The best mountain bike accessories will be able to make your ride safer, more comfortable, and will let you to take on rides of any length worry free. Below is a walk-through of some mountain biking accessories that are sure to improve your MTB experience.
Quality helmet
Any helmet with one of the CSA, EN, ASTM, CPSC or Snell B90/B95 certifications will work for mountain biking, but you should keep the following factors in mind if you want improved comfort, protection and style:
Full-face helmet vs half shell
A full-face helmet will provide you with more protection, giving you ear, cheek, and jaw coverage. These are designed with terrain parks and serious downhill riding in mind.
A half shell is good if you will be doing all around riding, but as you get into taking your mountain bike off large features, like you would at a terrain park, or hitting high speeds going downhill, you might prefer a full-face helmet. Also some lift access mountain bike parks require full-face helmets as a safety measure.
Full-face helmets are notably heavier than half shell helmets, with a typical full-face helmet weighing in at 700 to 900 grams, as compared to a half shell which is going to typically weigh about 300 to 400 grams.
A full-face helmet will usually cost more than a half shell given the added protection provided.
Ventilation and cooling
If you do most of your riding in cold weather, you might not be concerned about the amount of ventilation your MTB helmet has. However, most mountain bikers will do a lot of their riding in warm or even downright hot weather. If that sounds like you, having a well vented helmet can be the difference between an enjoyable day on the trails and overheating.
Style and fit
What style of helmet you get will depend on your own personal preference, and what you think looks and feels best on your head. It can be helpful to try on a mountain bike helmet before buying it, to see how it looks and also for sizing, but thankfully most manufacturers provide sizing guides, and most helmets are adjustable to some extent to get the right fit.
Other protective equipment
Besides wearing a helmet, some of the most important mountain bike accessories to consider are other personal protective equipment options. Wearing additional protective equipment beyond a helmet will depend on your own comfort level and personal preference.
Adding protective equipment like mountain bike gloves, elbow pads and knee pads surely will improve your MTB experience if you happen to fall, which is bound to happen on occasion if you push yourself and your limits.
Some may prefer to not wear protective equipment like elbow and knee pads because they don’t find them comfortable, but there are some great options out there in this respect and the breathability and comfort of protective equipment has vastly improved over the years.
Another thing to consider with protective equipment is whether you are taking more risks in your riding to improve on your skills. If you’re doing features often like drops and jumps, or trying to go bigger and faster than you have in the past, its nice to have extra protection just in case you make a mistake.
Wearing more protection will give you more confidence on your mountain bike, because in the back of your mind you will know that you’ll be better protected in case of a fall.
MTB Shoes
Purpose made mountain bike shoes will improve your MTB experience. Many people start out mountain biking using shoes that are not mountain bike specific such as trainers or skate shoes on flat pedals. These are okay to start out with, but if you’re serious about mountain biking you will probably want to upgrade to purpose made MTB shoes at some point.
Flat pedal MTB shoes
Flat pedal mountain bike shoes, which in appearance look like regular shoes often similar to skate shoes, are stiffer and have better grip when compared to regular shoes. Regular shoes will be okay for a while if you are newer to MTB, but you will probably want something better as you run into problems such as your feet slipping off your pedals, or having holes wear through the bottoms of your shoes from the wear your pedals cause.
The type of rubber used on mountain bike shoes provides better traction and durability than regular shoes, and the added stiffness in the midsole will help your pedaling ability.
Check out our favorite flat pedal mountain bike shoes of the year here.
Clipless mountain bike shoes
Unlike flat pedal mountain bike shoes, clipless shoes attach to your pedals. They can allow you to put more energy into your pedaling, not just on the way down, but also pulling up on the pedals. They are not for everyone, as to many people the thought of having your feet attached to your pedals is a scary one, especially if you need to bail off your bike.
If you are going to try clipless mountain bike shoes, you will want to keep the connection to your pedals as loose as possible at first so you can get out easily in case a bail is needed.
Some advantages of clipless shoes are that you will not slip off your pedals, the sole is stiffer even compared to flat pedal MTB shoes (making pedaling even more efficient), and once you’re used to them you will have more control and your bike will feel more stable.
Just keep in mind you will need clipless pedals rather than flat pedals to allow your clipless shoes to attach.
Hydration accessories
A good hydration pack is very useful to mountain bikers. While some riders prefer to just attach a water bottle to their bike, nothing compares to a hydration pack and hydration bladder when you are out on a long ride. This is because not only does the pack have the capacity to carry more water than a water bottle would, but it also gives you room to stow other gear you might want or need out on the trails.
Instead of carrying only about 1 liter of water in a bottle, you will have the capacity for up to 3 liters with a hydration pack. You’ll also have space to pack all your riding essentials such as snacks, a multi-tool, bike tube repair kit, and anything else you want to bring along for the ride.
