Mountain bike is a sport that has grown a large amount in the last decade, and there has been a large jump in production for companies that produce these unique bikes.
Gone are the bikes made with heavy metal frames, and with tyres that were covered in chunky rubber knobs, we now have incredibly strong lightweight frames made with carbon fibre or graphite, sleek flashy coloured bikes, suspension on both wheels and a range of tyre types usually found on racing cars.
Specialized mtb's are typically found in a number of different styles, and are made and come set up in different ways, with different levels of components to handle different trail and riding situations.
Trail Riding (All Mountain)
Trail riding bikes are the bike most used in general mountain biking.
Even though they are designed to be able to climb hills successfully, they're usually just a bit heavier and more solid than your average x-country bike.
Trail bikes are a ideal balance between performance, comfort and control.
These bikes are manufactured strong and tough, not so easy to pedal up the top of the hill, but with double suspension and tyres made for optimum hold, they will deal with everything you can throw at it on the way down the mountain.
Free Ride
Free ride mountain bikes are built tough to handle a lot more of the physical challenges than the other styles of bike.
A free ride biker will take these bikes through hard hitting trails, drops, jumps along with other wild tricks.
Downhill
Downhill mountain bikes as the name implies are specifically built to ride down hill, still lightweight frames with dual suspension to deal with a lot more extreme conditions, they'll usually come with bigger tyres than your average cross country bike, with bigger disc brakes which are more robust and allows the rider more significant control.
Cross Country (XC)
Cross country bikes are lightweight fast off-road bikes, most of them are actually constructed with aluminium or carbon fibre frames are meant to go over all types of terrain.
Specialized Mountain Bikes
These 4 styles of mountain bike are just that, built and put together for a specialized style of riding.
Apart from the all mountain bike, using your bike for anything other than its intended style of riding will be difficult to do, and possibly cause harm, if not ridden under the conditions and terrain it is made for .
Investing in a specialized Mountain Bike
If you’re planning on buying a specialized mtb, I recommend carrying out a little groundwork first.
Think about the type of riding you will do most often. If you have to travel long distances to a mountain or have access to off road trails you'll have to take into consideration transport to these areas in addition to whether you'll be able to get enough use from these types of bikes to make it really worth the cost.
If you're unsure about which direction to go, maybe begin with an all mountain style bike, learn a few tricks and techniques, and get regular use from it, before stepping up or buying any other specialized mountain bikes.
