The conception of mountainbikes is driving offroad (this includes dirt trails, unpaved streets / roads, mountains / rocks, steep declines, …)Â – and there were constructed many different designs:
- Fully rigid (This bicycle contains no suspension and uses a rigid fork with fixed gear.)
- Hardtail (This kind of bike doesn’t use a rear suspension, but it have a suspension fork.)
- Softtail (A bike with a small rear suspension.)
- Full suspension (A “fully” [short name for "Full suspension"] has a suspension at the fork and at the rear wheel.)
There are serveral kinds of mountain biking:
- Cross-Country (this is the most common discipline of mountainbiking)
- Downhill
- All-day endurance
- Freeride biking
Usually the wheels of mountainbikes use fat and knobby tires. For expamle to get the best grip on the ground while driving downhill.
Most of the manufactured mountainbikes are using disc brakes. They are able to provide an excellent braking power, but the disadvantages are a very high cost and a greater weight as rim brakes. But while driving offroad, it’s essential to have enough braking power to prevent accidents.
In the past, mountain bikes had a fork and a rigid frame. In the 1990s, the first mountain bikes with suspension forks were published. This made riding on rough terrain easier and less physically stressful. Bikes with front suspension and rigid, non-suspended rear wheels, or hardtails became popular nearly overnight. While the hardtail design has the benefits of lower cost, less maintenance, and better pedaling efficiency, it is slowly losing popularity due to improvements in full suspension designs.
A huge amount of the mountainbikes worldwide use 26 inch wheels. Only for cross country use, there have been developed 29 inch tires.
