Different Categories of Mountain Biking
If you’re new to the world of mountain biking, you may not be familiar with the vast diversity of different kinds of riding that is out there. I’ve been mountain biking for a while (since I was 10?) and never really understood all the differences/ wasn’t really aware of the different types of biking. So I’m writing this article to try and help you understand what is out there give you information each category.
After a little research here are some different types of mountain biking: All-Mountain, Free-Riding (FR), Down-Hill (DH), Cyclo-cross, Single-Speed (SS), Dirt-Jumping (DJ), Urban-Assault biking, and BMX. These are not all the types of mountain biking out there, but this list covers the majority that you will hear about and maybe a couple that you may not hear much about in the world of mountain biking.
All-Mountain: This kind of mountain biking encapsulates a little bit of down-hill biking, cross-country biking, and free-ride biking all in one without being hardcore into any one of those sectors. An all-mountain bike is made to be very stout and robust, able to go through any terrain that a mountain could throw at it. The bike is designed more for durability than being lightweight. A lot of all-mountain bikes weight in over 30lbs which is relatively heavy. Despite its weight this bike would be the type of bike that you could go up and down hills and over obstacles comfortably. You can take this kind of bike anywhere.
Free-Riding: Free-riding is essentially what it sounds like; free riding. It is going down a hill, mountain or trail with jumps and obstacles and anything else you can think of. It is trying to stay in the air and jump off of EVERYTHING while looking as cool as possible and doing tricks and ridiculous things that the normal rider would not do; or would not have the capability to do. It is about pushing your own limits and skills. The term free-riding originated from snowboarding free-riding. If you know what a terrain park is for snowboarding, free-riding for mountain biking is going through a terrain park for mountain bikers. The kind of bike required for this sort of riding typically has a light weight aluminum frame, dual suspension, disc brakes, steep head tube angle, and single-crown front forks. These bikes are lighter weight, they have mid range suspension travel and are very maneuverable.
Down-Hill: Down-hill biking is like free-riding except that it is a race and you are timed. There are pre-determined courses that you have to remain within the bounds of when going down the slope. If you go outside of the bounds of the tack you must re-enter the track at the point you exited from. Down-hill bikes are typically much heavier than free ride bikes and have dual suspension with around 8 inches of travel, which is a lot more travel than a typical free-ride bike. Contrary to what seems to make sense, most DH bikes run 26 inch wheels due to maneuverability reasons.
Cyclo-cross: Cyclo-cross is an interesting category. It is like a mix of road biking and mountain biking in one sport. The event involves doing laps around a track where you are mounting and dismounting your bike in many parts of the track. The bikes in this category are also pretty interesting. They resemble a road bike with the dropped handlebars and similar frames. Cyclo-cross bikes have a thicker frame than most road bikes this is to handle the rougher terrain that these bikes see and also to package the thicker tires that these bikes have.
Single-speed: All single-speed means is that there is only one gear set on the bike. You could single speed with any of the previous categories (cyclo-cross, down-hill, free-ride, all-mountain, etc.). Single-speeding is just a different way to experience riding in any category. You can have a single speed DH bike, XC bike, etc. It adds a challenge to any of the categories because you are limited to that one gear ratio that is on your bike. Which in my opinion this kind of riding is attractive because it forces you to ride differently. You will not be able to go up to a hill slow and make it up (unless you have a weak gear ratio). You will have to haul ass through the entire trail so you have momentum to make it up hills! That sounds like fun!
Dirt-jumping: Dirt jumping is not necessarily limited to biking, but in respect to mountain biking it just means going off a jump (dirt and whatever else: logs, rocks, pretty much anything else) and getting airborne. Dirt jumping bikes are essentially a BMX bike on steroids. They have a little bit bigger frame, usually only rear brakes, and bigger wheels. The bikes also have a bigger gear ratio for getting more speed.
Urban-Assault: Have you ever seen Andy Macaskill? If yes, then you have seen a perfect example of urban assault. If not check out this video.
Andy turns any urban setting into his personal playground when he is on his bike. Urban-assault is free-riding in the city. People who can’t get out to the trails, or don’t have trails around them can always do urban-assault biking. It can be anything from jumping down stairs or ledges to jumping off buildings with your bike. Urban-assault is to mountain biking as street-skating is to skateboarding. Urban-assault bikes are smaller, maneuverable and light-weight.
BMX: BMX biking is probably pretty obvious for most people if you’ve ever seen the x-games. They are small, super tough rigid bikes with small frames, small wheels, usually pegs on the sides for grinding, and brakes front and back with no suspension. These bikes are bombproof and made to be thrashed around and take abuse. You will worry more about breaking yourself than the bike if you ride BMX.
No comments:
Post a Comment