Chapter 1: Choosing Your Type of Mountain Bike

Finding the perfect mountain bike for you.

There are many mountain bikes available, and it can be tough to find the right one if you don’t know what to look for. Choosing the right type of mountain bike will depend on what you want to be doing with your bike. Do you just want to ride on flat roads? Do you want to start doing downhill racing, or maybe do long-distance riding? Not all mountain bikes are the same, and there are a few differences between each bike that will make a big difference in how they ride. 

Below are the different types of mountain bikes that you can choose from. Understanding each of these bikes will help you decide what you yourself should get for your mountain biking adventure.

Trail Bikes

Trail bikes are specifically made to take on the tricky trails you might find while mountain biking. They also make great first-time bikes, since they are built to handle just about everything. The main feature of a trail bike is the front part (known as the fork), which is quite hard. This is so that you have better control of the bike on tricky roads. These bikes also mainly come with dual-suspension, so that you can handle the difficult paths better (which you will learn about in the next chapter).

The main thing to remember about a trail bike is that they were designed to ride uphill and flat roads equally easily, and that they also ride happily on downhills. The bike's weight is also perfectly set if you need to do quick turns and ride uphill,without too much trouble.

Reasons You Should Buy a Trail Bike

If you want to try all kinds of mountain biking, whether uphills or downhills, this bike is perfect. You should also get this bike if you’re unsure what you want to get, since it’s great for all types of trails.

Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy One

Do you know what kind of mountain biking you want to do yet? If you're going to do racing, like cross-country or even Enduro racing, this may not be the bike to get. It is not specifically made for speed, so you won’t get the best results with downhill racing.

Cross Country Bikes

Cross-country bikes are usually for long-distance riding on pretty flat roads. They can ride uphill, and you will also get down a hill with this bike, but it wasn’t specifically designed for that. Also, many of the cross-country bikes have a hard-tail (which means it doesn’t bounce well on bumpy roads.) This can make it extremely uncomfortable on rough trails. Most trail bikes have suspensions, making it less uncomfortable when the rocky roads are shaking your bike around. 

If you know that you don’t want to be riding challenging trails, you can get yourself a cross-country bike. They don’t have many parts that trail bikes have (like dual-suspension), because it isn’t necessary on mainly flat roads. The main focus is the fact that they are light, even though they have some of the bigger-sized wheels. This makes cross-country bikes perfect for riding fast and riding long. 

Reasons You Should Buy A Cross Country Bike

Get yourself a cross-country bike if you are looking to do races and don’t mind if the bike is a little uncomfortable since it is a hard-tail after all. Having little suspension means you’re in for a bumpy ride. If you enjoy racing long distances more than you enjoy tricky trails, these bikes are for you.

Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy One

If you enjoy slower, comfortable rides, or want to ride challenging single-track trails, don’t get yourself a cross-country bike.

Types of Cross-Country Biking Races

Cross-country biking is one of the most fun riding styles, but this also depends on what you like. If you participate in these types of biking experiences, here are some of the competitions you could join:

Cross Country Eliminator: These races are different distances, depending on the country and area. But usually, there are four riders competing at a time, and the last one to cross the finish line is eliminated from the race. These are also done in laps with someone eliminated each time.

Cross Country Marathon: These are some of the longer races where the distance is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) and combines all types of roads, from gravel to singletrack. These races usually have shorter distances for those who don’t want to ride 60 miles, so you can enter the one that suits your fitness level.

Cross Country Olympics: Did you know that cross country riding is actually an Olympic sport? These races are like the racing they do in the Olympics, where the rules are simple. All the riders start at the same time, and have to finish a few laps around the course. These routes aren’t very long and are sometimes only about 3 miles (5 kilometers) per lap. If your time is too far from the first person’s time, then you are eliminated.

Fat Bikes

Fat bikes are a new type of bike that is made for riding on loose, soft ground, like snow or mud. Fat bikes are not actually fat; it is the tires that are big. These fat tires are great for riding on mud, snow, or sand because they have more control on the loose ground. 

Best of all, because of the big tires, they can also roll over obstacles easily and can still ride uphill with no issues. So, these bikes are specifically made for uneven, soft roads, but it doesn’t mean they can’t ride on regular roads too.

If you stay in an area where it snows a lot, these bikes are a great choice.

Downhill Bikes

Downhill bikes are made specifically for downhill racing, so that the rider is more comfortable when moving the bike at such fast speeds. They make these bikes so that they are easier to control when riding down a hill and on rocky roads. This means that they weren’t made for pedaling much. 

Reasons You Should Buy a Downhill Bike

If you want to focus only on downhills, this is the perfect bike for you. It is made for speed and rocky trails.

Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy One

If you are looking to do many different kinds of roads and trails, this is not the type of bike to get, especially if there are a lot of uphills. They are only for downhills, and will not help much on trails or hills.

Enduro Bikes

Enduro bikes are very specific for a very specific type of racing. 

These bikes are basically the same as downhill bikes, but the main difference is they can climb hills slightly better than downhill bikes. That’s because Enduro racing is all about racing downhill as quickly as you can. Of course, in order to get to the top of the hill, your bike has to get to the top. That’s why it was built to climb as well. But with Enduro racing, the uphills are not timed, so most riders take it nice and slow.They are not as easy to control on trails as trail bikes, but they are able to roll over obstacles really easily on a downhill. And sometimes these Enduro competitions can go on for days, so the bike has to be designed to handle extreme riding.

Reasons You Should Buy An Enduro Bike

If you want to go down a hill as fast as possible, the Enduro-bikes were made specifically for that. 

Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy One

If you want to play around with your bike and ride different types of trails, an Enduro bike won’t work for you. They can ride trails and do jumps, but the way they were designed makes it a bit more difficult to do.

The Difference Between Downhill and Enduro Racing

It sounds like downhilling and Enduro is the same thing then, right? But there are a few differences you can look out for.

Since Enduro is a specific type of race, where riders need specific skills, the bike is designed to work with those skills.

Downhilling: Downhill racing usually has one track that goes down a really steep hill or mountain, which is usually rough and rocky. The winner of the race is the person who can get down that singletrack in the shortest time. These races are usually only a few minutes, but the riders need a lot of energy and power to complete the race.

Enduro Racing: Enduro racing is also focused on downhill racing, but Enduro racing lasts a few days. There are usually a few different stages where the riders have to go down a few different rocky hills. The rider who has the best time down all the hills will then be the winner.

All-Mountain Bikes

All-mountain bikes were made to ride on a few different types of roads. They are made for riding smoothly downhill, and work extremely well on challenging trails. The tires on these bikes are a little wider, and the brakes are pretty strong, which is precisely what you need. 

For beginners who don’t know what type of mountain biking they want to do yet, these bikes are great as a first bike. They allow you to ride on all kinds of roads, and really get a feel for the sport. They are excellent at going down a hill, but also give you the power you need to go uphill, and can still move quickly on trails. 

The main difference between these bikes and trail bikes is that they are better at going uphill, and they are experts at downhills.

Reasons You Should Buy an All-Mountain Bike

If you want to ride uphills comfortably and easily, and want to do well on the downhills, these bikes are great. They are hardy and strong, which is what you need on the uphills and downhills.

Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy an All-Mountain Bike

If you want something light and easy that speeds on a downhill, this bike is not your first choice. Since it isn’t very light and isn’t built for speed, you won’t have the same speed as with an Enduro bike.

Comparing MTB and Road Bikes

Mountain bikes and road bikes are entirely different. They are opposites in how the bike looks, how it rides, and where you can ride it.

The road bike frames and tires are very thin and smooth, and the seat is usually small. This is perfect for flat roads. But mountain bikes have much bigger tires, which are the best to stay stable on uneven, rocky routes. The seats are also much bigger and softer, protecting you from uncomfortable shaking and knocking against the saddle. 

Both bikes have gears and breaks, but each works a little differently because of the different types of roads they can ride on. It makes sense that road bikes have fewer gears and their brakes aren’t as powerful, since the roads they ride on are not as tricky.

Comparing MTB and BMX

A BMX bike is nothing like a mountain bike. A BMX is very small, with a low seat. These bikes are not made for racing or trails, but are used for jumps and stunts in bike parks. You can jump with a mountain bike at certain times, but it is much more difficult to do tricks using them. If you have ever seen those videos of bike stunts, where they roll and jump off stairs and railings, these are the kinds of bikes they use.

BMX bikes have brakes, of course, but they don’t have any gears.

Comparing MTB and Hybrid Bikes

Hybrid bikes are in-between a mountain bike and a road bike, and are best for everyday riding. People usually buy these types of bicycles to get to-and-from work or school. These bikes are made to ride comfortably with little effort, but still allow you to ride on trickier paths. That means the tires are wider than a road bike, but not quite as big as a mountain bike.

Comparing MTB and E-Bikes

In short, E-bikes have a battery, and that does a lot of the pedaling work for you. It is basically a cross between a mountain bike and a scooter. The point of these bikes is to allow you to set it so that it gets easier and easier to pedal. The problem is that these bikes are extremely heavy, and you have to charge them before every ride.

For youngsters, e-bikes aren’t necessary! These bikes are best for slightly older riders, or riders who have had an injury to their body and can’t take the strain of normal pedaling