Q: How much to start mountain biking? A: £605.00

It strikes me as a little dangerous to imply to an absolute beginner they could ride up (and down) helvellyn armed with nothing more than a bike and helmet.

@Sam_Forward that wasn’t the intention, I’ve edited to clarify.

+1 on we get so focussed on kit, not on the ride.

It’s exactly how I started out, a 26” Carrera Vulcan from halfords, (which was the go to beginners bike ) a cheap helmet and pair of muddy fox cycling shirts worn under normal shorts. Rode natural trails and didn’t die.

Looking back I wasn’t missing out as everyone rode similar kit.

@andyspaceman I’m with you on gloves. Benji rides without gloves. Every time I do that something bad happens, so I wear gloves.

I am a very keen cyclist (3 or 4 rides per week all year round) and my bike would cost around £800 to put together

Edit, don’t you ride a rigid, brakeless, fixie?

that’s the benefit of not reading the mag (or any MTB mag/news, which is funded by kit/bike manufacturer ads). Don’t know what’s out there, don’t need it, don’t miss it.

Edit, don’t you ride a rigid, brakeless, fixie?

Nope, not since August 2021. The most recent MTB I had (2019) actually cost £400 used (was £1000 new) and it was great.

Good article!

Even good clothing doesn’t have to break the bank tho

Places like freewheel often have great sales on clothing

Decathlon also offers some good stuff at decent prices

It may be a great bike but it’s a shame it comes from Halfords. They are “box shifters” who detract from businesses who are real specialists. They offer poor advice on bikes, car seats and car parts in my experience. While they will have good staff members, the company as a whole seems not to have invested in training or even care about offering good service.

But then you realise that actually, fiveten freeriders are much better than whatever crappy old trainers you might have. Some endura Humvees are better than some old shorts from Next. A waterproof, well-laid out hydration pack is better than that free rucksack that’s been lying around the house for 20 years. A Giro helmet fits better etc etc’.

Doesn’t mean everyone needs a 5 grand bike, but spending on a few sensible items makes the whole experience a bit more pleasurable.

That’s also probably an article waiting to be written, what kit/accessories genuinely makes a difference during ‘year one’ (maybe on into year two?) of a noobs MTB experience, what is the realistic cost, and what is a more worthwhile use of limited funds, what is a potentially frivolous waste?

You might as well set out to write a series of these now, based around the fictitious experiences of imagined noobs (both male and female)…

It may be a great bike but it’s a shame it comes from Halfords. They are “box shifters” who detract from businesses who are real specialists.

Yep. Halfords are doing as much to kill the LBS as the internet.

Halfords is one of our better local bike shops. There’s a motor factors that expanded into bikes and repairs a few years ago which is decent too, but after that you’ve got a traditional bike shop with opening times entirely at the whim of the owner, who’s standard response to even the most basic spares is, ‘I’ll get it from the wholesalers on Thursday’. Oh yes and there’s also…

Dave Hinde. 😱

The lads in Halfords are quite helpful and interested.

Aren’t Halfords a local bike shop?

+1

Brand snobbery (of the bike shop kind). When Tesco wanted to open a mini market next to the local coop half the town was up in arms as it was ‘Tesco’. Apparently Sainsbury, Londis, Coop are absolutely fine, but Tesco selling the exact same stuff in the exact same way, at near enough the same prices is killing the high street.

I’ve bought loads from our local Halford bike shop – excellent service.

People that are new to biking (calling them Noobs isn’t very inclusive and inviting if they’re reading this and makes us seem a bit dickish) are probably better off buying a decent new budget bike that going second hand as there are lots of people selling truly trashed bikes for too much money.

It’s a complete minefield if you don’t know what you’re looking at (Once you end up replacing the trashed drivetrain, servicing the forks, changing the brake pads, maybe getting an LBS to service the whole thing for you as you don’t know much about the above) your £850 FB marketplace/eBay bargain is looking rather expensive.

If they buy something half decent like the Voodoo a or Calibre etc then they can try the sport out and upgrade or replace from there.

Like it or not Halfords, Decathalon and Go Outdoors are gateways into the sport and to think otherwise is just snobbery.

I agree with the comments about the media telling you what you need to promote business.
Not sure why I need to make these additional purchases. Is this just marketing?
What is wrong with bib shorts. Why do I need to wear mountain bike shorts over the top?
Why are there no rear pockets on mountain bike tops? Is this just to make sure I buy a biking backpack?

It may be a great bike but it’s a shame it comes from Halfords. They are “box shifters” who detract from businesses who are real specialists. They offer poor advice on bikes, car seats and car parts in my experience. While they will have good staff members, the company as a whole seems not to have invested in training or even care about offering good service.

Just not true I’m afraid.

In the 2 years I worked for Halfords, I did a 1 day PDI course before which I wasn’t allowed to build bikes, a 2 day ebike repair course (never intended to be in depth, but just cover the basics) and a Technician course which was much better than either the Cytech 3 or Velotech Platinum Plus which I also have. Customer service was hammered in to us every day. We were told that we couldn’t compete with online retailers on price so we had to do it on service. Customer complaints were taken very seriously – visits from the area manager, making good with the customer, retraining etc.
Of the 5 of us who worked in the Bikehut, all were regular riders MTBers, Roadies, BMXers, Tourers. Halfords really tried to recruit enthusiastic cyclists to work in the Bikehut. The problems came when they didn’t have enough staff and someone from the Auto /leisure department had to cover.

It’s fine to tell people to use their LBS. BUT… take a wander into your LBS tomorrow morning (you’d not have been able to go today as LBS are almost all shut at the times most working people are able to go and shop, such as after 5.30pm in the week or on Sundays) and see what bikes they have, and report back here with the price on their cheapest available bike in a size L (or 58 or 19″ as depends on their sizing descriptor) that could safely go up and down Helvellyn. Not medium (we’re not selling a noobie a bike that doesn’t actually fit are we ?) Not an extra small as the noobie in question isn’t a Diddy Man from Knotty Ash.

I just looked at the web site for 18 Bikes (local for me) and… well your noobie is certainly not getting anything in stock their for £605, even without the helmet).

I’m absolutely not a fan of Halfords, and do try to avoid as best I can.
But for a noobie, I see the appeal- you can go and poke around their Web site 1st to get a feel for £££, and are open on a Sunday to go shopping when not at work or collecting the kids from school and making their tea.
And many noobies are not I’d guess looking to drop a four figure sum on something they don’t know if they’ll like or not.

2nd hand if a noobie with no mtb knowledge is a complete minefield even with a STW guide ! How do you know it’s not twisted, has hidden / concealed crack, or nicked. (You’re a noobie remember- you’ve not got the experience of seeing 7 different mates Crackandfails broken at the bottom bracket yet). New, even Halfords new, gives a warranty and a half chance of being able to hold them to it.

All you folks banging on about using (or losing LBS): how many are riding British built bikes (made, not just badged up), or drive British built cars made with British made steel ? Not many I bet. So what’s different about the LBS to all the other local British industries that most have evidently not supported?

Of course it can be done, just that people are gullible, fall for marketing, unable to make their own decisions, peer pressure etc,. etc,.

Why does this need to be so judgmental? People like nice stuff.

Why does this need to be so judgmental? People like nice stuff.

Not judgemental, just a comment on why many people may think you have to have the nice stuff before you can ride a bike. Of course people like nice stuff, this thread is about not needing nice stuff to start riding bikes.