Help choosing a mountain bike..

ferry

Basically I'm after my first mountain bike.I've found a good website to buy from but need to get it right first time as it'll be a right pain to send back!! Though will look locally too.

How do I know what size of bike to get?I'm 5' 10" if that helps.

I have a budget of around £200 and it'll be for riding into work and back which is about a 15m round trip...



Cheers for any help or recommendations...
T

Lord_Gardener

They usually work on inside leg measurements! Worth visiting somewhere like Halfords to get advice and to get yourself 'fitted' to a bike then compare their prices to someone like Sterling house:

http://www.sterlinghouse.co.uk/bikeindex.aspx.qmap/ad/categories/category/Mountain+Bikes/ptId/718

roswell

if your going to use every day dont go for full suspension you will be exhausted try get a solid back wheen and fount suspention or one that has a vertical rear shock otherwise you will use double the leg power to get anywhere.

misila

If you're looking for a bike to commute to work on you may well be better off looking for a touring bike which is essentially a solid frame with road tyres fitted. At the very least, if you do want a mountain bike, buy a set of road tyres (these will save you a lot of effort if you're doing 15 miles a day) and keep a set of off road tyres when you're going off road.

As regards the suspension, I'd agree with the previous comment: Front suspension is worthwhile, especially on long trips, but back suspension is only really worth it for trail or downhill riders.

Definitely try and get a bike fitting and do some demo rides - a bike that doesn't fit you well will reduce the efficiency of your pedalling and potentially make your back hurt. It may be better to go to a local cycle shop for this sort of fitting (no disrespect to Halfords, but cycle shop workers tend to be quite dedicated and knowledgeable).

I don't know too much about this, but it would definitely be worth finding out about the cycle 2 work scheme (http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=723 or evans' guidelines - http://www.evanscycles.com/ride2work.jsp?rw.cm=Google,PPC,cycle%20to%20work&gclid=CJzngoGhtYkCFSoMQgodWwUJtA"][URL="httphttp://www.evanscycles.com/ride2work.jsp?rw.cm=Google,PPC,cycle to work&gclid=CJzngoGhtYkCFSoMQgodWwUJtA://"][/URL][/URL]).
If your employer supports this, it should allow you to get a better bike for the same money, and pay for it through your pay cheque. Virtually every bike shop will give you a helping hand with this, as they stand to gain more money from the sale.

Hope this helps

misterthrifty

All of the above is good advice, particularly about considering a road hybrid or touring bike, it will make the ride much easier. Make sure it has mudguards, bags of some sort (for lights, waterproofs etc) and slick tyres. A bike for £200 will be falling apart within a year but either you will have the bug and want to buy something decent or it will already be left in the garage.

Merry cycling.

Mr T