How To Choose A Decent Mountain Bike For A Reasonable Price

Year by year every spring all mountain bike forums are being flooded with typical topics. People are trying to find answers to a very common question: how to choose a mountain bike that would be of enough quality but not very expensive. Asking questions about choosing between two different bikes for a same price is also incredibly popular. Here in this article we will try to formulate basic principles of choosing that should help the beginners to buy their first inexpensive but reliable mountain bike.

First problem every beginner has to deal with is an enormous amount of manufacturers, components, frame materials and other various aspects. It is a real headache to choose between the bikes of the same type which has similar prices. People look at this and start asking questions: the first one has better fork, but the second one has better rear derailleur and tyres, which one should I choose? And here comes another “but”: the frame of the first one is made of 6061 alloy, while the second one has 7005 alloy frame. And on and on it goes, a billion of questions and almost impossible to get answers.

The only way to find answers to your questions and stay in your mind is to accept as a fact that bicycles of the same type for a same price in the same shop are equal indeed. They both have some parts that are worse than another’s, but it doesn’t matter in general. Whichever you choose, you won’t ride faster and you won’t have to repair it less often.

Therefore the most important choice factors are the bike’s color (all jokes aside, it is really important – who would love to ride an ugly bike?) and the sizing. Sizing is a factor of an extreme importance: frame of an inappropriate size can be a torment. Every manufacturer has its own geometry parameters, and sizing in letters (S/M/L) or inches (15”/17”19”) is very very approximate. You must always check the effective horizontal top tube length of the bike you are going to buy – it is usually available on a manufacturer’s website. You can also ask this question online or call a manufacturer’s answering service.

It is important to remember, though, that we are talking about bikes of the same type. $1000 cross-country bike and $1000 dirt-jumping bike are absolutely different. But all $1000 mass-market cross-country bikes are pretty much like twins – you won’t notice many differences, if any.

It is also correct only for a certain price range – I’d say $500-$3000. High-end bikes may have slight differences that are unapparent for a beginner but important for advanced riders. But for those who buy such bikes there’s no need to get answers – they know what they want and why.