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could be the dumbest question ever.

olyman

olyman

Chimp
Mar 6, 2006
27
0
Could someone elaborate on the different types of mtn biking and their respective types of bike. Just recently getting a bike and hitting some trails im finding there is so much more to it.
The difference between just trail riding, x country, down hill, etc.
What do you call, riding the road up hill and taking the trails down hill.

PLEASE HAVE MERCY :)
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
olyman said:
What do you call, riding the road up hill and taking the trails down hill.
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Around these parts we call that "mountain biking".


Do whatever makes you happy. You can ride most any situation on any machine. Heck you can ride trails on a road bike if you want. (I don't recommend it though)

Certain bikes tend to do better for each activity though. A DH bike sucks to ride uphill for instance.

Go to a shop and look at the bikes. After awhile it will all become clear.
 
bicycleman

bicycleman

Monkey
Dec 7, 2005
236
0
Carlsbad, CA
a down hill bike ussually has more travel 7 or more inches. sometimes
double crown fork, and a beefier frame.Trail bikes ussually have around 4-6 inches of travel wiegh between 28-34 pounds,cross country bikes ussualy have 4 or less inches of travel. As light as they can be, these are the weight weenies. bike can weight as little as 20 pounds or less
If you want an all around bike and will spend dough go with someting like a Giant Reighn or a Fisher CAke or a Stumpy. These are all Trail bikes, and have 5-6 inches of travel
 
PatBranch

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
What do you want to do? A 5" travel bike would be best for everything. You coud ride XC (cross country) trails and climb, but still ride downhil trail.

Or you could get a Hardtail. When built right, hardtails can be very versatile.
 
stinkyboy

stinkyboy

Plastic Santa
Jan 6, 2005
15,187
1
¡Phoenix!
Cross Country (3-5" Travel)


All Mountain/Trail (5-6" Travel)



Freeride (6-9" travel)



Downhill (6-10" travel)



29ers (Stoopid)
 
Angus

Angus

Jack Ass Pen Goo Win
Oct 15, 2004
1,478
0
South Bend
Don't worry the dumbest question ever title in this forum has already been clinched by Bicycleman....
 
Changleen

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,351
2,462
Pōneke
stinkyboy said:
All Mountain/Trail (5-6" Travel)
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Note: All mountain bikes don't have to look that ghey. :D

Seriously, what were they thinking? The rest of the range look great. Well, OK anyway.
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Changleen said:
Note: All mountain bikes don't have to look that ghey. :D

Seriously, what were they thinking? The rest of the range look great. Well, OK anyway.
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It looks better in person. Not much though.
 
OGRipper

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,650
1,121
NORCAL is the hizzle
Stinky, although I love the use of Santa Cruz, why did you show the 5" travel heckler as an example of a 6'' - 9" travel freeride bike? Trying to confuse the guy right off the bat?! Get a vp-free up there...

Anyway, it's not a stupid question. Like a lot of sports, mountain biking has splintered into lots of small, specialized kinds of riding, and the bikes are getting specialized too. It can be confusing to people just getting started. Try to focus on the kind of riding you think you'll be doing. If you are just starting you might not know what that is, but to some extent it may be dictated by where you live and the riding that is readily accessible. It will also be driven in part by how much you want to spend. Talk to people you know who ride, and talk to as many different shop guys as you can find. You will hear lots of opinions but hopefully some consistency as well.

Lately when people ask me about their first "real" mountain bike I have been suggesting what most people call a "trail" bike, which is really the modern interpretation of the basic versatile mountain bike. To me that means a 4-5 inch travel full suspension bike with disc brakes. If you will spend a lot of time on pavement you can go with a hardtail, but I firmly believe that full suspension is the way to go if you really want to get a feel for mountain biking - you will be more comfortable on your first off-road rides and therefore more likely to keep doing it. And discs have much better power and work when wet, so they give you better control and are just safer for new riders.

