What are the Best Mountain Bikes under $500 in 2019?

A top quality mountain bike can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but to help you find the most outstanding mountain bike without breaking the bank, we’ve assembled a list of the best mountain bikes of 2019 for under $500.

It may seem counterintuitive, but when it comes to mountain bikes, lower price doesn’t necessarily equate to lower quality. It’s fairly common for bike manufacturers to make cheaper bikes with features that are quite similar to expensive models. If you happen to be a beginning-level rider who isn’t yet ready to jump into mountain biking with both feet, and you’re not comfortable shelling out a huge sum of money on a mountain bike, investigating the best mountain bike under 500 is a good start..

Finding a first-rate mountain bike for under $500 is no simple task and requires a considerable amount of research. To assist you in this endeavor and make sure you find a bike that not only respects your wallet, but is comfortable, safe, lightweight, reliable, and just all-around cool, we’ve composed this helpful guide to nudge you in the right direction.

After all, what could be better than a bike that is cheap, but doesn’t feel cheap?

How to Buy a Mountain Bike – Buyer’s Guide

Which Type of Mountain Bike Should I Buy?

This, is a key question but to know which mountain bike you should buy, you need to know exactly what you plan to use the bicycle for and how you intend to ride it. There are four main classifications of of mountain biking and for each type, different suspension and wheel size work best but before we get into that, let’s look at the four types of mountain biking:

cross-country riding: Here, it’s usually best to go with a hardtail suspension, while there are some good full suspension models also. Front travel typically ranges from 100-140mm and rear travel ranges from 115-130mm. 29-inch wheels are also best for cross-country riding, though 27.5-inch wheels are also acceptable.

trail riding: Full suspension is heavily recommended here, with front travel and rear travel ranges at 13-145mm and 115-130mm, respectively.

enduro/all-mountain riding: Since all-mountain riding tends to be faster and more aggressive, a full suspension is highly recommended. Front travel tends to range from 130-160mm and rear travel from 13-165mm to handle the rougher terrain. 27.5-inch wheels are the most commonly used..

freeride/downhill: Using anything but a full suspension would not be a good idea, considering the impact that bikes must endure during freeriding. Front travel is best around 200mm and rear travel

Which Type of Frame Material Should I Choose?

Another important thing to know about concerning how to choose a mountain bike is the frame. Mountain bikes are usually made of either carbon fiber, aluminum, titanium, steel, or some combination of these. Each material has its own special characteristics, so we will discuss them in turn.

• Steel: You can usually find steel frames on mountain bikes for beginners. Steel is heavy, but what it loses in terms of weight, it makes up for with its great strength.
• Aluminum: Aluminum mountain bikes are most common. They are lightweight, sturdy have comparable strength to carbon fiber, despite being much cheaper. This provides you with durability and great power transfer, but at a much more affordable price than carbon fiber.
• Titanium: Titanium is incredibly resistant to damage and very lightweight, but it is very expensive and difficult to mold and is therefore used sparingly in mountain bikes.
• Carbon Fiber: At one time, carbon fiber’s prohibitively high cost made it that it could be found only in professional-grade bikes. Though the price of this material has come down substantially, it is still somewhat expensive. For the price, it provides bikes with an excellent stiffness-to-weight ratio. However, carbon fiber is known to crack under excessive pressure, at which point it becomes dangerous to use and should be replaced.
  
  

Which Type of Suspension Should I Choose?

There are three types of suspension on mountain bikes:

• Full Suspension: This type of suspension contains a front fork and rear suspension. It can absorb a great amount of shock and abuse, making it suitable for difficult terrain. When climbing uphill, you can also lock out the suspension to save energy. A full suspension, however, makes your bicycle heavier.
• Hardtail: This contains front fork, but no rear suspension. As such, it is lighter than full suspension, easier to maintain, and especially useful for climbing. Therefore, it’s the perfect suspension for cross-country riding. However, rougher terrain will force you to have a very uncomfortable ride.
• Rigid: This term refers simply to there is no suspension at all. Maintenance of rigid suspension bikes is very simple, but without a suspension system, it is impossible for the bike to absorb bumps and shocks.

