Q: How much to start mountain biking? A: £605.00

It strikes me as a little dangerous to imply to an absolute beginner they could ride up (and down) helvellyn armed with nothing more than a bike and helmet.

I’m not a fan of this bike price snobbery trend. GCN keep doing it with the Eurobike vs super bike which makes me cringe. My first bike was a £10 cast off from the neighbours and it was as much fun as current bikes that cost 100’s of times more.

Not many people are going to try and tackle Helvellyn full stop so hardly a benchmark.

@Sam_Forward that wasn't the intention, I've edited to clarify.

I started with a bike and a helmet about 27 years ago and I’m still here to tell the tale.

I was riding a Trek 930 with V Brakes and some Rockshox forks (can’t remember the model but they were silver).

I’m all for people getting a bike and a helmet and getting out there and riding.

+1 on we get so focussed on kit, not on the ride.

Gloves. I know not everyone rides with them, but for any beginner they should surely at least be on the 'other stuff' list? Saving one's palms from the inevitable early spills, as well as preventing blisters on hands unaccustomed to gripping handlebars for several hours at a time.

It’s exactly how I started out, a 26” Carrera Vulcan from halfords, (which was the go to beginners bike ) a cheap helmet and pair of muddy fox cycling shirts worn under normal shorts. Rode natural trails and didn’t die.

Looking back I wasn’t missing out as everyone rode similar kit.

My favourite bike is my £500 Go Outdoors fatbike. You don't need to spend loads*
.
.
.
*second favourite is ebike at £5k 😂😳

@andyspaceman I’m with you on gloves. Benji rides without gloves. Every time I do that something bad happens, so I wear gloves.

I am a very keen cyclist (3 or 4 rides per week all year round) and my bike would cost around £800 to put together and it is my only bike. Of course it can be done, just that people are gullible, fall for marketing, unable to make their own decisions, peer pressure etc,. etc,.

I am a very keen cyclist (3 or 4 rides per week all year round) and my bike would cost around £800 to put together

Edit, don’t you ride a rigid, brakeless, fixie?

Of course it can be done, just that people are gullible, fall for marketing, unable to make their own decisions, peer pressure etc,. etc,.

It's not as simple as that though really. I started on a relatively cheap bike and a £20 Halfords helmet.

But then you realise that actually, fiveten freeriders are much better than whatever crappy old trainers you might have. Some endura Humvees are better than some old shorts from Next. A waterproof, well-laid out hydration pack is better than that free rucksack that's been lying around the house for 20 years. A Giro helmet fits better etc etc'.

Doesn't mean everyone needs a 5 grand bike, but spending on a few sensible items makes the whole experience a bit more pleasurable.

we get so focussed on kit, not on the ride.

My first bike cost £300 and I didn't have a helmet*
Rode Snowdon like that and didn't die.
*Helmets just weren't a thing back then and bikes were a curiosity on Snowdon.

Edit, don’t you ride a rigid, brakeless, fixie?

Nope, not since August 2021. The most recent MTB I had (2019) actually cost £400 used (was £1000 new) and it was great.

Doesn’t mean everyone needs a 5 grand bike, but spending on a few sensible items makes the whole experience a bit more pleasurable.

Yeah. It took me far too long to realise that the right clothing makes rides way more enjoyable. Compared to having XTR written on your rear derailleur, it's miles better value!

Good article!

Even good clothing doesn't have to break the bank tho

Places like freewheel often have great sales on clothing

Decathlon also offers some good stuff at decent prices

Totally agree and a great idea for a article. So much more ineteresting then here is the latest overpriced and over marketed object. I stopped reading bikepacking.com due to the hilarious and insane cost of everything they reviewed or discussed - it just felt obscene.

The bike I've done the most miles on over the last couple of years (thousands) is a second hand Arkose which cost me £800 (£400 for the bike and £400 on upgrades).

My road bike was an experiment in how much I could build up (new and secondhand) for a budget of £500. Ended up with a really nice ride weighing 8kg. Its only got Sora which is a pain tbh but thats genuinely the only downside.

