How To Know It’s Time To Buy a New Mountain Bike

Bodies and bikes change over time.  You might love your old ride, but chances are, you've changed from when you first got it, and newer rides are going to have some big improvements that'll put a huge smile on your face.

Parts Are Hard To Find or Too Expensive

Your first mountain bike will always be the one you love. You’ve caressed (you can insert just about any meme photo here :-) ) and cared for it for years, but now you discover that parts are scarce, or that the upgrades you are hoping to add are just too expensive for your brand and model. If keeping your old bike working safely is getting too expensive, it’s a good sign that it's time to buy a new mountain bike. Sure, you could swap out saddles, adjust handlebars, and fiddle with new suspension upgrades, but you'll have spent almost enough to buy a new bike by the time you’re finished tweaking your old one.

Fit

You might've been riding the wrong size bike all these years without realizing it. Maybe it was a legacy bike from a friend or family member, or you just weren't familiar with bike sizing when you bought it. A new bike is an opportunity to find a better fit. Most of us pack on a few pounds as we age (yes, we do, no matter how much you ride,) and your twenty-something bike might not be robust enough for your middle-aged self or give you the ride you crave.

Your Frame Is Damaged

If your frame is bent or dented, it makes no sense to try to spruce up your bike with new components. You can just end up damaging the rest of the bike by cramming new parts onto and old, compromised frame. Plus, many of the newer innovations in forks and suspensions, head tubes, wheels, and drive trains just won’t fit or work right with older frames.

You’ve Changed Your Riding Style

Tastes in cycling change over time, and you may find you need a new bike as you try new styles. If you used to love summer trail riding but now you want to go join the many who now go for endless miles on backcountry gravel roads, a new gravel bike is going to be right up your alley. If you started with a hardtail as a beginner but you’re ready for more, you might need a new full suspension bike.

Whatever your reasons for looking into a new mountain bike, you can find great models from Marin bikes online with us. Check the fit guides for sizing and study the features of the bikes you’re looking at or reach out to our team to get some advice from other riders.