ES Mountain Bike Buying Guides
Mountain bikes can be broken into various categories. Essentially, every category is a certain balance between speed and uphill climbing ability versus toughness and ability to handle huge bumps and jumps.
- Cross-Country (XC) Mountain Bikes: The lightest weight type of mountain bike, with the shortest suspension travel. They’re used in cross-country racing. The focus is on making it as easy to cover ground as possible.
- Down Country Mountain Bikes: “Downcountry” is a category between cross-country and trail invented half as a joke by Pinkbike writer Mike Levy. A downcountry bike can be thought of as a cross-country race bike beefed up with tougher, carefully chosen components so it can handle harsher terrain better, and maybe equipped with a slightly longer suspension travel.
- Trail Mountain Bikes: Versatile bikes suitable for a wide range of trail conditions, offering a balance of climbing ability and descending prowess. These are a great choice for many riders.
- All-Mountain (AM) Mountain Bikes: Versatile bikes that blend characteristics of trail and enduro bikes. They’re typically going to be somewhat heavier than trail bikes with longer suspension travel.
- Enduro Mountain Bikes: Built for aggressive riding on technical downhill sections while still being capable of climbing. Enduro bikes are for riders who want to blast down the trail fast and hard, but still get themselves back up to the top under pedal power.
- Downhill Mountain Bikes: Highly specialized bikes designed for high-speed descents where the rider isn’t even planning on trying to get themselves back up to the top. These bikes go uphill best in a van or on a chairlift.
- Freeride Mountain Bikes: Designed for riders who enjoy big jumps, technical descents, and riding features in terrain parks or natural landscapes, freeride bikes typically have durable frames and long suspension travel.
Cross Country Mountain Bike Model Guides
A Cross-Country (XC) mountain bike is specifically designed for racing and riding long distances, fast. These bikes are characterized by their lightweight construction, efficient pedaling platforms, and nimble handling. Cross-country trails and races often feature a mix of climbs, descents, and technical sections, requiring a bike that can excel in both uphill and downhill situations. XC bikes typically prioritize climbing efficiency and speed.
Down Country Mountain Bike Model Guides
A Down Country mountain bike is a relatively new category that bridges the gap between ultralight XC race bikes and tougher, heavier trail bikes. Downcountry bikes are designed to offer the efficiency and climbing prowess of XC bikes while being more capable of handling technical sections. They're a result of developing XC bikes in a more versatile direction and can also be considered as a short-travel trail bike.
Trail Mountain Bike Model Guides
Trail bikes are the classic do-it-all mountain bike. For many weekend warriors and enthusiast riders, a trail bike is the right choice when you need one bike that can take you everywhere.
All-Mountain Mountain Bike Model Guides
All-mountain bikes are designed to handle all trails in all weather. In the past it referred to any bike that was not a pure cross-country race bike or a pure downhill bike. With modern bikes, an all-mountain bike can be considered to fit between trail bikes and enduro bikes in terms of suspension travel, geometry angles, and durability.
Enduro Mountain Bike Model Guides
Enduro mountain bikes are designed for enduro racing, where the rider is timed based on downhill sections but has to climb up the hill and even transfer between sections themselves. This means the bikes focus on maximizing downhill performance without tiring the rider out too much on the uphill sections. Even if it might be slow going, you can still get up the hill on an enduro bike.
Free Ride Mountain Bike Model Guides
Freeride bikes are purpose-built mountain bikes designed for riders who seek out adrenaline-pumping descents, jumps, and features. These bikes are engineered for riding mostly bike parks and extreme natural terrain. They're half a step away from downhill bikes: you can still pedal uphill with a freeride bike, although it's going to be at a crawl. Modern freeride bikes are so good, having a dedicated downhill-only bike isn't necessarily necessary.
Downhill Mountain Bike Model Guides
A downhill bike is built for one thing and one thing only. Going down hill, hard and fast. These bikes are used in extreme racing like the Red Bull Hardline races. They're meant to be hauled to the top of the trail on a chair lift or shuttle, on so-called gravity-fed tracks.
