Mountain Biking 101

Mountain biking is an exhilarating sport in which anyone who capable of riding a bike can take pleasure. In contrast to the standard bike ride, it does offer a quantity of hazard.  Hence, you should be adept in these fundamental skills prior to hitting the tracks or the dirt.

You can exercise these essential skills at any good location for biking, usually where there is wide and safe space with no or very minimal obstacles, such as your local park, school, bike path, or simply around your house. As your abilities become better, you can gradually try more challenging places, such as hilly or rocky or sloping spots.

First of all, in the course of mountain biking, you need to get a feel for your pedals.  Practices moving your foot away from the pedal, as you are sitting on the bicycle with one foot as support on the ground.  Subsequently, move on to letting go and replacing your foot while pedaling around for a while.  However, it may be essential for those with toe clip and clip-less type foot pedals to spend some more time practicing the routine.

Next you will need to practice by sitting and spinning for position.  Simply sit on your bicycle and pedal around the place.  It would help if you can maintain your arms in a slightly bent position. You may also want to try to regulate your seat height so your leg is approximately 70 to 90 percent stretched at the bottom of every stroke on the pedal.  Your body should stay relaxed, since there won’t be a position which would require you to have either your knees or your elbows locked.

Shifting gears is also one skill that you have to work on in mountain biking.  Get a feel for shifting gears with your bike.  The higher gears are quite tougher to pedal and will go faster while the lower gears are easier to pedal and will help you ascend hills.  If your route includes steeper hills, prepare to shift to the lower gears before you get to the hill and not while you are already on the slope.

Another thing you need to work on to make you a good mountain biker is your coasting skill.  It will be necessary also for you to practice coasting while you are also standing on your pedals, and without actually sitting on the seat.  Keep your arms on a bent position but it won’t be necessary at all to lock your knees.  Try experimenting with shifting your body towards the bike’s rear end.

You should also try to get as comfortable as you can with pedaling while you are standing on your bike.  Experiment on lifting yourself off the seat during the time that you are also standing on the pedals.  Try then to crank them around.  Try doing this on higher gears while you are on flat ground. Then try it again in lower gears while on a hill.

Lastly, you also need to practice dropping down a curb.  Look for a curb that you can easily climb to its upper portion.  Start practicing at a medium pace.  Then, stand and coast right off the curb from the upper level to the lower level.  Try executing this at various speeds until you become quite comfortable with doing it.

When you have exercised these procedures and become proficient at them, you’ll be better prepared and more comfortable to hit the trails on your mountain bike.  It may definitely take some practice and getting used to, but before you’ll even know it, it will be like second nature to you and you’ll be riding around like an expert biker.

Different Types of Mountain Bikes

With mountain biking being a very popular sport, there are many bikes to choose from.  Depending on what type of riding you like, the style of bikes you can choose from will vary.  Below, you’ll find tips on the different types of bikes available.

1.  Cross country
Almost all mountain bikes will fit into this category. Cross country mountain bikes are light weight, making them easy to ride over most terrains, even up and down hills.  This is the most common mountain bike and it can be used with ease for riding on the path or even commuting.

2.  Downhill
These types of bikes are for serious bikers who crave the ultimate adventure.  Downhill bikes have front and rear suspension, strong parts, and disc brakes.  Rarely available off the shelf, most riders like to custom build their own.

3.  Trials
Trail mountain biking involves a great degree of skill and is classified as the precision riding of the sport.  Similar to downhill bikes, trial riders will often build their own bikes rather than purchase one off a shelf.  Generally very light and very strong, these bikes require a lot of discipline.

4.  Jump and slalom
Slalom and jump bikes are very strong and designed for jumping, street racing, and slalom.  They offer a front suspension and use very strong components dedicated to what they do.  These bikes are very popular with the sport of mountain biking.