My MTB is a secondhand Dialled Alpine from before Jesus was born - though to be fair I am replacing  that this year! (my 15 year old daughter has a better mtb than I do!)

I'm in the happy position of being able to spend on bikes but I generally choose not to and tbh its pretty easy these days to get a cheap good set up, easier than its ever been I reckon.

It may be a great bike but it's a shame it comes from Halfords. They are "box shifters" who detract from businesses who are real specialists. They offer poor advice on bikes, car seats and car parts in my experience. While they will have good staff members, the company as a whole seems not to have invested in training or even care about offering good service.

I guess the obvious follow up article is to test the "used bikes are better value" mantra, i.e. Take that same £605 and throw it at used bikes/parts and see if a better bike can be obtained for the same or less spend, this is what lots of people do for their second or third MTB ond so on. Those noobs that get hooked are going to start thinking about their next bike eventually. If £600 gets you started, what do you do next? Could you do the same with half the amount of money? Is exponentially more and more spending inevitable or can you not get more 'serious' without flogging a kidney?

The obvious benchmark for value and function being the Voodoo you've just bought for this piece, and then the next inevitable question looms, would the money be better spent on upgrades?

But then you realise that actually, fiveten freeriders are much better than whatever crappy old trainers you might have. Some endura Humvees are better than some old shorts from Next. A waterproof, well-laid out hydration pack is better than that free rucksack that’s been lying around the house for 20 years. A Giro helmet fits better etc etc’.

Doesn’t mean everyone needs a 5 grand bike, but spending on a few sensible items makes the whole experience a bit more pleasurable.

That's also probably an article waiting to be written, what kit/accessories genuinely makes a difference during 'year one' (maybe on into year two?) of a noobs MTB experience, what is the realistic cost, and what is a more worthwhile use of limited funds, what is a potentially frivolous waste?

You might as well set out to write a series of these now, based around the fictitious experiences of imagined noobs (both male and female)...

For those keen on more of this sort of thing:

We've already done 'How to buy a second hand mountain bike': https://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/how-to-buy-a-second-hand-mountain-bike/

And we did a 'best upgrades' a while back too: https://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/our-teams-top-5-upgrades-for-your-new-bike/

And it's a sponsored piece, so all the products are from Freewheel, but the advice on the bits of kit to consider buying and why is still sound: https://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/kit-guide-for-new-riders-how-to-have-safer-happier-bike-rides/

It may be a great bike but it’s a shame it comes from Halfords. They are “box shifters” who detract from businesses who are real specialists.

Yep. Halfords are doing as much to kill the LBS as the internet.

Aren’t Halfords a local bike shop?

Halfords is one of our better local bike shops. There's a motor factors that expanded into bikes and repairs a few years ago which is decent too, but after that you've got a traditional bike shop with opening times entirely at the whim of the owner, who's standard response to even the most basic spares is, 'I'll get it from the wholesalers on Thursday'. Oh yes and there's also...

Dave Hinde. 😱

The lads in Halfords are quite helpful and interested.

Yep - my local halfords guys are really nice and have helped me several times by lending me a tool or finding a small part for me.

by contrast my two nearest LBSs couldn't give a toss unless you are after an eBike.

Aren’t Halfords a local bike shop?

+1

Brand snobbery (of the bike shop kind). When Tesco wanted to open a mini market next to the local coop half the town was up in arms as it was 'Tesco'. Apparently Sainsbury, Londis, Coop are absolutely fine, but Tesco selling the exact same stuff in the exact same way, at near enough the same prices is killing the high street.

I've bought loads from our local Halford bike shop - excellent service.

Gloves. I know not everyone rides with them, but for any beginner they should surely at least be on the ‘other stuff’ list? Saving one’s palms from the inevitable early spills,

I've warn gloves ever since the local shop got a number of phonecalls asking if the paper boy (me) was okay.

