Zarnoff Bike Blog
23Oct/090

How the Selection of Your Mountain Bike Tires Can Influence Your Riding

As a beginner, it could be very confusing for one to just stroll into a bike shop to buy their very first mountain bike. And what is more confusing is what all accessories one would need to start biking.

Mountain bike accessories and other mountain bike products one would want are available in plenty. A shopkeeper will be looking for a profit and would sell everything he can, but what beginners and customers with a budget need is a bike that has the proper accessories to make the ride safe and pleasant. These accessories given below will give one a good idea of what to buy and what not to buy.

Mountain bike tires are broader and knobbier for more grip and absorption of shock. In modern bikes, suspension for front wheel has become the custom while suspension for the full front and rear is becoming more and more general.

In few mountain bikes, the handlebars are fixed with bar ends, but riser handlebars which are made such that they oppose to a flat straight handlebar are becoming increasingly popular because a very few riders use bars with their ends extended.

These bikes usually have 26 inches or 559 mm wheels, but after year 2002 many bikes are available in the markets, which have 29 inches or 622 mm wheels. This is the diameter universally used for other normal road bikes which is also known as a 700c.

One may have never thought about the parts that are required to make a mountain bike while riding it. But sometimes it becomes important to know the parts. You never know where they will help you.

Tire: they are on the outer part of the rim. They make contact with the road while riding and also provide a grip. The tires have to be selected carefully with care.

A huge variety of tread patterns are being manufactured to suit different needs and for different conditions in the mountain bike tires. The different types of tire patterns available in the market are: slick street tires, snow studded, street tires with a center ridge and an outer tread, fully knobbly, rear-specific, and snow studded, front-specific.

These mountain bike tires can be specially designed to suit the bike in dry weather or wet weather and also according to the terrain whether it is hard, soft or muddy conditions. There are many other designs that are applicable in all kinds of weather and roads. For the same application, there are also light tires that are more expensive and have less or no rolling resistance.

For free rides and downhill descents a new kind of sticky rubber mountain bike tires are available. These tires may wear out very fast but they are extremely useful during cornering. There are tubeless that run at lower air pressure which improves traction and also rolling resistance. Tire manufacturers for mountain bikes are in plenty. A brand may be selected to suit the users' needs.

Muna wa Wanjiru Has Been Researching and Reporting on Mountain Bikes for Years. For More Information on mountain bike tires, Visit His Site at MOUNTAIN BIKE TIRESI Will Also Highly Appreciate Your Views On mountain bike tires At My Blog here
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28Jul/090

Types of Mountain Bikes for Riding on Dirt Paths

Mountain Bike, abbreviated as MTBs or ATBs (All Terrain Bikes) is a bike that are meant for riding on dirt paths or unpaved environments. They are more rugged than road bicycles, and can handle more strain.

The tires of the mountain bike are wider and knobbier than road bikes, for more grip and shock absorption. Front suspension for the MTBs is becoming the norm, and in today's mountain bikes, you can find front and rear suspension. The wheels are usually 26" in diameter, but this is slowly changing to 29" in the newer mountain bikes.

Mountain Bikes can be widely classified into four types.

* Fully Rigid

* Hard Tail

* Soft Tail

* Dual/ Full Suspension

Fully Rigid Mountain Bikes don't have any suspension, and their frames have fixed rears and a rigid fork.

Hard Tail Mountain Bikes have a suspension fork in the front, and no suspension in the rear. A soft tail Mountain bike has very less suspension in the rear, and its frame has a flex in the rear, rather than the pivot. A Full Suspension MTB has a suspension fork in the front, and a rear suspension as well, with a link that lets the rear wheel move on a pivot.

Until recently, MTBs had the same design and geometry of Road Bikes. When mountain biking became more popular, riding became more aggressive, and new mountain bikes with lighter and stronger frames were created to cater to the rider's needs and aggressive riding style.

The New-age mountain bikes have 21, 24 or 27 speeds. They usually have 3 gears in the front. The rear has 7, 8 or 9 gears. They also feature disc brakes. This gives the rider better stopping power than normal rim brakes. They can also take heavy breaking without wearing out soon, and causing lesser problems.

There are a wide range of tire types for mountain bikes. Some styles include slick street tires, sticky rubber tires, etc. Tubeless tires are also gaining popularity in the MTB world for their pinch flat resistance. Some good MTB tire manufacturers are Wilderness Trail Bikes, Schwalbe, Kenda, Maxxis, Nokian, etc.

Mountain biking has become more of an adventure sport by itself, and lot of equipment can be found just for mountain bikers, most of it safety related. Protective gear that is worn by the rider is often referred to as 'Armor', and is work to protect against injuries. 'Armors' may range from just knee and elbow caps, to full body padding. Usually, Downhill and freestyle bikers wear more armor, as their riding styles are more dangerous and prone to injuries. Most of these bodysuits also have special protection for the spine, comprising of a set of plastic plates, covered with foam.

Most bike parks require bikers to wear full face helmets, to protect against injury. These helmets a just like their counterparts used in motocross, but are considerably more ventilated and lighter. Most professional riders wear these by choice, to avoid head injuries.

Some of the Mountain Bike manufacturers are Airborne cycles, Alpine design MTBs, Arrow Racing, Dagger, Dart, Full Dynamix, etc.

Muna wa Wanjiru Has Been Researching and Reporting on Mountain Bikes for Years. For More Information on Mountain Bike, Visit His Site at MOUNTAIN BIKEI Will Also Highly Appreciate Your Views On Mountain Bike At My Blog here
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