people buy in order to lose weight. They are more like mini MotoX bikes without the engines. They cost a lot because they are built to be extremely strong and have brakes which work well at high speeds in bad conditions which is important when you smash it into a tree at 40mph. The risk with buying a bike like that second hand is that it may have already been crashed/damage.
  - dskhatri 12y ago
    I would be more concerned about me smashing into a tree at 40mph than the bike. 40mph is an exaggeration, isn't it?
    - jiggy2011 12y ago
      Not at serious downhill events, a lot of protection is worn though.
    - flexd 12y ago
      At the world cup finals in Hafjell, Norway last weekend, the top guys were hitting 82 kmh (51 mph~) on a open section speed trap. They aren't quite as fast in tighter sections, but still plenty fast. Here is the helmet cam footage of Josh Bryceland that probably would have ended up winning if he had not overshot the last jump and broken his foot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBDpu4-pQhM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBDpu4-pQhM The speedtrap is at about 2:30.
  - StillBored 12y ago
    There is hardly a bike frame on the market that can survive actually hitting a tree at even 10mph with the rider on it. Most of the frames are extremely strong vertically, but if impacted on the side or directly on the tubes crumple like the couple mm thick aluminum/carbon they are.

by vondur 12y ago

tempermanent 12y ago

> you don't need to spend 5K+ to do so links to two five-thousand-dollar bikes

jmspring 12y ago
You don't need to, that said, there are a lot of riders that have more bike than they have the skills for. Sometimes I feel like I am in that category. I just spent a weekend in Whistler at a mountain bike camp where a young lady on a maybe $1400 hard tail bike was rolling the same stuff I was on the rented $5k bike. She grew up riding Vancouver's north shore. My advice for those looking to buy a bike that aren't already gear heads is: 1) Pick your budget 2) Test ride a bunch of bikes in that budget range 3) Pay attention to how the shop you test ride at is treating you -- you want a shop you are comfortable with Fit of bike and how it feels to you is probably most important. If the bike you like is at a shop you aren't fond of, you can always use another shop for service.
mmariani 12y ago
Pick your time. Usually bike shops have their sales in the fall when you can get a previous year model at a good discount. Avoid carbon fiber frames and pro level gruppos. Go for an alumninum frame and a Deore gruppo as it's gonna save you a load of cash and give you a good bike to get started. Save some cash to buy a new saddle. Usually the saddles that come with lower cost bikes are incredibly uncomfortable. Money spent on a good saddle is money well spent. Most importantly, enjoy your bike as much as you can!
jedrek 12y ago
The thing about these bikes is that they're bikes you can take out to a DH race and win on. They are the F1s of cycling. I think the most expensive DH bikes top out at $10-15k. It always bugs me when amateurs look at professional equipments (literally: equipment you use in your profession which you should be making money on) and go, "hmpf, that's too much!" Same thing with tons of software - if you're not making money with it, there's rarely reason to buy it. And if you are, then it shouldn't be a major expense in the context of your profession.

rcraft 12y ago

Any advice on bikes if I don't want to spend $5k?

collyw 12y ago
Something like this will be good enough to get an idea if you like the sport or not, and is a fraction of the price. http://www.eriksbikeshop.com/Specialized-2014-Hardrock-Base-Mountain-Bike/PR3C12480/Product http://www.eriksbikeshop.com/Specialized-2014-Hardrock-Base-... Many bikes in this price range have similar frames and components. The components won't last as long as on a better bike, but will be good enough to get you started. After that you pretty much get what you pay for in improved components. Its like buying a computer - the more you spend the better components you get but the higher you go, the less gain you are likely to notice (unless you are really pushing limits). If you are keener to commit and spend a bit more trail centres should be able to rent you a trail bike.
utefan001 12y ago
Ebay has lots of good deals. You need to research things like the difference between shimano xtr and shimano altus or sram "x" vs sram "y". I got a great 2009 shimano xtr light weight mountain bike for my son. Note 29 inch wheels (29ers) are all the rage now. This means 26 inch mountain bikes are going way down in value but are still great bikes. Lots of good info on youtube as well.
flexd 12y ago
Look for end of the season sales, or better yet, know someone that works for a supplier or store that can get you a decent discount. Mountain bikes are insanely expensive, but for local stores there mostly isn't a big profit margin (at least not here, Norway). The manufacturers themselves probably have a lot better profit margins, but I do not know enough to say anything about it. At this point, any "known-brand" mountain bike over or around $2000 new is a really solid bike that will work great and last a long time if taken care of properly. Above that you start to see carbon frames, higher end gruppos and mostly weight savings. For example a bike with a Shimano SLX groupset is basically as good as one with the XT groupset (one step up), the XTR groupset is lighter and costs way more. the Shimano SLX groupset is comparable to SRAM's X9 groupset in performance and price. Getting into the sport I would go for a hardtail (no rear suspension) first. They are a lot cheaper, and you will get more bike for the money. Spend $2000 on a hardtail and you have a really great and light bike with a near top-end groupset, but if you spend $2000 on a full-suspension bike you will get less bike for the money, and a hardtail is good for beginners anyway. When you do not have rear suspension you have to learn how to keep your weight on the bike and how to pick the best lines down, and a full-suspension bike is a lot more forgiving that way. I can ride down stuff on my FS bike I'd never dream of doing on my hardtail.

