Unit 9: Outdoor and adventurous expeditions. Unit 10: Skills for Land-based Outdoor and Adventurous Activities
Types of Mountain bikes that are available to use:
Cross Country:
Cross country bikes are one of the most popular and affordale bikes that money can buy. They cost up to £750 but Olympic medalist bikes cost around ten times the price. These specific bikes are made to be easy to pedal which includes an extremely lightweight frame and other factors. This means that riders can travel a steep gradient terrain quickly.
This bike has between 80mm to 120mm of suspension of downward movement to cope with rocks and other general terrain factors when cycling. It can increase the amount of grip and can improve comfort so it allows riders to go faster with more control.
Trail Bikes:
Trail bikes are very similiar to Cross Country bikes as they also have a lightweight frame. Trail bikes cost up to £1,000, but at this price they only include front suspension, but spending more than £1,000 you can have front and rear suspension which allows riders to have more control and comfort. Trail bikes suspension can range between 120mm to 160mm which reduces even more terrain and other general factors than the Cross Country bikes.
More rugged trail bikes will have features such as enduro rigs which add extra stiffness and make pedaling up steep gradients easier.
Enduro/all-mountain:
An Enduro mountain bike is generally a full suspension trail bike. The suspension is slightly longer measuring at 140mm-170mm. This specific style has power style steering and the frame is lowered to increase the cornering stability. It has a telescopic seatpost which allows riders to launch themself when the terrain gets rough. Unfortunetly, this high-tech mountain bike isn't the cheapest, the average price for a well maintained bike is around £2,000.
Downhill:
The Downhill bikes are one of the most high-tech bikes you can buy. It has extremely slack steering and extremely grippy compound tyres which can encounter the steepest, and the fastest trails. It has massive suspension, measuring 180mm-220mm, similiar to a motorbike, and rear spring shocks which allow bikers to ride over rocks at insane speeds.
This style of bike is extremely heavy and doesn't include climbing gears which makes steep gradients extremely difficult for bikers to climb. Specialised components on a Downhill bike can increase the price to almost £3,000.
Dirt jump
A dirt jump bike is similiar to a big BMX bike that is specifically designed for crazy acrobatic jumps. The 'slopstyle' frame adds more rear suspension for a rough landing on freestyle courses. This type of bike only has one gear and brake as there isn't really a need for these riders to change gear or brake often.
