Best Mountain Bikes You Can Buy
In the past year, we’ve ridden and evaluated more than 100 of the top mountain bikes—everything from budget hardtails to do-it-all trail models to bomber downhill race bikes. We found entry-level hardtails that are truly capable for less than $900. And excellent full-suspension bikes for less than $1,500, which was unheard of just a few years ago. And of course we discovered near-magical options that cost three and four times that.
Check out five of our top picks below, or scroll deeper for longer reviews of these bikes and other high-ranking options, plus buying advice.
With the widespread adoption of dropper posts, better suspension, and geometry that favors longer front ends and tighter rear ends, it’s now possible to shred pretty hard on bikes with less travel. Bikes like the Santa Cruz Tallboy, Evil Following MB, and more recently, Giant Trance 29 have 120mm of rear travel (or less) but the slack angles (and stability) of enduro bikes.
And bikes like the Pivot Firebird give you DH travel with crisper pedaling, to create one of the most versatile long-travel bikes we’ve tried. As you’re looking for your next ride, pay as much attention to geometry as you do travel and wheel size.
If you’ve been following the trends in mountain bikes, no doubt you’ve noticed that “longer” is the most popular word going. Reaches are getting longer, which—along with increasingly slack head tube angles—also lengthens the bike’s front center and wheelbase. This additional length centers the rider between the wheels more, and makes bikes feel more stable, more secure in steep terrain, and smoother overall. Longer isn’t always better, though, and can make a bike feel less stable at slower speeds and harder to maneuver in tight terrain.
Seat tubes are also much steeper than they’ve been—as steep as 76 degrees or more. This puts most riders in a more favorable seated climbing position. But steeper seat angles also allow frame engineers to move the seat tube out of the way as they try to increase travel, decrease chainstay length, and fit bigger wheels and tires into their frames.
Our team of experienced testers spent many hours and miles using these bikes for their intended purpose, as well as pushing the bikes’ limits outside of their primary intent. We raced them, rode them on our local trails, and hit the bike park. Often we swapped tires and other components to get a better understanding of each bike. After a lot of sweaty, dirty miles, we considered the full picture weighing not just performance and handling, but also, price, comfort, value, and reliability.
The Maverick—the Santa Cruz Hightower is the same bike with a few parts differences—is a 140/150mm (rear/front) 29er that provides a stable ride with plenty of travel for comfort and control, with a decent turn of uphill performance too. This is an all-purpose mountain bike for riders who prefer the confidence that comes with longer travel but don’t want to resort to an enduro bike. Maverick builds start at $4,299, but if you want to spend less Hightower models start at $2,899.
The new Pivot Switchblade—142mm rear, 160mm front—is longer and slacker than its previous generation, but it’s also a bit taller and steeper than much of its competition. That gives this bike impressive balance. Stable at speed, but also agile and lively, and it offers top-of-its-class climbing performance too. It’s gravity friendly, but not gravity focused; a big bike that climbs really well, but still descends like a big bike. This is the bike for a rider who loves the climb as much as the shred.
The Ryve 115 fills the space between a pure XC race bike, and a trail bike. It is light (our sample weighed 24.5 pounds), shorter travel (115mm rear and 120mm front), and quick handling; Spot’s Living Link suspension offers efficient pedaling performance and a super-lively feel. It’s a super zippy bike that’s a bit more planted on the downhill than a pure race bike. It’s for the rider who wants the efficiency of an XC bike with a bit more capability.
The Aguila offers up-to-date geometry, an aluminum frame, and great parts for less than a grand. A 1x10 drivetrain is simple and secure: no front derailleur to deal with, and little chance of a dropped chain when bouncing through rough terrain. It also has Shimano hydraulic disc brakes which offer great power and a smooth feel, and a suspension fork to absorb bumps. It’s a capable off-road bike with stability first handling. This is the bike for someone looking for a capable mountain bike for less than a grand, or a durable commuter.
Full suspension bikes are great, but they’re heavier, more expensive, and more maintenance intensive than a bike without rear suspension. Salsa’s Timberjack is a trail bike for riders who prefer the simplicity and durability of a hardtail. With a 130mm fork, dropper post, and 67-degree head angle, the Timberjack is stable and capable,—this bike is ready to get rowdy.
It’s also very versatile, with swinger dropouts (420–437mm chainstay length) that let you tune the Timberjack’s handling, or set it up as a singlespeed. It also has clearance plus-size tires up to 3 inches wide (up to 2.6 in 29er) if you prefer traction and float. And if you want to get away, it has mounts for three bottles and a rear rack. This is the bike for the rider who wants trail manners with the low fuss ownership of a hardtail.
Niner’s RIP 9 RDO gets a ground-up overhaul for 2019. The biggest surprise is the 27.5-inch-wheel frame alongside the expected 29er—each version is dedicated to one wheel size. The new RIP has 140mm of rear travel with a 150mm Fox 36 fork on the front and a 10mm reduction in travel at both ends from the outgoing RIP, which helps the new version pedal more efficiently. The result is one of the finest and most well-rounded trail bikes we’ve tested. It’s responsive, yet stable, and it can handle big sends while remaining playful on the smaller stuff. We’ve seen lots of new trail bikes recently. They’re all great in their own way, but this Niner is one of the best we’ve ridden.
The all-new Tallboy—and its Juliana sibling—gets many of the features that rolled out in the Megatower and Hightower 29ers earlier this year. The new generation four Tallboy adds still more travel—120mm rear, 130mm front—with even longer and slacker geometry, but it still fills the same role in Santa Cruz’s line. As the definition of lightweight trail 29er has evolved, so has the Tallboy. Visually, the biggest change to the Tallboy 4 is the switch to a lower link-driven shock—previous Tallboy models drove the shock off the upper link. This design began with Santa Cruz’s gravity bikes and has trickled down to shorter-travel models ever since.
It also lowers the Tallboy’s center of gravity, and makes it look compact with a low-slung stance. The Tallboy has two geometry adjustments. A flip chip in the lower suspension link adjusts head angle +/- 0.2 degrees, seat angle +/- 0.3 degrees, and BB height +/- 3mm. It also has a small effect on shock rate: In the low setting it is a bit more progressive, in the high setting more linear. Put it all together and you get a bike that helps redefine what can be done with just 120mm of travel.