I like to think it was the guardian readers and that all the telegraph/mail readers just filed it under a good honest days graft for a tenner a week

People that are new to biking (calling them Noobs isn’t very inclusive and inviting if they’re reading this and makes us seem a bit dickish) are probably better off buying a decent new budget bike that going second hand as there are lots of people selling truly trashed bikes for too much money.

It’s a complete minefield if you don’t know what you’re looking at (Once you end up replacing the trashed drivetrain, servicing the forks, changing the brake pads, maybe getting an LBS to service the whole thing for you as you don’t know much about the above) your £850 FB marketplace/eBay bargain is looking rather expensive.

If they buy something half decent like the Voodoo a or Calibre etc then they can try the sport out and upgrade or replace from there.

Like it or not Halfords, Decathalon and Go Outdoors are gateways into the sport and to think otherwise is just snobbery.

Aren’t Halfords a local bike shop?

Only if you equate Tesco or Sainsburys to your local corner shop.

I agree with the comments about the media telling you what you need to promote business.
Not sure why I need to make these additional purchases. Is this just marketing?
What is wrong with bib shorts. Why do I need to wear mountain bike shorts over the top?
Why are there no rear pockets on mountain bike tops? Is this just to make sure I buy a biking backpack?

Liner shorts

Nah!

Been mountain biking for 37 years I think and only ever owned one pair of liner shorts, which I used about 5 times

Horrid things.

PS, can I come up Helvelyn with you on the test? Sounds like fun if you can find me another Voodoo 🙂

It may be a great bike but it’s a shame it comes from Halfords. They are “box shifters” who detract from businesses who are real specialists. They offer poor advice on bikes, car seats and car parts in my experience. While they will have good staff members, the company as a whole seems not to have invested in training or even care about offering good service.

Just not true I'm afraid.

In the 2 years I worked for Halfords, I did a 1 day PDI course before which I wasn't allowed to build bikes, a 2 day ebike repair course (never intended to be in depth, but just cover the basics) and a Technician course which was much better than either the Cytech 3 or Velotech Platinum Plus which I also have. Customer service was hammered in to us every day. We were told that we couldn't compete with online retailers on price so we had to do it on service. Customer complaints were taken very seriously - visits from the area manager, making good with the customer, retraining etc.
Of the 5 of us who worked in the Bikehut, all were regular riders MTBers, Roadies, BMXers, Tourers. Halfords really tried to recruit enthusiastic cyclists to work in the Bikehut. The problems came when they didn't have enough staff and someone from the Auto /leisure department had to cover.

Glad to see support for Halfords. I’ve never really used them until on holiday some cup and cone bearings loosened and I didn’t have the correct spanners.

Halfords sorted my out really cheaply and while I waited

They clearly are a shop and if they are nearby they are local

Everyone is free to use them or not. But they are far less of a distortion of the market than say Canyon or Planet X. Although hands up I own a canyon, although it was in lock down one and I was on course to test ride and buy a Trek before everything shut down

It's fine to tell people to use their LBS. BUT... take a wander into your LBS tomorrow morning (you'd not have been able to go today as LBS are almost all shut at the times most working people are able to go and shop, such as after 5.30pm in the week or on Sundays) and see what bikes they have, and report back here with the price on their cheapest available bike in a size L (or 58 or 19" as depends on their sizing descriptor) that could safely go up and down Helvellyn. Not medium (we're not selling a noobie a bike that doesn't actually fit are we ?) Not an extra small as the noobie in question isn't a Diddy Man from Knotty Ash.

I just looked at the web site for 18 Bikes (local for me) and... well your noobie is certainly not getting anything in stock their for £605, even without the helmet).

I'm absolutely not a fan of Halfords, and do try to avoid as best I can.
But for a noobie, I see the appeal- you can go and poke around their Web site 1st to get a feel for £££, and are open on a Sunday to go shopping when not at work or collecting the kids from school and making their tea.
And many noobies are not I'd guess looking to drop a four figure sum on something they don't know if they'll like or not.

