Choosing a Mountain Bike

  Choosing the correct bike

Best Mountain Bike, the question that a lot of people ask. Finding the correct mountain bike is not always that easy as it depends on various factors, and the question will also almost always be answered with a biased or subjective opinion.

Lets try to leave the biased opinion out of the equation for the moment and look at other criteria.

The phrase Best Mountain Bikes is a relative term as there are many factors that determine what is best. We can break this down into two main determining factors. The first factor is the purpose, is it just for fun, cross country or endurance.

The second factor is budget, how much money do I have to spend on a bike. So the question can be what is the best mountain bike for the budget I have available and the purpose of my activity.

If we break this down into the type of riding and we start with the fun or social riding the deciding factor in this category will be comparing components on the various bikes. Try to buy the bike that offers the highest spec components for the comparative price. In other words if two bikes cost the same take the one with the better components.

For cross country or serious racing frame size and geometry starts playing a roll. It is important to get a frame that fits perfect when you start serious racing. You might find that a certain manufacturers frame is a better fit that another. Budget here start playing a roll as you need to get the best Mountain bike with the best fitting frame. There is nothing worse than being in a race with an inferior bike with an ill fitting frame, this will tire you as well as cause tension injuries.

The last category is endurance. The previous category also applies to this one with the emphasis even more on quality. Endurance racing takes a lot out of a bike as well as the owner. So in this category buy the bike with the best quality parts your budget allows. Here brakes and other parts make a big difference as they will be tested over a longer period, so make sure you look for thing like disk brakes and suspension when making your decision.

As can be seen by all these factors determining what is the best mountain bike isn't always easy, but the golden rule is, get the best components with the budget you have available.