Type of riding 2024

The various mountain bike disciplines all buy road bikes near me 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.

Each different riding style will likely score a change in suspension travel and a tweaks to the bike’s geometry. 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. Bikes such as those designed for XC will typically feature a steeper angle (where the front wheel sits closer to the frame) providing more responsive handling and are considered better for climbing, whereas a slacker head tube angle (<68 degrees), that places the front wheel further out, will provide more stability at high speed and on steep descents.

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

Cross-Country
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. Along the way you might come across naturally-occurring obstacles, or in the case of trail centres you’ll also encounter man-made challenges (seesaws, bridges, jumps etc) specifically placed along the path to make things interesting!

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.

XC also refers to common types of racing, with the two most common forms being 'XCM' and 'XCO'. XCO refers to Cross Country Olympic, an Olympic sport that typically consists of 1-2 hour long races held on technical and hilly loop courses. XCM stands for cross country marathon, with races covering varying terrain for distances ranging from 50 to 150+km in length.

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 - 120 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, 27.5in or 29in will get the job done. Head tube angles will vary, bikes more focused on speed will have a steeper head tube angle to provide fast, responsive handling.

Trail
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 120-150 mm of suspension travel will perform well on any trail, and as with cross country riding, 27.5in or 29in wheels will work well. 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 69-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 / All mountain
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 150-180 mm of suspension travel front and rear, a 'dropper (height adjustable) seat post and tyres of 2.3in width or larger. 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.

Gravity / Downhill
One for the adrenaline junkies, as the name suggests, this type of mountain biking is all about flying down. Riders will either get a lift up to a certain mountain point, or they’ll sometimes even walk up with the bike. 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. Once at the top, it’s all about getting down to the bottom of the hill as fast as possible while handling the drops and jumps, gaps and rocks, slips and slides as you go.

For this type of riding, you’re looking at a bike designed for the descents and little more. Look for a bike with front and rear suspension travel between 170 - 210mm, a long wheelbase for high-speed stability and tyres at around 2.5in in width. Gears don't matter as much, with the top pro's typically racing with just seven. 27.5in wheels have overtaken 26in as the new standard for this type of bike. The head tube angle for downhill bikes is the slackest of all mountain bikes, at about 62-65-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.