MTB Frames
The hearth of your bike is the MTB frame. Actually every bike needs to have a frame and it doesn’t matter what type of bike your ride. Mountain Bike, Downhill, Trekking, Cross Country, Racing, …
Every bike needs a frame. And there are many things you have to take care while looking for new MTB Frames. The frames are all very different in size, optic, style, weight, stability, material, and so on … But why is it so important to get the right frame? Well you just read the answer. It is actually the hearth of your bike and you can’t become a successful sportsman without a great state of fitness. And that is why it is so important to have a good hearth.
Let’s get into more detail about MTB Frames
It is quite obvious that people in the shops will tell you that you need one of the most expensive mtb frames they offer. But is it really what you need? No in most cases it isn’t. It all depends on your type of riding. Here is a list for the most common riding styles and for what you have to look.
Downhill: Your frame will be very heavy. But this is good because this means it has a high stability and that’s exactly what you need while riding down the hills. In most cases the frame has a rear shock to absorb every shock that you will probably come across. It also will be made out of aluminium because this is the most stable material that will also give a smaller amount of weight. There are some new carbon frames made for Downhill but carbon is far too unstable. Take care that you have a mounting for mtb disc brakes.
Cross Country: This frame will be the exact opposite to the downhill frames. They have to be very very light. And I mean very light. Normal weight should be 1 kg up to a maximum of 2 kg. This depends on what you are able to spend. Of course the lightest frames are made out of carbon but in the near future there may be some titan frames. Who knows. But the carbon ones are very expensive. The cheaper option is a frame made out of aluminium again. But it is not the same stuff as the downhill frame. The aluminium will be very thin but stability is no problem while riding cross. Also you will choose a hardtail instead of a full suspension frame because of the lower weight. You probably need a mounting for mtb disc brakes to get a better braking performance.
Racing: Also a very different frame. These frames are only hardtail because the whole bike is without any suspension. Again they will be very light, even lighter than the Cross Country frames. Contrary to the above types you don’t want to have a mounting for discs. Only V-Brakes are used because they are lighter and you normally don’t need such a good performance on your brakes.
How about size of the mtb frame?
Well this depends on you and of course of your mtb frame. I will give you a short hint what size your frames have to be:
For full suspension mtb frames:
When you have a hardtail mtb frame:
For all racing and triathlon frames:
Sport-Trekking frame:
Normal trekking and travel frames:
Take care these numbers are not 100% exact.
And what is with the style and optic of my mtb frames?
This is really something that is different for everybody. And this only depends on YOU. What colours you like? What shapes your mtb frame has to have? There are thousand different mtb frames out there. Choose the one you like.