Mountain Bike newbie advice!

scopes15

Hi folks,

Im a bit of a roady but been mountain biking a few times and enjoyed so decided to take the plunge. I bought a 2n hand Cannondale SL3 2013 from ebay for £320. Anyone have any opinions on this bike - did I pay too much? Any good or anything I should upgrade immediantly?

Also I have roadie kit and baggy padded shorts etc - anything else that would help me ease into mountain biking?

Thanks!

miceden

You paid around half of what they (seem to) cost new so that's pretty good, but, what condition is it in?

The Trail SL is modelled after the F-series frames which is good, component wise there is nothing exciting, its all towards the lower end but its all perfectly robust & serviceable... its not a bad place from which to start.

Looking at the original spec of the bike the first thing I would spend money on is a better fork... I'd also put some clipless pedals on, and, depending on what you are going to ride I'd consider changing the tyres, rapid robs really don't do well in the mud or wet. Otherwise I wouldn't throw money at that particular bike, if you really get into mtb'ing you are going to be wanting a better bike pretty soon.

If you are going to be riding off road this time of year you will get wetter than you normally would on the road.... so warm, wind and/or waterproof clothing is important, decent set of gloves, glasses, proper winter boots are better than shoe + overshoe in my opinion. You are probably going to fall off more too, simply because its more slippery, so obviously a helmet but you may also want to invest in some knee/elbow protection.

mcnultycop

Just ride it. If something breaks fix it. If after a while you think something is holding you back or isn't comfortable change it.

bartimaeus

This ^ - apart from the tyres which I would swap out for the winter.

scopes15

Thanks,

Its in pretty good condition with the usual scraps and scuffs hear and there. I'm not really familiar with mountain bike tyres - can you recommend a decent all year round set or is it better to have summer and winter tyres?

I think I will try to ride it a fair bit with the current fork see how I go and then upgrade later on when I have the money for a new fork.

bartimaeus

There are lots of 'what tyres' threads on BikeRadar... it comes own to where you ride, the local conditions, and the type of rider you are. I'd look for some 'local' advice. But tyres can make a very big difference to any bike.

Mikey41

Ask locally for tyres, but my LBS recommended Maxxis Crossmark for the rear and Maxxis Ardent at the front. Seems to be working for me, I like them