Beginner Mountain Bike Buying Guide

Trying to figure out the best mountain bike in the market before buying one? If you are a beginner biker, then it will be hard for you to figure it out. But no worries because I’m here to help you. This buying guide will tell you everything about to choose the best mountain bike according to your riding style and requirements. So let’s start and don’t forget to read Diamondback Sorrento review after reading this buying guide.

Facts to consider while choosing a mountain bike

Bike Style: Bike style varies upon riding style. So your first consideration should be where you are and how you ride.

Fit: Make sure that your bike fits you perfectly so you can ride it comfortably.

Key features: Consider the suspension, wheel size, brakes, and frame materials according to your requirements.

Bike Styles

Trail Bikes: These are the most common and most used bike styles as they aren’t categorized in any particular type of racing. If you are interested cruising around the local trailhead and riding a mix of climbs and descents, then trail bikes would be the right choice for you.

Cross country bikes: If you are a daredevil cross-country biker who likes to climbimpassable prowess with high speed, then nothing is better for you than a cross country bike.

Also read: Top Mountain Bike Brand Reviews

Fat Bikes: Includes oversize tires from 3.7-5+ inch. Fat bikes provide excellent traction in sand or snow. Perfect for beginner bikers because these bikes will give you extra support on a rough terrain.

All mountain bikes: If you like to do a bit of everything then you can choose an all-mountain bike. These bikes have higher suspension than previous three bikes and suitable for riding and climbing on both easy trails and challenging prowess.

Downhill/Park bikes: These bikes are for insane mountain bikers who loves to bomb the hills with super speed. Downhill biking is the craziest form of mountain biking, so downhill bikes have the maximum suspension to offer perfect control even on the roughest terrains.

Suspension types

Rigid: Actually “rigid” mountain bikes don’t feature any suspension. They are less expensive and easy to maintain. But these bikes aren’t recommended if you need better control. Most fat bikes are rigid, but the fat tires are good enough to absorb the shocks and bumps on the trail.

Hardtail: These bikes have a suspension fork in the front to absorb bumps on the front wheel. Hardtail bikes are less expensive than full suspension bikes and easy to maintain. Perfect for all types of riding except serious downhill biking.

Full suspension: If you are an absolute beginner or a serious downhill biker, then you are recommended to buy a bike with full suspension. These bikes have suspension fork in both front and rear to absorb bumps on both front and rear wheel. Full suspension bikes provide reduced impact and increased traction to offer more enjoyable biking experience. Besides, most full suspension bikes have the feature to lockout the rear suspension to get more efficiency and better power transfer while climbing uphill.

Wheel size

27.5-inch wheels are perfect for average skilled mountain bikers, and they provide perfect acceleration and medium traction.

If you are a beginner or irregular mountain biker, then you can choose 29” wheels. These wheels have less acceleration but provide better traction rather than the 26-27.5 inch wheels.

The basic is – If you are a skilled rider and need better acceleration, then you can choose 26-27.5 inch wheels. And if you are a beginner or irregular biker who needs better suspension, then you can choose 29-inch wheels.

Gears

If climbing is challenging to you and if you usually ride steep heels, then you will need more gears depending on your skills, strength, and riding styles.

If you are a strong biker or if you ride flat terrains only, you can go with fewer gears to keep your bike light.

Brakes

If budget is not any problem for you, I will recommend you to choose disk brakes to get better control on your bike. Otherwise, you can go with rim brakes.

Ending note

You’ve read the common and important facts for choosing a mountain bike. Now you have earned a better idea about mountain bikes, and you can choose the best mountain bikes based on your requirements and riding style. But, you can take help from expert bikers if you are still in hesitation.