Having said all that, go to some shops and take a bunch of test rides. Riding as many bikes as you can is the best way to get a feel for what you like. And don't be afraid to go with your gut. Lots of people end up really happy buying the bike they liked for no other reason than because they thought it was cool and fun to ride. In the end that's what it's about for lots of us...
 
Angus

Angus

Jack Ass Pen Goo Win
Oct 15, 2004
1,478
0
South Bend
bicycleman said:
which one would that be Munkyhucker,
i think there is more than one but tell me the one your thinking of
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You are correct! but this one comes to mind,

bicycleman said:
No im not an idiot,
but, do you think that I should request that they replace the rear end,
because of the damage from the chain suck, witch was not caused by me.
Click to expand...
 
K

ktmsx

Monkey
Nov 28, 2005
527
0
CT.
those santacruz look nice..would the weight differenc between the xc and all mt...be big...or just a couple pounds ??
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
just a couple lbs is correct. 5 lbs is a $2000 difference with some bikes though...
 
K

ktmsx

Monkey
Nov 28, 2005
527
0
CT.
allright here is a question some of you will know....is the extra weight of a freeride or all mountain bike worth having for xc..???? I know there are hundreds of bikes and models but generally speaking will the weight hurt you when going up a nasty climb or is it nice to have the better bike for the downhill....
 
bjanga

bjanga

Turbo Monkey
Dec 25, 2004
1,356
0
San Diego
My entry-level XC hardtail probably weighs 27 or 28 pounds. My 'freeride' hardtail probably weighs 34 pounds.

Ironically, my FR hardtail climbs better on rocky, technical ascents because it is stiffer (easier to sprint) and the bigger tires help with rolling over rocks. Additionally, the FR hardtail has a 34 tooth cog, versus the XC bike which has a 32 tooth cog. It is a small but noticeable difference.

The extra weight is definately a burden, but I never ride the XC bike.
 
GumbaFish

GumbaFish

Turbo Monkey
Oct 5, 2004
1,747
0
Rochester N.Y.
You have to decide what is best for your riding. To find the right balance between weight and durability. Its no fun to have a super light bike that climbs great but you avoid things because you are afraid it will break. And its no fun to have a bike that is really beefy but can't climb at all if you want to be able to climb.
 
K

ktmsx

Monkey
Nov 28, 2005
527
0
CT.
If I had my choice I would go downhill the whole time...but I started mtbing for excercise and have found this to be fun while working out..we try to stay on all single track but end up doing alot of rocky trails to get there...I will take some time to look at all the options and figure out which one to get next time...
 
Ti22

Ti22

Monkey
Feb 28, 2006
102
0
Phoenix, AZ
olyman, and ktmsx .. I too came back into bikes after a 20+ year hiatus totally confused.. There used to be BMX, 10 speed, and Mountain bike.. now there are 20 different names for 20 different bikes..

Bottom line, I wanted 1 good bike to ride both on and off road, and to have a bike that I can grow into more advanced mtb riding should I so choose..

I chose a 5" travel bike as that has a low bob suspension.. meaning it doesn't absorb all of your pedaling power when you're climbing up a hill due to a soft rear suspension..

Bottom line, test drive a lot.. and buy the best you can possible afford in terms of the frame, as you can always change out the groupo..

You can probably skip the DH bikes btw, as they are going to be more expensive and a lot heavier than you'll want for exercise and fun..
 
rigidhack

rigidhack

Turbo Monkey
Aug 16, 2004
1,206
1
In a Van(couver) down by the river
Yep. Skip the DH and most FR bikes. Actually, if you are just getting into it, skip rear suspension altogether. Get a solid hardtail with a 5" travel fork. Like a Banshee Scirocco with a Pike. Then you are golden because it will be light enough to ride all day, and tough enough to hit pretty much anything. The best thing about a setup like this is that if you get purely into more gravity oriented riding, you can pick up a good FS later, but still keep the HT and have a bike for all occasions.
 
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