Forum

Hey all,

Last Saturday I did the Mountain Bike taster course at the Olympic site. It was the first time I've ridden a bike in something like 7 years, and I sucked - but I loved it.

I want to start riding to improve but don't understand all the different Mountain Bikes in terms of wheel size and suspension. I'm close to Epping Forest so that would be my main port of call at first. Long term I'd love to get racing and go exploring abroad.

If that helps narrow it down at all then any advice on what type of bike I should get would be greatly appreciated.

There's a bike scheme thing at work so price-wise I think I can get assistance

What it sounds like you need is a sub £1k (cycle scheme) 29er HT
Good for epping, Good for racing, it will just depend what your planning to do abroad?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cha ... e-ec053628

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/nor ... e-ec053896 _ this one has a much better fork.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bmc ... e-ec043677 _ good value sale bike

its a very personal thing, i wouldnt touch a 29'r for love nor money, i struggle with a 26" wheel beneath me !!

a quick run down and a few questions may help you make a more informed decision:

26" wheel - the standard for a long time and used for every type of riding bar none
27.5" or called 650b they're the same thing, just bigger than 26" obviously - the bike industry are pitching these at people that ride enthusiastically up and down mountains and they are slowly replacing 26"
29" or 29er This again relates to the over all size (without the tire) and these are aimed a bit more at people that ride longer distances off road.

People seem to bang on about how larger wheels roll faster, this is true to a degree as they change the gear ratios, but ultimately its down to how much effort you put in to getting rolling that counts, one full revolution of a larger wheel will carry you further than that of a smaller wheel, common sense really ! but its measured in inches so dont worry too much about it.

You need to think about where you'll end up riding for the most fun:
If crunching up the miles is your thing you want to look for a lightweight cross country (XC) bike possibly with 29" wheels?

If you want to crunch out a fair few miles but also want to enjoy throwing yourself down mountains / large hills and hitting some jumps / obstacles on the way perhaps 27.5 is for you?

If you want to ride really technical hard to access scary as hell mountains and jump off everything possible then maybe 26" is the way to go ?

bear in mind you can ride any bike anywhere if you put the effort in, some bikes perform better in different situations, if you want a 'do it all' bike the type of bike to look for is either called "Enduro" or "all Mountain" again its industry jargon

types of bike include:

Downhill
Cross Country (XC)
Enduro
All mountain
cyclocross
and finally - bike shaped objects (BSO - cheap and nasty)

Suspension on bikes has changed a lot over the years and full suspension bikes are no longer inefficient, plus they give you option of fine tuning a bike to the terrain you are riding, on a flat road suspension is useless, flying down a mountain its not essential, but it comes in handy, jumping off stuff it allows for a margin of error and comfort !

so my advice would be think about where you want to be... then buy a bike you really like the look and feel of !

Maybe consider the second hand, (nearly new) market as well.
The tax advantage for the cyclescheme probably works out best if you are a 40% tax payer though.
Don't forget to budget for the fashion clothing and upgrades too.

Have a flick through some bike mags perhaps, many have good features on all the different types of bikes, etc or various web reviews.

Generally speaking bikes range from small travel hard tails for general riding/XC through to full on downhill monsters.

As the bikes move from XC to DH, they tend get heavier, stronger, more travel and the fork angle gets less (so they look more 'chopper' like).

So you will fall (not literally we hope) someone along that spectrum and buy a bike to suit, mine for example, Commencal Freeride (http://www.imbikemag.com/issue25/?t=Com ... st&page=91.) would fall towards the DH end but still its rideable on local trials/woods, etc

As you no doubt found out, the Hadleigh track is a bit more exteme than your standard flat XC course, as it has lots of rock, drops that do require a reasonable amount of travel.

Not forgetting your budget, like most of us here you may end up getting more into biking and giving your wallet a bashing, there are loads of bikes around cheap, last years models, etc (I got £1000 off my frame as it wasnt the latest model), and second hand on ebay, pinkbike, etc

Good post Jon!!

Cheers for all your advice guys!



I was inspired by the pics in Red Bulletin mag of moutain bikers in mountain areas, and this vid on your site:
http://www.essexhertsmtb.co.uk/video.ph ... te=youtube

After reading through your tips and pointers I'll probably aim for a bike that falls a bit towards the DH side, but I'll still want to ride in Epping at first so those XC capabilities are a must. Maybe a 27.5. But like you say unityjon most of the bikes will probably suit (until I specialise later).

So a 2nd hand bike may well be a good choice for now!

I'll go to some shops and try the various types out. The guy at the Cycle Surgery shop on the Olympic site told me they need to order stuff in anyway, so I can tell them what I want to try out and they'll get them in for me!

Right, in that case my initial post would be wide of the mark.
Megga would require a more all mountain beast, lenty of good bargains under a grand on ebay.

50% off .... I am liking those numbers.
Anyone any experience of SUNN bikes ?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sunn ... prod115614
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sunn ... prod115624

The first one is a lot of bike for the money, never seen one, but Sunn used to be very big back in the day (correct me if i'm wrong here) but were well into DH stuff?
The second one looks good value for you XC type stuff but wouldnt handle the more gnarley stuff too well.

CRC are generally good for most stuff but slightly less so for frame/full bikes..but they still often have great offers, buying direct can result in great offers, Ive had good offers direct from Commencal in Andora and YT do unbelievable well specced bikes direct, full on DH rigs for under 2K !

Most mega riders would no doubt be on a AM/Enduro/DH bike, prob single forks with 160-170 travel, many prob 27.5"..but as they are newer there is less choice and certainly less 2nd hand stuff, youll only find a hanmdfull of 2nd hand 27.5 forks on ebay/pink bike for example.

I've one of these for sale;

It's a 2012 Kona Tanuki Supreme. I think it's a large (I'm 5'11" and it's good). Here's a link to mbr for the bike: http://www.mbr.co.uk/news/tested-kona-tanuki-deluxe-1900/

It's done about 50 miles XC and not seen an angry hill. I'm looking for £750 ovno.

Am in Ockendon and happy for you to come and kick the tyres.