What makes a good mtb frame

Then there are sticky shoes for flat pedals, or mountain bike specific shoes, cleats and clipless pedals. You may also want to tune your gearing, and almost certainly to customise the shape and size of your cockpit. Get the right size First up, everything else is secondary to the right frame size. Choose a wheel size Diameters have settled to an easy, binary choice of Choose hardtail or full-suss The rear shock, bearings, linkage and extra manufacturing complication of full suspension all cost money.

Keep some budget back You will benefit from a dedicated trail helmet, with its greater coverage, stronger construction and decent peak. On the upside, this all still counts as upgrading your bike! Visit also.

It does however provide a very accessible way to owning and riding your very first mountain bike. Look for a small chainring at the front that has 22 or 24 teeth, paired to a cassette on the rear wheel that has 34 or 36 teeth on its biggest sprocket.

At this price range, you should expect hydraulic disc brakes rather than the cable operated variety. They need much less maintenance and tend to be more powerful. A suspension fork with a smooth and controlled action should also be fitted. To test this, give the fork a good bounce and it should compress easily and return smoothly.

If it makes nasty noises or returns rapidly — like a pogo stick — give it a wide berth. This should ideally be air-sprung, which is lighter than using a coil spring and allows you to more easily adjust the fork to suit your weight.

The very best equipped models at this price will also have a thru-axle fork and wheel rather than a quick release or QR system. This uses a large diameter axle which creates a stiffer connection between the wheel and fork, massively improving steering accuracy. You should also look out for a fork and frame that uses a tapered head tube with a larger diameter lower bearing and matching fork crown. These offer improved stiffness and mean you can choose from a wider selection of forks when you upgrade in the future.

These help prevent the chain from falling off on rough terrain. Many manufacturers will now start fitting tyres and wheels that can be used without an inner tube. These tubeless systems can reduce punctures and save weight. This is the magic amount of money where full suspension bikes with reasonably lightweight frames and well-controlled, adjustable shocks start to become available.

At this sort of money, all bikes should have well-controlled and adjustable air-sprung forks, preferably with a thru-axle design and a tapered steerer. Short-travel cross-country bikes designed for long distance riding will be light enough to ride all day, while longer-travel trail bikes will be able to tackle seriously rugged descents and get you back up to the top without any issues.

Suspension units will be of a higher quality, with much more damping adjustment on offer. We would definitely expect a 1x drivetrain at this price point. Some bikes may even come with a dropper seatpost that allows the saddle to be lowered without having to stop. Thus, you will want to be as informed as possible on a few technical aspects to properly back up your choice.

Any MTB enthusiast will tell you that the bike you own can make or break a ride. And when picking the perfect one for you, one of the most important things to consider is the frame. The top ones are aluminum, steel, titanium, and carbon. Naturally, each one of them has different properties, advantages, and drawbacks. You need to consider all these aspects before making a choice so that you can ensure you are making a positive investment in your future.

Here is a small guide to help you choose the best structure for your mountain bike, complete with suggestions. When mountain bikes first started being mass-produced after their invention in Marin County in the s, steel frames were all that was available.

In fact, many MTBs nowadays still sport this classic material in their build. In fact, aluminum as a building material tends to be more expensive than steel. Full suspension frames can often have more compatibility conflicts than a hardtail with your existing stuff, which necessitates you having to buy a significant amount of new bits forks and wheels mainly.

The debate around full-sus versus hardtail has been around for decades. Black magic? Or just another frame material? Often you can find the same frame available in either aluminium or carbon fibre versions.

The carbon fibre version will be significantly more expensive. The general idea is that the carbon frame will be lighter than the aluminium. And it will be. Alu bikes often get built up with lower spec, cheaper, heavier build kits.

Carbon bikes inevitably get build up with top end, expensive, lighter build kits. This gives the illusion that carbon is significantly lighter than aluminium.

An aluminium frame built up with high end parts will typically end up being lighter than a carbon frame built up with low end parts. Remember this. Carbon bikes feel different to aluminium bikes. Carbon bikes can feel more damped. They can also feel more harsh. It depends. A bit of flex in frame chassis can lead to a faster and more involving ride. A significant development of late has been the introduction of steel into full suspension frames.

These steel full sussers can be almost as expensive as carbon frames and yet they weigh more than even aluminium frames. So why make a steel full suspension frame then? Because of how they feel to ride. Chassis feel. That particular blend of give-and-go that makes some bikes more fun to rid then others.