Because these will add to the bike's purchase price, include some extra in your budget. Mountain Bike Types Now that you've considered how you'll bike and have zeroed in on your buying tendencies, the next step is considering what type of off-road rig best suits your needs.
To help, we've provided this simple chart to show what the different types of mountain bicycles offer:. Understand that within each bike type, there are various designs with significant differences. For example, if you're shopping for a full-suspension bike, you'll decide whether you want one with short-, medium-, or long-travel suspension; whether you want lightness and climbing efficiency; or a beefy frame and rugged components and wheels to withstand lots of air time and hard landings.
If you can tell us where and how you plan to ride your new bike, we'll point out the key differences and explain why you might prefer one over the other. And we won't be surprised if over time you end up with several different mountain bikes.
Many people do because they're all so much fun! Frame Materials Mountain-bike frames today are built of several materials. And, you'll find people who insist that theirs is the only way to go. But, don't put too much stock in one person's opinion. We have bikes at all price points and while their frame materials vary, we're confident you'll find a ride you love. That's what's most important, not what the frame is made of. Keep that in mind and don't decide until you've had a chance test ride some bikes.
Most of our mountain bicycles are built of aluminum, which is a great material for the job. It produces good-looking, affordable, responsive, lightweight and strong frames that won't rust. There are different grades of aluminum and different ways of forming aluminum tubing, which both result in different feels, so there are many aluminum designs and rides to choose from. There are also frames built of steel, carbon and titanium.
Of the three, steel is the most traditional and least expensive material. Manufacturers still produce steel frames because it keeps the price down while offering excellent ride characteristics, reasonable lightness, and durability and repairability, too.
Carbon and titanium are costly materials and more difficult to build frames with, so they're found on more expensive bicycle models. Carbon is actually a fabric that's saturated in glue and formed into tubes that are then built into a frame.
Or sometimes the carbon sheets are placed in a mold and crafted into a monocoque design, which is essentially a one-piece frame. Because carbon is a fabric it's possible to align it in different ways, to layer it, to change the number of threads and to include different types of fibers, too, all of which allow designers to extensively fine-tune the frame to dial-in the ride. The advantages of a carbon frame are super-light weight, excellent vibration damping and top-notch corrosion resistance.
The shortcomings are cost and durability. But don't get the wrong idea: Carbon is extremely strong and under normal use will hold up as well as any other material. However, if you're prone to crashing and ride hard enough to bash your bike, you run the risk of your frame striking the ground or trees or rocks, and a severe impact could damage the structural integrity of the frame since carbon is more prone to impact damage than metal frames these may dent but that's more a cosmetic than a structural problem.
Unlike carbon, titanium is a metal like aluminum and steel. This strong, light tubing makes a lively and comfortable frame. Also, because titanium frames are impervious to corrosion and rust- and scratch-resistant, they're often brushed or polished instead of painted, which means there's no paint job to worry about. Additionally, titanium holds up to abuse and hard riding quite well and, while not invulnerable, can handle a lot. The chief disadvantage is cost. Titanium frames tend to be among the most costly because titanium is expensive and difficult to work with.
Suspension Most new mountain-bike buyers purchase a model equipped with suspension. Ironically, even if you buy a rigid bike one without front or rear shocks , you actually get a certain level of suspension thanks to the cushioning effect of the fat tires, which float over bumps if you don't pump them up too hard. It's likely, however, that you'll prefer the additional bump-busting ability of a bike with a suspension fork or one with front and rear shocks.
These machines offer many advantages for trail riding. Because the wheels are sprung and can travel up and down, they remain in contact with the ground on even the most technical terrain. This results in more speed, traction and control and safer rides.
Plenty of mountain bikers in fact, discover that they can easily ride trails they used to fear simply because they have a good suspension system. Another wonderful thing about suspension is that it greatly reduces the amount of beating your body takes. If you're suffering from a stiff neck or sore lower back on rides, you'll be amazed at the difference a suspension makes. Jolts from big hits are absorbed by the shocks and never have a chance to slam your body so you finish rides relaxed and comfortable think of the money you'll save on chiropractor bills.
Front or Full? There are two main types of suspension mountain bikes, those with front suspension called hardtails and those with front and rear suspension called full suspension.
Deciding which to get is the bicycle world's equivalent of whether to buy a PC or Macintosh computer, though full suspension tends to be the more popular choice for most riders. Traditionally, front-suspension mountain bikes have been lighter and a tad more efficient, which is why hardtails had pretty much dominated the cross-country racing scene.
As weights have dropped and full-suspension efficiency has improved, even World Cup pros are pulling out fully suspended bikes for rough courses. Because front-suspension bikes have only one shock, the frames are simpler than full-suspension models, which means they're lighter and a little easier to clean and maintain.
There are also dirt-jumping hardtails made for air time, wheelies and urban assault riding on and over obstacles you find almost anywhere , which feature low, beefy frames and suspension forks.
