Alright, the category that is most identified with the bicycle yet its one of the most complex categories. Simply because for the mountain bike family, there are a branch of another 6 different types of mountain bikes for different purposes (mainly off-road mountain biking). If your thinking of the RM200 - RM400 bikes in the local bike shop, those i feel more belonged to the commute section. Coz there is not really much you can do with those "mountain bikes" on the off-roads, let alone.........a mountain!! When i say off roads i mean including rocks, ruts, trees, holes, drops, cliff sides, and everything in between.
Let me branch out the 6 sub groups for mountain bikes :-
1)Cross country (XC) bikes
2)Trail bikes
3)All mountain (AM) bikes
4)Dirt Jump (DJ) bikes
5)Freeride (FR) bikes
6)Downhill (DH) bikes
*Note : I will use examples of bikes of today with as much clarity and detail as possible. I will include label of parts. But functions of parts will be explained in another post. This is just to get you familiar with what you will see and *if you're lucky* touch. And also i will use this first bike as a model to introduce the various parts of the modern bike which actually is almost same throughout the rest of the series. Will specify and clarify in more detail from post to post.
Cross country bikes (XC).
Suspect No.1
2009 Specialized Stumpjumper
So here is our first main suspect. This is one of the top end bikes from Specialized bicycles. Equipped with one of the best parts money can buy, yet lets focus on the bike. Click image to view larger with labels. The reason i dont label the part straight away is due to space constraints.
So in order of numeration (Plus also an anti-clockwise rotation starting with no.1) the parts are as follows: -
So what you see now is pretty clear. Its not a really complicated thing right? Not as many "parts" as a handphone or PDA might have in the menu.
So why is this bike called a typical cross country(XC) bike?
Cross country bikes are designed with a 2 key areas in mind : -
a) Lightweight
b) Race ready
Factors like this would mean that the bike would use as light parts as possible and it usually forgoes a rear suspension which would add significant weight. Bikes without a rear suspension are referred to as hardtails (HT), simply coz the read end or "tail" of the bike is solid and stiff and therefore, hard! A really good XC bike could weight as little as 9kg or 10kg which is abt 22lbs. Top end bikes can be as low as 8kg. So to be light the parts and frame needs to be light as well. Lightweight has only a few advantages but mostly opted by professional racers : It makes hill climbing or bike hiking easier if necessary, uses less energy to get/keep the bike moving, saves some hassle incase of a mechanical breakdown.
Most XC bikes will come with a suspension travel (meaning how much the suspension moves) between 80mm - 100mm. Thats the amount of movement the suspension fork allows. In mountain biking 80mm is really little and 100 just barely enough to survive the harsh hard courses, but adding a longer travel fork will result in a weight penalty.
The frame or body of the XC bike is built very simple, but simple doesnt mean simple either. The modern XC frame can be built in many forms or flows according to the many leading manufacturers study, research, development, and technology. So there alot of variety out there in the shops. An XC frame will be built light, weight shaved in unnecessary areas, and stiff as possible to allow riders to put all power to the drive train and to the wheels. Materials of frames can vary from carbon fiber to aluminium to titanium. Of the 3, carbon fiber is the lightest and titanium is the most expensive. Aluminium fills in both worlds, not too light but not too $$$. Discussions on materials will be followed in posts to come.
In essence a XC bike is meant only to be ridden on light off roads. If it is ridden over rough terrain it could potentially be an uncomfortable ride and a frame breaking experience.
Tire wise, some may use a 1.95" tire (whic means the width of the tire is 1.95 inches) or a 2.0" or 2.1". Its up to the rider. Wider tires have more grip, but more weight and slightly slower steering reaction. Thinner tires have better rolling ease, light, and more agile in handling. Its just a matter of preference.
As for gearing, mountain bikes in general would use the new 27 speed configuration, meaning 3 selectable gears in front and 9 selectable at the back. 3x9=27. More elaboration soon.
Disc brakes used to be rejected by XC bikers due to its heavy weight as well over the lighter yet also powerful V-Brakes. The V-brakes were much much lighter yet they still lose out in terms of stopping power to discs. And with rim brakes, if conditions get wet, braking is almost lost by 50%. With discs there is no problem due to the powerful brake calipers which are now almost all hydraulic systems. So the V-brake is slowly beeing phased out but still fitted to average bikes to reduce cost.
