Mountain Biking

This essay will be about Mountain Biking. In this essay I will describe the different types of mountain bikes, and what you need to do to compete in mountain bike races and expeditions and the safety aspects involved. I will also talk about the different accessories and emergency equipment you should consider if going mountain bike riding. There is four main types of mountain bikes used in recreational and professional mountain biking, these are:

  • Fully Rigid
  • Hard-tail
  • Soft-tail
  • Dual

Mountain Bikes are created for off-road use, such as the cycling in the bush, dirt tracks or just rough terrain. While mountain biking you’ll usually come across a wide variety of terrain and obstacles that you may have to pass such as rocks, logs, riding up hills, travelling down steep decants or just riding on an unpaved track. A mountain bikes needs to be able to withstand these rough terrains and harsh conditions.

Mountain bikes have many different parts that are vital, such as the wheels, tyres, handle bars, brakes and special parts such as the shock absorber.

One of the most essential part of a mountain bike are its brakes. Brakes help to stop the bike from moving along, but they also have many other purposes as well. Brakes can also help to re-direct your bike and can help maintain a good balance when needed. There are many types of brakes such as:

  • V-Brake
  • Rim Brake
  • Disc Brake

The oldest and the standard type of brake for most bicycles is the ‘V-Brake’. V-Brakes are light, cheap and take no time to install but aren’t really suitable for most off road riding as they are prone to rusting and hardly work well once introduced to water or mud.  But most mountain bikes usually use the ‘Disc Brake’ as they are the most efficient and work well under the harshest of conditions and aren’t hindered by water or mud. Although they are a lot more expensive and heavier, they are probably the most reliable type of braking mechanism.

The wheels on a mountain bike are another essential part. Most mountain bikes usually have a wheel size of around 26”, although this term is not precise as the you change the size of the tyres and the rim used, but on most mountain bikes you would have a 22” rim with a 4.2” tyre but this can vary depending on what tyre you uses and what terrain your riding on.  Other types of mountain bikes can have a wheel size of 24” or 29”. The tyre on the bike should be a tyre that can take a lot of stress and should be able to glide smoothly and safely on a road, even during the rain but perform well on off road tracks.

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To steer a mountain bike you use a steering mechanism called a handlebar. Handlebars are usually made out of steel, aluminium alloy or even carbon fibre, and can come in a wide variety of types and size to meet the specific needs of a rider. There are many different specifications of handlebars and each have a positive and negative side to them. A wider handlebar can give you greater control and more leverage while a more small and narrow handlebar offers comfort and more control while taking corners. There are many accessories you can add to a handlebar to ...

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