New to Mountain Biking - Sizing Help

coach22

I am a roadie who has never ridden a mountain bike. I would like to get a Hard Tail and am particularly interested in the Canyon Exceed model.

In road bikes I prefer smaller frames and ride a size Small/52 cm frame with a Top tube around 53cm. I like the smaller head-tubes and have put on a longer stem.

I have know idea how this translates to off-road sizing though.

I am 172cm tall with a 82cm inseam. In the Canyon Exceed the size small is recommended for heights 162cm-172cm and Medium 172cm - 182cm.

The canyon sizing tool is recommending a medium but I'd like to hear peoples personal feedback before I pull the trigger

crosswords

On an MTB we ride a shorter stem, and a longer top tube.

Sounds like a medium size would suit you.

Mr. Grieves

I'd get the small.

I own a medium Exceed. I'm 181 cm and ride a 56 cm road bike. I'm at the upper end of the range for the medium Exceed but am very happy with the size.

In general, for MTB, if you're between two sizes, go for the smaller. A shorter reach will give you more confidence on technical terrain, as will a lower standover.

coach22

Conflicting advice! Guess I will have to try one although tempted to stick with what the sizing tool says which is medium

Mr. Grieves

What sort of riding do you intend to do? I'd be inclined to buy something cheaper/second hand and ride a few trails before getting an expensive carbon XC bike.

The comment above about long top tube and short stem doesn't really apply to XC frames - the medium Exceed ships with a 100 mm stem.

If you're in Dublin you're welcome to swing a leg over my medium one.

coach22

I like climbing so want something fairly light. I think I would like off road climbing and exploring trails around Dublin/Wicklow and possibly get in to racing then. Just want an alternative to the road really.

You might be right about buying a cheaper one first just to mess about on. In no rush to buy so will try do some more research. Thanks for the offer to look at yours. I might get in touch closer to the time of purchase.

steamsey

coach22 wrote: »

I am a roadie who has never ridden a mountain bike.

Congratulations - admitting this is the first step to recovery

The Exceed is an XC bike - 100mm travel, Rocket Ron's etc. This generally means it's for sticking to official, well manicured trails which is probably what you want to do when starting out.

But seriously - the advice to try something cheap / 2nd hand first is bang on. Prob no need to get a full suss initially, learn on an old hardtail. If it were me, I'd be looking for a cheap old 26 inch hardtail. Then move up from there.

bikedude

You have the option also to rent a bike with biking.ie and trying a Hard Tail and a Full Suspension for sizing and check if MTB is something you would enjoy.

Ballinastoe is a nice spot with a longuer trail. Ticknock is closer.

jayjbe

My experience is to size up on an MTB bike. I ride 52/54 on road but large on my MTBs. You can go shorter stem without affecting handling too much. But needing a longer stem is going to impact handling.
Again, just my experience. All comes down to preference and ride style.