What You Should Know To Avoid Any Careless Mistakes When Buying Them – Downhill Mountain Bike
So you are looking for information that will help you get the right downhill mountain bike for yourself. Well, going through this article might just help you make the right purchase decision.
Downhill mountain biking is an extreme adventure sport that goes only one way and that's down! From the top of the hill to the bottom at break neck speeds while riding over rugged terrain all the way, avoiding rocks, pits and trees! This means that you cannot afford to take such risks unless you have the best equipment to back up your endeavor.
In other words, you need a GOOD downhill mountain bike to carry you through to the bottom of the hill with the rubber right side down and in one piece! Here are a few tips to help you choose the right downhill mountain bike so that you can race down the side of that mountain with supreme confidence.
One has to be careful while choosing parts for a downhill mountain bike. The parts should not add weight unnecessarily as this will lower the bike's speed. The parts must be resilient and light weight. Most high end downhill bikes use the best materials available to improve speeds without compromising on the weight aspect. These bikes use better quality materials. The design and manufacturing process also tends to be precise for costlier bikes.
No matter which type of downhill racing you do take part in, you should always wear protective gear. This helps to protect you in case you do fall off the bike. However as downhill mountain biking is a potential danger to the whole body, it is not possible to protect every single part of yourself. So there is always the risk of injury even if you have got the right protection on.
Newer downhill mountain bikes are lightweight and have efficient suspensions. They also give users a better handling of the bike at all levels of skill
Mountain Biking
3 words to describe mountain biking is fun, pleasure and adventure. Downhill mountain biking is an event in which the riders races in the mountain and hilly areas. Downhill mountain biking is exciting and enjoyable but at the same time it is hazardous mountain biking styles. If the correct mountain biking techniques are not applied, winning may not be possible and it will be very dangerous to the rider.
Downhill mountain biking is a race among the riders where rider usually travels to the point of descent by other means than cycling, such as a ski lift or automobile. Downhill mountain biking involves riding a mountain bike down slopes, hills or mountains. Downhill mountain bikes are specifically desgined to endure the rough slopes at an angle. These mountain bikes have some similarities with ordinary bikes, except that mountain bikes are specifically designed so as to enhance the performance on rough terrain and have a much higher durability. To succeed in mountain biking events, you will need endurance, core strength and the correct handling skills which come with lots of practice.
In Downhill Mountain biking, the risk of injury is very high as this event deals totally with the racing in downhill. Injuries may range from relatively minor wounds, such as cuts from falls on gravel to serious injuries like striking the head or spine on a boulder or tree. To reduce the risk of injury when doing downhill mountain biking activities, the rider should always wear the correct protective gear as well as apply the correct handling and balancing techniques. Downhill specific bikes are universally equipped with front and rear suspension, large disc brakes, and use heavier frame tubing than other mountain bikes.
Downhill mountain biking, though being a risky sport but still it is well worth to for it as it is full of fun, and adventure and gives you a great experience of downhill mountain biking.
Downhill Mountain Biking Techniques
Riding down steep slopes and might seem intimidating to beginner downhill riders. The main factor which transforms riding downhill into such an intimidation is that everything happens faster and in a more intense manner. Riding downhill is different than ordinary bike riding in many ways. One of the main differences is the bikers’ center of gravity. While riding on straight terrain, there’s no problem figuring out where your center of gravity is and maneuvering accordingly. Just like ordinary bike riding, but more so, there’s a grave importance to looking ahead and realizing what kind of terrain we’re riding on. There’s a major difference between bike riding on rocks, wet ground, or on a leafy area. Once you’ll realize ahead of time what kind of terrain you’re riding on, you’ll know how to maneuver your bike more successfully.
This post will focus on braking principles. Breaking your bike while descending downhill isn’t as simple as it seems. There are many conditions that require different techniques of breaking. If you’ll just pull on the breaks and hope for them to stop, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to loose traction, spin and fall down. A basic technique of correct braking which is applied also in motor vehicles is to apply the brakes gently smoothly. It’s better to apply the brakes by alternated smooth movements as a posed to just clamping them. Brakes can also be used as a way to turn your bike. Applying your back brake can help you turn your bike, by pivoting.
