Mountain bicycle
A mountain bicycle, mountain bike or ATB (All Terrain Bicycle) is a bicycle designed for riding off-road, either on dirt trails or other unpaved environments; in contrast, road bicycles aren't rugged enough for such terrain.
While cyclo-cross bicycles already existed, the earliest ancestors of modern mountain bikes were based around frames from road cruisers such as those made by Schwinn.
Gary Fisher is normally credited with introducing the first purpose-built mountain bike in 1979. The first mass produced mountain bikes were produced by Specialized
Mountain bikes have fat, knobby tires for extra traction. In recent years front and/or rear suspension is becoming more popular.
Mountain bikes are also often fitted with bar ends on the handlebars. The bikes tend to have 26" wheels.
In French a mountain bike is called a VTT (vélo tout-terrain: "all-terrain bicycle").
Designs
Mountain bikes designs vary to reflect the challenges of the different disciplines in mountain biking:
- Cross Country (XC) Mountain Bikes tend to have only a small amount of suspension, and weigh very little. This is achieved through the use of lightweight materials and suspension is provided by Air shocks.
- Enduro Mountain Bikes are generally heavier than XC bikes, and have more suspension travel. They are designed to cover long distances in comfort.
- "Freeride" Mountain Bikes are a step up again from Enduro bikes. They tend to have more suspension travel again, and are built from stronger, heavier materials. They are designed to be an all-rounder, able to cross distances (although not as quickly or efficiently as an XC bike) and able to take on dangerous and technical downhill trails (though not as quickly or effectively as a specialist downhill bike). Many freeride bikes more closely resemble downhill bikes and weigh as much.
- Downhill Mountain Bikes tend to be very heavy (over 40lbs) and have a lot of suspension travel. They are very strong and (in most cases) are suitable only for riding down dedicated downhill trails.
There are various other types of mountain bike available including Trials and Dirt Jump bikes.
See also
