What Mountain Bike would you recommend for birding? (1 Viewer)

[Jefferson Shank]

I'm hoping to get a Mountain Bike in the next couple weeks because I'm not old enough to drive yet. What kind would you recommend for birding? Also any suggestions for ways of carrying gear?

 

[Mono]

A couple of question:-
What terrain are you going to be riding on? Is it just trips out on tarmac where you will then walk/sit in hides. Or will you be on off road trails or actual cross country.

How much gear? Do you have just some binoculars or do you have a scope and camera rig? Are you going for a few hours, the whole day or multiple days?

 

[leonardo_simon]

general stuff in a pannier on a bike rack (e.g. food, drink) - tripod in the pannier or strapped on with bungeees

optics (binoculars, scope) in a rucsac so less rattling-about and impact from road.

Have found binoculars round neck very uncomfortable when cycling.

Bike - I just take my bike which is a hybrid and I've had 10yrs which is what I use to go to/from work every day and bought for that purpose. Choice totally depends upon how much money you want to spend on it and the use you plan for it. If you're too young to drive presume you're probably going to go to university at some point where an expensive bike probably will get stolen. Also make sure you consider getting some really bright lights even for day use and appropriate reflective gear etc so cars see you. + a helmet.

 

[Steve Babbs]

Unless you're going to get straight into off-roading. I'd really think if a mountain bike is the correct choice. Hybrids much easier and quicker to ride on roads. Once I bought a hybrid, I quickly sold my MTB as it seemed such hard work. Mind you a road bike makes a hybrid seem hard work but not much good if you want to ride on a track. So I'd go hybrid. There's a spectrum of this broad term. I'd go at the road bike end. And budget for some puncture resistant tyres too.

 

[David_]

My recommendation is a gravel bike. Perfect hybrid between MTB and road racing bike. Will allow you to ride gravel roads and easy trails but is also far better than an MTB or even a Trekking bike when you need to cover larger distances.
The range of gravel bike is pretty wide from something like a MTB with a dropbar to roadracing bikes with clearence for wider tires. I would go something with geometry that allows for some more relaxed riding which means a bit more upright position than what you will find at the roadracing end of the gravel bike scale.
If you want to use paniers keep in mind to choose a model which is prepared to mount a rack (there are racks for bikes without dedicated rack mount options but the good ones tend to be expensive). I took another direction for luggage and sewed a custom framebag for my bike and depending on tour length I will combine it with handlebar bag and / or saddle bag (google for for „bikepacking rigs“ to get an idea).

I don‘t know where you are from and but overhere in Germany most Gravelbikes and MTB nowadays have long delivery times because of covid and increased demand. Most shops don‘t have a lot of bikes to actually test them. So choosing is hard if you don‘t have the experience to decide for bike based on reading geometry specification.

 

[Jefferson Shank]

A couple of question:-
What terrain are you going to be riding on? Is it just trips out on tarmac where you will then walk/sit in hides. Or will you be on off road trails or actual cross country.

How much gear? Do you have just some binoculars or do you have a scope and camera rig? Are you going for a few hours, the whole day or multiple days?

I'll be riding on a little bit of road before I get to the mountain and then I'll be riding on gravel roads and maybe some dirt trails.

I'll be carrying a binoculars (on a harness) and a large camera/lens setup which I think I'll carry by backpack.

 

[Jefferson Shank]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[THE_FERN]

Given what you've said sounds like a hybrid would be better. Depending where you are (States?), think carefully about price/security issues. No bike lock is 100% effective and in many large UK cities theft is a real issue. So perhaps a shabby-looking, less-than-top-of-the-range model makes sense as it'll attract less attention. I take care that mine is covered with old duct tape and its saddle has 2 layers of plastic bags (I bought it brand new) very much for this reason. [When it rains you can remove the bags and reverse their order so you sit on something dry]

 

[Jefferson Shank]

Given what you've said sounds like a hybrid would be better. Depending where you are (States?), think carefully about price/security issues. No bike lock is 100% effective and in many large UK cities theft is a real issue. So perhaps a shabby-looking, less-than-top-of-the-range model makes sense as it'll attract less attention. I take care that mine is covered with old duct tape and its saddle has 2 layers of plastic bags (I bought it brand new) very much for this reason. [When it rains you can remove the bags and reverse their order so you sit on something dry]

I live out in a rural area of southern Pennsylvania, USA. So I don't think I need to worry about theft very much.

 

[THE_FERN]

I live out in a rural area of southern Pennsylvania, USA. So I don't think I need to worry about theft very much.

Fine. But the plastic bag trick is a good idea either way

 

[leonardo_simon]

Oh and a puncture repair kit