Sunday, December 25, 2011

Beginner Mountain Bike Skills


You can practice these beginning skills at a local park, school, bike path, or simply around your house. If you can, try to find a location with a steep hill.

Get a feel for your pedals
Practice moving your foot away from the pedal, first while sitting on your bike with one foot on the ground. Next, move on to releasing and replacing your foot while pedaling around for a bit.  Those with toe clip and clipless type foot pedals will want to spend a bit more time practicing.

Sit and spin for position
Simply sit on your bike and pedal around. You should keep your arms slightly bent. You should also adjust your seat height so your leg is 70 to 90 percent extended at the bottom of every stroke on the pedal.  Keep your body relaxed, as there will never be a position where you should have either your knees or your elbows locked.

Shifting gears
Get a feel for shifting gears with your bike.  The higher gears are harder to pedal and will go faster while the lower gears are easier to pedal and will help you ascend hills.  As you get to steeper hills, its best to shift before you get to the hill rather than while your on it.

You should spend a bit of time coasting while standing on your pedals, without actually sitting on the seat.  Keep your arms bent but don't lock your knees.  Now, try experimenting with shifting your body towards the rear end of the bike.

Pedal while standing

Dropping down a curb

Once you practice these techniques and get the hang of them, you'll be able to hit the trails feeling comfortable on your mountain bike.  Even though it may take some getting used to, it'll become second nature before you know it.

Buying A Mountain Bike


Determining your price
There is really no limit as to how much money you can spend on a new mountain bike.  To help you keep your spending under control, you should figure out what your price range is and how much your willing to pay for a new bike.  When you buy, you shouldn't buy from mass merchant stores such as Wal-Mart.  You should instead support your local bike shop and get a much better bike and much better service.

Finding your style

Full suspension or hard tail

Finding your favorites

Sales and seasons

Finding a good dealer

Test ride

Doing the research

Clothes For Winter Riding









Wind protection

Helmet and liners

Cross Country Mountain Biking

Cross country mountain biking is cross country at its finest.  Where free riders and downhill bikers use four wheel bikes and ski lifts to get them to their destination, cross country bikers get to the top of the mountain by the ride. Though free riding is very popular, the life vein of the sport has always been cross country biking.

Just as cross country riders are a different breed, the bikes they ride are as well.  The cross country bike is completely different in many ways from other types of mountain riding bikes.  The premise for cross country riders is speed.  Everything about their bikes revolve with the idea of making the bikes faster and faster.

Bikes used in cross country mountain biking can be fully rigid frame, hardtails, or even full suspension frames.  Through the years, the cross over to full suspension has become very popular.

The weight difference between free ride bikes and cross country bikes are considerable. You'll be extremely hard pressed to find a bike that weighs more than 24 pounds, and even that weight can be heavy.  Free ride bkes weigh close to 40 pounds, which makes the difference in weight pretty close.

If you've never tried cross country mountain biking, you'll probably find it to be a break from the ordinary.  Even though this type of biking involves trails, it's normally the type of terrain that beginners wouldn't want to ride. Involving hills and rough terrain, cross country biking offers quite the rush.

For mountain bikers everywhere, cross country is the way to go.  It offers you a new assortment of bikes, new areas to bike, and a new twist to mountain biking as you know it.  If you've been looking for a mountain biking rush, cross country mountain biking is what you need to be experiencing.

Different Types of Mountain Bikes

With mountain biking being a very popular sport, there are many bikes to choose from.  Depending on what type of riding you like, the style of bikes you can choose from will vary.  Below, you'll find tips on the different types of bikes available.

1.  Cross country
Almost all mountain bikes will fit into this category. Cross country mountain bikes are light weight, making them easy to ride over most terrains, even up and down hills.  This is the most common mountain bike and it can be used with ease for riding on the path or even commuting.

2.  Downhill
These types of bikes are for serious bikers who crave the ultimate adventure.  Downhill bikes have front and rear suspension, strong parts, and disc brakes.  Rarely available off the shelf, most riders like to custom build their own.

3.  Trials
Trail mountain biking involves a great degree of skill and is classified as the precision riding of the sport.  Similiar to downhill bikes, trial riders will often build their own bikes rather than purchase one off a shelf.  Generally very light and very strong, these bikes require a lot of discipline.

4.  Jump and slalom
Slalom and jump bikes are very strong and designed for jumping, street racing, and slalom.  They offer a front suspension and use very strong components dedicated to what they do.  These bikes are very popular with the sport of mountain biking.

