Roadie starting MTB – advice

Riding
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Following on from my other thread, I’ve been thinking about dabbling towards MTB.

Context:

  • I’ve got a 5‑year‑old who’s just getting into riding, and I’d like us both to explore off‑road together.

  • We’ll start with easy paths and progress as his skills grow, but I’m not aiming for anything intense just yet.

  • I’m also curious whether I can use MTB as a way to improve my bike handling and do some form of training away from traffic when I’ve had enough of the road.

What I’m looking for:

  • One mountain bike that’s versatile and fun.

  • I care more about getting the right type of bike than obsessing over every component detail.

  • I’ve already spent way too much on my road bikes and don’t want to go down the same rabbit hole here – I’d like to keep things simple and sensible.

Questions:

  • What should I be looking for and how do I avoid marketed products? I think I’m after a modern hardtail, but most brands appear to selling full-suspensions.

  • Are there any obvious “don’t do this” choices I should avoid for a first MTB in this situation?

  • Any high‑level guidance on how to keep this purchase sensible and simple, without ending up massively over‑biked or overspending?

Keen to hear from people who’ve come from the road side and use MTB for both fun and a bit of skills/fitness work.

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Where do you live? Location plays a big role in the right bike.

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Southern Highlands, NSW Australia

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Answer a) just go buy this: Polygon Siskiu T0 - Mountain Bike

Answer b) that includes more rabbit hole: the roadie in you will probably be more confortable on an “XC” type bike, light and good at climbing, and a modern one will handle downhills perfectly well enough for your lack of ability - you won’t need Enduro levels of suspension travel or floppy head tube angles.

In either case I would 100% get a full suspension bike with a dropper seat post.

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Pretty much agree. Any full suspension downcountry bike would fit the bill. The light weight means it doesn’t feel totally alien, coming from the road and they are extremely versatile and capable, so won’t hold you back as your off-road skills improve.

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Agree with above on the full suspension, assuming you have the budget for it. I don’t knows the terrain where you live but based on your description I would get a full suspension with around 120mm of travel. These bikes are so good nowadays, that they are faster than hardtails in almost every scenario including uphill.

Other general advice for buying an MTB:

-Aluminum is plenty good for most people. Because the suspension handles most of the dampening you don’t get as most by going carbon as you do on the road. Better to spend that money on wheel upgrades

-If buying second hand the geometry and technology has come a long way in a short time. A mid tier bike today is as good if not better than a top tier bike from day 5 years ago.

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Beyond what bike to buy:

Get knee pads. Lots of options, but I would start with trying on whatever your LBS stocks because comfort is key. Don’t need anything super burly, but you’re gonna do some falling when you first start out. The best knee pads are the ones you won’t hate wearing.

Start on flat pedals. Makes it way easier to disconnect from the bike and get a foot down quickly when you are first learning. There are lots of preferences here long-term, some will say riding flats teaches you “the right” way to do certain moves like wheel lifts, while others will say that doesn’t matter if you’re always going to ride clipped in. A fair debate, but secondary to just basic safety as you start riding trails, and you can decide later whether to run them all the time, go to clipless, or a mix depending on terrain/weather/etc.

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As an alternative to the “full squish and kneepads” perspective: I’m in a similar spot as you in that I got (back) into MTB because my son is really into biking and it made sense to me to get him into MTB over road at his age (7 at the time, he’s 9 now), and I wanted to able to ride with him.

For the type of stuff we do together, a hard tail is fine, and honestly is likely better for getting my riding technique back. When I go out on my own, the roadie in me wants to pedal. So that means flatter, flowier xc type trails. I don’t seek out gnarly tech or ride uphill for the sole purpose of going down. I guess you have to ask yourself what kind of riding appeals to you.

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In a pretty similar position to you a few years ago I went for a hardtail . This was having come into road biking from MTB so I had a good sense of what I wanted to ride and I knew I didn’t want the hassle/expense of full suspension.

I had a budget in mind when I started and realised that by avoiding full sus I could afford to get a decent bike for the youngun, as well as a shotgun seat and a tow-whee. All of those have been some of the best money I’ve ever spent (and I am now getting even more value from kid #2)

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In my opinion the just released Giant Stance is an interesting bike if you are looking for something at a lower price. In general I would say the most important part equipment wise is a dropper seatpost.

