| There are approximately sixty
million exhaustive mtb links pages out there, so I'm not
going to try and replicate them. We're only going to list sites
and companies we think make good stuff, are interesting, or
give good service. That way we can find the time to give a little
info on them too, and give special attention to UK companies,
'cos no-one understands mud like us! |
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| Site of the Week or two... |
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chainreactioncycles.com
Ideally, your LBS would have everything you needed at the
right price. But that doesn't always happen, and when you
need to look further afield Chain reaction is a great place
to go. It tries to be as close to your local shop as it can
be, whilst still having huge stock at some of the best prices
around. There's no physical staff and mechanics to talk to,
but you can call or e-mail your questions, and better still
most items are accompanied by owner reviews. Delivery is very
quick, and best of all it's free! A lot closer to the Local
Bike Shop experience than most. It's good to support your
LBS, but when they can't help, or you haven't got a good one
near you, you should check them out.
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| Bikes |
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| UK |
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| Curtis |
wonderfully made dirt and trail bikes
from the uk company with a great history |
| Pashley |
good site by Britains most versatile
bike builder. |
| Orange |
Lavish, info packed site about the
very impressive new range |
| 24seven |
very cool, simple site. fantastic
bikes. |
| Saracen |
a huge range and good value to boot,
good site |
| on-one |
cracking site with spanky singlespeeds
and other gear from the guy that was MBUK's Zak Tempest... |
| Pace |
slick and useful site and loads of
info on Yorkshire's great innovators |
| Identiti |
some very nice burly frames and other
stuff |
| Muddy
Fox |
many people's first intro to mountain
biking, still knocking out great bikes |
| Dawes |
constantly improving and offer killer
value, you'd be mad to ignore them |
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| Best
of the Rest of the World |
| Cannondale |
a fantastic site and some of the
best designed, most ridable and innovative bikes out there-
good clothing and mx bikes too |
| Ellsworth |
relatively new on the uk scene, prepare
to drool! |
| Specialized |
Great info packed site, still a great
bike maker |
| Kona |
I miss the cool Hawaiian names but
the bikes still rock, read about the 'groove centres', better
than the name suggests |
| Trek |
a mega-corporation but if they were
evil they couldn't make sweet riding terrific value bikes like
these... |
| Gary
Fisher |
One of the granddaddys. interesting
site, interesting guy |
| Klein |
once utterly exclusive, then bought
by trek and cheap-ish, now reassuringly expensive again- Kleins
have always rocked |
| Yeti |
one of the originals, with a cult
following and much less neon paint jobs these days! |
| Rocky
Mountain |
slightly up-scale but just about
affordable and so nice- if you haven't done, check them out |
| Santa
Cruz |
anoter aspirational brand- do you
really need a car..? |
| Marin |
a mainstay of the mtb scene, always
great and embraced full-sus for stuff other than DH earlier
than most |
| Turner |
expensive but worth it, cool site |
| Giant |
from bargain basement to off-the-scale,
I've always had a soft spot for Giant bikes. Don't forget to
check them out. |
| Intense |
very well reviewed, great looking
bikes |
| Scott |
Some amazing bikes at great prices,
never forget Scott if you're after a new bike |
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| Clothing |
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| UK |
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| Howies |
design, quality and ethics make howies
stand out, the site is beautiful too |
| Dirty
Habit |
what other bike-gear company does
folding trail-shovels? dh are 100% riders who sell stuff |
| Karrimor |
has it's origins in red-sock activities,
but has put so much into mtb'ing. the gear is fantastic so make
sure you say thanks! |
| Royal Racing |
very nice site with lots of Steve
Peat wearing the merchandise- enough said! |
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| Best of the Rest of the World |
| Fox |
the guv'nor. the quality, looks,
fit and image are all exceptional. decent site where you can
order, too |
| Scott |
under-publicised mtb gear- the sunglasses
in particular are very cool |
| Smith |
the lesser known rival to Oakley,
the big O site is better but on the trails it's not so clear
cut... |
| Oakley |
better than Smiths' but a slightly
fiddly site-can't fault the product though |
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| Components |
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| UK |
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| Hope |
the best disc brakes anywhere
in the world. very useful site |
| x-lite |
the daddies of lovely, shiny bike
things! very nice site |
| on-one |
same cool site, many cool components |
| planet
x |
just about everything on here, great
range and prices and a uk company |
| Goldtec |
british made hubs, supension tweaks
and other dh stuff. slightly shabby site but wicked products |
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| Best of The Rest of The World |
| SRAM |
much nicer than the Shimano site,
but not as useful. |
| Shimano |
not the simplest site but loads
of info including product manual downloads (for when yours get
too greasy to read!) |
| Mavic |
the daddy (papa?) of
wheels, the site could be quicker but it's all there |
| Marzocchi |
10/10 for the site and the product |
| Ritchey |
the guy has staying power, and plenty
of talent. my Ritchey sadlle is indestructible... |
| Avid |
great brakes, great site |
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| Shopping |
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| UK |
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| Chain
Reaction |
good range of components and accessories,
great prices and quick, free delivery. Limited clothing range
only downside. |
| Mountain
Trax |
no online ordering but helpful and
well informed and great range. Well worth a visit to the actual
physical shop |
| BikePark |
slightly road-y but good technical
kit and loads of bikes. |
| Evans |
big range and reasonable prices,
good customer service. Astonishingly slow site though... |
| Edinburgh
Bicycle Co-Op |
good range, prices and info. You
can tell they know their stuff. |
| Wiggle |
great range and sometimes fantastic
offers. Expensive postage so spend over £50 for free delivery
or go for a really big bargain! |
| Stif |
good looking site with some great
bargains and really hot on clothing and higher-end bikes. Only
downside is that 'stifsport.com' can get blocked at work! |
| Stows |
good deals and service,
the shop in Slough is a bit of an alladins cave if you're in
the area |
| BionicSport |
great new site sellings
mtb, bmx and very cool looking kites! Lots of info and easy
to use, check it out |
| Leisure
Lakes |
Not a pretty site but
packed with stuff and quick deliveries |
| Bikedock |
Online warehouse with
a good range and prices |
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| General |
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| UK |
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| Charlie
Kelly |
the personal site of the great man
himself |
| Steve Peat |
Great site with Steves diary giving
all the goss from the World Cup. |
| BikeMagic |
Fantastic resource of reviews, news
and all things UK mountain biking. Check out any potential purchase
in the Gear section first |
| RATZ
MBC |
The site of the excellent Reading
All Terrain Mountain Bike Club- friendly and have their own
amazing track |
| Singletrack |
The site of the very cool magazine |
| Bigfoot
MBC |
Nice club site, if you live anywhere
near them you should join! |
| Plantbase |
the best plant database for all you
mtb'ing gardeners |
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| Best of
the Rest of the World |
| Mtb
hall of fame |
a real museum in Crested
Butte, USA, the site is fascintating reading. Spot the British
HoF entrants! |
| Wrench
Science |
spec your own bike down to the inner
tubes, get the total price and weight and everything! Great
fun even if it is in dollars |
| Bikepro |
this is an awesome, fact-filled and
exhaustive database of products- but eerily it stops at 1997.
Have they gone bust? Lost interest? Fascinating anyway, but
a really great snapshot of mtb'ing five years ago |
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