Even if you are new to mountain biking, the sport can be a lot of fun.  There are several bikes to choose  from, all of which depend on your style.  If you are still looking for the best style for you, all you have to do is try out several bikes and see which one suites you the best.

Disc Brakes Or Rim Brakes





Disc brakes on the other hand have been around for a long time in cars but weren't used on bikes much until the late 1990's.  There were some issues in the earlier models, although the cable actuated or hydraulic brakes of today seem to work quite well.

In terms of performance, disc brakes seem to work better than rim brakes, especially in wet or muddy areas.  Disc brakes normally require less force to apply and aren't effected by the rim or wheel condition.


disc brakes, while others prefer rim brakes - making it a matter of opinion.

Framing Materials

The cost of a mountain bike frame is proportionate to its material, as well as the treatment that material has received.  Currently, there are five types of material used in mountain bikes - high tensile steel, chromoly steel, aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber.  Oversized diameters, heat treating, and butting are tubing material treatments that will increase the cost of a frame as well.

High tensile steel
This is a very durable alloy that's found in lower priced mountain bikes.  It offers a high carbon content which makes it less stiff than chromoly steel, so more materials are needed to make it stiff enough for bicycle frames, which will in turn make it that much heavier.

Relatively inexpensive to produce, you'll find this material in trail bikes, city bikes, and even entry level mountain bikes.  There are some bikes that come with a chromoly seat tube, while the rest is high tensile steel.

Chromoly steel
Short for steel alloy, chromoly is best described by its major additives - chromium and molybdenum. This is probably the most refined framing material, giving over 100 years of dependable service. 

Depending on the type of heat treating and butting, you can find this material in bikes as low as 400 dollars all the way up to 1,500 and beyond.  The chromoly steel material offers very good durability and a compliant ride characteristic.

For the past 15 years, aluminum has been refined in pretty much the same way as chromoly. There have been various alloys developed, as well as heat treatment, oversizing, and butting.  With dual suspension bikes, aluminum is the preferred material as it's the stiffest and most cost effective.

Aluminum is stiffer than chromoly, and therefore it will crack before chromoly.  Of course, this depends on how you ride and how much abuse you give the frame. The advantages of aluminum is that the frame is very light and very stiff through oversizing or butting.

Even thought it's somewhat exotic, the prices for this material have come down over the last few years. Frames made of titanium remain expensive because it takes longer to weld the tubes to the frame.

Titanium is considered an alloy, normally mixed with small amounts of vanadium and aluminum to give it better weldability and ride characteristics.  More compliant than chromoly, it offers better fatigue and corrosion properties. 

The material you choose for your bike, all depends on where you ride and what style you use. Almost all materials will last you for years, as long as you take care of your bike and treat the frame with some respect.

How Mountain Bike Gears Work










How To Lube Your Mountain Bike

A mountain bike is a lot of fun although it does require some maintenance.  You should always lube your bike 15 hours or so before riding, as quick jobs right before you take off normally doesn't get everything lubed.  Some lube jobs will last for more rides, although if things get loud or shifting gets sticky, it's time to lube.

Here is how to lube your bike:

1.  The chain

2.  Front Deraileur

3.  Rear deraileur
Just like the front deraileur, lube the pivots. 

4.  Pedals

5.  Everything into motion
Pedal around, shift your gears, and bounce your bike around.  If you hear anything squeak, there's a moving part there are it should be lubed immediately.

6.  Wipe it all clean
Once you've lubed everything and wiped it all around, simply wipe it all back off.  Use a rag to wipe away all the lube you used, including all the lube off the chain.  Wiping it away will leave the lube in between the parts but clean it away from everywhere it isn't needed.  This will keep your bike from collecting dirt while you ride.

How To Use A Chain Tool



If your chain happens to break, you'll need to remove the broken link and replace it with a spare link.To do this, simply reattach the two ends of the broken chain and ride on a shorter chain until you can get it replaced. 




Now that the broken link has been removed and you've re-routed the chain, you're ready to insert a new link or simply connect the links that were beside the broken one.  The process here is the same - align the two ends so that the link with the inner side plates will fit inside the link with the pin and outer side plates.  Now, use the chain tool to push the pin inward until it's positioned evenly between the side plates.

The easiest way to learn how to do this or feel comfortable doing it is to have someone show you, then actually practice with a chain and a chain tool. You'll have no trouble at all making a temporary repair in a mountain bike chain once you've seen it done by a professional and practiced it yourself a few times.