As for improving your skills, I find pumptracks ideal to spend time on bikes together with my kid. Both of us can ride at our own speed and skill level, yet spend time together. If you have a pumptrack near you, give it a try. I ended up buying a second hand cruiser (24“ BMX) which sell at really low prices.

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I’m your inverse (MTBer that got into road biking).

First, I would recommend a hardtail over full suspension. Hardtails are bulletproof, there’s way less maintenance, you’ll typically get better components for your budget, and at this point in your progression it will do everything a full suspension will and then some. If you and your son end up loving mountain biking and you have a sense of what kind of trails you enjoy, you can “upgrade” to a full squish that’s designed for those trails and keep the hardtail as part of your quiver, loan it to friends, convert it to singlespeed, try bikepacking, the list goes on. If you decide it’s not for you, a hardtail will retain its value much better on the secondhand market.

If your trails are mellow and/or you’re a masochist, You can find some fully rigid bikes, but otherwise look for something around 100-130mm. Any longer than around 140 and the geometry gets weird as it goes through its travel, any shorter is a gravel fork. Most of the component brands will be familiar to you and even the lowest tier drivetrain and brakes from any recognizable company are pretty damn good nowadays. The only component that’ll be really new to you is a dropper post. Get one! Do not be tempted to go rigid! If you’re looking at OEM parts on an existing bike, unless it’s an old hydraulic SRAM dropper, most any dropper on a bike from a reputable company will be fine for now. If you’re upgrading a rigid post, OneUp makes one of the best and they’re one of the most affordable too. Steel or aluminum will save you a ton of money and the weight penalty is less important off road. Your tires will play a huge role in how the bike rides. Ask your LBS and look at what others are riding on your locals to figure out what tread pattern, casing and size would be best for you.

As someone above said, get knee pads. You don’t need anything too armored, just a simple sleeve with a thin pad that you’re comfortable wearing while pedaling. Glasses are a must too, branches come out of nowhere and treaded tires kick up rocks. Use your road glasses if they work or just go to the hardware store and get some cheap clear ones, but protect your eyes.

Last tip, leave the tech at home or keep it out of eyesight. I’m not saying don’t track your ride, especially if that’s how loved ones know where you are, but the draw of mountain biking is being immersed in nature and nothing your bike computer can tell you is urgent or even useful in the moment. If you’re using it for navigation, you’ll have better luck stopping and looking at the map than relying on turn by turn guidance, which has always been pretty poor off road in my experience.

Most important, have fun!

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Pump tracks are amazing if your community has them! Great spot to work on handling skills, I don’t have to stress about where my kid is and we can both have fun and progress at our own levels in the same place

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I’m a roadie who has gotten into MTB at the tender age of 34; I’m about 6 months into my journey (riding 1-2x a week on the MTB for 2-3 hours per ride) so may be able to share some thoughts. Obviously I haven’t ridden tons of different mountain bikes so I don’t have that perspective, but I do know what it is like to be new.

  1. You’re going to fall a lot and you should assume that eventually you’ll actually hurt yourself; there’s no getting away from this. I’ve dislocated my shoulder thus far but I just accept that it’s the price of learning. The knee pad advice is solid, but also have some kit that you don’t mind crashing a bunch in. If you’re not cool with this don’t bother.

  2. Get a full suspension bike (I also tried a hardtail while I was on holiday, and the difference was night and day). As a roadie, I came to MTB with no experience of moving my weight around on the bike, and having that rear suspension bailed me out a bit in terms of learning to get my rear wheel up onto ledges/rocks/etc. Becoming a more skillful rider has helped a bunch but letting the bike do some of the work for you when all you’ve got is W/kg smooths out the learning curve.

  3. 6 months in I don’t feel like I’m at the point where the MTB has significantly improved my road riding skills, mostly because they still feel so different that it’s hard to really see the crossover.

  4. Forget about fitness on the MTB for a while. Spend your time sessioning features so you get better and learn to face your demons, which is totally foreign to the roadie experience.

