Pick a bike..

[covie]

Took my shiny new silverback phoenix out for two rides this weekend, Jonkershoek and Oak Valley, where i put it through its paces specially on the advanced singletrack section at oak valley. And I have to say I am not disappointed at all.

 

 

 

When choosing your bike I would say forget about brand names, since most of the frames are a couple of grams within the same range, a lot of people buy bikes purely becuase of the name or the looks. Only to realize that oh this bike wont do at all and a new total upgrade is required.

 

 

 

So focus on the bike that 1, has the best brakes, (preferably hydrolic disc brakes, and then check the reviews on the forks. Those are probably the two most important aspects. V brakes are OK but only when dry and if you dont weigh too much, mechanical disc brakes are apparently the dogs breakfast. Cant tell you how much fun it has having confidence going downhill and then having the stopping power you need to make that turn.

 

 

 

So for an basic entry level bike i would recommend something with shimano hydrolic brakes from deore level up, be carefull on the forks, for example suntour gets laughed at but if you read the reviews then the suntour XCR is much better than a rock shocks Dart 2 (obviously reviewers opinions, and try and get at least a deore type /class drive chain, it actually does make one hell of a difference.

[GLuvsMtb]

You have to differenciate between the top-end and lower end here as well. Sure below 10k - buy the best spec for the price, above that, start to look at things like geometry of the bike as well as what type of guarantee you get on the frame and components. Not nice cracking a R20k bike and then you do not have proper support.

There is the emotional component as well to consider. Does the bike "talk" to you? If you like the look of a bike, chances are that you are going to want to ride it.

Unfortunately more expensive bikes come with bigger maintenance bills too.