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A mountain bike buying trip can be more taxing than the toughest trail. However, it becomes quite simple if you put a bit of time and thought into the purchase!

Planning carefully around your unique mountain bike buying requirements, may be what prevents your bike from becoming just another silver elephant.

You will have one set of needs if you plan to ride frequently, be a serious racer, and take part in events. In this case, you will have to do some serious mountain bike buying, looking for durability and ruggedness in all the components. You will also have to look for a bike that is brash enough to handle any weather, and conditions that are not ideal.

If, on the other hand, you are simply going to enjoy a leisurely weekend ride, your task will be much easier. Here, comfort may be your main consideration.

If you are planning to do a bit of mountain bike buying, you also have to ask yourself if you will have time to spend on maintaining the bike, or if you will need one that doesn’t require too much of you in the form of pampering and TLC!

Decide what your upper price limit is, and examine your options within that range. Look at slightly more expensive models to get an idea of what you get for that price. In the long run it may well be worth spending a little more when mountain bike buying, as a better quality bike may offer better stability, control, and a safer ride.

When mountain bike buying, you will have to decide between full suspension and hardtail. The more expensive bikes have full suspension, which adds to riding comfort on rough terrain. This just means that, similar to a car, both wheels are suspended by springs and shock absorbers.

These bikes may be heavier and slower, but for serious mountain biking they offer better control and a less bumpy ride. If you can afford it, this is the way to go .

You will ease your task immeasurably, if you ask other bikers for the best specialized store for mountain bike buying. You need a store where you will feel comfortable enough to ask questions. The salespeople must be knowledgeable, and trustworthy. You must be invited to take your bike back for any repairs or maintenance.

Look for a bike store that has a good reputation and check the qualifications of the mechanics working there. A specialist bike store often adds value in terms of support and after sales service, and will contribute to making mountain bike buying a pleasant experience.

The salesperson should be able to help you to find the best fit in terms of adjusting the handlebar stem, saddle, seat post, or cranks. Make sure that the frame suits you by sitting astride the bike. You should be able to reach the handlebars easily and not have to balance on tip-toe.

Your last task when mountain bike buying, is to scrutinize the warranty, and make sure that you are sufficiently covered. Also make sure what you may and may not do in terms of modifications. You don’t want to void your warranty through ignorance.

Mountain bike buying may be less expensive in July and August when bike shops are getting rid of older models to make way for new stock.

If you are a novice on a mountain bike buying trip, it is often safer to buy established brand names like Gary Fisher, Trek, Giant, Klein, Shwinn, Haro, Jeep, or Specialized. Because of the volume these companies produce, their prices can come down without affecting quality. The value in their brand name, also prevents them from using inferior components, that will affect the durability of the bike.

Mountain bike buying is a long-term investment. Take the time to make the right choice!

For more information visit Best-Mountain-Biking.com

Rika Susan of Article-Alert.com researches, writes, and publishes full-time on the Web. Copyright of this article: 2006 Rika Susan. This article may be reprinted if the resource box and hyperlinks are left intact.

Everyone likes getting a great deal, but when it comes to motorcycle helmets, saving a few dollars shouldn’t be more important than ensuring the purchase is a sound one. Safety helmets for motorcycle users are the law in many states, optional in others. Discount motorcycle helmets are a good option for those that need to save cash, but it’s important to make sure the purchase is sound.

Motorcycle helmets are meant to protect the head, and in the case of those with visors, the eyes as well. This is particularly important since the head and eyes are very vulnerable on people who ride motorcycles. There are myths that exist that say helmets can break necks, block vision and impair the hearing of the wearer, but these are simply myths. Especially so if the helmet is rated for safety and is properly fit to the wearer.

A good helmet, no matter the price, will protect a rider’s head and in conjunction with educational courses, can save a life, too. Helmets work for a number of reasons with the four standard components coming together to provide maximum protection. The typical helmet has the following parts:

* Outer shell. This is the visible part of the helmet.

* Impact-absorbing liner. This is located inside the shell and offers cushions to absorb shocks instead of your head.

* Comfort padding. This is the visible foam/cloth layer that rests on the head. It helps make the helmet more comfortable and also provides a more snug fit, or should.

* Retention. This is the chin strap. This is important because it keeps the helmet in place in the event of a crash.

Choosing a good helmet, discount or otherwise, should be a careful process. Although the outer appearance will no doubt catch attention, what’s inside is the most important. Protection should be the first consideration.

When looking at helmets, there are a few different options. They include:

* Solid face coverage. This type of helmet has a full-face visor that offers the most protection for the face. The shield is generally moveable and provides good coverage for the eyes as well.

