Mountain Bike Reviews
People have been riding bikes off road for years. But mountain biking as a sport was born in the mid 70’s by a couple of California guys who were bored and looking for a little fun. It all began when they took their bikes off the streets and into the backwoods. The “fat tire’ era was born.
Of course, like almost everyone that straddles a bike, these guys had to see who was fastest over their backwoods obstacle course. From that day on, history was made. And so were many bumps, bruises and broken bones!
New equipment was needed to handle the harsh punishments this type of riding entailed and regular bikes weren’t up to the challenge. Improvement upon improvement and the mountain biking industry was born. With the help of guys like Mike Sinyard (founder of Trek Bicycles) the first real mass produced mountain bikes entered the market.
The main components of mountain bikes: flat handlebars, derailleurs, big tires, and powerful brakes, have not changed much but the details sure have. Today’s mountain bikes have evolved to handle the rigorous demands of today’s aggressive riders.
Front and rear suspensions have been the biggest changes to enter the mountain biking arena. Suspension forks (front suspension) were introduced in the late 80's and have enhanced handling and control. The suspension also provided a more comfortable ride.
With the addition of rear suspension, rider comfort level and handling characteristic were again greatly enhanced as the bike ‘ironed out’ many bone-jarring obstacles.
Disk brakes made the scene in the early 90's. Compared to some of the older cantilever style brakes they replaced, disk brakes brought more stopping power and reliability to off-road riding.
Improvements and innovations in frame and component materials and in the manufacturing process have increased performance - and part life – plus made significant weight reduction.
Carbon fiber and improvements with Aluminum alloys have become mainstays in frame materials. Other enhancements in shifting, the threadless headset, and better bottom brackets, have made bikes maintenance easier to accomplish and are proving to last longer.
Thanks to competition in the industry and technology, today’s mountain bikes are much lighter, faster, much more reliable, and unfortunately, way more expensive than the bikes of yesteryear.
Today we group mountain biking into four main categories: Cross Country, Downhill, Freeride, and Trials/Street Riding/Dirt Jumping.
Cross Country Mountain Biking is probably the most popular. For those who’ve grown tired of fighting with traffic, heading out into the woods is a popular and viable option. XC is the easiest off road riding to go into and the less extreme venue of other mountain biking sports.
Cross-Country Mountain Bikes are lightweight and typically have only a small amount of suspension. (Typically air shocks on the front forks) .
Downhill Mountain Biking is similar to Downhill skiing. Riders race against the clock on 
steep, downhill terrain with no extended climbing sections. This makes for blood curdling, high speed descents with gravity-defying air time off jumps and other obstacles. The race is all about controlling your bike at high speeds- breaking... cornering... riding to the edge of one's ability.
Downhill mountain bikes feature a full-suspension design (front and rear suspension). The bikes must be up to the task of a punishing ride as does the rider. "Body armor" is typically worn for protection and includes a specific kind of mountain bike helmet, knee and shin guards, elbow guards, and a chest, shoulder and back protector. It’s not a sport for the faint-of-heart!
Freeride Mountain Biking is a relatively new discipline of mountain biking, combining different aspects of the sport such as downhill and dirtjumping which has progressed rapidly in recent years, and is now recognized as one of the most popular disciplines within mountain biking.
Freeride bikes are similar to downhill bikes, but feature slightly less suspension travel and are lighter. The lighter weigh is needed because it they’re ridden not just downhill but through more technical sections as well.
Trails and Street Mountain Bikes are very strong and designed for jumping, street racing, and slalom. Some people refer to Dirt Jump Mountain Bikes as over-sized BMX bikes that have front suspension. Here style and execution are emphasized. They are typically made of very strong materials to be able to take the impact of jumps and their suspension systems are just a tad softer than those of Cross Country Mountain Bikes.
Check out the various Mountain Bike Reviews listed by mountain bike models at the upper right side of this page. The reports, reviews and videos will help in choosing the right mountain bike for you.
