How To Start Mountain Biking // Essential Guide To Starting MTB

It's time to start mountain biking. In this guide to beginning your mountain bike journey, Ryan (The Loam Ranger) takes you through buying your first mountain bike, finding mtb trails to ride, meeting great people to bike with, essential mountain bike gear (and gear you should avoid!) and more. If you're already a mountain biker, pass this video on to someone who you'd love to see get into the sport!

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#mtb #mountainbiking #theloamranger

[jakp]

Two tips; 1) say “stoke” and “stoked” all the time 2) pick a wheel size and defend it. I’m stoked on my 29er.

[brooksridesbikes]

The thumbnail looks exactly like me right now

[i_like_blue_stuff]

Step 1: Buy a bike you can't afford

Step 2: Go ride a trail you think is within your skill level but isn't
Step 3: Realize you are wayyy too out of shape
Step 4: Walk half the trail, then go back to step 2 with even higher expectations, and repeat...

[bikingweasel]

Who’s already a mountain biker but watching this for some reason?

[CalgaryDynastar]

Buy bike, helmet and go ride the thing. Easy as that!

[k.a.m_dh]

Step 1: Buy a hardtail
Step 2: Replace all the parts you've broken on said hardtail from riding dh trails

[chuckfinley]

Trailforks is one of the coolest apps ever, dropper seat posts were like the heavens showing through the clouds after being out of biking for 5 years, clipless pedals are the devil

[TrailFeatures]

Oh man, great vid! Another tip for finding trails and riding groups? Ask your local bike shop when the next trail build is! Even if you don't own a bike yet, ain't nobody going to turn away a helping hand on a trail build day. I guarantee after one day of volunteering you'll know some awesome trails and people to go ride with!

[ritchkeyd]

Hardtail trail bike and aggressive hardtail is good choice for beginners, its fun and capable for climbing effectively

[carlacove]

High five to all the bike shop folks who patiently and thoroughly answered my questions when I was deciding which bike was the right bike for me. This is a really big investment and I'm so glad I took the time to make the best choice!

[dkgaming]

I’ve been biking since I was 4, and I’ve been MTB’ing for 6 years now! But I still enjoy watching this video.

[violentsun]

Been riding MTB for over 15 years, have owned several bikes and demoed more, ridden every terrain imaginable, yet I found myself watching the entire vid and really enjoying it. Well written and nicely edited, but above all your narrative style is fantastic!

[PHAM_mtb]

This how to is so incredibly made and helpful that even I (a few years into the sport) took something away from it! I hope this video goes though the roof and reaches a bunch more people!!

[SomeIdiot]

I've gotten into mountain biking with the help of some friends who are leagues better than me. I've learned a lot from chasing them; including that I shouldn't chase them and instead focus on what I'm doing. If you're a mountain biker who's trying help a friend improve, it's more helpful to give advice on technique than to say “I guess we won't take you on that again” or “lol, next time we'll call you an uber”. Don't get me wrong, I love my mtb fam. You know you're loved when they'll wait in the ER with you.

[g.donuts]

Another great way to get the spec you want is to purchase a clearance/demo model. Which is how I got into MTB back in 96’.

[cjohnson]

When in life you have Santa Cruz dreams but only a Huffy budget

[MTBradley]

Supporting your local bike shop 👍 🙌. Great place to inquire about a mountain bike.

[BikesTrailsandGreenways]

Great advice for anyone wanting to start mountain bike riding. I've been back riding for around 2 years and all of your examples are spot on. I've yet to get a dropper post but have ran into several situations where I needed one! We all love watching you folks bombing down hills, etc but we all have different skill levels and have to begin somewhere! Thanks for the video.

[viperdemonz-jenkins]

started out in the early 90's on a cheap 12 speed K-Mart bike with a cheap spring fork, then got an 18 speed Pacific with a better fork from target. now I have a 2014 Giant talon, yea I love hardtails.

[tonyjofenig]

As far as "sloppy riding habits" go, I think learning to ride on a full suspension bike is way more of a problem for that. Don't get me wrong, learn to ride on flat pedals, but don't underestimate the "sloppy riding habits" you will develop learning to ride on a full suspension bike.


If you learn to ride on a hardtail, you will develop a better sense/vision to analyze the terrain/trails you are riding. My friends who went straight to "freeride" bikes in the late 90's are way more sloppy and lazy about line choice (which also makes them slower), than those of us who started riding on hardtails (forced to see more options to get through the terrain).


I started out riding clipless. Went to flats for freeride/DH on a hardtail, then went to clipless for trail/AM (when that became a category), while still riding flats on the freeride/DH bike. Then recently back to clipless for freeride/DH (which improved my riding/commitment on the steeps and more extreme terrain).