Mountain Bikes

A mountain bike is a bicycle that is especially built for use in rough, mountain-like terrain. Mountain bikes can also be known as “all terrain bicycles”, and are commonly referred to in the acronyms “MTB” or “ATB”. These bikes are built for serious off-road biking, also called mountain biking.

Mountain bikes might be used to traverse steep grades, navigate washouts or dirt trails, climb rocky hillsides, or for riding on other un-paved environments. 

They need to be built sturdy enough to handle the stress of serious pressure, and are usually built with shock absorbers and large, 26 inch wheels to accommodate the harsh terrain.

There are several different varieties of mountain bikes out there on the market nowadays. These different varieties are built to accommodate a certain riding style. The most popular mountain bike styles are cross country bikes, trail bikes, all-mountain bikes, free-ride bikes, downhill bikes, trials bicycles, dirt jumping bikes, single speed bikes, mountain cross bikes, indycross bicycles, short cross bikes, dual slalom bikes, and circle dirt track bikes. Most of these bikes are built differently to accommodate different riding needs and styles, but they all fall under the label of mountain bike.

Most lower end, inexpensive mountain bikes are outfitted with V brakes, though the preferred method of breaking for experienced mountain bikers is the disc brake. Disc brakes weigh and cost more, but they make up for these problems by offering improved stopping power for more complex types of mountain bikes.

Whether you  would want to use disc breaks or not usually depends on what type of biking you will be doing. Most mountain bikes are outfitted with 26 inch wheels, though some models come with 24 or 29 inch wheels. You should keep in mind that these measurements are not exact, but are just rounded figures for the different types available.

Additional information on mountain bikes can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_bicycle.