2nd hand if a noobie with no mtb knowledge is a complete minefield even with a STW guide ! How do you know it's not twisted, has hidden / concealed crack, or nicked. (You're a noobie remember- you've not got the experience of seeing 7 different mates Crackandfails broken at the bottom bracket yet). New, even Halfords new, gives a warranty and a half chance of being able to hold them to it.

All you folks banging on about using (or losing LBS): how many are riding British built bikes (made, not just badged up), or drive British built cars made with British made steel ? Not many I bet. So what's different about the LBS to all the other local British industries that most have evidently not supported?

from before Jesus was born – though to be fair I am replacing that this year!

Read it here first. The Second Coming is due in 2022. Christ on a bike!!!

Of course it can be done, just that people are gullible, fall for marketing, unable to make their own decisions, peer pressure etc,. etc,.

Why does this need to be so judgmental? People like nice stuff.

What is wrong with bib shorts. Why do I need to wear mountain bike shorts over the top?
Why are there no rear pockets on mountain bike tops? Is this just to make sure I buy a biking backpack?

Nothing and you don't. I have worn just lycra shorts for 30 years when cycling and many different types of bike.
MTB tops are loos and rear pockets would flap about all other the place if you put say a phone in them so as above I have also worn road type tops on many different types of bikes.

Why does this need to be so judgmental? People like nice stuff.

Not judgemental, just a comment on why many people may think you have to have the nice stuff before you can ride a bike. Of course people like nice stuff, this thread is about not needing nice stuff to start riding bikes.

Only if you equate Tesco or Sainsburys to your local corner shop.

Tesco are my local corner shop. Best thing to happen to our village. Saved the Post Office, and ensured that the half a dozen shop units put up next to it were finally full after 20 years. They've even built two more.

I started with a fully rigid steel Saracen from Halfords, (late 80’s) the shop was a lot less daunting than a bike shop. Customer service was excellent too, when the paint started peeling off, the whole frame was replaced and upgraded to the next year’s model so I had two chromoly tubes! I later got a complete new drivetrain after a Shimano recall - Halfords recorded frame numbers, which not all bike shops do. I did most of the Peak District routes on it, usually from home and upgraded when there were good prices from Merlin etc in the bike mags. Lasted me for years, including the commute. 1.95 Smoke tyres in summer, 1.75 in winter, home made multitool!
Replaced with a Gringo in 1990 for my 40th, the frame is still part of my only mountain bike, still gets hammered and hopefully up Helvellyn in November.
I guess my point is that it doesn’t cost too much to start mountain biking and doesn’t have to cost a fortune to carry on!
Gloves though, after a helmet, essential. Not sure about knee pads though - never worn them.

It strikes me as a little dangerous to imply to an absolute beginner they could ride up (and down) helvellyn armed with nothing more than a bike and helmet.

My first MTB (back in the mid 90's) was a Saracen Sahara Elite (the Elite meant it had an "upgrade" over the standard Sahara of a set of MaxShox suspension forks with a whole 1" of undamped elastomer travel...)

I took that on rides all round the Lake District - on family holidays up there, I'd get up at 7am and be out on the hills for 3hrs, returning just as the rest of the family were getting up and deciding what to do.
No mobile, no GPS, precious few tools, one water bottle... And yes, I was an absolute beginner.

The one nod to safety was that I would leave a route description on the table and generally stick to what I'd written (bar genuinely getting lost!) so if I wasn't back my Mum could at least phone Mountain Rescue and say "he said he'd be heading over here".

Admittedly, I look back on that now and my rides aged 16/17 and wonder how the hell I survived going around Lonscale Fell and Skiddaw but basically it was just me and a helmet out in the wilds!

@boriselbrus, you've hit the nail on the head

The problems came when they didn’t have enough staff and someone from the Auto /leisure department had to cover.

