How To Choose The Best Mountain Bike For Years Of Enjoyment
November 7th, 2010 | 
Author:
Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival
Image by tomkellyphoto
Thousands of mountain bike riders head down the main street of Hayward, WI at the start of the 2006 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, the world’s largest off-road bike race.
How To Choose The Best Mountain Bike
Buying a mountain bike can seem like a big decision but you can help yourself by getting educated about the important aspects of the bike. The following six areas should be thought about before you make your next mountain bike purchase.
Six Points:
1. Price
2. Frame
3. Brakes
4. Shifters
5. Tires
6. Fit
Price:
The best mountain bikes can cost thousands of dollars and can cost as little as several hundred dollars. The first place to start your search is to determine the price you are willing to pay. A good beginner mountain bike will cost between 400 and 800 dollars depending on where you buy it. To insure that you won’t be replacing your mountain bike in the near future don’t go the route of buying the Walmart specials. Many people make this very mistake when start out to buy a mountain bike. Rather than getting the inexpensive mountain bike in the beginning and replacing it within a year, you would have been better off with the higher priced mountain from the start. The Iron Horse Mountain Bike is a good example of a popular mountain bike at an affordable price.
Brakes:
Obviously the best mountain bikes have the best brakes. The decision you have to make is whether to use disk brakes or rim brakes. The cost of disk brakes are higher but the braking power is superior. Rim brakes offer a lighter, lower cost alternative but you will sacrifice some performance particularly in wet conditions. The Diamondback Recoil Full Suspension Mountain Bike is a fine example of a high quality mountain bike that incorporates dual disk brakes.
Shifters:
Mountain bikes use two different types of shifters, the Gripfit and the Rapidfire shifters. The Rapidfire shifters are located under the brake lever and Gripfit shifters are incorporated into the handlebars that work similar to a motorcycle. It does come down to a matter of preference but the better riders seem to refer the Rapidfire shifters over the Gripfit shifters.
Tires:
It is important to have the larger knobby tires if you are going to be spending most of your time off road. You will get better traction and more control on the uneven terrain. If you are using the mountain bike for mainly street use then you can get away with the smaller knobs for less resistance on the flatter paved surfaces. If you are going to use the mountain bike for off road and on road then look for a tire with a ridge in the middle and medium sized knobs on the side of the tire.
Fit
To get the best mountain bike that suits you well it is important to get the right size bike. A good starting point would be to have a three inch clearance above the top frame tube while you are straddling the bike. It does matter what terrain you will be ridding on. If you are going to be riding a bit more aggressively you can increase this to four to six inches of clearance to allow for ease of operation over very uneven surfaces. As you are sitting on the bike and your feet on the pedals try and maintain a 30 degree angle with the leg at the bottom of the apex. Generally speaking 30 degrees of knee bend is a good place to start.
That’s the basics you need to know before buying the best mountain bike for yourself. Choose wisely when starting out and you can expect to get many miles out of your mountain bike. If you are looking to buy a durable mountain bike that meets the strictest standards of many advanced riders than you have to checkout the Iron Horse Warrior Mountain Bike
I have been a riding enthusiast for many years and I have a very good understanding about many different types of bikes. When I ride on the road I ride a quality road bike. When I want to take it off road I ride a quality mountain bike. There are several mountain bikes I can recommend. One of them is the Diamond Response Sport Mountain Bike.
Here is all you need to know when choosing new mountain bike tires.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
Check out more mountain bikes at Amazon:
Schwalbe Super Moto HS 338 Slick Mountain Bike Tire (26×2.35, SpeedGrip Folding, Black Skin)
- Item Shape: Folding, Outstanding performance
- Extended durability
- Features carcass and SpeedGrip Compound
Schwalbe Super Moto EVO LST Bicycle Tires are built to offer extended durability and outstanding performance.Features carcass and SpeedGrip Compound.
List Price: $ 86.88
Price: $ 86.88
Michelin Country Rock Tire (Black, 26×1.75)
- Affordable hybrid, comfort and touring tires for 26″ wheels
- Great tire for a variety of riding conditions
Michelin Country Rock 26″ Tire
Rating: 
(out of 15 reviews)
List Price: $ 25.49
Price: $ 13.43
Related Mountain Bike Tires Articles
No related posts.
