This is my list of tried and true mountain biking gear, that I’ve used for many thousands of hours on the trails! 🙂 I hope you find it useful. If you have any questions, just ask me!
My Mountain Bike
Santa Cruz Bronson v1 (the first edition of this bike – I do recommend getting a more recent version, as the first version of any bike they usually find and resolve issues in subsequent updated versions).
- Size Large (I’m 6’1 / 185cm)
- Carbon
- 27.5″ wheels
- 160mm/150mm suspension travel setup
My Mountain Bike Parts & Upgrades
I’ve broken and replaced, or upgraded, most of the stock parts on my beloved mountain bike over many years of riding 😀 Here is what I am running currently!
| Rear Shock | Rockshox Monarch Plus RC3 DebonAir | View on Amazon |
| Fork | X-Fusion Sweep 160mm | |
| Headset | Cane Creek Forty | View on Amazon |
| Cassette | Shimano XT 11 speed | View on Amazon |
| Chainring | Narrow Wide Chainring 34T | View on Amazon |
| Cranks | Shimano XT | View on Amazon |
| Pedals | OneUp Composite Flat Pedals | View on Amazon |
| Bottom Bracket | Shimano XT | View on Amazon |
| Rear Derailleur | Shimano XT with clutch | View on Amazon |
| Chain | Shimano XT ? | View on Amazon |
| Chainguide | OneUp Top Chainguide | View on Amazon |
| Shifter | Shimano XT 11 Speed Shifter | View on Amazon |
| Handlebar | Raceface Atlas 800mm (35mm diameter) | View on Amazon |
| Stem | Raceface Atlas 50mm stem (35mm diameter) | View on Amazon |
| Grips | ODI Elite Pro Lock-on Grips | View on Amazon |
| Brakes | Shimano XT Hydraulic Disc Brakes | View on Amazon |
| Brake Rotors | Shimano XT Rotors (200mm/180mm) | View on Amazon |
| Hubs | DT Swiss 350 | View on Amazon |
| Hub Upgrade | DT Swiss Star Ratchet Upgrade Kit for DT Swiss 350 | View on Amazon |
| Spokes | No idea what my wheel builder used! 😀 | |
| Rims | Stans Flow 27.5″ | View on Amazon |
| Front Tire | Maxxis Minion DHF WT DD 3C Maxxgrip 2.5″x27.5″ TR | View on Amazon |
| Rear Tire | Maxxis Aggressor WT DD 2.5″ x 27.5″ TR | View on Amazon |
| Seat | Ergon SME3-M | View on Amazon |
| Seatpost | Rockshox Reverb Dropper (only an early 125mm model) | View on Amazon |
My Riding Gear
| Short sleeve riding top | Endura MT500 | |
| Shorts | Endura Hummvee MTB shorts | View on Amazon |
| Socks | Fox MTB socks | View on Amazon |
| Shoes | Ride Concepts MTB shoes | View on Amazon |
| Helmet | Bell Super 2R MIPS (converts to fullface) | View on Amazon |
| Gloves | Handup MTB Gloves | View on Amazon |
| Goggles | 100% MTB goggles | View on Amazon |
| Sunglasses | Goodr OG sunglasses | View on Amazon |
| Backpack / Hydration Pack | Camelbak M.U.L.E. MTB hydration pack | View on Amazon |
| Multi-tool | Generic little multi-tool with hex keys | |
| Compact pump | Topeak bike pump | View on Amazon |
| Tire levers | MTB Tire levers | View on Amazon |
| Tire pressure gauge | Topeak SmartGauge D2 | View on Amazon |
My DIY Garage Bike Workshop
I enjoy tinkering on my mountain bikes, doing basic maintenance on them, fixing things that are within my skill-set, and upgrading parts etc. This is what I’ve currently got to work with on my main mountain bike and my hardtail (I won’t both listing all the drawers full of old outdated bike tools and worn old bike parts!)
| Bike workstand | Generic bike work stand | View on Amazon |
| Spoke tool | BBB spoke wrench tool | View on Amazon |
| Pedal wrench | Generic pedal wrench | |
| Air compressor | Ryobi Airwave 50L air compressor | |
| Floor pump | Generic bike floor pump with gauge | |
| Tubeless tire sealant | Stan’s NoTubes Tubeless Tire Sealant | View on Amazon |
| Bottom bracket tool | Park Tool BBT-9 bottom bracket tool | View on Amazon |
| Allen key / Hex wrench set | Generic metric hex key set | View on Amazon |
| Chain lube | Muc-Off Dry Lube | View on Amazon |
| Bike cleaning kit | Muc-Off bike cleaning kit | View on Amazon |
| De-greaser | Simple Green Degreaser |