plq 12y ago

Are you sure about the rear suspension? Yes, it can save your wheel in some situations (which you should really be avoiding as an amateur), but %99 of the time it's unnecessery weight that also happens to eat some of the power that'd normally go to the wheel. (I'm not a competitive biker, mountain or otherwise, I'm just curious)

sliverstorm 12y ago
All depends on your terrain. My local trails are rock gardens, often with broken rock ranging from softball to football size. I still ride a hardtail, but I can tell you the shocks & bumps are so bad that I spend a lot of the ride down with zero traction.
valas 12y ago
In some terrain, rear suspension is advantageous both in climbing and descending. When descending, it keeps wheel planted on the ground for better control and braking. When climbing rough terrain, it similarly can keep the back wheel planted for better traction. Some folks also get bikes with rear suspension because it limits stress on the torso and knees when hitting bumps.
alistairSH 12y ago
It's not about saving the wheel, it's about keeping the rider fresh. Mountain biking on rough terrain is hard on the body. Look at elite level races - most of them switch between hard-tail and full-suspension, depending on the terrain. And for those of us who just play at racing, a full-suspension bike can take the edge off a long day of riding.
josephlord 12y ago
You don't need it and if you are on a limited budget you can get a good hard tail much cheaper than a good full suspension but if you have it you can stay in the saddle much more of the the time for efficient pedalling. It doesn't lose much of the pedalling power certainly if you spin the pedals rather than stand on the pedals in a higher gear.
micro_cam 12y ago

PhasmaFelis 12y ago

I'm glad to see people encouraging cyclists, but I am struggling not to get angry that you call five thousand dollars "reasonably priced" with a straight face. You can get a solid entry-level mountain bike for $400. It is probably not suited for professional racing, but it's a perfectly good machine. If you check out used bike stores, you can find some excellent machines in good shape for less than that. I know you mean well, but linking these absurd prices out of context turns people off of cycling who might have really enjoyed it.

jusben1369 12y ago
$400 is not a real MTB. It will fail you if you really get into it at all But you can do $1500 via Bikesdirect.com
- StillBored 12y ago
  I think the problem is that there isn't really a $400 category for mountain bikes. There is the $100 walmart/acadamy bikes, made without regard for quality/weight/etc. And then there are the $1000+ bike store bikes. That said, if you look at kids bikes at the local bike shop I think you will notice something. Those bikes tend to be just as good as the adult versions (good components, strong frames/etc) but they tend to cost under $250. I think it says something.
  - was_hellbanned 12y ago
    there isn't really a $400 category for mountain bikes ... then there are the $1000+ bike store bikes. That's not quite accurate. Here's a random example: http://www.rei.com/c/mountain-bikes http://www.rei.com/c/mountain-bikes You should be able to find plenty of decent hardtail low-end mountain bikes in the $500 - $900 range, particularly if you wait until the off-season to do your shopping. My personal advice would be to buy your way into a decent frame and upgrade components as they fail. If there's one thing I found from several years of avid mountain biking, it's that parts wear and break much faster than they do in road riding, giving plenty of upgrade opportunity. :-)
  - 12y ago

jacquesm 12y ago

The prices on those bikes are ridiculous. If you buy something like that please buy it second-hand from someone that had more money than brains and thought they were going to lose weight by buying a bike rather than using it. Usually these go for a fraction of their new value in mint condition once the new-years vows have worn off.

jiggy2011 12y ago
Those aren't the sort of bikes that people buy in order to lose weight. They are more like mini MotoX bikes without the engines. They cost a lot because they are built to be extremely strong and have brakes which work well at high speeds in bad conditions which is important when you smash it into a tree at 40mph. The risk with buying a bike like that second hand is that it may have already been crashed/damage.
- dskhatri 12y ago
  I would be more concerned about me smashing into a tree at 40mph than the bike. 40mph is an exaggeration, isn't it?
  - jiggy2011 12y ago
    Not at serious downhill events, a lot of protection is worn though.
  - flexd 12y ago
    At the world cup finals in Hafjell, Norway last weekend, the top guys were hitting 82 kmh (51 mph~) on a open section speed trap. They aren't quite as fast in tighter sections, but still plenty fast. Here is the helmet cam footage of Josh Bryceland that probably would have ended up winning if he had not overshot the last jump and broken his foot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBDpu4-pQhM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBDpu4-pQhM The speedtrap is at about 2:30.
- StillBored 12y ago
  There is hardly a bike frame on the market that can survive actually hitting a tree at even 10mph with the rider on it. Most of the frames are extremely strong vertically, but if impacted on the side or directly on the tubes crumple like the couple mm thick aluminum/carbon they are.