These were only a few introductory tips. Before setting out on a downhill trail, I recommend taking a few lessons with a mountain biking instructor in order to be sure that you have the knowledge and skills required in order to cope with the challenges downhill trails pose.
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How Mountain Bike Gears Work
The gears in mountain bikes just keep getting more and more intricate. The bikes of today have as many as 27 gear ratios. A mountain bike will use a combination of three different sized sprockets in front and nine in the back to produce gear ratios.
The idea behind all these gears is to allow the rider to crank the pedals at a constant pace no matter what kind of slope the bike is on. You can understand this better by picturing a bike with just a single gear. Each time you rotate the pedals one turn, the rear wheel would rotate one turn as well (1:1 gear ratio).
If the rear wheel is 26 inches in diameter, then with 1:1 gearing, one full twist on the pedals would result in the wheel covering 81.6 inches of ground. If you are pedaling at a speed of 50 RPM, this means that the bike can cover over 340 feet of ground per minute. This is only 3.8 MPH, which is the equivalence of walking speed. This is ideal for climbing a steep hill, although bad for ground or going downhill.
To go faster you'll need a different ratio. To ride downhill at 25 MPH with a 50 RPM cadence at the pedals, you'll need a 5.6:1 gear ratio. A bike with a lot of gears will give you a large number of increments between a 1:1 gear ratio and a 6.5:1 gear ratio so that you can always pedal at 50 RPM, no matter how fast you are actually going.
On a normal 27 speed mountain bike, six of the gear ratios are so close to each other that you can't notice any difference between them.
With actual use, bike riders tend to choose a front sprocket suitable for the slope they are riding on and stick with it, although the front sprocket can be difficult to shift under heavy load. It's much easier to shit between the gears on the rear.
If you are cranking up a hill, it's best to choose the smallest sprocket on the front then shift between the nine gears available on the rear. The more speeds you have on the back sprocket, the bigger advantage you'll have.
All in all, gears are very important to mountain bikes as they dictate your overall speed. Without gears you wouldn't be able to build speed nor would you be able to pound pedals. The gears will move the pedals and help you build up speed.
There are all types of gears available in mountain bikes, all of which will help you build up a lot of momentum if you use them the right way.
Framing Materials Of Your Mountain Bike
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.
Aluminum 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.
Titanium 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.
Mountain Bike Runs To Take Over Ski Slopes In Summer
Last year was a good one for ski resorts around the world. Europe found itself with more snow than it knew what to do with on occasions last year and America shared similar dumps. Canada didn’t get as much snow fall as they wanted but it’s about time they shared a bit of the bad luck of recent years. A great deal of ski area owners breathed a sigh of relief as the economic downturn threatened to wipe out skiers and snowboarders all together. Many already began to think about new ways to make money in the summer months however, as everyone is well aware that they are not out of the woods just yet.
America introduced a bill to Congress recently which would make it easier for local ski areas to build summertime amenities. Many resorts in Europe have expressed and interested in the same idea. A typical ski resort would normally look to make around 15% of its total income during the summer period. If the facilities could be used for more sports and more organised events then this percentage could dramatically increase. The sport that has got the most attention and would be most suitable is mountain biking
There are often mountain bike trails at the base of ski mountains already and shops selling mountain bikes dotted around the areas. This would make the sport very accessible both to locals and visitors alike as they would not be forced to purchase or transport their own gear, just rent it as they would snowboards. The proposed idea however is for mountain biking a little more on the extreme side of things, utilising the ski lifts that are already in place to host downhill mountain biking events and competitions on the steep runs.
Roger Joules who runs one of Lake Tahoe’s ski resorts says “mountain bikers have been looking for some steep and challenging runs and our slopes are perfect for that in the summer. If we charge a small amount for the use of our lifts then it’s a situation where both parties win”. Roger has also said that they are looking into the possibility of building a wave machine on a section of the lake so that people can pitch up with their surfboards and ride some breaks in the summer months. This is still a long way off he points out.