advice for a beginner!

[mad25]

Hi folks,


I not a member of any club but i'm looking to get into downhill mountain biking since there isnt a drop of water in ireland to go kayaking!! I want to buy my first bike but ive no idea what to get!! The bike will purely be used for off road biking and the only time it should see concrete is on the way back to the car!


I'm only 5'1 so cud i be a scrooge and buy a kids version or do i av to buy a "adult bike". Anybody know some good shops or people selling second hand bikes?? Is there a brand i should stick to??


I know i'm not a member of your club but i'm a bit stuck so any advice would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks,


Miriam

[brianod]

I'm not a member either but I keep threatening to join...if you can go on the beginner spin this weekend on a borrowed mountain bike, you'd be doing yourself a favour. And my advice would be start on a cross country bike before going getting a downhill bike. Downhill bikes seem to be very dear and very difficult to pedal anywhere, particularly uphill, although I've never had one.


Now, that's the advice giving karma sorted:)

[Morgan]

Hi Miriam,

How come you want to get into downhilling specifically?


I can only think of one kids downhill bike, the Kona Stinky 2-4 (http://www.konaworld.com/08_stinky24_w.htm) and it's no cheaper than a regular bike.


Brands to check out would include Specialized, Giant, Canyon, Lapierre, Trek, Kona, Canondale etc.


I'd recommend dropping into a few decent shops - the Bike Rack in Cabinteely, The Cycle Inn and Cycle Superstore in Tallaght, Cycleways and Cycleogical in town. This will give you a good idea of whats available and what kind of money you're looking at. They may even give you some reasonable advice (not as good as the advice here, obviously).

[mad25]

thanks a million folks..much appreciated!! why downhill? its more scary then uphill i guess!!


cheers!

[paddyobrien]

bear in mind that a normal cross country (XC) bike will pretty much do anything a downhill bike will do apart from big crazy jumps, but it will also allow you to cycle up the hill first, instead of spending 3 or 4 times as long walking and pushing to the top of the hill with the bike.


Downhill bikes are all well and good when you have an van to give a lift back to the top (known as uplifts) or a ski lift. None of them in ireland except for uplifts at some of the downhill races.


At most look for an all mountain type of bike. They have lots of suspension but can generally still be pedalled to the top of the hill, but it'll hurt a lot more than on an XC bike