What's a good mountain bike for an athletic guy, but beginner rider?

Question

I'm looking to buy a mountain bike. How much should I spend? Do I need dual shock? Any good brand like Specialized? Trek? K2?

Answer 1

Fit is the absolute most important characteristic of any bike, road or mountain. Find a bike shop that will spend the time, and has the skills, to fit you correctly. Stay away from the salesman that just wants you to buy whatever is in stock and on sale. Try some bikes that are too big, and too small, just so that you know what "right" feels like. Different manufacturers have different ratios of seat height (from the pedals to the seat) to top tube length (from the seat to the handlebars), so keep looking if you can't reach the handlebars when the seat height is right. Changing the stem is not the right solution!

One thing that I had to change on my first bike was the handlebar width. If it's too narrow then you'll find that you can't breath as easily.

All the brands you listed are fine. I ended up buying a Giant just because the fit was so right for me, but that's just me. Plan on spending $500 for a decent bike. You can certainly spend more if you just need to, but at this point the technology has trickled down.

Buy a second pair of wheels if you don't have a road bike, and put slick tires on them for riding to the store.

Answer 2

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RE:
What's a good mountain bike for an athletic guy, but beginner rider?
I'm looking to buy a mountain bike. How much should I spend? Do I need dual shock? Any good brand like Specialized? Trek? K2?

Answer 3

What you pay the money for is the the quality of components, but primarily the frame. Look for a good frame and resonable shocks first. The rest can be replaced as they wear out later, although I would recommend branded components like SRAM or Shimano.

A good quality frame will have been produced in such a way to maximize strength and limiting weight, using good quality metal. Although steel is OK, I would look at aluminium, perhaps 6000, or 7000 series, hydroformed/heat treated would be good.

You are new to mountain biking. Most of the magazines will tell you that you want to spend at least £500 on a good entry level machine, but if you are new I would perhaps look at a good bike that you can upgrade. The Giant Rock SE isn't bad for this. Resonable frame, Altus gears etc. The finishing Kit is not as good as on the more expensive models, but this is a good machine to cut your teath on. This comes at about £350. Specialized also do a reasonable machine within this price range. The frame is not bad. and it is a good all round machine. Another good machine would be the Cape Wrath. This come with Deore for around £400.

I would also recommend that you buy last years model. Look around the net, but you can usually get a reasonable deal on the top names if you are prepared to buy an older machine. You may also like to look on e-bay.

Luck

Answer 4

It all depends on if you want to ride a lot of technical trails, good steep climbs. If you want to ride XC, trek FuelX. If you want ride downhill I would choose the Kona Stinky Dee-Lux. The bikes I have provided are mid range price 1 - 2 grand. If you can't afford a bike at that price, try looking for some used bikes. Your first bike is never gonna be the BEST. Just get a decent bike, and ride! Choose your style, than start making changes.

Answer 5

I have a cannonade f5, I put over 200 miles on it in the first two weeks of having it. I would definitely suggest it to anyone. It was an upgrade from the cheap Fuji Nevada that I had before. Spend just a little extra to get what you want. Always test ride first!!! I payed $580 for the f5 and rode everything $1000 and under, it was the perfect fit for me.

Answer 6

Novara Float 1.0
K2 Attack 1.0 or 2.0
Kona's and Gary Fischer's tend to run a little bit on the expensive side