Mountain Bikes

Most bikes you see on the road are called mountain bikes, but they’re used for just getting around town. Many are heavy, and not easy to ride off-road. Higher up the quality range you find bikes which take the technology further, with tough but light frames, good brakes, and better parts. These can do almost everything you want, including city riding and off-road.

Suspension makes mountain bikes more comfortable. Many bikes have both front and rear suspension systems. The suspension lets the wheels move up and down to absorb small bumps while keeping the tyres in contact with the ground for better control. It also helps the rider and the bike absorb large shocks when landing from jumps.

Bare MTBs need lots of extras to make the most of other uses – slick tyres, mudguards, a luggage rack and lights for example. This can all cost more than the bike costs! so unless you really need the genuine qualities of a true mountain bike, go for a hybrid bike which keeps many of the best things about a mountain bike, but has all the useful bits on already.

If you want to go off-road there are some great machines for that, with suspension front and back, a good spread of gears and good brakes. Taking it further, there are specialised ‘downhill’ machines for serious sportspeople. The idea of downhilling is to get yourself down a path, track or dirt road as fast as possible. A downhill bike has a lot of suspension travel, very solid frame and components, and extremely powerful brakes.

Mountain bikes are great, but there are so many different kinds, for so many different uses.