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About Mountain Biking


GETTING STARTED
So you want to ride a mountainbike? Though there’s a whole stack of things you need to know before you can lay out your money, it’s all pretty simple.

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CROSS COUNTRY TRAIL BIKE
For recreational riding, budgets clearly don't stretch as far as on the pro race circuit. When it comes to riding around the woods and trails, the trailbike should perform in all situations to the best of its ability.

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CROSS COUNTRY RACE BIKES
A bike for cross country racing should be light and strong. Light so that the rider doesn't suffer unduly from excess baggage whilst he's trying to keep to the front of the race.

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TRIALS BIKES
Mountainbike trials is about riding over obstacles that would stop a regular rider in their tracks.

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DOWNHILL BIKES
Mountainbiking started with downhilling and can be traced to a group of riders from Marin County, California, USA.

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JUMP / SLALOM BIKES
As downhilling became popular over the last few years, lots of riders wanted the thrills that downhill gave, but without the big heavy beast.

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FRAMES
With many different manufacturers, frame materials, construction techniques and designs, every mountain bike on the market looks different.

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SIZING YOUR BIKE
A good bike shop will sell you a bike that fits you right. A bad shop will sell you a bike that they want to clear from stock.

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CUSTOMISING
Though mountainbikes are improving with every year, it’s unlikely that any given off the shelf brand will be perfect for every rider.

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FORKS
"Suspension forks" - forks fitted with shock absorbers, like tiny motorbike forks, are rapidly becoming the norm.

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WHEELS
Every bike has wheels - how they're constructed can vary from bike to bike, but the good old spoked wheel has a long life yet, despite the advances of technology.

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HANDLEBARS
Though "straight" bars are fitted to mountainbikes, more and more bikes are being sold with "riser" bars

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BRAKES
Actuated by cables, pulled by levers on the bars, most mountain bikes use rim-acting brakes.

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PEDALS
Two types are in common use – a standard flat pedal, and a pedal with a mechanical “ski-binding” system.

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SADDLE AND SEATPOST
The saddle is fixed to the frame via a seatpost, sometimes called a seatpin. It fits into the seat tube of the bike.

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CHAINSET AND FRONT MECH
This is where you leg power gets transferred to the bike.

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REAR MECH AND CASSETTE
The gears at the back of the bike are controlled by the rear mech.

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