There is a wide range of hydration packs available on the market that will enable you to take on those epic, all-day rides on your mountain bike.
Bike light
Maybe you are busy with work or school during the daylight hours, or maybe you just love the adventure of being out on the MTB trails at night. Whatever the reason you might be riding at night, an essential mountain bike accessory to have is a bike light (at least one).
Modern bike lights are powerful and have the ability to really light up your trail and surroundings, like how a car’s headlights illuminate the road ahead.
Many night riders prefer to have both a bike light attached to their handlebars, and another to wear as a headlamp on their helmets. This gives the added benefit of being able to see in the direction you are looking on top of being able to see in the direction your bike is facing.
Having two lights, one attached to your bike and a headlamp, is especially useful on trails with lots of turns and switchbacks to allow you to see where you are turning before actually turning your bike in that direction.
If you are riding in a group at night, its also helpful to have a red light attached to the rear of your bike to allow riders coming behind you to clearly see you.
Bike Computer
A bike computer – which normally attaches to your handlebars, measures and displays information relevant to your mountain biking activity including things like speed, distance travelled and altitude.
Many smartphones today can perform all those functions, so you may be wondering why not just use your smartphone in place of a bike computer.
Bike computers allow you to see all your information and stats WHILE you ride. It is fun to be able to take a glance at your bike computer when you’re bombing down a hill and see just how fast you’re really going. Also, if you’re the type who doesn’t want to have to stop your ride to pull out your smartphone and check your stats, a bike computer may be just what you need.
Accuracy for data such as speed and GPS will usually be better on a bike computer when compared to a smartphone.
Bike computers come with the added benefit of keeping your smartphone safe on bike rides. Modern bike computers are built to be impact resistant and are probably less expensive than your smartphone is.
Fitness Tracker
Fitness trackers, such as smartwatches, bracelets, or rings, are normally worn on your body and many will be able to give measurements related to your speed, distance travelled, and even altitude, but also body specific measurements like your heart rate, respiration, stress, and more.
Many fitness trackers have on-board GPS included, which will often make them more accurate for tracking purposes than your smartphone.
In essence these devices can track much or all the data you can get from a bike computer, in addition to tracking your personal fitness metrics. Serious athletes wanting to work on things like heart rate zone training, or people just looking to improve their fitness through mountain biking, will benefit from these types of devices.
In the case of smartwatches, they also provide the added benefit of not having to pull out your phone to see your ride statistics, however a bike computer is still easier to keep an eye on while riding.
Mountain bike eyewear
Eyewear for mountain biking includes mountain bike glasses and goggles.
There are a few reasons you may want to wear MTB eyewear. First, they will serve as sunglasses blocking UV rays and helping to prevent strain on your eyes. On top of that, they will protect your eyes from dirt, mud, rocks, branches, bugs and dust.
If you will be riding dusty trails, goggles will do a better job at keeping the dust out of your eyes. Mountain bike glasses are also built to provide good coverage and protection, but small particles like dust will still be able to fly up and irritate your eyes.
Goggles can be a bit on the warm side, so if you do a lot of riding in hot temperatures, you might prefer MTB glasses. Thankfully there is a wide range of both MTB goggles and glasses on the market for you to find the perfect MTB eyewear for you.
Tools and repair equipment
While you will have limited space to carry tools and other repair equipment with you while riding, if you have a hydration pack or storage attached to your bike frame, you should be able to carry some essentials with you, especially for longer rides.
Bike tube repair kit and mini pump
If you have a flat, especially while on a long ride, you will be glad to have brought a bike tube repair kit along with a mini pump. While many aspects of mountain bike maintenance can be a bit complicated, repairing a tube is quite straightforward, and there are many guides available online of how to do so. For a video demonstration, check out How To Fix A Puncture On A Mountain Bike | Repairing An Inner Tube.
Having these basic items with you can be the difference between a 15-minute repair and continuing along on your ride, and having your ride end abruptly and having to hike out of the trail you got the flat on.
Bike Multi-Tool
Regardless of if you’re just taking a short ride on your local trail system, are out exploring new trails with friends, or are on an epic, all-day ride, you will benefit from having all the basic tools needed to fix basic mechanical issues that might come up on your ride, whether that be things like screws or bolts becoming loose, or just to make adjustments to your bike to improve how it rides or to improve your comfort.
There are many versatile mountain bike multi-tool options on the market. You’re going to want to look for a multi-tool that combines many of the most important tools needed to work on a mountain bike, all while being able to fit into your pocket or hydration pack.
Conclusion
These are just some of the accessories that will help to improve your mountain bike experience. Are there any mountain bike accessories that you just can’t be without on the trails? If so let us know in the comments!
For some of our favorite mountain bike accessories that we think would make great gifts, check out Best Gifts for Mountain Bikers.