A local bike shop

A reputable shop with a good knowledge of mountain bikes will be your most valuable resource in buying your first mountain bike. The advice of a shop manager with thirty years’ experience in the game will be a lot more valuable than an anonymous keyboard warrior’s so go and make the most of it.

The biggest advantage of buying from a shop is the ability to demo a bike before you buy it. For a small fee (compared to the price of the bike) you can take the bike out to your local trails and really get a sense of how it feels. This experience is priceless because you can never truly understand a bike from spec sheets and geometry charts alone.

Our advice would be to visit a number of shops and demo as many brands as possible within your price range – that way you can be sure you are getting the best bike for you.

Your experience with a shop won’t end after choosing your desired bike though. The shop will order in your bike, build it up for you and help you get the suspension settings correct for your weight and riding style. They will also be the first port of call for any warranty issues you might have with it. This may seem like a small issue but it’s far easier to wheel your bike into a shop than pack it in a box and send it overseas to be repaired. Check what the shop offers in the way of after care servicing that goes with a bike sale. Make the most of what is available to you and build up a relationship with them.

Want to know what to look for? Check out our buyer’s guides to downhill bikes and enduro bikes

Second hand

The cheapest way to pick up a downhill bike is second hand, but this comes with a minefield to navigate before you get your dream ride. To be honest, if your knowledge of bikes isn’t that great we’d probably avoid going down this route – you don’t want to end up getting ripped off.

Your best place to look is a bike-specific forum. Here there will be a self-policing community that is able to sniff out anyone with an offer that seems too good to be true. You can also look through a seller’s post history to see if they’ve done deals on there before with good feedback.

It cannot be stressed enough how careful you should be when trying to buy a second hand downhill bike. You should always go and see the bike in the flesh before committing any money. When you’re there give a thorough inspection for dents, cracks, rattles or anything else that might hint that it’s not up to scratch – take someone else with you if you want, there’s no harm in having a second opinion. Mountain bikes are meant to be ridden hard, so it won’t be pristine, but it should be fully functional and ready to shred (unless the advert says otherwise).

Bear in mind that when you’ve handed over the money there will be very little chance of getting it back so make sure you’re perfectly happy with it.