Buying your first XC Mountain Bike Size and Geometry
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What size mountain bike should I get? Answer: Welcome to mountain biking for beginners. In this video we will be discussing some bike geometry... at least just a couple of the basics you should be aware of for your first bike. Since you are just starting off, going out and spending a decent amount of time and money on a proper fitted racing bike is not likely what you are looking to do. After all, a properly fitted bike also must take into account you own personal riding style, body type, and trail type. But you are just starting out, so how could you possible know? Well, you can't until you get some experience. For a beginner, the first thing you need to do is ride the bike you are interested in. Then you need to ride at least one other bike size to get a sense of the differences. This is usually accomplished at a bike store with a simple test ride. Knowing your height and weight, the bike tech can usually point you in the direction of a bike most likely to be your size. One thing to look closely at is be sure the bike doesn't feel too big. With a bike that is too big, there is very little you can do to make it ride right. However, with a slightly smaller frame, you have the ability to shift your body weight to keep the bike balanced. Another thing to keep in mind is if you get a 26er, you will have more room to make adjustments if the size isn't just right. If you buy a 29er, pay closer attention to how large the bike feels and don't be afraid to get a slightly smaller frame if it gives you the sensation of being too big. Once you own your bike, there are certain do's and don'ts for adjusting the bike geometry. For example, if you upgrade the front fork, you want to try your best to keep the angle close to 70 degrees. A longer suspension will decrease the angle and will cause your front end to grip less and your turning angle will be wider. A shorter front suspension will grip or bite more and will not do well with rocks, branches, roots or sand. So what are some simple adjustments a beginner can do to improve their ride and improve geometry and balance? One of the things that are greatly different from rider to rider is their torso and arm length. For this reason, many manufacturers will default with longer stems. To counter this you can make a slight adjustment in your saddle. But this could put you off balance. If you have too much weight to the rear, you will find that downhill is easier and climes are hard to steer. But, more common are new riders having too much weight to the front, since it is easy for your body to recognize the weight to too far back. Some common complaints for people that have too much weight forward are: Overshooting banked turns, and having to slow down just to make the turn Muscle soreness between your shoulder blades instead of your forearms and pecks. Frequent falling over the front of your bike when hitting small obstacles. Fortunately, stems are relatively low cost and simple to replace. Check out your stem length and angle and look for one that is relatively the same angle but shorter or longer depending on your need. For me, I had too much weight forward on my first bike. I was constantly having to slow down for banked curves and would frequently fall over the front of my bike with small obstacles. The bike came with a 110mm stem. I purchased an 80mm stem on ebay for $25 and it turned out great. You can usually find stems on ebay between $10 and $20 with shipping included. I spent the extra $5 just to get a cool color. If your front wheel isn't gripping like you want, a longer stem could be a low cost temporary solution. Remember, this is your first bike, so it is a learning curve. Your bike fit does not need to be perfect. If you stick to the sport, as you ride certain things will start to bother you... just look into them one at a time. As you fix or take steps to adjust one issue, you will start to notice other things you didn't know about. When you are ready to buy your second bike, if you spent time adjusting parts on your first bike, you will know exactly what your riding style is and how to fit into a bike that fits you back. Please feel free to let us know in the comments section some things you did to adjust how your first bike fits you. Thanks and have fun out there.
Comments
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If i got you right, you have made a mistake at 1:42. Decreased head-tube angle means that the front wheel will grip MORE, not less. That's why downhill bikes are made with a slacker head-tube angle, so they will grip MORE at high speeds, making them more stable.
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I sold my 26er 2011 Santa Cruz Chameleon large frame 19inch. Im looking to get a 29er frame that's 19.5 Will the frame fit me even if it's a 29er wheel size?
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I just bought a mtb off Craigslist that is a size 16. I'm 5'10. What things can I do to make it it fit better? i.e. Longer seatpost,setback seatpost or longer stem. I got a great deal in the bike, so I'm trying to make it work.thanks.
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I'm currently six foot but growing, and I want to get a 26er, but was wondering if I should go for a 16 inch, 18 inch or 20 inch frame. what would you suggest?
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Not really in beginners language.
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Buying my fist serious MTB and I see such a difference in angles. The one I am concerned with and wish to know more about is the angle of the top tube relative to the angle of the seat stays. I see many that are almost in a straight line and others that drop down pretty heavy to the rear wheel axel. I cannot find anywhere info on how changing that angle effects the amount of true torque applied to the rear wheel. which is easier to pedal? which applies more power to the ground? I want the best one for climbing hills. and by best I mean the one that takes the least effort to get the most pay off. I hope you can help and thanks for your time!!!
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what is stand over height??
