Advice With Mountain Biking

[Fvil]

Hey everyone

basically, I was thinking about gettting a mountain bike with my GF and go riding around mountains, but I know little about mountain biking!

as I ve been riding trials bike, I d want a nice good mountain bike. and for my GF she can just hav a basic but decent bike.

Probably only going to climb some mountains, but definitely would want the option of going hardcore - downhill

so can any mountain biker give me some advice as to what I would want, and for my GF.

i.e. full suspension or hardtail? and brands, componets ect...

Many thanks

[Ben John-Hynes]

If you want something you can go downhilling on, but also want something to tootle about on you'll struggle to find something that does both jobs well. Obviously the lighter the bike the easier it'll be to hill climb, BUT it'll be weaker too and won't be able being thrown down off a mountain. It comes down to what you'll be doing/doing most.

As for bikes, anything Boardman is pretty awesome, and very cheap too.

[Tomm]

If you want something you can go downhilling on, but also want something to tootle about on you'll struggle to find something that does both jobs well.

That's not really true these days. I've ridden my Commencal (Meta 5.5) on pretty much everything, from flat XC races to my "normal" fairly hilly + tech XC rides, to DH uplifts. Obviously it's not ideal for that first OR last option, but it's not a bad middle ground in my opinion. There's a million bikes with similar intention - every bike company (more or less) has at least one in the range. E.g. Commencal Meta, Spesh Enduro, Lapierre Zesty/Spicy, Giant Trance etc.

If you wanted something a bit more hardcore then something like a specialized Sx trail, Giant Reign etc would do the job too. This has the advantage of slowing you down uphill and allowing your girlfriend to keep up

The only thing that these bikes aren't, is cheap. I wouldn't want to spend less than a grand on that sort of bike and expect it to hold up to a thrashing.

[mr.tattoo]

That's not really true these days. I've ridden my Commencal (Meta 5.5) on pretty much everything, from flat XC races to my "normal" fairly hilly + tech XC rides, to DH uplifts. Obviously it's not ideal for that first OR last option, but it's not a bad middle ground in my opinion. There's a million bikes with similar intention - every bike company (more or less) has at least one in the range. E.g. Commencal Meta, Spesh Enduro, Lapierre Zesty/Spicy, Giant Trance etc.

If you wanted something a bit more hardcore then something like a specialized Sx trail, Giant Reign etc would do the job too. This has the advantage of slowing you down uphill and allowing your girlfriend to keep up

The only thing that these bikes aren't, is cheap. I wouldn't want to spend less than a grand on that sort of bike and expect it to hold up to a thrashing.

yep true matey i used my mythic for xc bimbles and some freeriding, ive a brooklyn machine works for the proper big stuff but the mythic does most of it very well. if you buy cheap it will break if you use it what there intendid for. loads of good bikes out there but get decent parts as if you need to replace odd bits then it gets expensive. happy riding

[DrEvil270183]

It will depend on your budget. if you want an all rounded and can afford a full bouncer then as said, there are bikes available but at a cost.

You could even get a heavy sure hardtail. More bike for your money that way. if your tall, buy my rockhopper. no good for heavy downhill but a nice xc bike with good spec and very light for the price.

http://www.trials-forum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=153622&pid=2154396&st=0&#entry2154396