* Three-quarter. This type of helmet is considered an “open face” helmet. It doesn’t offer the chin and face the protection of a total coverage model. Open-face helmets can come with snap-on shields or some riders opt to go with goggles to protect their eyes. Eye protection is not only important for obvious reasons, but also because road hazards such as stones or even bugs can cause visibility issues and even injury and accidents.

* Half-helmets. These protect almost none of the head and have a tendency to come off in a crash.

Helmets that provide the best protection are rated for doing so. The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Snell Memorial Foundation both test helmets and give their seals of approval to those that meet a few test requirements. Look for these endorsements.

Once you’ve checked out helmets and made sure they have DOT or Snell ratings, or both, it’s important to make sure a helmet fits correctly. Make sure what you buy not only offers protection, but is comfortable and doesn’t block vision.

Using a helmet is not only the law in a number of states, it’s a smart way to go. Motorcycling can be fun, but there are a few dangers that go along with it. Helmets can reduce at least a few of the dangers.

#1 Resource

Motorcycle helmets

http://www.motorcyclehelmetsite.com

William Harley and Arthur Davidson, both in their early twenties, built their first motorcycle in 1903. During their first year, the company’s entire output was only 1 motorbike; however, by 1910, the company had sold 3,200. Movies such as Easy Rider made Harleys a cultural icon and soon the company attracted people who loved its bad-boy mystique, powerfulness, rumbling voice, distinctive roar, and toughness. It sounded like nothing else on the road, and even Elvis Presley and Steve McQueen longed to ride one.

The Harley-Davidson Motor Company has had its ups and downs, and at times, the downs seemed as if they would end in bankruptcy. In the sixties, Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha invaded the American market, and when sales at Harley-Davidson dropped drastically due to decreasing quality and increasing competition, the company began to look for buyers and was finally sold. However, the new owners of Harley Davidson knew little about how to restore profitability. The quality became so bad that dealers had to place cardboard under bikes in the showroom to absorb the oil leaking.

Daniel Gross, in Forbes Greatest Business Stories of all Times, recounts how in 1981, with the aid of Citibank, a team of former Harley-Davidson executives began negotiations to reacquire the company and rescue it from bankruptcy. Among these executives was William Davidson, the grandson of the founder Arthur Davidson. In a classic leveraged buyout, they pooled $1 million in equity and borrowed $80 million from a consortium of banks lead by Citibank.

Harley’s rescue team of loyal executives knew that the Japanese motorbike manufacturers were far ahead in regard to quality management, and they made a bold decision to tour a nearby Honda plant. Paradoxically, the Japanese had learned Total Quality Management from the Americans, Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran. The new business concept outlined by these two pioneers was a new management approach that, interestingly enough, had been rejected by American manufacturers. As a result, they offered this approach to Japanese manufactures that were eager to learn and implement it. Therefore, soon after their tour of the Honda plant, the Harley Davidson Motor Company decided to put into practice this originally rejected approach.

After implementing just-in-time inventory (JIT) and employee involvement, costs at Harley had dropped significantly; this meant that the company only needed to sell 35,000 bikes instead of 53,000 in order to break even. Their lobbying at Washington also helped, and import tariffs were raised temporarily from 4 to 40 percent on Japanese bikes. This extra breathing space was something that the U.S. motorbike company desperately needed for its recovery.

The combination of visiting a Japanese motorbike manufacturing plant and lobbying in Washington for import tariffs was a daring move on behalf of Harley’s executives in their attempt to bring back profitability and growth to the company. Another important strategic move was the company’s unique marketing and branding campaigns. Studies showed that about 75 % of Harley customers made repeat purchases, and executives quickly recognized a pattern that refocused the company’s overall strategy. Simply put, they needed to find a way to appeal to the extraordinary loyalty of customers, which they found in creating a community that valued the experience of riding a Harley more than the product itself.

The sponsorship of a “Harley Owners’ Group” has been one of the most creative and innovative strategies that has helped create the experience of this product. Without realizing it, Harley executives had pioneered a new paradigm that would be increasingly embraced by other industries in their quest to increase profitability by converting their product into an experience. The company started to organize rallies to strengthen the relationship between its members, dealers, and employees, while also promoting the Harley experience to potential customers. The Harley Owners’ Groups became immensely popular; it allowed motorcycle owners to feel as if they belonged to one big family. In 1987, there were 73,000 registered members, and Harley now boasts to have no less than 450,000 members.

In 1983, the company launched a marketing campaign called SuperRide, which authorized over 600 dealerships to invite people to test-drive Harleys. Over 40,000 potential new customers accepted the invitation, and from then on, many customers were not just buying a motorcycle when they bought a Harley; instead, they were buying “the Harley Experience.”

