Your First Bike Should Not Be A Cheap Bike

Thinking of trying to ride some local trails to see what it is like? That's how I started. A friend asked me to come with him trail riding. I had a $60 bike from a big box store. We rode the easiest trails. I thought it was a lot of fun, good exercise, and very nice to be in the beautiful forest in the morning doing something less boring than walking or running.

Unfortunately, that bike didn't last too long. There is a HUGE difference between a $60 bike and a $500 bike you get at a bike store. you might not realize it, and you might be a little timid about spending that much on a bike because they look just the same. Don't. You will destroy the cheapo bike, and it will try to destroy you as well.

Cheap Bikes

• Have no front suspension. When you hit a rock or root, it's going to hurt and make your handlebars steer left and right making you wreck.
• Have really cheap front suspensions stick when they compress, causing you to fly over the handlebars. Then it breaks and you wreck and injure yourself and have to buy a new one.
• Are heavy. Pedaling a 50 pound bike up a hill is exponentially more difficult than pedaling a 30 pound bike up a hill.
• Have weak frames. Jump over something, hit something too hard, run into a tree, and your frame is cracked (and your bike is totaled)
• Cannot be repaired. When you ride your bike, the chain, the gears, everything will start to wear out. The local bike shop does not carry parts for your big box bike. Neither do online retailers. When it breaks, you have to throw it out.
• Don't stay tuned. Cheap bikes start auto-shifting (changing gears without you telling it to) and skipping (chain sliding on the sprockets when it is supposed to stick) the third time you ride them.
• Cheap rear suspension. Some big box store bought bikes have fake rear suspensions. The threads on the screw will strip after your fourth trip out and the bike is totaled.

Cheap bikes from big box stores are designed for kids to ride on streets to the neighbor's house. If you want to put hundreds or thousands of miles on a bike, then spend bigger up front and buy fewer bikes later.

Good Bikes

Good bikes have better parts and are going to last longer. I started with a $60 bike. It lasted three trips. I bought a $300 bike from a big box store. It lasted 6 trips. I bought an $800 bike from a local bike shop, and the whole time I was cringing thinking, "I don't see why I need a better bike." They talked me into it, I did it, and I've put 1000 miles on it and LOVE RIDING IT LIKE NOTHING ELSE!

Buy a good quality low-end bike, not a cheap P.O.S your first time out.

• Are sold by your local bike shop. They will probably give you a free tune-up, and they have spare parts if anything breaks. They will help you choose the right bike, and explain anything you want to know about biking. Plus, they usually help support building local trails. Buy at a local bike shop.
• Are from companies like Specialized, Jamis, Giant, Fuji, Pivot, Felt, Trek, Cannondale, and Kona.
• Are light. You can pedal up hills better.
• Have strong frames - you can do some jumping, tight turns, run over roots, and beat it to death and it will come back for more.
• Can be repaired. Your local bike shop will escort your bike in for a tune up and have what you need to keep it in tip top shape.
• Stay tuned longer. Change the chain regularly and your bike will last a long time.
• Good front suspension - the front fork (the part that holds the front wheel) will absorb impact for you and keep you going straight despite the roots and rocks.
• Shift gears faster and more reliably
• Have better tires and tubes to resist flats and grip the trail better
• Have superior quality chains that last longer
• Have upgradeable components you can switch out for better ones when you want
• Have superior braking for more reliability

Getting your first real bike doesn't have to be a $2000 experience. There are $400 bikes that will get you the mountain biking experience, plus you can build them up into better machines over time if you pick a really good frame.

If you buy your bike online or at a big box, you will get no free tune up, no support, no local shop to hang out in and get riding tips, a huge pain in the butt when you need to return something. Yeah, you'll save money online, but you the support will cost so much you will end up paying for it in the end. At a big box store, you will just get ripped off and buy a heavy, weak, piece of crap. Your bike will suck so bad you will be wrecking everywhere and giving out on hills. I and others like me will fly past you on the trails and remember when we made that mistake.

Get the right bike the first time.