Full-suspension machines are becoming more the norm because they offer speed, comfort and control, which is so much fun that most people don't mind the slight weight penalty.
Plus, any pedaling efficiency lost in the rear suspension system is more than made up in faster downhill and flat-terrain speeds. You'll also find your rear wheel sticking to technical climbs better than on a hardtail.
And, you'll have more energy on long rides because you're taking less of a beating. Short Or Long Travel? There are different types of full-suspension bikes defined by the amount of travel the shocks provide and what the bike is designed to do.
Short-travel models offer one to three inches of suspension to take the bite off the rough stuff while retaining impressive efficiency. Cross-country bikes tend to use larger diameter 29in wheels, combined with lightly treaded, low-volume and fast-rolling tyres for maximum speed.
They tend to use steeper head angles combined with longer stems and narrower bars for quick reacting handling and to place the rider into an efficient pedalling position. The downside of this type of geometry is that it can make bikes harder to control on steeper descents, especially when combined with shorter-travel suspension and skinnier tyres. Cheaper cross-country bikes will use alloy frames, but carbon is the default choice for top-end race bikes.
They tend to have a very wide range of gears to allow steep climbing as well as a high top speed. They use shorter stems and wider handlebars to help improve control at speed, while tyres will have more aggressive tread. Trail hardtails — sometimes known as hardcore hardtails — will use strong frames matched to a fork of around —mm travel. Full-suspension trail bikes will use anywhere between —mm of travel at either end. Aluminium is the choice of frame material for more affordable bikes, while top-end machines use carbon fibre.
Some more boutique frame builders may use steel. Double chainrings have largely fallen out of favour, and have been replaced with 1x-drivetrains that offer a wide gear range with simpler maintenance and better performance. Trail bikes may use either 29in or b wheels. As a rule, 29in wheels are more stable, while b give a more involving and dynamic ride. You might also come across plus tyres, which pair a b sized wheel with a wider rim fitted with a large volume typically 2. Buy one if: you like hitting descents as much as you like climbing and need a machine that can do it all.
Enduro is a racing format in which the descents are timed, but you still have to pedal yourself around the course. That means that these bikes are designed to perform exceptionally well down steep and difficult trails but are still light and efficient enough to pedal back to the top.
Most use around mm of travel at either end, paired to tough wheels and reinforced tyres. The suspension units they use are usually still air-sprung but tend to be heavier duty with a wide range of damping adjustments to tune their downhill performance. Coil shocks are gaining some favour again for their reliability and consistency for prolonged hard-riding.
Bear in mind, that this adds weight, complication and additional potential points of failure. Fans of coil shocks claim they feel more plush and supple. They are also simple to maintain — you can fit and forget. However, there is a weight penalty and they are less adjustable than air shocks. A significant change in your weight will mean you'll need to fit a new spring.
The range of gears available to you will have a great impact on your enjoyment of riding so it's important to get it right. For example, might want to consider a higher range if you think you'll be doing a lot of climbing so you don't end up tired and frustrated. Entry-level bikes are often supplied with a triple cassette, meaning three cogs on the chainset front cassette so that you have the widest possible range of gears to help you to ride more efficiently as you build your fitness.
The most common chainset for hardtail mountain bikers is a double, which means there are two cogs at the front. This is often paired with a ten-speed cassette at the rear, which has ten cogs, although eleven-speed is becoming more common. A double should give most riders enough range to be able to tackle even the trickiest climbs. It's becoming increasingly common on newer mountain bike frames to see a one-by, which means only a single ring up-front.
Having a one-by removes the need for a front-derailleur - one less this to maintain, one less thing to get clogged with mud and less risk of dropping your chain when you shift. This is particularly attractive for aggressive downhill riding when you won't be doing much climbing. You'll often see this paired with a twelve-speed cassette.
Here's our complete guide to groupsets. Wheels are referred to by numbers which indicate their size. The shift in recent years has been to larger wheels that offer more traction, greater roll-over ability and a better ride quality, meaning 26in wheels are rarely seen on new mountain bikes. They do, however, weigh more than the smaller wheel sizes, can be cumbersome in small frame sizes and are slightly limited in the amount of suspension that can be incorporated around them.
For this, 29er bikes are best used in cross country and trail-type riding, where generous suspension travel is usually not needed. All of the above wheel options also come in plus sized variants. These wheels sit somewhere between normal and fat and claim to offer improved traction, control and comfort over a standard wheel.
Offering a large volume 2. For example, a Fat bikes require specific wheels that provide a large enough footprint to float over sand and snow. Fat bikes have increased tyre clearance to handle tyres ranging from 3.
Due to the extreme air volume given, the majority of fat bikes are either rigid or hardtail. The various mountain bike disciplines all require specific features on the bikes to achieve an optimal outcome. For example, lightweight bikes excel in Cross-Country XC racing , so a lightweight frame and components are highly sort after.