And that's exactly how the poor service happens. It's a business level issue. I have no doubt they have great individuals working for them. But if you want to give good service you need to have correctly trained people available all the time. I'm not just talking about bikes here either. I've known them give bad advice on car seats and car parts too.
Sounds like they do the right things to be an excellent bike shop, but they've spread themselves a bit too thinly. They are one shop when really they could be 3 separate ones or more.

I never understood the Halfords Hate.

As a former Halfords employee, I can say that (at least in our branch) the BikeHut tends to be staffed by enthusiasts. We all rode bikes, talked bikes, spent money on bikes, and chatted bikes to anybody who would listen. We'd always try to sell people the right bike for the application. The same can be said for a few other bike dispensaries, Like Decathlon and Go Outdoors.

The current Voodoo, Carrera, Caliber and Rockrider bikes are pretty good value bikes, and the staff seemed to care. I just bought my lad a Two3 Caliber and it is amazing value.

I just hope that the service offered in my bike shop is as good. I will always struggle with the instant availability of "new bike" stock against the bigger stores, but I always try to have the "needed" items in stock, and we have shifted our hours to suit the average working hours. I know my market, and if they want to call in with their Halfords bike for a repair, spare or upgrade, I will happily work on it and advise all day long. And when they decide that this bike thing is awesome, I'll advise them on a great bike to move up to. You have to start somewhere, and like me, my riding buddies and the lad, nobody starts anything new by going all in at a £1K.

Here here

I think the point about the local bike shop is: support the shop because it supports the scene. The better LBSs put on races, fix adaptive gear, loan tools, run a bike drive for kids who can't afford them at Xmas, handle special orders with appreciation, show up at a meeting about access and build trails. That stuff can be hard for a Halfords to develop because much of it takes trust, local knowledge and long-term commitment, something you commonly find in a good LBS owner or manager. If your LBS isn't doing these (and other) customer service and bike community building activities take your business to one that does. I will plug Happy Days in Sowerby Bridge because some of you all may be tempted to enjoy the fabulous riding of Calderfornia.

I think you are living in an LBS dreamworld. I only know of one LBS that does any of that stuff. The others are staffed with people who know less about bike related things than I do so going to a shop and having to explain things to them is something I gave up on 20 years ago with Internet sales options gowing.

One of my (CIC) LBS owners tells his less well off customers, who just want to get their bike running safely, to ‘* off to Halfords, I sell pedals worth more than your * bike’.

All the stuff you mention @fazure, it’s all expensive, and that’s what putting off new customers from LBS, to Halfords. Why would they spend ~1k on a bike in a bike shop, when they could spend £600 in Halfords for, what to them is the same bike. They don’t care about trail advocacy, getting kids on bikes, the local race scene, they just want a bike, and if Halfords seem to offer better value at the outset, that’s where they’ll go.

Another LBS I know tried to do what you mention. They’re no longer in business.

I think the point about the local bike shop is: support the shop because it supports the scene. The better LBSs put on races, fix adaptive gear, loan tools, run a bike drive for kids who can’t afford them at Xmas, handle special orders with appreciation, show up at a meeting about access and build trails.

I’m sure that would be the case in an ideal world.
The reality that I’ve seen is far from it.
I’ve never had, or known of, an LBS who put on races, support kids schemes, loan tools or have anything to do with trail building.

All the stuff you mention @fazure, it’s all expensive, and that’s what putting off new customers from LBS, to Halfords. Why would they spend ~1k on a bike in a bike shop, when they could spend £600 in Halfords for, what to them is the same bike. They don’t care about trail advocacy, getting kids on bikes, the local race scene, they just want a bike, and if Halfords seem to offer better value at the outset, that’s where they’ll go.

This ^^.

It's only later, once you're properly into MTBing and reading about issues such as trail access that you begin to think "oh yes, I should support [local advocacy group]"

When Halfords started selling Boardman bikes, they suddenly started turning up in large numbers at corporate events - the big charity Sportives, London Triathlon and so on. The main driver was CEO-types giving their PA £5000 and telling them to go and buy them a bike for [event] and the PA going "where sells bikes - oh yes, Halfords". Literally the only bike shop they knew.

