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Buying A New Bicycle |
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 Bicycle shops to day are
modern state of the art places selling gleaming top lined
products made from fancy materials you may not of heard about
like carbon-fibre, titanium, and special blends of aluminium.
Gone are the days when bicycles were made from steel and one
size suited all and the choice of bicycles were Raleigh.
It's an obvious
question, but sometimes over looked. Mountain bikes are now
very technical bits of kit, so choosing the right one for your
type of riding is the most important decision you'll make, so
don't waste money on the wrong machine that is up to you. We
at Bicyclemania recommend you try and spend at least £450 on a
bike if you what to go off/road, spending less could mean your
new bike spends most of it's time in the workshop or worse
busted. Try not to go for the adverts offering bicycle for
£49.99 why ..! because at that price it will not last 5
minutes off road & less time if you try jumping. |
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~ 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 offer you
Hardtails & full suspension with suspension travel from 80mm
to 125mm. |
~ 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 |
~ Cross Country Riding
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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. |
~ 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. |
~ 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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Important
Stuff.
No part of
this web site will be reproduced for any
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site. All items mention and featured in this
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capitalized.
Bicyclemania
Cannot
attest to the accuracy of this information.
Use of a term in this web site should not be
regarded as affecting the validity of any
trademarks or service mark. Every effort has
been made to make this World wide web site as
complete and as accurate as possible. But no
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information provided is on an "as is" basis.
The author and publisher shall have neither
liability nor responsibility to any person or
entity with respect to any loss or damages
arising from the information contained in this
web site. |
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