Buying a mountain bike can seem like a big decision but you can help yourself by getting educated about the important aspects of the bike. The following six areas should be thought about before you make your next mountain bike purchase. Six Points: 1. Price 2. Frame 3. Brakes 4. Shifters 5. Tires 6. Fit Price: The best mountain bikes can cost thousands of dollars and can cost as little as several hundred dollars. The first place to start your search is to determine the price you are willing to pay. A good beginner mountain bike will cost between 400 and 800 dollars depending on where you buy it. To insure that you won't be replacing your mountain bike in the near future don't go the route of buying the Walmart specials. Many people make this very mistake when start out to buy a mountain bike. Rather than getting the inexpensive mountain bike in the beginning and replacing it within a year, you would have been better off with the higher priced mountain from the start. The Iron Horse Mountain Bike is a good example of a popular mountain bike at an affordable price. Brakes: Obviously the best mountain bikes have the best brakes. The decision you have to make is whether to use disk brakes or rim brakes. The cost of disk brakes are higher but the braking power is superior. Rim brakes offer a lighter, lower cost alternative but you will sacrifice some performance particularly in wet conditions. The Diamondback Recoil Full Suspension Mountain Bike is a fine example of a high quality mountain bike that incorporates dual disk brakes. Shifters: Mountain bikes use two different types of shifters, the Gripfit and the Rapidfire shifters. The Rapidfire shifters are located under the brake lever and Gripfit shifters are incorporated into the handlebars that work similar to a motorcycle. It does come down to a matter of preference but the better riders seem to refer the Rapidfire shifters over the Gripfit shifters. Tires: It is important to have the larger knobby tires if you are going to be spending most of your time off road. You will get better traction and more control on the uneven terrain. If you are using the mountain bike for mainly street use then you can get away with the smaller knobs for less resistance on the flatter paved surfaces. If you are going to use the mountain bike for off road and on road then look for a tire with a ridge in the middle and medium sized knobs on the side of the tire. Fit To get the best mountain bike that suits you well it is important to get the right size bike. A good starting point would be to have a three inch clearance above the top frame tube while you are straddling the bike. It does matter what terrain you will be ridding on. If you are going to be riding a bit more aggressively you can increase this to four to six inches of clearance to allow for ease of operation over very uneven surfaces. As you are sitting on the bike and your feet on the pedals try and maintain a 30 degree angle with the leg at the bottom of the apex. Generally speaking 30 degrees of knee bend is a good place to start. That's the basics you need to know before buying the best mountain bike for yourself. Choose wisely when starting out and you can expect to get many miles out of your mountain bike. If you are looking to buy a durable mountain bike that meets the strictest standards of many advanced riders than you have to checkout the Iron Horse Warrior Mountain Bike
I have been a riding enthusiast for many years and I have a very good understanding about many different types of bikes. When I ride on the road I ride a quality road bike. When I want to take it off road I ride a quality mountain bike. There are several mountain bikes I can recommend. One of them is the
Diamond Response Sport Mountain Bike.
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When you are ready to purchase a mountain bike, if you are like most mountain bikers, you start reading mountain bike reviews. You may have found, however, that not all mountain bike reviews are accurate - or even honest! The fact of the matter is that some dealers and even manufacturers actually pay people to write good reviews - of bikes that the reviewer has never even had the opportunity to ride!
There are countless sites that carry reviews of various mountain bikes. Some of the sites are very dependable and others simply cannot be counted on. It's hard for the average mountain biker to know who to believe - beginner bikers who have yet to make their first mountain bike purchase don't stand a chance!
If you are looking for reviews, stick to the sites and publications that can be counted on for accurate and valuable information. Most print publications have accurate reviews. When reading one of these reviews, it is important to look on the edges of the page for very tiny print that says ‘advertisement.' If you see that, you can be sure that this is not a real review you are reading. It is an advertisement disguised as a review. Its purpose is to get you to buy the bike - not to point out both the pros and the cons! Move on!
When looking for reviews online, stick to the better known online magazines such as Singletrack, GearHead, Mountain Bike Review, and Mountain Bike. These are the online magazines that will give you the most accurate information in terms of reviews. You will also find the latest mountain biking news, as well as quite a bit of information on races and trails. These four websites are vitally important to serious bikers.
Of course the best reviews are the ones that you get from other bikers, in person. When you see a mountain biker on the trail riding a bike that you are interested in, take the time to talk to them. Tell them that you are planning to purchase that particular bike, and ask them what they like about it, and what they don't like. Find groups of mountain bikers in the parks, and try to talk to them when they are taking a break. This way, you won't be interfering with their ride, and you can get several different ‘in person' reviews.
Ask as many questions as you possibly can - but try not to keep irritate them by keeping them from enjoying their ride. After speaking with them - or before - sit back and watch them ride. You aren't watching their technique - although that may be interesting - what you want to watch for is how well the bike handles. Seeing the bike in action is the second best review that you can possibly have - the first best review you can get is your very own review!
As your interest in a particular bike grows, you will want to try one out for yourself. You can test ride bikes that are for sale in bike shops, but you can't really put them through the motions well enough in a ‘test ride' situation to learn what you need to know. Your best option is to test ride a friend's bike. Take it out for a day, and see what it can do in relation to what you can do with it. Give it a great workout, and by the end of the day, you will know enough about the bike to write your very own review.
Do your part in the mountain biking community by contributing your own reviews to the websites that allow consumers to submit mountain bike reviews. Be clear in your writing, and honest in your opinions. Make sure that you have your facts straight, and be sure that you distinguish between opinion and fact! You will be doing many other mountain bikers a huge favor by submitting your honest - and accurate - mountain bike review!