Harley-Davidson offered its customers a free one-year membership to a local riding group, motorcycle publications, private receptions at motorcycle events, insurance, emergency roadside service, rental arrangements on vacation, and a host of other member benefits. Branding the experience, not just the product, has allowed the company to expand how it captures value, including a line of clothing, a parts and accessories business, and Harley-Davidson Visa card.

If you were to scan the list of companies that delivered the greatest returns on investment during the 1990s, you would discover Harley-Davidson. Only a few companies have been successful in inventing entirely new business models, or profoundly reinventing existing ones. Harley-Davidson went from supplying motorcycles to antisocial raiders to selling a lifestyle to the aging bad boy wannabes caught in their midlife crises. Traditionally, Harley-Davidson bike owners came from the working and middle classes, but as quality and prices of the bad-boy-bikes rose, and with energetic marketing, the company soon attracted a different class of buyerscurrently one third of Harley buyers are professionals or managers, and 60% are college graduates. The new customer segments of Harley are the Rolex Riders or the Rich Urban Bikers. Hell’s Angels do not run in the same group anymore. Now there are groups of accountants, lawyers and doctors. Women also account for a significant portion of the new riders, and there are women-only riders clubs spreading all over the globe.

The future looks bright for the U.S. motorbike company. According to The Economist, overall U.S. sales increased over 20% in 2000, and more than 650,000 new motorcycles were sold in the U.S. in the same year, up from 539,000 the year before. Bike buyers spent an estimated $5.45 billion on new bikes in 2000.

Stay alert and get it early. The new branding paradigm is to sell a lifestyle, a personality and it is also about appealing to emotions of your customers. Increasingly, it will be more and more about creating an experience around the product. Brand managers and executives will need a new set of lenses. The rules have changed as well as the opportunities to maximize profitability and create value in the process. Nonetheless, the majority of companies continue to follow traditional ad campaigns and they seem to ignore the fact that the media has fragmented into hundreds of cable channels, thousands of magazine titles and millions of Internet pages.

Consumers are no longer sitting ducks for commercials; they are looking for new experiences. Whether it is the bad-boy-aura of the Harley riding experience, the exquisite coffee experience in Starbucks cafés, or the active participation in Net communities, more and more companies will need to follow these early new branding pioneers. They will need to look into the dynamics of their relationships with customers and the nature of their interaction. They will need to ask themselves some serious “out-of-the-box” questions if they want to move with the shifting value that is the result of constantly changing market conditions.

Branding has changed and so have marketing and advertising campaigns. New variability, heterogeneity where there was once homogeneity, newly emerging stratifications of wealth, new preferences, and new life styles are all characteristics of the 21st century customer that are here to stay. We better get used to it, at lease until the next paradigm is discovered. Remember, the companies that are creating new wealth are not just getting better; they are becoming differentmind-bogglingly different!

Bibliography:
Barker, Joel. Paradigms. Harper Business, 1993.

Bedbury, Scott. A New Brand World: Eight Principles for Achieving Brand Leadership in the 21st Century, Viking Press, 2002.

Gross, Daniel: Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time, John Wiley & Sons, 1997.

Hamel, Gary. “Innovation Now,” in Fast Company
(http://www.fastcompany.com/online/65/innovation.html), December 2002

Kotter, John P., Leading Change, Harvard Business School Press, 1996, pp. 4 - 14.

Teerlink, Rich, and Ozley, Lee: More Than a Motorcycle: The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson, Harvard Business School Press, 2000.
Young, James Webb. Technique for Producing Ideas, McGraw-Hill, p. 14.

Josef Schinwald is consultant in Performance Measurement and professor in Business Strategy at the University of Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and his didactic material must not be replicated without the given permission to do so. Copyright © 2003-2005 Business Design Innovation. Josef is also owner of ValueQuest, LLC, a e-commerce business, and you can visit his sites at My Motorcycle Leather http://www.my-motorcycle-leather.com and Stylish Wedding Favors http://www.stylish-wedding-favors.com.

Tires are important. In fact, your choice of tires can affect comfort, handling, safety and more.

There are two kinds of tire construction. The first is the bias-ply and the other is called the radial. Bias-ply construction is generally used by cruisers. On the other hand, radial construction is used by sport bikes. You can easily distinguish one construction from the other for bias-ply has round profile while radial has a flatter and shorter version.

Bias-ply uses a carcass that is made up of overlapping layers of nylon or rayon cords. The flexing action produces heat which contributes to a good grip. The drawback of this construction is that it reduces performance and hastens tire wear because too much heat can be generated.