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ive watch your videos but still im confused to what mtb should i buy i only got 500$ budget my hieght is 5"7 a little bit big body mass bcoz this will be my 1st attempt to do biking i think i like the 29ers can u ps give me my geometry so i will not end up like rob joseph i like to use the bike in hill climb and down hill pls help me to choose proper bike for begginers like me tnx in advance
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My wife is 5'4" got her a Specialized JYNX in a Medium she felt the small was to small. She is complaning about shoulder and elbow pain. She feels as if she has to keep her arms locked out instead of slightly bent. I wonder if part of that has to do wtih her last biek being more of a life style bike and this one being a little more aggressive as a mountain bike. I moved her saddle far forward to see if that helped and she thinks it did but only more riding will tell. I am worried about throwing off her geometry. Some of it I think is she needs to build up the muslcle to support being bent forward and supporting her self as well.
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@daniel fish - don't know why youtube will not let me respond directly to you. I'm absolutely in love with the pitch comp! I'm rocking a medium, and I ride it daily- 3 times a week I hit the single track, the rest of the week I'm on the streets. I replaced the plastic peddles with metal ones and am currently looking at the Rockshox Gold 650b fork as it will be a necessary improvement on the rather questionable Suntour fork. I've heard of people switching out the stem and really liking the travel- something I may look into in the future! I was thinking about replacing my big ring with a bash guard, but found myself using the big ring yesterday on a speedy downhill on the streets. But overall, I think it's
a flawless and fantastic ride without seriously breaking the bank. I love learning new riding techniques (like handling tight switchbacks), and this bike has been great for that! Cheers!!! -
I get so sick and tired of the "a bike that's too small is better than a bike that's too big". That's total bullshit and feeds the smaller is better culture. It's laughable how many morons are here in AZ riding frames WAAAY too small for them, dudes 5'8"-6' on medium frames with the seat post looking like a broom stick. The seat should be within 15cm of the handle bars for XC or distance riding. Your standover should have your genitals resting on the top tube with enough clearance to lift the bike 1-2" until it touches your public bone.
If you get a bike that feels too big in the cockpit I.e. You're too stretched out, than move the saddle forward slightly and swap the standard 110mm stem to a 40mm stem. Stems are already ridiculously long because they have grown each year as companies accommodate people riding smaller and smaller mtb's. The handle bars should be as close to the head tube as possible for the most responsive handling. The alternative is buying a bike that's too small and putting an even longer stem on it and sliding the saddle back. This not only looks ridiculous, but you've now put your center of gravity behind the bottom bracket which reduces pedaling efficiency.
End rant. -
Hello, I really like your videos and have a question (sorry if it's way too long). The past few years found me riding the base model Specialized Hardrock 26 (2012). As I got more into mountain biking, I decided that an upgrade would be in order. For the record, I am about 5"7-5"8 and rode a Medium 17.5 bike. Thinking that I should just go with the same size bike as before, I ordered the Specialized Rockhopper Comp 29er (2015) from my local bike shop. Now, when I do the standover top tube thing, there is absolutely no room. (like everything is just completely scrunched up, if you know what I mean). Does having a 29er in the same size as my previous 26er actually mean I got the wrong sized bike? I thought I felt comfortable on the bike, but when I hit the trails this weekend I took a fall very similar to the one described in your video (fell forward on a tight turn). Now I've bruised some ribs, and have found out that since I've ridden my bike, my bike shop will not take it back. HELP!
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I'm 12 about 5 foot and budget of about £129 what bike should I get (looking at preowned or exhire)
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@4:17 my pants started to not fit well in the crutch. They suddenly became too tight.
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it feels like I should have taken a special class in college to learn understand this.
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This is boring and hard to focus on. Speaking with at least a little bit of enthusiasm would capture your audience's attention. Additionally, maybe record a video of yourself speaking and then use the cutaways when they're relevant...Rather than showing random cutaways that have nothing to do with what you're talking about (for the majority of the video). You're making the viewer focus on the unrelated images of yetis and hot girls, causing them to tune you out and lose interest...which is especially true since your voice is very bland, low key and quiet in this recording. The regular fading intervals exacerbate this problem, because they're not cut together with any purpose, to punch with your speaking or your points
If you don't want to show yourself on film, you could try adding cards or text to the video to engage with the audience. They should punch in with your speaking points. For example at 2:12 when you say "Manufacturers default to longer stems", you should punch to an imagine of a stem. Most beginners aren't going to know what you're talking about, and as the viewer, we're left wondering what you're talking about, tuning you out and losing interest as we try to imagine what a stem is and how it's relevant. You could also cut the video into contextual segments with a logical order to keep the viewers attention, using cards or text to break up the segments into categories.
I'm not sure why you spend the first 12 seconds introducing what you're going to cover in a 4 minute video...if it were a longer piece (like a 22 minute television show) it would make sense to introduce it and explain what you'll be covering. At this length it seems like wasted time. Check your bounce rate for the first 30 seconds. You could cut that time out and replace it with a introductory title card with text and cool graphics that explains with without devoting any video time to it, and move on to your content to quickly capture the viewer's attention. -
LOL at the babes used in this video, anything to get views I guess.
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great information... the pics toward the end have a lot less to do with fit and a lot more to do with making this video very difficult to review in public.
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You said you want to keep a 70 degree headtube angle. Its true for cross country bikes but not for other riding styles. My downhill bike is right around 63-64 degrees and my all mountain bike is close too 66.5.
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