How Many Gears and Speeds Should I Have on My Mountain Bike?

Mountain bikes can run the gamut from a simple single-speed bike to one with more than 30 gears. To simplify all complexity, you only need to hold two things in mind: your personal fitness level and the character of the terrain over which you plan to go riding. Rougher, steeper, and more hilly terrain will require more gears to help you power through obstacles. If you are a strong mountain biker, however, or if you’ll be riding on flat terrain, you won’t need as many gears to help push yourself up a hill.

You should also remember it is quite easy to modify the gearing on a bike, so any decision you make here isn’t set in stone.

What Type of Brakes Do Mountain Bikes Have?

The brakes on a mountain bike divide into two distinct types: disc brakes and rim brakes. Further, disc brakes can also be subdivided into two types: hydraulic brakes and cable-activated brakes.

Disc Brakes: Disc Brakes can now be found on all but some entry-level mountain bikes. They feature brake pads that grip onto a brake rotor and so offer more consistent braking than rim brakes. Hydraulic disc brakes offer stronger braking overall and require less effort to apply. Cable-activated disc brakes need to be adjusted manually because the pads tend to wear.

Rim brakes: Rim brakes have pads that grab onto the rims of your bike’s wheels. They are cheap to maintain and easy to replace, but they have less stopping power than disc brakes and also tend to wear out the wheel rim.

Which Wheel Size Should I Have On My Mountain Bike?

• 26-inch wheels: These wheels are lightweight, strong, and effective for quickly moving around corners. On the other hand, they don’t roll very smoothly over rocky or difficult terrain. Before other wheel sizes were introduced, this size was the only option.
• 29-inch wheels: This wheel size gives you increased traction and a greater ability overcome or power through obstacles, making it well-suited for rough terrain. If you’re short, however, 29-inch wheels can make the bicycle seem quite high. Also, these wheels are heavy and can be difficult to maneuver.
• 27.5-inch wheels: This wheel size tries to balance out the respective strengths and weaknesses of 26 and 29-inch wheels. They give you great agility around corners like 26-inch wheels, and are responsive like 29-inch wheels. They don’t have quite the traction or raw ability to power through obstacles of 29-inch wheels, though.

What Size Mountain Bike Do I Need?

Choosing a mountain bike that’s the right size for you is crucial. If the bike isn’t suited to your body proportion, it can lead to discomfort at best and potential injury at worst.

Finding the right frame size is all-important. A mountain bikes measurement typically refers to the distance from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube, Each bike manufacturer will have different sizes and descriptions for each bicycle, and in some cases, the same manufacturer may issues the same or similar size descriptions for different bikes, so to absolutely confident that you’re getting the frame size you need, it’s highly recommended that you check with the manufacturer.

A good way to avoid confusion amid different manufacturers, types of bikes and frame descriptions, however, is to get a measurement of a bikes stack and its reach. The stack refers to the height of the bike measured vertically from the bottom bracket to the top of the head tube. The reach refer to the length of the bike measured horizontally from the bottom bracket to the head tube. These measurements are universally valid and can be used to compare various manufacturers and models.

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What to Know about Mountain Bikes?

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What is the Best Mountain Bike to Buy?

Now that we’ve discussed some of the best mountain bikes of 2019 for under $500, only one question remains: What is the best bike to buy?

Each of the bikes we’ve discussed provide riders with extraordinary quality in their own ways, but in a pinch, we’d recommend the Gravity FSX 1.0 Yellow. It’s simply a phenomenal bike for beginners. The brakes are exquisite and ensure a safe ride. The suspension is well-designed and offers tremendous comfort. The gear system is smooth and simple to use and the bike handles marvelously well. What’s not to like?

But there are many other other mountain bikes available and this guide is only meant to start you off on your journey in exploring all the options available. Each bike listed here would be a great choice for anyone. Before hitting the trails anywhere, you owe it to yourself to check them all out.