I’ve bought a mountain bike!

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Julia9054

Guru
Location
Knaresborough
On a complete whim, today I have acquired a mountain bike!
Obviously I am far from a beginner to cycling but have never done mountain biking before. Any tips and hints? Ideas where to take it near me?
Also I need pedals. I’m guessing most mountain bikers use flat pedals rather than clipping in as I am used to. What pedals do people recommend?
Looking forward to getting muddy this summer!
583963
 

MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
I think a lots of MTBrs do clip in... but for flats, i highly recommend Welgo or DMR V12 flats like this...

61uMhLe-3wL._AC_SY450_.jpg


you should be able to find some in bright yellow :okay:
 

Paulus

Started young, and still going.
Location
Barnet,
On a complete whim, today I have acquired a mountain bike!
Obviously I am far from a beginner to cycling but have never done mountain biking before. Any tips and hints? Ideas where to take it near me?
Also I need pedals. I’m guessing most mountain bikers use flat pedals rather than clipping in as I am used to. What pedals do people recommend?
Looking forward to getting muddy this summer!
View attachment 583963
Looks like it has SPD's already fitted. All you need now are the shoes to go with them.
 
OP
OP
Julia9054

Julia9054

Guru
Location
Knaresborough
Looks like it has SPD's already fitted. All you need now are the shoes to go with them.
I use SPDs on my road bikes. The pedals belong to my friend who sold me the bike but I have a couple of spare sets in the garage. Was thinking that I might crash horribly as a rather uncoordinated beginner using SPDs?
 

T4tomo

Guru
I used SPDs when i go out on the MTB - m520's like those. I have the tension dialed out so its easy to unclip if necessary.. to be honest off road is a softer landing than a road if you have a "can't unclip" moment

smart looking bike BTW
 
Location
Cheshire
I use SPDs on my road bikes. The pedals belong to my friend who sold me the bike but I have a couple of spare sets in the garage. Was thinking that I might crash horribly as a rather uncoordinated beginner using SPDs?
I tried SPD's on my MTB years ago, probably stayed on a month before change to flats, just like to have the option of feetys on floor very quickly. Clipped in on gravel bike though, and although I came a cropper 3 months ago, they will stay 'cos of road miles.
Back to your question, I use Shimano Saints on MTB, bit pricey mind! But good.
583970
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I use SPDs on my road bikes. The pedals belong to my friend who sold me the bike but I have a couple of spare sets in the garage. Was thinking that I might crash horribly as a rather uncoordinated beginner using SPDs?
As suggested by others - stick with the SPDs, but set them to minimum tension. I've never had a problem unclipping in a hurry.

I'll leave it to your locals to suggest routes.

There is a lot of good stuff over here which I could help you with if you ever fancy a change of scenery. I may even arrange a MTB forum ride some time but my MTB is currently, er, 'off the offroad'! I aim to fix it over the next month or two, so it should be ready for post-lockdown rides.
 

Kajjal

Guru
Location
Wheely World
I tried SPD's on my MTB years ago, probably stayed on a month before change to flats, just like to have the option of feetys on floor very quickly. Clipped in on gravel bike though, and although I came a cropper 3 months ago, they will stay 'cos of road miles.
Back to your question, I use Shimano Saints on MTB, bit pricey mind! But good.
View attachment 583970
Now I have pedal envy :okay:
 

Kajjal

Guru
Location
Wheely World
For where to ride if you check a combination of OS maps (or similar) and google maps satellite view to see what it looks like in real life it gives you a good idea. Likely candidates are bridleways, canal towpaths, forestry roads & trails and also byways. Just takes a bit of local exploring as some are great and others unrideable, good luck :okay:
 

Bobario

Veteran
You are in a fantastic location for mountain biking, I'm surprised you've never tried it before. The Dales National Park and North York Moors are prime mountain bike country. Try flattyres-mtb.co.uk or pedalnorth.com for some routes.

As for pedals get some superstar nano-x flats (when they come back in stock).
 

figbat

Slippery scientist
Welcome to the dirty side.

I‘m principally a MTBer but have diversified into road, gravel and shoppers. On my hardtail I use SPDs and have done since day 1, about 14 years ago. Yes I’ve had an occasional clipped-in moment but now it is so 2nd nature that I can’t remember the last one. I run them fairly slack and I also use M324s which have a clip side and a flat side - the flat side is useful for riding with trainers on or for tackling a slow, technical section where a dab might be needed - very deep, rutted mud for example.

On my full-sus I use flat pedals (DMR V8 v2) and Five Ten shoes - this was new to me and on that bike they work well enough, but I still prefer SPDs.

As to where to go - get a map and look for bridleways and byways! I still haven’t done a trail centre so all my cycling is local tracks - I still come across places I haven’t been and the changing conditions mean that tracks I know well behave differently at different times. Some are impassable in the winter but really quick in the summer. You might find there’s a local group that rides near you - I go out weekly with a group from my village and know of two or three other groups that go from nearby towns; all informal and social, no clubs or competitors.
 
Top Bottom