Global Sports: Everything You Should Know Regarding Mountain Bikes

Friday, April 22, 2011

Everything You Should Know Regarding Mountain Bikes

By Kimberly Alexander


Mountain bikes are created for off-road bicycling. This includes going on dirt trails, riding over rocks and through water, and going down steep declines. These bicycles need to be strong enough to enable the rider to traverse rough terrains.

The different categories, of which there are four, are based on the type of suspension the cycle has. A hard-tail consists of a frame which has a front suspension fork, but with no back suspension. The fully rigid frame type consists of a rigid fork with a fixed rear, but with no suspension. A soft-tail frame has a minimal quantity of rear suspension and this is activated by the frame flex instead of pivots. The full suspension or dual suspension types have front suspension forks with rear suspensions that have a rear shock. This category also has linkage that let the rear wheels move about on pivots.

The styles of mountain biking is varied. These styles are normally characterized by the kind of terrain. The cross country bicycles are made for cross country racing. As there is emphasis placed on endurance and speed as well as climbing during this type of racing, it is quite important that the bike is lightweight as well as efficient. Even though these types are meant for off-road intent, the construction is too light for it to be efficient on steep or very rugged areas.

Those who go cycling for recreational intent only, will normally use trail bikes. However, there are those people who use them for off road natural trails. As there is much less emphasis placed on the weight of these cycles, they are able to handle rugged terrain and the slacker head angles that they have make for more stability when going downhill.

All mountain cycles fall in between the free-ride and the cross country models. They have more suspension travel which, if you look at the new high end or mid styles, is adjustable. The design of these allows for good climbing and also descending. These are perfect for all-day trips where they need to be used for steep descents or climbs.

Downhill models come with strong, but light frames. Since they have high gears, but slack geometry angles, they are perfect for use on downhill trails and on racecourses. To allow the rider to get enough traction to be able to go over bumpy trails at speed, these ones have more sag than all of the other mountain bikes.

Free-ride models are very similar to the downhill models, but there is less emphasis on the weight and more on the strength of it. The components that are used are normally stronger and made from heavier materials. They can go uphill, but they are inefficient. Their slack head tube angles create difficulty in maneuvering while angled when going uphill or when traveling at low speeds.

These bikes are very effective when used on technical downhill tracks. The movement over as well as around small objects is much better than with downhill bikes. This is due to the fact that the frame angles are generally steeper than on the downhill models. Going uphill is not very comfortable as the bike is too heavy and there is too much suspension compared to others.




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