For other disciplines like Trail , All-mountain or Enduro racing, a bike with longer travel and a dropper seatpost is popular. Head tube angles the angle at which the front fork protrudes from the frame , depending on whether their focus centres around handling or stability, will be the main geometry tweak. To help you decide on what kind of bike you should be looking for and with what kind of features, here's a summary of the common forms of mountain bike riding.
This is the 'original' form of mountain bike riding and is done on naturally occurring trails or trails that have been purpose-built. The terrain can be almost anything — hard-packed, muddy, rocky, gravel, tree roots, soft from vegetation. Trail centres, which have either been enhanced, altered, maintained by human influence, may be graded as per the degree of technical proficiency required to ride the course.
Green gives you a pleasant family-style journey, blue indicates the path is rollable no major obstacles to get over. Red is for more technical riding and black is for challenging paths — bigger drops, obstacles in your path, gaps, etc — typically the stuff for serious riders and more capable bikes. XCO refers to Cross Country Olympic, an Olympic sport that typically consists of hour long races held on technical and hilly loop courses. Almost any kind of mountain bike is suited to cross country due to the variety of graded trails.
Hardtails can easily cover green and blue trails, but as you move further into red and black trails, suspension becomes increasingly important.
For these tougher trails, dual-suspension mountain bikes with 90 - mm of travel are great options. Cross country courses require a lot of pedalling, so a drivetrain that is efficient is also an item to be ticked off. Tyre size will also depend on the type of trail you're riding but either 26in, Head tube angles will vary, bikes more focused on speed will have a steeper head tube angle to provide fast, responsive handling. Trail riding is arguably the non-racing aspect of cross country riding.
This is simply 'mountain biking' to many and will generally cover trails with greater technical difficulty than those designed for cross country. A trail bike sits somewhere between a bike designed for cross country and Enduro racing.
These are designed to perfectly balance both climbing and descending, a jack of all trades if you will. Many trail bikes can be raced in cross country events, but are likely to be heavier and slower on climbs and flat terrain. Dual suspension bikes with mm of suspension travel will perform well on any trail, and as with cross country riding, Given the extensive range of trails, you can encounter, a drivetrain with a large gear range is something to look out for.
The head tube angle will again vary on the level you plan to be riding at, but generally will be slacker than cross country bikes with angles somewhere between 67 and degrees. A common feature on trail bikes is a dropper seatpost which allows the lowering of the saddle while on the move.
This means you can have the saddle at the right height for comfortable and efficient pedalling and with the flick of a switch, drop it out of the way for descending. Enduro riding is a unique form of mountain biking where downhill sections of a course are timed, but the uphill sections are not. The stage race format rewards the rider with the lowest accumulated time for a set number of downhill runs. Although the uphill sections aren't timed, on many occasions there are time cutoffs to adhere to.
Enduro is one of the fastest growing disciplines in mountain biking. The jumps are more challenging, the drops are bigger, and the trails are more likely to be black level. Enduro bikes are designed to take the rider uphill but still shine on descents. Look for a bike with mm of suspension travel front and rear, a 'dropper height adjustable seat post and tyres of 2.
The headtube angle will be slacker than that of trail bikes, but slightly steeper than downhill bikes so that the trek back up with mountain is more manageable. All mountain bikes are effectively non-race versions of Enduro bikes. While many brands will only offer one or the other, some brands differentiate the two by ensuring the all mountain bike is more well rounded. In these cases, consider an All mountain bike something designed for technical and aggressive trail riding but without the racing ambitions.
One for the adrenaline junkies, as the name suggests, this type of mountain biking is all about flying down. Ski resorts around the world are starting to operate chairlifts throughout the year — not just during the snow season — which makes downhill riding more accessible.
Look for a bike with front and rear suspension travel between - mm, a long wheelbase for high-speed stability and tyres at around 2. Gears don't matter as much, with the top pro's typically racing with just seven. The head tube angle for downhill bikes is the slackest of all mountain bikes, at about degrees, to account for the high speed and stability required. Don't forget to budget for body protection when doing this type of mountain biking. A moto-style full face helmet, goggles, and knee protection are typically minimum investments.
Mountain bikes are commonly made from either carbon fibre, aluminium, titanium, steel or a combination of these materials. Each material has different characteristics and will affect the cost, comfort, weight and general 'feel' of the bike.
It's worth noting that it's often how the chosen material is used by the engineers and manufacturers that matters most, and this is something that each brand will typically play with. Below is a summary of each type of material, check out our Frame Material Explained Guide for a more in-depth description. Aluminium is the most common frame material in modern mountain bikes, closely followed by carbon fibre. Aluminium is a metal that can be used to make a light and stiff bike.
Aluminium bikes have great power transfer thanks to the thickness of the tubes used, but this can lead to a harsh ride if suspension isn't present.
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