I’ve never had, or known of, an LBS who put on races, support kids schemes, loan tools or have anything to do with trail building.

Mine sponsors the local cycle club. I know of quite a few that do that, it's a guaranteed source of revenue if you offer 10% off to club members and there's a decent sized club most of who will be riding decent bikes and will want to look after them, upgrade them and so on.

I never understood the Halfords Hate.

As a former Halfords employee, I can say that (at least in our branch) the BikeHut tends to be staffed by enthusiasts. We all rode bikes, talked bikes, spent money on bikes, and chatted bikes to anybody who would listen. We’d always try to sell people the right bike for the application. The same can be said for a few other bike dispensaries, Like Decathlon and Go Outdoors.

The current Voodoo, Carrera, Caliber and Rockrider bikes are pretty good value bikes, and the staff seemed to care. I just bought my lad a Two3 Caliber and it is amazing value.

I just hope that the service offered in my bike shop is as good. I will always struggle with the instant availability of “new bike” stock against the bigger stores, but I always try to have the “needed” items in stock, and we have shifted our hours to suit the average working hours. I know my market, and if they want to call in with their Halfords bike for a repair, spare or upgrade, I will happily work on it and advise all day long. And when they decide that this bike thing is awesome, I’ll advise them on a great bike to move up to. You have to start somewhere, and like me, my riding buddies and the lad, nobody starts anything new by going all in at a £1K.

Good post.

This bit is interesting/depressing though....as someone with access to trade prices it was still better for you to buy through Go Outdoors than your own shop/business?

It strikes me as a little dangerous to imply to an absolute beginner they could ride up (and down) helvellyn armed with nothing more than a bike and helmet.

Change Helvellyn to Sugar Loaf and that's exactly what i did. Not only that it was stupidly hot (in wales, who'd have thought) I didn't have enough water and I didn't have a map, as it quote "looked like a easy to follow loop"

Anyway, like a lot of long time MTBers, as I've got more experienced and as my finances allow, I've bought nicer, more longer lasting and more expensive stuff, very few bits of it are very high end XTR or XX1 level, but still; my "nice bike" is pretty nice.  I don't particularly feel the need to apologise, or feel bad about it. I think very few people think you need to spend £1000's on a bike to start off MTB, I think that's just a badly loaded internet argument

It's absolutely that right thing for STW to promote how cost effect entry to an otherwise expensive sport can be, they've done lots of great articles previously about it as well. But there's also no reason why they also can't run a article about titanium e-wings cranks. It's no different to all us pressing our noses against the glass cabinet of "Shiny Things" in the shop.

Global Supply issues I'm afraid. I'd rather he had a bike all summer and got out and rode. Unfortunately as an Independent LBS I don't have the buying power, or storage space, which is why I/We have to focus on more specialist parts and components and repairs. Hence we become expensive stores that are scary to new riders. He can have one from the store when he is definitely a keen rider.

Just read the "other stuff" list again and noticed the dropper post on it! Everything else you can pick up very cheaply in the centre aisles at Aldi or Lidl. But a dropper post is expensive and although I have never messed with mine (had no reason to) I imagine that they are a bugger to install and that's if your bike is already compatible. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't buy a bike now without one, but as an immediate upgrade for a newbie, probably not.

Also while the bike maybe capable of doing Helvellyn I very much doubt a newbie's legs would be. Perhaps a few months (at least) riding local low level trails might by an idea before tackling a big ride out in the lakes at which point adding maps, Garmin device, first aid kit, etc to your other stuff kit list might be an idea.

Loan tools? To take away? My LBS won’t even lend an Allen key to use on the spot. They’ll happily book you into the workshop though. In three weeks.

I bought my first MTB from Halfords in the early ‘90’s. A steel framed Saracen of some sort. Kind of grey/green. Went back the following month and bought another for my wife.