Mountain Bikes

Now that you took the effort to make it down here, we’ll do our best to make it worthwhile.

Here’s a brief rundown on what to look for:

GEARS

First, get the most amount of gears you can afford.

More gears on the back = better quality components.

Example:

7-speed mountain bikes use good-quality entry-level gearing parts.

8-speed bikes use mid-range components.

9-speed is upper-end recreational gearing components.

10 and 11-speed are affordable performance-level parts.

These will appeal to riders who want excellent components without spending huge dollars.

And you want something that can handle rugged terrain occasionally.

12-speed mountain bikes use performance parts. These are designed for riders who spend all of their riding time on rugged off-road terrain.

These components shift the smoothest under load.

BRAKES

There are 2 types of disc brakes; hydraulic (or hydro) and mechanical.

Mechanical brakes need a little more maintenance.

They have more stopper power than V-brakes (or rim brakes) but can’t match the power of hydraulics.

Hydraulic brakes are more set-and-forget.

With hydro brakes, a benefit to smaller riders is that we can adjust the brake levers without (significantly) affecting the braking power.

RECREATIONAL HARDTAILS

Buy a recreational hard-tail, if you’re riding bike paths, with mates, around suburbia and general fitness.

This includes these bikes:

• Giant Talon
• Haro Flightline Two
• Haro Double Peak Sport

PERFORMANCE HARDTAILS

These mountain bikes are for riders who are spending more time on rugged mountain bike trails.

These bikes have bigger, more powerful brakes. More suspension to absorb larger impacts.

And very different handling to a recreational mountain bike.

Handling that makes it easier to ride steep and technical trails.

Examples of these bikes are:

• Haro Double Peak Comp - Cherry Cola
• Diamondback Sync’R
• Giant Fathom

DUAL-SUSPENSION MOUNTAIN BIKES

We’re just going to cover the key points, because this could easily turn into a Pandora’s Box.

Keeping it simple:

You’ll hear the word “travel” - a lot.

Travel = amount of suspension (always measured in millimetres).

Full suspension bikes usually start off at 100mm of travel and end at 200mm.

This is THE single most important aspect of a dual-suspension mountain bike.

And, please:

More suspension does NOT mean better. It’s what you’re going to use the bike for.

Now we’re going to get you to speed with the different types of dual-suspension bikes:

CROSS-COUNTRY (XC) MOUNTAIN BIKES

These have anywhere between 100-120mm of suspension travel.

And these bikes are fast.

XC dual-suspension bikes will suit riders who value speed and holding momentum on smoother terrain, paired with high climbing efficiency.

Remember small travel = small impacts.

So if you’re unlikely to ride technical trails or massive features, these mountain bikes are ideal.

Examples:

• Giant Anthem
• Rocky Mountain Element

The Giant Anthem’s sit at a higher price range because these are made from carbon.

Canadian brand, Rocky Mountain starts their Element range off at the Alloy 10 model above.

TRAIL BIKES

Trail bikes are the Swiss army knife.

They have a dollop of everything; high-speed stability and calm handling, efficient to pedal and extremely forgiving when you make a mistake.

Think of them as an adventure mountain bike.

Suspension travel on these bikes range from 140mm to 160mm.

Some example in our range are:

• Giant Trance
• Rocky Mountain Instinct

ENDURO BIKES

Quite possibly the most popular type of dual-suspension mountain bike in recent years.

These bikes have 160-180mm of suspension travel.

They are often a progression bike too.

By that we mean:

Riders are already on a mountain bike and are now pushing limits of what their current bike can do.

They need more suspension (for larger impacts) and a bike with a calmer character to get through rougher sections of trail at much higher speeds.

Examples of Enduro bikes are:

• Rocky Mountain Altitude
• Giant Reign