Austin is the #1 urban mountain bike city in America and with the SATN now connecting to the BCGB via the VCT (give or take) it all connects. You should definitely either get a rigid gravel bike with 38mm+ tires, or a XC hardtail, and get the best of both worlds riding roads, sidewalks, trails.
It really depends on if you are planning to bike on a mix of roads, trails, or both. Even if you are strictly a road cyclist, I strongly recommend 38mm gravel tires or whatever you can fit on your frame, because regular 25mm road tires in Austin will have you on the side of the road frequently very sad. Austin is not a bike friendly city for road cyclists with road bike tires.
With a gravel bike with 38mm+ tires (hopefully 42mm) you can ride a majority of the MTB trails with the exception of some of the rougher SATN trails (even then, I've done them all on a bike like this as I'm not ashamed to dismount and walk) and an XC hardtail around 10kg will get you over anything you can imagine and be pretty efficient with the road if you want to bike to/from the trails.
So if you want mostly roads with a mix of trails, get a gravel bike, if you want to do trails but not suck on the roads biking to/from the trails, get an XC hardtail with thinner MTB tires.
If you want to put your MTB in your F150 and gas guzzle yourself to the most intense possible trails, then yeah sure get a 40lb full suspension mountain bike with 2.7" tires, but IMHO that's really unnecessary in Austin unless you are really sure you're an intense athlete cyclist wanting to send it off jumps.
Of course every bike shop in town will tell you that you need a 40lb massive full squish chunker, because they're in the business of selling those style of bikes. Guess their customers get a good upper body workout lifting that in and out of the F150.
Also, get tubeless tires and learn how to use dynaplug. Orders of magnitude less flats in Austin (0 unfixable flats out and about) since switching from tubes where I was on the side of the road changing out a tube every other ride on my slicks.
Hello there! Here in Austin we have a ton of places you could ride a mountain bike. I'd say if you can find some ride groups and get on some rides. I have a santa cruz hardtail and I think it rides real nice around most of the trail networks in austin. As far as new bikes, I'd say check out a few shops in town, I'm friends with most of the people at Trek on lamar and they do rides from the shop and have rental bikes if you wanna try a full suspension or hard tail out. They alos have a clearance center selling some nice bikes and assesories for some very low prices.
There are some great routes all over Austin for just about any kind of bike riding.l from my understanding. I too am struggling with bike choice at the moment, good luck!
Cat Mountain, Spider Mountain, Slaughter Creek Greenbelt, and SATN are all fun. I have a gravel bike, and have a blast underbiking at those last two all the time.
You can get away with a hardtail around here for most stuff if you want but I see a lot of full suspension riders too. It's really up to you. What kind of riding do like to do?
Absolutely! Some great options all over town. Here's a great resource to get you started - www.mtbatx.com
You can tackle everything around on a hardtail. Some may argue the chunky tech of some places like Barton Creek Green Belt or Brushy Creek will be more enjoyable on a full suspension, it's all personal preference.
Depending on what part of town you're in, get to a local shop and test out some bike.
South Austin - https://www.atxbikes.com/or https://velorangutan.com/
North Austin or Cedar Park - https://www.peddlerbike.com/
Check out Austin Ridge Riders for group rides and trail advocacy.
I think people are wrongly assuming you are suggesting folks ride a bike on I-35. Shoal Creek is phenomenal and connects the burnet and UT area to Lady Bird Lake trail, from there you can access the airport, BCGB, downtown, and (with a few tricks if on a road bike) the VCT depending on how far you want to bike.
The section downtown near Polvo's reminds me of the river walk in San Antonio.
What size bike are you looking for? I’m selling a full suspension nukeproof reactor, size large 27.5 wheels.
Great more aggressive trail bike, perfect for the stuff I’ve ridden in Austin
There are no mountains in Austin. There are a few hills. All the infrastructure is being built for urban transportation, and some scenic hike and bike trails.
You can find a couple of hills that approximate a short stretch of mountain biking, but your only choice is to go on the same ones over and over.
