Little advice needed.

[Ashley123]

Just recently moved to Canada 5weeks ago, Me and the family took a trip up to Silverstar mountain, we new that they did mountain biking as my dads friend does it there. Before we knew we had bitten the bullet and we were in the process of getting fitted up for bikes. It was the first time for all of us and to cut a long story short we all loved it and 4 bikes 4 helmets and some safety gear were added to our shopping list. Neway i don't want to bore you with the typical what bike should i get etc or my life story so ill cut it short.

We have been reccomended several shops in the Kelowna area to look in and as far as i can see many people reccomend not spending alot on your first bike. So what we were looking at is maybe around $500 for each bike, does this sound suitable? DO you reccomend buying bikes with Disc brakes?

Also would you reccomend getting a bike which the tires have some decent width to them..? or is this not to important.

Last but not least would you reccomend front and rear sus. or just front?

sorry again about the essay,

Thanks in advance for any help.
Ashley

(i hope you can make sense of my questions)

[LordOpie]

Yes, smart for not spending a lot on your first bikes.

hard-tail (front suspension) since a sub-$500 mtb that's full-suspension is probably a piece of crap.

Any mt. bike will have wide enough tires, so no worries there.

Disc brakes are good, but really, standard rim brakes on any new bike will be more than sufficient.

I recommend finding a quality bike shop near your house. A shop that will educate y'all (maybe teach you how to change a flat tire), fit the bike, give a free tune-up or two.

after y'all ride a year or two, you might decide you each like different types of bike riding, so that's when you spend more money :)

Have fun!

[ultraNoob]

LordOpie is absolutely correct! All I have to add is, accept the fact that you may crash. Crashing is part of learning. :thumb:

Have fun out there and Welcome to Ride Monkey!

[Ashley123]

Thank You very much for all the help :) I shall hopefully be visiting/finding a shop within the next month or so, so i can use the information you have given me :)

Had a small crash when i went, well i took a jump landed then tried to slow myself but just slid sideways across the ground instead, haha, so not a bad one but like you say all part of the learning.

Thanks again

Ashley.

[Streamline]

I would also like to throw in the importance of a good set of sunglasses. There are a lot of cheaper options out there with multiple lenses. People focus a good deal on getting a helmet, as they should in my opinion, but keeping bugs and sticks out of you eyeballs is very important as well.
Also you should look into hydration systems.
I personally started on a hard tail and I think there will alway be a place for it in my rides but I got the bug and now I am building up a full suspension (shock in front and back) so I can take it to another level.

[mtnbiker7]

I would also like to throw in the importance of a good set of sunglasses. There are a lot of cheaper options out there with multiple lenses. People focus a good deal on getting a helmet, as they should in my opinion, but keeping bugs and sticks out of you eyeballs is very important as well.
Also you should look into hydration systems.
I personally started on a hard tail and I think there will alway be a place for it in my rides but I got the bug and now I am building up a full suspension (shock in front and back) so I can take it to another level.

Streamline is right, but get googles they work much better.

[micahb]

I would also like to throw in the importance of a good set of sunglasses. There are a lot of cheaper options out there with multiple lenses. People focus a good deal on getting a helmet, as they should in my opinion, but keeping bugs and sticks out of you eyeballs is very important as well.

The one time I left my glasses in the car, I took a stick in the eye going downhill. A 3mm x 5mm abrasion on the eyeball is not a good time. Always wear them.

[ultraNoob]

3mm x 5mm is more like a dent than an abrasion

[chappers66]

yeah deffinatly get some glasses or googles .
because thats all that you want when your flying down a hill and come off your bike because of dirt or insects flying into your eye

good luck

[miatagal96]

Since disc brakes cost more than rim brakes, you can usually get better components for your $ if you go for rim brakes. My first MTB was a 2004 Kona Blast (front suspension only--it retailed for about $650) and it came with rim brakes. I've changed a bunch of things on the bike over the years, but not the brakes. Unless you're going super fast or are doing a lot of downhills, rim brakes are fine. I ride this bike in the snow and mud and have only had one ride (since 2004) where the snow conditions made the brakes not work.

Once I proved to myself that I biked enough to get a second mountain bike (one year later), I bought a Jamis Dakar Comp (dual suspension). I rode it a lot and love that bike, but now I find myself riding the Kona more and more. If I've got a lot of climbing, I take the Kona (even if it's got a lot of technical rock gardens) because I can climb more efficiently on it. Now that I have more skills, I find that I don't need the suspension as much as I used to. Also, a hard-tail makes a great back-up bike. I do find that my lower back tires faster on the hard-tail.

Sorry for my essay. Everyone is different. At first, I felt like I made a mistake not going for a dual suspension at first, but now I'm really glad I have both bikes.

One thing I would recommend if you start biking on tough trails or get clipless pedals (I fell a lot while getting used to them) is knee pads. It can really hurt when you hit your frame or the ground with your knee. I use flexible Nike Skinny knee pads. The key is comfort. They really saved my knee a couple of weeks ago. I had quite a bruise with the knee pads. It would have been very bad without.

Good luck with the biking.

[MarinR00]

I would say it is hard for anyone to tell you what you should get, its all personnel preference. My first bike was a $350, 45-pound HM Chinchilla or something like that. I think it is important not to spend too much money, just in case you don’t like the sport. Well I quickly fell in love with it and now am an addict. I recently bought a $1400 Specialized FSRxc Comp. What a GREAT bike. Anyway, start off small, you can always upgrade!!

Also, if you are still looking for bikes, I know Specialized has a whole women’s department, so if you are looking gender specific I’d go there. Just look for the “Designs for Women” symbol. A Women’s Hardrock Sport costs $390. If you want a little bit higher end, the Women’s Rockhopper for $520 is a great deal too. I am firmly in the Specialized camp. Take a look:

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?sid=07D4WMTB

For little kids, Kona has some great bikes too.

For front or rear suspension, front suspension is a must. However, I was always advised not to get a full suspension bike for under $900-$1000. They are more complicated and unless they are quality components you will be very frustrated with the performance and have to get it fixed a lot.

Hope these helps. If you have anymore questions, this is teh palce to go!!

See you on the trails.