Introduction To Mountain Biking

Mountain biking is a great way to explore the outdoors, stay in shape, or just have fun. Racing down the side of a mountain is a lot of fun indeed, although it can also be quite dangerous. Even though it's dangerous, if you ride with caution, it can be enjoyed by the entire family.

Styles of mountain biking
Mountain biking can best be characterized into three different styles - downhill, free riding, and cross country.  Even though the different styles are similar in some ways, they still require different skills.  The style that you pick will determine the type of bike you get.

Locations for mountain biking

You can also find groups that have mountain bike rides and competitions.  You can look on the internet or even in a local paper and see exactly what's available in your area.  You may be able to find groups for the more advanced riders as well as beginners.

Becoming a great biker

Selecting your mountain bike


Staying safe when riding

Mountain Bike Anatomy

  1. Bottom bracket - This attaches the crankset to the body of a bike.
  2. Brake cable - This is the cable that connects the brake lever to the brake mechanism.
  3. Brake lever - The lever on the handlebar to activate the brakes.  The left side is the front brake and the right side is the rear brake.
  4. Chain - The circular set of links that transfer power from the chain ring to the cogs.
  5. Chain ring - The toothed rings that attach to the crank to hold the chain.
  6. Crank - The lever that extends from the bottom bracket to the pedal, transferring the power to the chain rings.
  7. Derailleur - The mechanism for moving the chain from one cog to another.
  8. Down tube - The section of frame that extends downward from the stem to the bottom bracket.
  9. Front shock - The shock absorber on the front fork.
  10. Handlebar - The horizontal bar attached to the stem with handgrips on the end.
  11. Headset - The mechanism in front of the frame that connects the front fork to the stem and handlebars.
  12. Hub - The center part of the wheel that the spokes are attached to.
  13. Idler pulley - The bottom pulley of the rear derailleur that provides spring tension to keep  the chain tight.
  14. Nipple - A threaded receptacle that holds the end of the spoke to the rim.
  15. Pedal - The platform to pedal on; attaches to the crank.
  16. Rear shock - The shock absorber for the rear tire on dual suspension type bikes.
  18. Saddle - The seat.
  19. Seat post - Offers support for the seat.
  21. Spindle - The free rotating axle that the crank arms attach to; also a part of the bottom bracket.
  22. Spokes - The thick wires that join the hub to the rim.
  23. Stem - A piece that attaches the handlebar to the steering tube.
  24. Wheel hub - The center of the wheel that the spokes are attached to.

Mountain Bike Designs

The designs for mountain bikes can be classified in three categories based on suspension:

1.  Hardtail - A frame with no rear suspension, often containing a front suspension fork.
2.  Fully rigid - This is a sub type of hardtail, with a rigid fork.
3.  Dual or full suspension - These bikes offer a front suspension fork and a rear suspension that are integrated into the frame.
4.  Soft tail - Offers a frame with a small amount of rear suspension, normally less than a full suspension frame.

The different designs of bikes in mountain biking will offer you what you need for your unique style of riding.  You'll want a different bike for different terrain, such as cross country or downhill.  As the terrain changes, you'll want to make sure you have the right bike for the job.

Mountain biking is different than any other sport, offering you plenty of excitement and thrills. If you are new to mountain biking, you'll find the different designs to be very enticing yet very challenging at the same time.  Each design serves a purpose with mountain biking, even some that excel on the trails.

There are also several other designs which reflect on the manny challenging disciplines in the sport of mountain biking.  No matter what type of mountain biking you like to do, there are bikes for that specific discipline.

If you are new to mountain biking, you'll want to check out the many designs and types of biking before you purchase a bike.  Mountain biking can be a lot of fun and excitement, although it can also be very dangerous if you don't have the right bike for the terrain.  Before you decide to buy a bike and hit the trails, make sure you have the right design of mountain bike for the riding you are planning on doing.

Mountain Biking Accessories



Bike helmet

Mountain bike gloves

Mountain bike shorts

Mountain bike shoes

Eye protection

Hydration system

Trail repair kit

Mountain Biking Safety Tips





Never ride beyond your control There is never any shame in walking the areas of the trail that you don't feel comfortable in riding and you should never let anyone else tell you that there is.

Keep your speed under control Always make sure you keep your speed at a level where you can quickly adjust to any obstacles or change in the trail.

Knowing your trail

Slow down around blind corners If you can't see past a corner you should always slow down, as you never know who or what is around it.

Start small then go big Work your way up to stunts or obstacles.  Practice in less difficult or dangerous situations before you move up to something more dangerous.

Playing it smart
If you start to question what your doing, you probably shouldn't be doing.  Always think about what you are
doing and go with your instincts.