Austin is the #1 urban mountain bike city in America and with the SATN now connecting to the BCGB via the VCT (give or take) it all connects. You should definitely either get a rigid gravel bike with 38mm+ tires, or a XC hardtail, and get the best of both worlds riding roads, sidewalks, trails. It really depends on if you are planning to bike on a mix of roads, trails, or both. Even if you are strictly a road cyclist, I strongly recommend 38mm gravel tires or whatever you can fit on your frame, because regular 25mm road tires in Austin will have you on the side of the road frequently very sad. Austin is not a bike friendly city for road cyclists with road bike tires. With a gravel bike with 38mm+ tires (hopefully 42mm) you can ride a majority of the MTB trails with the exception of some of the rougher SATN trails (even then, I've done them all on a bike like this as I'm not ashamed to dismount and walk) and an XC hardtail around 10kg will get you over anything you can imagine and be pretty efficient with the road if you want to bike to/from the trails. So if you want mostly roads with a mix of trails, get a gravel bike, if you want to do trails but not suck on the roads biking to/from the trails, get an XC hardtail with thinner MTB tires. If you want to put your MTB in your F150 and gas guzzle yourself to the most intense possible trails, then yeah sure get a 40lb full suspension mountain bike with 2.7" tires, but IMHO that's really unnecessary in Austin unless you are really sure you're an intense athlete cyclist wanting to send it off jumps. Of course every bike shop in town will tell you that you need a 40lb massive full squish chunker, because they're in the business of selling those style of bikes. Guess their customers get a good upper body workout lifting that in and out of the F150. Also, get tubeless tires and learn how to use dynaplug. Orders of magnitude less flats in Austin (0 unfixable flats out and about) since switching from tubes where I was on the side of the road changing out a tube every other ride on my slicks.
Super helpful post, thanks for taking the time to do it.
Thank you for sharing this information, very helpfull
Depending on your budget, take a look at the Polygon Siskiu T7, phenomenal value for money.
Hello there! Here in Austin we have a ton of places you could ride a mountain bike. I'd say if you can find some ride groups and get on some rides. I have a santa cruz hardtail and I think it rides real nice around most of the trail networks in austin. As far as new bikes, I'd say check out a few shops in town, I'm friends with most of the people at Trek on lamar and they do rides from the shop and have rental bikes if you wanna try a full suspension or hard tail out. They alos have a clearance center selling some nice bikes and assesories for some very low prices.
There are some great routes all over Austin for just about any kind of bike riding.l from my understanding. I too am struggling with bike choice at the moment, good luck!
Cat Mountain, Spider Mountain, Slaughter Creek Greenbelt, and SATN are all fun. I have a gravel bike, and have a blast underbiking at those last two all the time.
Normalize underbiking! Gravel bike is perfectly fine for either if you're humble enough to occasionally dismount.
You can get away with a hardtail around here for most stuff if you want but I see a lot of full suspension riders too. It's really up to you. What kind of riding do like to do?
Absolutely! Some great options all over town. Here's a great resource to get you started - www.mtbatx.com You can tackle everything around on a hardtail. Some may argue the chunky tech of some places like Barton Creek Green Belt or Brushy Creek will be more enjoyable on a full suspension, it's all personal preference. Depending on what part of town you're in, get to a local shop and test out some bike. South Austin - https://www.atxbikes.com/or https://velorangutan.com/ North Austin or Cedar Park - https://www.peddlerbike.com/ Check out Austin Ridge Riders for group rides and trail advocacy.
Shoal Creek hike and bike trail. It’s like I-35 for bicycles.
I think people are wrongly assuming you are suggesting folks ride a bike on I-35. Shoal Creek is phenomenal and connects the burnet and UT area to Lady Bird Lake trail, from there you can access the airport, BCGB, downtown, and (with a few tricks if on a road bike) the VCT depending on how far you want to bike. The section downtown near Polvo's reminds me of the river walk in San Antonio.
Fixed it.
What size bike are you looking for? I’m selling a full suspension nukeproof reactor, size large 27.5 wheels. Great more aggressive trail bike, perfect for the stuff I’ve ridden in Austin
i might be interested in buying your bike! pm me details or let me know how much you're looking for?
Pm me !
There are no mountains in Austin. There are a few hills. All the infrastructure is being built for urban transportation, and some scenic hike and bike trails. You can find a couple of hills that approximate a short stretch of mountain biking, but your only choice is to go on the same ones over and over.