Five Essential Tips for Buying the Right Used Mountain Bike

When you are starting out in a new sport such as mountain biking it can be overwhelming at first due to the shere number of different mountain bikes available. My top five tips below will help you to narrow down the choices available and buy the right mountain bike to suit your needs.

Figure out what type of cyclist you aspire to be. Mountain bikes typically fall into one of the following categories: All Terrain Trail Bikes, Downhill (DH), Cross Country (XC), and Freeride.

A freeride bike is great for hard terrain such as indoors or pavement and perfect for tricks, skill, and hard terrain. Forget about freeride though if you plan to spend most of your time riding along flat terrain as they are fairly heavy bikes. Cross Country bikes (XC) are great for efficiency because of their lightweight construction. Avoid XC bikes though if you plan on riding over rough terrain where comfort is more of a requirement. For downhill racing look at Downhill bikes which are specifically made for this great aspect of mountain biking.

I recommend that if you are just starting out that you consider an All Terrain mountain bike so that you will be able to enjoy most aspects of the sport. It is highly probable that once you get some experience under your belt you will buy a more specialised bike such as a Freeride or XC.

Arguably one of the most common questions is Hardtail or Full Suspension? Hardtails bikes have just rear suspension and consequently less moving parts and you can save money by buying one. However Full Suspension bikes have front and rear suspension and offer far much more comfort to the beginning cyclist by being kinder to your bottom.

Check with your local bike dealer and at on line forums to see what type of mountain bike trails are local to where you live. Ultimately if there are no downhill trails closes by then you will want to avoid buying a DH mountain bike. Consider your local terrain and buy a mountain bike to suit.

By being realistic about what type of mountain bike cycling you will be doing and using my tips described above will ensure that you buy the right bike for you. Don't forget to check out on-line auction sites like eBay and Craigslist for used mountain bikes and grab yourself a bargain.