Setting out to purchase a mountain bike can not only be time consuming but can be frustrating at times as well. This article will lay out a few things you should consider before pulling out your wallet to buy a mountain bike.

The amount of money that you can spend for these mountain bikes can quickly deplete your savings if you are not careful. To help keep you from going overboard in your spending, you should determine beforehand what kind of cash you will be willing to part with for one of these things. Keeping that in mind, it is advisable to avoid purchasing your new mountain bike from one of the mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart or K-Mart and instead begin your search at the your local bike shops. This will not only insure you get better service but you will be getting a better mountain bike as well.

All mountain bikes are designed with several different riding styles and terrain types in mind. You’ll need to figure out what type of riding you will be doing the most. Smooth riding, cross country racing, mountain cruising, or lift accessed downhill is something you need to figure out. Make sure that the bike you select fits your personal style and not that of the sale’s staff.  Read more...

You will find the cost of a mountain bike frame to be in direct proportion to the a) material used in the construction and the b) treatment that material has received. As you begin your research for a mountain bike frame you will soon learn there are five types of materials used in the construction – a) high tensile steel, b) chromoly steel, c) aluminum, d) titanium, and e) carbon fiber. In addition, tubing material treatments adding to the increased cost of a frame are a) oversized diameters, b) heat treating, and c) butting.

In the lower priced mountain bikes, you will find a very durable alloy known as high tensile steel. Having a large carbon content, it is less stiff than chromoly steel so more material is needed to to make this frame stiff enough for bike frames. This makes the bike relatively heavy.

Relatively inexpensive to produce, you’ll find high tensile steel in trail bikes, city bikes, and even entry level mountain bikes. There are some bikes that come with a chromoly seat tube, while the rest is high tensile steel.  Read more...