Tags: Best, bike, bike purchase, chequamegon fat tire festival, Choose, Diamondback, disk brakes, dual disk, Enjoyment, full suspension, horse mountain, iron horse, mountain, mountain bike riders, mountain bikes, rim brakes, road bike race, shifters, walmart, Years
Posted in 
Tags: 5 Responses to “How To Choose The Best Mountain Bike For Years Of Enjoyment”
Review by Christopher Kohler for Michelin Country Rock Tire (Black, 26×1.75)
Rating:
It’s been a few months since I threw these on both my bike and my wife’s. So far we’ve had no flats, and that includes a lot of curb-hopping, and riding on everything from gravel to urban streets to lawns (shhh, don’t tell).
If the majority of your riding is on the asphalt and concrete these tires are a terrific way to improve your rolling resistance. They’re a breeze on packed dirt, too. I also find them aesthetically pleasing; the tread looks nicer than some of the more expensive tires, and the logo treatment on the side walls is tasteful and timeless.
Just one word of warning; I read a review somewhere before purchasing these that they out rode some knobbies in gravel. I find this highly unlikely. My first week or so on these I came tearing into some gravel at a little bit of an angle and woah, boy, did that get my heart rate up.
Also, I can only give the tires four stars because, while I haven’t had any flats, they offer no flat protection.
Overall this is a great, cheap way for you to speed up a mountain bike, and stave off those urges you get every time you stroll by that road cycle in the bike shop.
Don’t think I didn’t see you.
Review by Oscar Garcia for Michelin Country Rock Tire (Black, 26×1.75)
Rating:
I like the Country Rock tires because they are a more comfortable alternative to stock MTB knobby tires. They roll smoother and quieter than knobbies, and are marvelous on limestone rail trails. The only downside is that they have no integrated flat protection system, and the tread design tends to attract and hold on to shards of glass and miscellaneous tube-puncturing road debris. For me, that yielded three flats in a very short amount of time. If one were to utilize either Slime tubes or tire liners with the Country Rocks, you’d probably go for a long time without a flat.
Aside from the vulnerability to flats, I rode the Country Rocks on the first day of RAGBRAI 2008 (59 miles) without incident, and on a separate occasion, pedaled five miles on a flat Country Rock after the front tube was punctured by a sharp object on a limestone rail trail and I forgot an extra tube. The flat “rock” survived and never separated from the rim, but I replaced it with another “rock” because the sidewall had been compromised.
Even though I have enjoyed the Country Rocks, my impulsive buying component compelled me to dismount them in favor of two new Continental “Top Contact” tires (26×1.95). The Contis feature a Vectran flat protection system, and they have a more road-friendly tread than the Country Rocks. Their downside is that they cost more than the Country Rocks and they have a reflective sidewall that takes away from an otherwise cool-looking tire, but they roll virtually silent. I will review them on their sales page as soon as I have had enough mileage to make a comment.
Review by spentonbargains for Michelin Country Rock Tire (Black, 26×1.75)
Rating:
I bought one of these tires as a replacement, and fell in
love with it – bought 3 more… the center tread rides
smooth, yet has some tread, and the lateral tread
widens out for rough terrain. I put tire liners and
presta valve tubes in, and its a great combination.
March 31, 2007… maybe not a five star…the tube started
bulging out the weak sidewall…then a blowout…replaced the
tube, now the same thing at 35 lbs. so I re-tucked in the
tire into the rim…will see what happens. Weak or “too flexible”
sidewalls?
Review by steve_oakland for Michelin Country Rock Tire (Black, 26×1.75)
Rating:
I put these tires on my old mountain bike to turn it into a street/pavement worthy commuting bike. These are much better for street riding than knobby mud tires. The tires are very quiet and the rolling resistance is much less than mud tires. The minimal tread on these tires is great for gravelled pavement and asphalt on worn city streets. I haven’t tried these tires on hardpack trail, but I imagine they would suffice.
Note added 5/3/2010:
I’ve been purchasing these every couple years as replacements when the previous set wears out. These aren’t the longest-lasting tires, nor do they offer flat protection, but the price is right and the quality is good.
Review by Thomas L. Prentice for Michelin Country Rock Tire (Black, 26×1.75)
Rating:
These tires reminde me of the stock tires that came on enduro type motorcycles of the 70’s wich were known to be not as good on the street as street tires and not as good off road as dirt tires.
They are light and they do seem to roll pretty good on the street, the tread will instantly fill with mud in the soft stuff. I bought these to replace a set of stock chen shin tires on a 93 mongoose alta that came with aggressive tread and 2.10 width.
I was expecting a huge differance, It didnt happen! Turned out the mongoose tires were also very light with low rolling resistance and were more capable of off roading.
The country rock tires are a good tire and they look more expensive then they are,but dont expect miracles from them.