Mountain Biking - what bike?

hi,

im seriously considering taking up mountain biking..but there are so many bikes on the market im having a bit of a nitemare choosing which one will suit!!im looking to spend upto £500

does anyone have any suggestions?? ive been looking at the trek womens specifics inparticular...

any help would be appreciated

Some recommendations from the "Titus Bicycle Website" buy the lightest bike you can afford. Also, look at the geometry especially if you're small, TT length, seat and headtube angles are very important. Check out the Titus webpage under women's fit for more ideas. It's one of the best resouces I've found for women.
www.titusti.com
Kathi

Fuji are good value, and their women's bikes are well designed.

I would recomend not narrowing your search to only women specific bikes. You need to test ride different bikes to find out which one is the most comfortable for YOU. It may or may not be women specific.

Most female riders I know ride your standard mtb and not a w.s. one. It will also allow you to have a larger selection in your price range.

:beer:

DirtBikeDude,
In most cities the smaller you are the more difficult it is to find a variety of bikes to ride. Last summer I was looking for mtn bikes of any brand to compare with my Voodoo, couldn't find anything in my size.

When I bought my Aegis the smallest available was a 49cm, it belonged to the shop owners wife, way too big but I was able to feel what the ride was like. My LBS then determined my size and ordered it for me. I agonized for a month over the fit. Fortunately, my LBS does a good job of fitting bikes and the fit is perfect.

For my mtn bike I narrowed down my search to Titus. Found a shop here in Denver that actually had an XS Racer-X. Rode it yesterday, loved the feel and positioning and bought it.

My LBS wanted to sell me an Airborne Ti mtn bike, but the geometry wasn't right, I would have had to do custom and I would have no idea how the bike rode and handled, because they had nothing small enough in the shop for me to try.

So, when your average sized its easy to say ride lots of bikes, but if your at either end of the scale, the search for a new bike becomes a mission and often your buying without ever really getting to try the bike.

BTW, this shop I bought my Titus from has bikes for demo, but not the XS RacerX because it's too expensive to keep one available.

Kathi

If you can, ride lots of bikes. If you can't talk to all the LBS's in your town and try not to get screwed. Sorry, that's the advice I have.