Cycling Tips #6: Bike for Beginners

Ride a bike is not as easier as you think. If you are the one who want to spend your time with new activity, and you choose to ride a bike, you have to prepare several things before you can ride your professional bike. Bike for beginners is easy, but at the same time it is also difficult to determine what bike is best for beginners. In addition, today the technology in bike industry has been improved into the next step and maybe it will make the beginners in the bike feel confuse. Let's imagine, you will not spend your money to buy an expensive mountain bike, which is absolutely a bike for professional. So, please be wise when choosing a mountain bike when you are just start it. Then, if you have been spend most of your time with your first bike, you can change your bike into a $3000 bike or more.

To decide what best bike for beginners, one way to decide it, you can see the bike in the price. For beginner rider, better for keep your money and spend your money to buy a bike, and don't spend more than $600 for new bike. The bike with that price, it must have an entry level component, which is mean that you will not feel confuse to operate it. Imagine when you are beginner, but you have a bike with reverb seatpost from Rockshox, or you will hear some terms like ShadowPlus from Shimano, or Hollow Tech, etc. So, better you start it with simple first, then if you are getting expert, you can spend your money as much as you have.

But, one thing to be considered when you buy a $600, you will get some poor component and I'm sure you will not like the component. The bad of the cheap bike is the poor suspension, both rear and front suspension. But don't worry because if something have bad, it must be have the good, and the $600 bike also have good things. Of course the price, especially the frame, you will get lightweight frame, and another cheap component. Some people say that ride a bike is not about the bike, but it's about how to make your body still healthy. So, choosing bike for beginners is a difficult and at the same time is easy to do, one thing to consider if you want to buy an entry level bike for spend your weekend by ride a bike; just choose a bike that fit to your body.

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ANVL New Component Products

For you that want to change your bike components with the new and good looking components, the newest components from ANVL is available because the ANVL releases their newest components which are designed and tested in Cascadia, USA. The ANVL new component products include saddle, handlebar, wheelset, pedals, stem, brake lever, and grip. The brand even claims that these products are truly unique because these parts have been improved to create the different and unique bike components. 

The brand also give an easy way for the fans that want these parts to be installed on their bike, via online store; this store will very helpful to get anything about these components that released on Sea Otter 2013 several times ago. The fans can also check the information about the components in the website of the brand here, to get more information about these parts or components. Just for additional information, some parts are ready to purchase for now, saddles, pedals, and grips. One another interesting offer from ANVL is something called "trim kit", that will be released on the next spring, and this kit is special for your downhill or enduro bike; for this, ANVL is joining a partnership with a Transition, a brand with great products of many purpose bikes.

For fans, these ANVL new component products can be alternative on your bike, if maybe you want to have a bike with combination of several brands in your bike, these parts are for you. You can see the picture how the Transition bike becomes more better and stylish when the ANVL components are installed there. And don't worry about the performance, I mean we all know ANVL is the great brand which is build and create great parts and components for our bikes for long time.

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5 Reasons to Keep Your 26" Wheels

Some big brands have been announced that they also produce the 650b bike or 27.5 inch wheels, even the huge brand from Taiwan, Giant has announced that they produced the special line-ups of their phenomenon bikes in each purpose in the 27.5 inch wheels version. Some of you maybe are the new rider and confuse which one is better between 26 inch and 27.5 inch wheels. Slowly that 27.5 inch is growing more popular is the fact, but for new riders this article will help you how to decide, um maybe this article is about "5 Reasons to Keep Your 26 inch wheels". If you have question like this, "I'm interesting with 650b and I think it's better to upgrade my old 26" with new wheels size. What about that?"

The answer of that question is a new question for you, "Are you sure?"

Sometimes looking different with other is great, but better you read this article into the end, because this article will show you why your 26" wheels are better to keep alive in your bike. This is not about coolness, looking, style, or something like that but it more important than all of those things. Why the factory build a size, that's not just because they like, or because they want to look stylish, but more than all, they think that the function and purpose is the greatest thing that they think when they build a bike. So, let's see why better keep your 26" wheels in your bike.

Your Frame Geometry

Frame geometry has been fitted by the factory to fill the purpose and function for every parts that installed in the bike, includes the wheels. Can you make it sure that your 26" wheels frame can accommodate the 650b, even you can mention kind of frame from many brands you know, though some frames like Santa Cruz Blur TRc and Ibis Mojo HD said that they can accommodate this, but maybe if you ask to the brands how about change the wheels size, I'm sure that they will answer, "that's not ideal."

