6 Mistakes To AVOID When Buying A New Bike

The last place you want to make a mistake is when pulling the trigger on the most important purchase you could make... a new mountain bike! Anna Cipullo has compiled a list of pitfalls to avoid to ensure that you've considered everything that will make your new bike the perfect one for you.

⏱ Timestamps ⏱
00:00 - Intro
00:36 - Buying The Wrong Size Bike!
01:05 - Not Getting A Dropper Post
01:57 - Ignoring Suspension Set Up
02:30 - Wrong Pedal Choice!
03:25 - Poor Choice of MTB Tyres
4:20 - Hydration & Storage

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Have you made any mistakes when buying a new bike that you're happy to share so that others can avoid making it too? Let us know 👇

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[Danyk]

Watching this as I am getting my new bike today, a Cannondale Scalpel HT..

[TheLoamMountaineer]

I tossed my Rock Shox Reverb 175 dropper post in the warranty dept recycling bin at SRAM and bought myself a Oneup V3 dropper post. Loving life more now…my gooch too! 🤣👍👍

[veronicao]

Biggest regret bying a bike with 29 inch wheel. Not optimal for very short riders like me, now I have a 27.5.

[matk]

You forgot to mention the most important thing. First thing you need to do is to disassemble the bike, re-grease it and torque to the spec. Otherwise, there is high chance that it will start creaking. QC is rubbish these days.

[freerideWA]

Nice video Anna, once you get the right bike keep hold of it....had my Levo 4 yrs, lots of upgrades loving it still, 10k kms off road in Australia 😂

[Alberto_Zucca]

I'm waiting for my new Cube Two15 Race to be delivered 😇

It's the first time I buy a new bike for myself, always had second hand ones with 26" wheels.
Recently I broke a collarbone when my old Blindside OTBed me in a rocky berm, so I decided to treat myself with a modern new bike with proper frame size.

Hopefully riding a bike with the right reach will prevent me from flamboyantly crossing the hadlebar threshold again 🤞🏻

[boronsniify]

I’m so glad delivery of a Grail gravel bike was taking so long a couple of years ago that I went and got a much reduced (end of model year) Rocky Mountain Element Alloy. I have had huge fun on this bike on our sometimes pretty technical, rocky, rooty trails here near Boston, USA despite this being nominally an XC bike. I have changed the standard slippery grips for Loams, tires to more aggressive Maxxis and circumcised the handlebars by an inch per side. Other than that I’ve played with set up a bit and just enjoyed riding the wheels off it.
The only thing I think I would change is to go more aggressive than the 130/120 travel that it offers - to a 150/140 set up such as that found on the Instinct, but then that would be a bit heavier and less fun on flowy single track. I also use the bike to commute occasionally, where I have been impressed by how fast rolling the 29s are.
So yeah, I did a lot of research (looking at hard tails as well) and ended up with a bike I’m still really happy with and will keep for a long time…

[justinallen]

A lot of good info here for me when it comes time to buy a new bike.

[portox]

I would add. Buying wrong size bike, not putting plastic film or even getting to crazy suspension and not knowing how to tune it

[alexcunliffe]

Not putting frame protection on while box fresh...

[augmentednd]

I had to upgrade dropper post upon purchase, most size Large enduro bikes come with maybe 170 or 180mm droppers, which might be fine for other people my height, but I have very long legs in proportion to my body, and I come from BMX so I prefer my saddle being able to drop to the absolute lowest it could ever be, basically to the clamp. That means I want pretty much none of the dropper protruding except for the moving tube. I opted for Oneup V3 210 and slammed it all the way into the frame while still being able to have that 210 fully up for climbs and technical stuff, then slammed for downhill and jumps.

[OriginalTrev]

MTB Ballet could be a new Olympic event!!

[erictrelz]

Biggest dislike? Having to upgrade the brakes right out of the box. Tires and brakes are not areas where bike manufacturers should save money.

[LaurentiusTriarius]

Second biggest mistake, financing a leisure toy. If it's your only way of moving around, meh maybe.
But that 10k eeeb?
Hmmm how you like 12% interests rates? Or 15, or even 20?! 😅😂

[MattMTB]

Literally just went from a GT Avalanche 3.0 to a Giant Trance 29, no regrets :D

[patrociniojrflores]

saddle was the most painful experienced when I brought my first mtb 2015😢

[antrace]

It's not exactly a mistake but a component choice, every time I buy the new bike the dropper is always too short in travel. It's weird because me, barely fitting a medium sized frame, can definitely handle more. Imagine those taller than me

[brycesphone]

I feel like over biking is something to think about, as it is a pretty common problem for my HS cross country team

[stanley]

If its "lifetime" bike, things like pedals, tyres or groupset are not most important - we will change these sooner or later
Better focus on frame, fork, wheelset... Components, which replace will be more difficult of impossible (like decision to have suspension at rear or not)
But biggest regret is pick wrong colour!

[David-bwis]

Bike size for me, 5' 6", 30" legs and every bike is too large 😀I'm riding a Small Intense MTB and I have barely an inch clearance between the top tube and my delicate bits. 🙂