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Your points aren’t wrong, but I still disagree and would say to get a full-sus. Reason being if you’re committed enough to drop likely a few thousand on a new hobby, you may as well start with a decent base, rather than find out that a hard tail isn’t what you want. As the next poster said, the rear suspension definitely helps e.g. when hitting technical sections, jumping, with traction uphill, etc. You can just smack those features without being battered.

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Bump for knee pads. I took what I thought was a relatively tame fall and I’m 15 days out still with a giant swollen knee from a joint effusion, my season my be ruined :frowning: . “Easy day on a trail I’ve done 100 times, I’ll be fine, I don’t need to wear my pads today” until one little slip up- went wide to avoid a rut , some branches caught my bars and I got thrown down the “easy” trail and busted my exposed on knee on some exposed rocks. I’m very lucky it wasn’t worse. I learned my lesson- pads every time on the MTB from now on. I know it seems like overkill until suddenly it isn’t.

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I’m a longtime road/track person who started dabbling in MTB about 15 years ago. Two kids, 2 and 5. I’ve had 2 hardtails and 2 full sus bikes. My vote is for a capable/slightly slack hard tail, it should serve you well for several years if it’s not your main mode of riding. Tire choice and pressure can make a huge difference in ride capability & comfort, with a minimum of $. Honestly if you have more suspension than your child, it’s going to be harder to gauge what works for them (learned the hard way).

I also want to put in a counter-intuitive plug for “good” flat pedals w/ pins and stuff-soled flat MTB shoes. I started using them to rehab an ankle injury, but they really open up the rock gardens & logs I’m willing to try. Driving to trails, hopping off to help a kid, etc. are all just smoother. I know a few enduro coaches - former natl champs - who ride flats exclusively now. They don’t compete but they ride at a very high level still; if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me. I still use clipless for big rides and weekends trips where I’m focused on my own riding, but flat pedals the rest of the time.

We don’t talk about this enough, but maintenance for a full sus is nuts – $600+ for chain, cassette, and two suspension services. Put that money into a couple of mountain bike skills coaching or clinic days, and you’ll get infinity rewards in skills.

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Skills – one of the biggest ones is knowing where to look. You don’t want to hit that rock right in front of you, but as with road, if you don’t look far enough ahead your lines will be terrible. In big banked corners you can be looking over your shoulder to spot the exit.
Agree on coaching if it is available. Starting with good habits is a lot easier than breaking bad ones.

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Don’t get too carried away about a first MTB. If it was me, I’d buy a reasonable used hardtail, and worry about refinements later (or never). If you’re planning on doing lots of technical riding (and crashing) using flat pedals with big sharp pins knee pads may be worth it, otherwise they’re unnecessary.

Full sus is more comfy on long rides, but is heavier, more expensive, will have lower quality parts for any given price, and there’s more to go wrong, wear out, maintain, and become obsolete.

Realistically, any half-decent bike will do the job at first, and if you get ambitious you can sell it and buy something more focussed later.

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Full roadie who got a MTB here. Started on a hard tail…then realizing I was just destroying myself (on relatively mild terrain here - Long Island, NY) and upgraded to full suspension. XC bike, and not a down country one — relatively upright head tube (69 degrees) and 110mm of suspension both front and rear — does the trick for me. Clipless pedals because of course—can you imagine a roadie riding flats?!

I do agree that your terrain and anticipated use should drive all of this, but if you’re like me and plan to basically a MTB the way you ride road (focus on speed and power versus say descending and highly technical terrain), then it may make sense to follow my path (probably the key learning being: don’t start with a hard tail, lol).

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Lots of good advice here.

My $0.02: Think about your real goals. In your “I’m tired” post you talked about wanting to get away from a performance focus, to try something new, to explore the MTB and gravel riding in your area, and spend time with your kids.

To me that sounds like a basic(used?) hardtail. It’ll handle anything your 5-year-old can ride. :slight_smile: With a couple of tweaks it’s a fine starter gravel bike. It’ll get you out doing something that feels different in a whole new set of places.

Full-suspension bikes are great fun. If you were going all-in on mountain biking that’d be my choice. But from what you’ve said I’m not sure that’s where you are right now.

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