What is a Mountain Bike?
Mountain bikes are the 4x4 vehicles of the bicycling community. They are capable of alternating between pavement, forests, fields, hills, valleys, and mountains, all without skipping a beat. In short; you can do it all on an MTB.
Mountain biking, as we know it today, began in North America in the early 1970s as a grass-roots pastime. Scattered groups of individuals began to put fat tires on their road bikes and over a period of years, these groups found one another and began to do what came naturally - compete. Soon, two segments of the sport evolved: downhill and cross-country. Today, the different categories of bikes and events can at times sound very confusing, however, all mountain bikes still fit into one of the two original groups.
Downhill:
This generally means that the most important aspect of the ride is going "down the hill". Downhill mountain biking competitions parallel those associated with downhill skiing in that they both feature downhill, giant slalom, slalom and freestyle events. Downhill bikes sacrifice light weight for sturdiness and support and they are usually full suspension (front and rear shocks) which provide a great deal more traction and control. Special attention is paid to brakes which tend to be of the disc variety. The important thing to remember is that with downhilling, riders think of gravity as a very close friend.
Cross-Country:
Cross-country mountain biking is everything that downhilling is not. The bikes required for this type of riding (although sturdy) are constructed to be as lightweight as possible. Gravity is not a friend here because climbing hills is the most important element of the ride. Cross-country bikes tend to be what are known as hardtails, meaning they are equipped with a shock up front, but not at the rear. Hardtails with no shock at all are called rigid bikes. Recently, full-suspension bikes have become lightweight enough to fit into the cross-country category. Rather expensive, many of the reliable brands come complete with lock-outs on the shocks. With the lock-out on, this simulates a hardtail or rigid bike when the trail turns uphill. As downhilling is to downhill skiing, cross-country mountain biking is not unlike cross-country skiing and events (long cross-country and short course cross-country) are staged in the same manner.
Need To Know:
Full Suspension
- What: Front & rear shocks.
- Where: Downhill.
Rigid
- What: No front or rear suspension.
- Where: Smooth dirt and paths.
Hardtail
- What: Shock up front, but not at the rear.
- Where: Cross-country terrain.
Photo: Jason Roberts
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