Different Types of Moutain Bike - What do they all mean?

CanterburyTailwind

Hi - this might be an obvious question, and please point me in the direction of a thread where this has been answered if there is one, but...
can someone let me know what the difference between different types of mountain bikes are? I'm thinking of buying a mountain bike (I'm a roadie at the moment) and trying a bit of off road, but have seen things advertised as 'dirt jumpers', 'xc', 'freerider' etc etc. What's the difference? :? Is there a 'standard' mtb? What's the difference to the performance between all these? Any views, opinions or advice welcomed!
Thanks!

nicklouse

standard is XC.

all the diffetrnt names are to do with the designed usage. EG a DH (DownHill) bike will have about 8" of travel front and rear and is designed for racing downhill. and will weight about 20kg +/-

an AM (All Mountain) will be a full suspension bike that is a bit stronger and have a bit more travel than a Full suspension XC bike.

What do you what from your bike?

jezcc

...All the names are (as you'd espect) marketting bumph. Each bike has it's own character etc..

But as a general guide, in increasing order of weight and suspension travel:
(assuming all full suspension)
XC - Lightweight <4" travel
Trail - Slightly heavier/more travel, comfortable riding bike ~5" travel
All Mountain - ~6", more hardcore riding, but can still go up a hil
FreeRide - like an all mountain, can climb easy hills slowly but a bit of a tank
Downhill - NEVER try to ride uphill, only down, the clue is in the name

Dirtjumpers and hardcpre hardtails are both heavy and tough hardtails. Most ~£500 bikes are XC/Trail focussed.

Most people will probably just want a 5"ish travel trail bike for general riding in the UK.

CanterburyTailwind

Thanks very much - that's really useful, and gives me some kind of guide to navigating the bewildering terminology. As to what I want, I live near the North Downs, so was thinking of a bike that could follow tracks through woods and over the hills. I won't be going at any great speed (I don't think..!), and it sounds like DH/Freeride/Dirt jumper are completely out of the question...
So most of the bikes mentioned in the sub £300 and sub£500 at http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12540401 are XC/trail?

taliesyn

Yes, all pretty much XC oriented

mhuk

I read these tongue-in-cheek definitions yesterday:

XC: Riding a bike on trails that include climbing, descending, and negotiating obstacles.
Downhill: A race to see who can coast the fastest on a motorcycle that's had the engine removed and then riding a ski lift back up.
Freeride: Downhill without a time clock.
Urban Assault: Trying to justify spending all that money on a mountain bike for riding on the pavement.
Dirt Jumping: Falling off cliffs while holding onto a bicycle.

xtreem

It's the jumps that count too.
XC - no jumps - 0ft
Trail - small jumps - 2ft
AM - moderate jumps - 3-6ft
FR/DH - very big jumps 6ft+ :shock:

CanterburyTailwind

mhuk - thanks for the that. Thanks also Xtreem - I reckon if I jump more than 2ft I wouldn't get up again...