Radial tire construction acquired its name because its plies are running at a 90-degree angle. As oppose to the bias-ply, this construction reduces heat generation. As a result, tires are cooler and not susceptible to hastened tire wear. The drawback though is that the sidewalls can effortlessly be flexed. Thus, the sidewalls are given a shorter profile.

Tire pressure really matters to the tires. Therefore, it has to be checked regularly.

Aside from tire construction, we must also be knowledgeable about tire wear in relation to choosing tires. Softer compounds are good in producing more traction however, they wear out quickly. Harder compounds have fast wear but they may not cause a good grip.

Moreover, OEM or aftermarket motorcycle parts manufacturers and distributors must consider dealing with effective grip coupled with longer mileage when it comes to tires. This is of course to prolong the life of motorcycle tires.
One factor that can affect tire wear is the rider’s riding style. Aggressive riders usually have their front tire to wear out faster than the rear. Why is this so? This is because tires tend to brake late using mostly the front brake. In contrast, cruiser riders, normally wear out the rear tire first. This is because they have more weight at the rear portion of the bike.

To know when to change your tires, you can perform the ‘penny test’. Simply put a penny into a tire groove with its head pointing down. You have to change your tire when you can see the top of the head of the person in the coin. It can be an hint that the tread depth has already reached 1/32 of an inch.

Please visit Aftermarket Motorcycle Parts site at www.aftermarketmotorcyclepartsnow.com/AftermarketMotorcycleParts.html for comments and inquiries regarding this article.

Do you need special mountain biking apparel in order to ride a bike? Of course not! You will be able to ride without the specifically designed shorts, gloves, socks, and shoes. However, suitable gear enables you to get real enjoyment from the sport, and to perform at your peak.

Mountain biking apparel isn’t just about looking good. It is about clothing performing well in any weather, and under difficult mountain biking conditions. The ideal gear allows the rider to get on with the ride, instead of being hampered by inadequate protection.

The basic items of mountain biking apparel needed for riding are gloves, shorts, socks, shoes, sunglasses, and a protective helmet.

Gloves are available in full or half finger types, and both have padding where you need it to prevent your hands from going numb. In addition, gloves will protect your hands in case of a fall.

Shorts come in two styles, baggy or tight. Lycra is the preferred material for mountain biking apparel. Both have padding to protect your backside, and prevent numbness. If you have a favorite pair of ordinary shorts you want to wear, look for the padded underwear that will allow you to do this, while still offering protection.

Cycling socks are slightly thinner than regular athletic socks, and are made of special wicking material to keep your feet dry. Socks also protect your ankles, and should always be part of your mountain biking apparel.

The shoes forming part of mountain biking apparel, have one important feature: SDP compatibility. This means that they have a rigid sole, and an area that will hold the cleats for a clipless pedal. The shoe is then attached to the bike. The sole’s lack of flexibility means that you can keep an even pressure on the pedal.

Shoes come in many different styles. They range from something similar to a hiking boot, to lighter shoes in racing style.

The helmet is the most important piece of mountain biking apparel. This essential item’s safety considerations makes it a must-have. It can be a life-saving piece of equipment. When choosing a helmet, look for a good fit. Always ensure that it has the certification it needs to provide vital head-protection.

When buying quality mountain biking apparel, asking the right questions may save you money in the long run.

You need to know if the fabric used in the mountain biking apparel, is designed to ‘wick’. This means that the fabric has the characteristic of removing moisture from the skin to the outer layer of the material, where it can dry more easily. This is the only way to keep the rider cool and comfortable.

You may also want to ask if the mountain biking apparel has a zip in the front for extra air flow, and pockets in the back for keeping maps, snacks or other necessities. Comfort and convenience go hand in hand.

You also need to know if the mountain biking apparel has invisible seams. This is essential to prevent chafing and rubbing on your skin. It will make your ride far more comfortable and improve endurance. If buying a jersey, whether short or long sleeved, make sure that it fits well, and can be left hanging over your shorts.

If you are riding in wet, windy and cold weather, a jacket may become an important mountain biking apparel item. Look at the stitching, the zips, and the fabric in terms of durability. It will need to balance water resistance with the ability to aid sweat loss. A well-designed jacket will have zips that open up under your armpit, to let cool air in when needed.

As a serious rider, you will be training throughout the year in all weather conditions. It is therefore important to look at layering mountain biking apparel. Cannondale has produced some well-designed layering systems. They use technically advanced materials to aid the competitive rider.

Your goal is to feel comfortable to such an extent, that you are able to forget all about mountain biking apparel. Enjoy the ride!

For more information visit Best-Mountain-Biking.com

Rika Susan of Article-Alert.com researches, writes, and publishes full-time on the Web. Copyright of this article: 2006 Rika Susan. This article may be reprinted if the resource box and hyperlinks are left intact.