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MOUNTAIN BIKES
Mountain bikes have grown to be one of the most sold bikes around the world as they are capable of being ridden across various types of terrain that would not usually be possible with many other types of bicycles. When it comes to off-road riding though, that is where the mountain bike prevails as it is what the bike is designed for. Most mountain bikes feature stronger and larger framing pipes as well as shock absorbing systems and wider tyres with lugs on them for gripping into the uneven terrain.
In general, a mountain bike can be found ranging from prices as low as $100 but in many cases, as the second most expensive bicycle type, they can get up to well over $10,000. A lot of the pricing associated with mountain bikes depends on their design, equipment used and the quality in which it was assembled. Having to suffer some of the most extreme circumstances, the mountain bike and all of its drive train equipment needs to be able to handle these conditions and still manage to get you home safely at the end of the day.
The brands of mountain bike can also affect the pricing of it of which some of these brands that are currently available include names like Giant, Malvern Star, Scott, Radius, Ridley, Trek, Shogun, Apollo, Holstar, Raceline, Diamond Back, Huffy as well as Gitane. There are also many other brands available through department stores as well as less expensive name brands.
If you are upgrading your bike, and want to look into some hard core offroading, there can be a great number of variables which can affect how much you should be willing to spend. You could go with a cheaper $200 to $400 mountain bike and get some pretty good use out of it, but eventually it will wear out depending on how extreme you choose to get. On the other hand, if you plan on doing some competition mountain biking then you may want to spend around $750 to $1,000 for an entry level competition mountain bike. These bikes are not only stronger but are designed to make them more easily modified or repaired versus the cheaper models.
Once you have bought your mountain bike, you may also want to do upgrades latter on so it is important to choose a brand that allows for this. Many people after using the stock brakes realise that they just are not sufficient for the type of riding they do and therefore often upgrade these first. Your derailers are also probably the most important part of a mountain bike. Making sure that you have a quality derailer that will not “jump gears” every time you hit a bump is important. A bad derailer can cause the gears to change from bouncing and may cause your knee caps to smash into the handlebar mount which sometime can put you out of commission for a while as it does hurt. This is caused by the gears slipping enough to allow your legs to spin freely.
One other important factor is not so much the tyre, but the rims used on the bike. While steel spokes are stronger, they are also heavier and this weight will be felt during pedaling. In some cases though, if you opt to go with a cheaper spoke, you are more susceptible to trail-side bending and warping of the rim. Regardless of your choice, it is important to think ahead and know what you will need rather than wishing that you had it.
While it's not necessarily best to look for a cheap mountain bike or the cheapest mountain bike, you can definitely do your self a favour in terms of finding the best price mountain bikes by researching on the Internet. What you should so is search through a good number of online shops until you narrow it down to the specific type or model of mountain bike (or bikes) that best suit your needs, then you can cross-reference this list and locate the best price for the mountain bike that you have chosen.
Good luck in finding the mountain bike that best suits your needs at the best price.
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