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Pick the
right frame size |
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Buying
second-hand |
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WHICH ONE, THAT'S THE
BIG QUESTION?. |
~ Trail Riding ~
All about riding on a variety of
terrains, and guess what? it'll be what you will mostly be
riding on. The mountain bike market offers you Hardtails & full
suspension with suspension travel from 80mm to 125mm plus. |
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~ Free Riding ~
All about riding steep descents,
wooden frame structures, jumps and cliff edge drop-offs.
Mountain bikes for this generally feature big & heavy full
suspension frames with at least 150mm (6") of travel to adsorb
the heavy impacts. They are getting lighter every year example >
Cannondale Prophet / Rush models. |
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~ Cross Country Riding ~
All about light weight and
efficiency, it used to be dominated by hardtail mountain bikes
but now the manufactures have designed light-weight full
suspension bike. The nature of the full suspension X/C bike
means loads of money because of the components and materials
used. |
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~ Downhill Riding ~
All about socking up the big hits
at warp speed. A downhill mountain bike is in essence a freeride
bike but quite a few pounds heavier, downhill bikes will have
full suspension travel of about 200mm and cost a kings ransom
too. |
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~ Dirt Jumping Riding ~
All about jumping, street riding &
skate parks, Dirt bikes are overgrown BMX's with small tough
hardtail frames with few gears and usually a short travel
suspension fork. |
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Always go for the mountain bike
with the best frame your money can buy. So much of the bikes
life is in the frame and that is transmitted to the ride. Heavy
or low quality frames will feel dull and uninspiring to ride.
Go shopping with cash for discounts and extras and remember to
haggle, never pay the price on tag if you can help it.
Make sure the bike you choose is right, take it for a test ride
& get the shop to change the odd things, you may have to pay the
extras but it will save money in the long run.
If your bike is quipped with air sprung systems you'll need an
air pump, unless it's supplied with one. Do get the shop to show
you how to operate the pump and set the air setting for your
weight.
Some parts on mountain bikes are down-graded, usually the bits
like hubs, bottom brackets, headsets & front mech's so check to
see what you are getting.
Go bargain hunting around October/November its usually the time
of year when the bike manufactures are launching the new models.
But do be weary of old stock models, they may be selling off
cheap, it could be an issue later on finding spares.
Try to go to the mountain bike shop in the week when you can get
the sole attention of the assistant to help you with any
questions you have. Also chances are there will be no muppets
putting you off. |
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