Even if you are new to mountain biking, the sport can be a lot of fun.  There are several bikes to choose  from, all of which depend on your style.  If you are still looking for the best style for you, all you have to do is try out several bikes and see which one suites you the best.

Buying A Mountain Bike

It can be a bit frustrating as well as time consuming when you buy a mountain bike.  Below, you’ll find some tips and things to be aware of before you lay down the cash and buy a mountain bike.

Determining your price
There is really no limit as to how much money you can spend on a new mountain bike.  To help you keep your spending under control, you should figure out what your price range is and how much your willing to pay for a new bike.  When you buy, you shouldn’t buy from mass merchant stores such as Wal-Mart.  You should instead support your local bike shop and get a much better bike and much better service.

Finding your style
All mountain bikes are designed with several different riding styles and terrain types in mind.  You’ll need to figure out what type of riding you will be doing the most.  Smooth riding, cross country racing, mountain cruising, or lift accessed downhill is something you need to figure out.  Make sure that the bike you select fits your personal style and not that of the sale’s staff.

Full suspension or hard tail
If you can afford it, a full suspension mountain bike is always worth the purchase.  A hard tail, without rear suspension, is much lighter weight and pedal more efficiently, although full suspensions offer more comfort and overall better control.  You’ll want to make that decision based on your price range,  riding style, and the type of terrain you’ll be riding on the most.

Finding your favorites
Comparing mountain bikes component to component is nearly impossible, as there are far too many combinations available.  The best way to go about doing this is finding a few components that are the most important to you and making sure the rest or the minimums fall within your price range.  You can start with the fork then look at the wheels and rear derailleur.

Sales and seasons
During the year, the prices of mountain bikes can fluctuate quite a bit.  Spring through summer is the main buying season.  If you can wait until the right price pops up, normally in the fall and winter, you can save a couple hundred dollars.  Many bike shops will also offer discounts or other accessories if you buy from them.

Finding a good dealer
Finding a good bike dealer is more important than finding the best price.  You should always find a dealer that cares more about selling you a great bike than selling you a high priced one. A great dealer will have a clean repair shop and give you the impression that you can really  trust them.

Test ride
You should test ride as many bikes as you can within your price range and riding style.  You’ll find that some bikes will feel right, while others won’t.  The more bikes you can test drive, you better you’ll understand what works and what doesn’t.

Doing the research
Product reviews and bike reviews are some of the best ways to find out about a mountain bikes reliability and overall performance.  You should always look at what other owners and reviews think about a bike before you make that final purchase.

Cross Country Mountain Biking

Cross country mountain biking is cross country at its finest.  Where free riders and downhill bikers use four wheel bikes and ski lifts to get them to their destination, cross country bikers get to  the top of the mountain by the ride.  Though free riding is very popular, the life vein of the sport has always been cross country biking.

Just as cross country riders are a different breed, the bikes they ride are as well.  The cross country bike is completely different in many ways from other  types of mountain riding bikes.  The premise for cross country riders is speed.  Everything about their bikes revolve with the idea of making the bikes faster and faster.

Bikes used in cross country mountain biking can be fully rigid frame, hard tails, or even full suspension frames.  Through the years, the cross over to full suspension has become very popular.

The weight difference between free ride bikes and cross country bikes are considerable.  You’ll be extremely hard pressed to find a bike that weighs more than 24 pounds, and even that weight can be heavy.  Free ride bikes weigh close to 40 pounds, which makes the difference in weight pretty close.

If you’ve never tried cross country mountain biking, you’ll probably find it to be a break from the ordinary.  Even though this type of biking involves trails, it’s normally the type of terrain that beginners wouldn’t want to ride.  Involving hills and rough terrain, cross country biking offers quite the rush.

For mountain bikers everywhere, cross country is the way to go.  It offers you a new assortment of bikes, new areas to bike, and a new twist to mountain biking as you know it.  If you’ve been looking for a mountain biking rush, cross country mountain biking is what you need to be experiencing.