So in order of numeration (Plus also an anti-clockwise rotation starting with no.1) the parts are as follows: -
- Handlebar
- Brake and shifter pod/unit
- Stem
- Headset
- Frame (Toptube)
- Seatpost
- Saddle
- Saddle mount
- Seatpost clamp/collar
- Frame (Seat stays)
- Spokes
- Cassette
- Rear deraileur
- Rim
- Tyre
- Frame (Chainstay)
- Chain
- Bottom bracket
- Crank (Consists of the crank arm and chain rings)
- Clipless pedals
- Disc brake calipers
- Disc rotors
- Front skewers
- Front suspension
- Cables
- Frame (Head tube)
- Frame (Down tube)
- Frame (Seat tube)
- Front deraileur
- Water bottle cage mounts
- Bottom bracket
So what you see now is pretty clear. Its not a really complicated thing right? Not as many "parts" as a handphone or PDA might have in the menu.
So why is this bike called a typical cross country(XC) bike?
Cross country bikes are designed with a 2 key areas in mind : -
a) Lightweight
b) Race ready
Factors like this would mean that the bike would use as light parts as possible and it usually forgoes a rear suspension which would add significant weight. Bikes without a rear suspension are referred to as hardtails (HT), simply coz the read end or "tail" of the bike is solid and stiff and therefore, hard! A really good XC bike could weight as little as 9kg or 10kg which is abt 22lbs. Top end bikes can be as low as 8kg. So to be light the parts and frame needs to be light as well. Lightweight has only a few advantages but mostly opted by professional racers : It makes hill climbing or bike hiking easier if necessary, uses less energy to get/keep the bike moving, saves some hassle incase of a mechanical breakdown.
Most XC bikes will come with a suspension travel (meaning how much the suspension moves) between 80mm - 100mm. Thats the amount of movement the suspension fork allows. In mountain biking 80mm is really little and 100 just barely enough to survive the harsh hard courses, but adding a longer travel fork will result in a weight penalty.
The frame or body of the XC bike is built very simple, but simple doesnt mean simple either. The modern XC frame can be built in many forms or flows according to the many leading manufacturers study, research, development, and technology. So there alot of variety out there in the shops. An XC frame will be built light, weight shaved in unnecessary areas, and stiff as possible to allow riders to put all power to the drive train and to the wheels. Materials of frames can vary from carbon fiber to aluminium to titanium. Of the 3, carbon fiber is the lightest and titanium is the most expensive. Aluminium fills in both worlds, not too light but not too $$$. Discussions on materials will be followed in posts to come.
In essence a XC bike is meant only to be ridden on light off roads. If it is ridden over rough terrain it could potentially be an uncomfortable ride and a frame breaking experience.
Tire wise, some may use a 1.95" tire (whic means the width of the tire is 1.95 inches) or a 2.0" or 2.1". Its up to the rider. Wider tires have more grip, but more weight and slightly slower steering reaction. Thinner tires have better rolling ease, light, and more agile in handling. Its just a matter of preference.
As for gearing, mountain bikes in general would use the new 27 speed configuration, meaning 3 selectable gears in front and 9 selectable at the back. 3x9=27. More elaboration soon.
Disc brakes used to be rejected by XC bikers due to its heavy weight as well over the lighter yet also powerful V-Brakes. The V-brakes were much much lighter yet they still lose out in terms of stopping power to discs. And with rim brakes, if conditions get wet, braking is almost lost by 50%. With discs there is no problem due to the powerful brake calipers which are now almost all hydraulic systems. So the V-brake is slowly beeing phased out but still fitted to average bikes to reduce cost.
Shimano's flagship XTR V-brake
So the the XC bike - Light, short suspension, light off road trails and terrain. Though with this, the price of XC bikes are not cheap despite their simplicity......if any part of a bike's weight were to go down, automatically the price will go up. You can get a RM1000 XC bike or a RM10000 XC bike. Depends on you.
-End Series III-
-End Series III-
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