Function

When you think that when you change the wheel size is just change the wheels, that's a big mistake. Before you install the bigger wheels, you have to consider that your fork is made for the function also, not only just style. Can you imagine if a 26" fork coupled with 27.5" wheels? Yes, that's simple.

Think About Tire Size

If you use big tire size in your 26" wheels, and you want to use the same size of tires with your new wheels size, the 27.5", maybe your bike can not run as well as usual. The possibility to make your bike can run with larger size of wheel in your 26" bike is you have to install the smaller size of tires. That's the only way, and you don't want to do it, I know.

The Bike Ability

When you replace your old 26" wheels and install the new larger wheels size, your bike will be lost its ability to accelerate or to have hard riding and extreme riding, like the Dirt Jump or Free Ride riding which is needed high ability of the bike and rider. Imagine if your Dirt Jump bike with 26" wheels transforms into 27.5" Dirt Jump bike without changing the frame size? Bad news.

Patience

What? What the hell? What is the meaning of patience? Ok, dude, this is simple, you just waiting for the brands to release their 27.5" version bike. Don't forget, Giant has been did it several times ago, and it is not impossible when another brands follow their step to produce the 27.5" wheels bike.

photo: bikeradar.com

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Polygon's New Bike: Polygon Recon 27.5

Polygon, a brand from Indonesia becomes more aggressive now with their new XC Sport bike, the Polygon Recon. The new Polygon Recon series will be available in four different specs, and you just choose which one is suitable for your needed; just for fun, or ride the bike across the jungle and mountain. The Recon 1.0 is the entry level of this series, and has lowest specs and it seems that this bike is suitable for beginner. But wait, you have to be carefully, because with little substitution in some parts, this bike will be pro and you are the man! 

While the highest version of Polygon Recon has the highest specs from its series, like the Deore 30 speed, Rockshox Recon and Marzocchi Roco Lite for the suspension parts. But, if you want to get the cheaper bike, just bring the lowest series, and change some parts of them with best parts, and you will be rock on!

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All Purpose Bike: Dartmoor Hornet 2013

The Dartmoor Hornet 2013 is the improvement from previous version of Hornet, a powerful hard-tail bike which can be used in many purpose of cycling, depend on the travel you install on it. In this 2013, Dartmoor releases the 2013 version of Hornet with better artwork and paint, and basically it is still powerful as previous version, and the most important that this bike is a good bike with good price. Come with three size options, this bike is ready to be tested, and the result is predictable; this is powerful and great bike at great budget.

Why it is said that the Dartmoor Hornet 2013 is many purpose bike? Well, it is all depending on your fork you use, because this frame is very flexible. I mean, when you use a hundred millimeter fork travel, you will get a cross country bike; and when you place a 120-140 mm fork, you will get All-Mountain bike; and when you install 160 mm fork travel, your Hornet will be a Freeride bike. Isn't amazing, right? You will get a complete package in a great frame named Hornet, and it's up to you which fork you want to use.

The Dartmoor Hornet 2013 is build from aluminum material for the frame, but the frame is stiff and rigid as we expect. In other words, the Dartmoor Hornet 2013 frame is the best frame for you if you are the fans of hard-tail bike, and this frame is very recommended for you who want to have an aggressive hard-tail frame with low budget.  

Photo: pinkbike.com

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The New Santa Cruz Bantam

Santa Cruz reveals the new bike which is include in the 27,5 inch bike, The New Santa Cruz Bantam; and it seems that this bike is the young sibling of Santa Cruz Heckler, because actually these bikes are just different in the travel, Heckler has 160mm, and the Bantam got 130mm. The brand from United States also has same pattern when they build Santa Cruz Bronson and Santa Cruz Solo, so this is not surprisingly enough to see that Santa Cruz once again did the same formula. This is even something brilliant, because they keep the moment to release new bike, new bike but actually just improvement from the previous bike. This will give the fans more choice and this is good fact to see a fans love with a bike but it may the travel is too long, so they have another choice. 

But the New Santa Cruz Bantam is better climber and faster than Heckler, and this is because the short travel which is good to climb. About this, though the brand includes this bike into a trail bike, this is actually good for the fans that love uphill climbing. And the fans will satisfy for the parts used in this bike, because the parts used are best parts in the class; the drivetrain this bike has Shimano Deore 30 speeds, typical uphill bike, and combined with SRAM brakes Avid Elixir 1 180mm front and 160mm rear. 

For the fans, the new Santa Cruz Bantam can be the alternative when choosing a full suspension bike which has good performance to go to climb, and something run fast in the land track or trail arena. And the fans who want to carry the new Santa Cruz Bantam, just prepare about $2899.

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