Mountain Bikes For Rugged Terrains
May 28th, 2010 | 
Author:
new toy; Trek 6700
Image by Global Jet
Mountain Bikes Perfect Hill Heroes
Mountain bikes are specially meant for rough and rugged terrains. These extra traction and shock absorbing mountain bicycles are provided with fat knobby tires. However, a full front and rear suspension is becoming quite a common factor nowadays with bikes meant for mountain rides. Some bikes of this particular variety are fitted with bar ends on the handlebars, but with recent trends the use of handlebars and extensions are becoming less and less popular.
Mountain bicycles have both 26 and 29 inches wheels. The larger wheels of this bike type have better rolling capacities over rocks and boulders. Moreover, wheels, which are larger in diameter, also bring about an enhancement in rotational weight giving way to stable acceleration.
Mountain Bicycles – Kings On Rugged Roads
Based on suspension, mountain bicycles are broadly graded into four different kinds:
Bikes with dual or full suspension – These bikes have front suspension fork and rear suspension with a rear shock and linkage that is ready to make the rear wheels move on pivots
Hardtail bikes – These bikes have frames with no rear suspension and they are often supplied with front suspension forks
Soft Tail Bikes – These bikes have frames with small amount of rear suspension. The bikes are activated by flex of the frame rather than the pivots
Fully rigid bikes – These bikes have a sub-type of hardtail along with rigid fork system
The Different Types Of Mountain Bicycles
The Cross-Country Mountain Bike
This bike variety has small amount of suspension on the front or on the rear. These bicycles are comparatively light because they are constructed with lightweight materials both in frame construction and in components. Some XC bike varieties of this particular type are without any suspension. They make use of rigid front fork that helps in saving weight. Here, the skill of the rider to pass through rough terrains is more important.
Freeride Mountain Bike
These are very similar to enduro bikes and emphasize more on weight and enhanced suspension. These bikes have ample suspension and they are mostly constructed with heavier materials. Freeride bikes are absolutely versatile and they are fantastic for uphill travel. The frame angles of such bikes are usually steeper in comparison to downhill bikes. Most freeride bikes are 30 to 45 pounds in weight.
Trials Mountain Bike
These are trial specific bikes. Most of these bikes are without any suspension. The contemporary trial bikes come without seats as most of the time the rider is out of the saddle. This bike is particularly lighter than other mountain bicycles and it weighs between 15 to 25 pounds. The lightweight makes it easier for the biker to maneuver the bike.
Single-Speed Mountain Bike
This is a kind of mountain bike with one set gear ratio. The ratio of the gear depends on the kind of terrain the bike crosses, the skill and strength of the bike rider and the size of the bike too. A single-speed bike is completely rigid having tough steel frames. If you want to ride a single-speed bicycle on mild to moderate cross-country terrains you have to be strong and active.
North Shore Mountain Bike
North shore mountain bike is genuinely constructed for rough and rugged land surfaces. A rider of this particular bike type has to exhibit lots of skill and balance while riding the bike. This bike is a wonderful combination of freeride and downhill bikes.
The other mountain bike varieties include Enduro Mountain Bike, Downhill Mountain Bike and Dirt Jumping Bike.
Most modern bikes meant for mountains have lighter and stronger frames with innovative design and form. The geometry of these bikes encourages vigorous riding over several obstacles like logs, rocks, wooden bridges and manually fabricated ramps. In the front, the bikes have three gears and it has 7, 8, 9, or 10 gears at the rear wheel position.
Some notable companies who have introduced the latest models of mountain bicycles include Fox, Manitou and Rock Shox along with other significant bike manufacturers. It is quite likely for you to make mistakes while riding a mountain bike. The mishaps generally take place due to equipment failure or misjudgment on the part of the rider. Thus, several companies have come forward with protective gears referred to as armors to provide full protection from injuries. Some essential upper body protectors for riders include spine protector, full-face helmets and backpack hydration system.
It is quite an established fact that mountain bicycles are aptly designed following the present trend and demand. They are in fact the dream of every spirited and efficient mountain biker.
Robert Sheehan is a freelance writer and co-owner of
http://www.bicycles-are-us.com Visit Robert And
read more about bicycles at
http://www.bicycles-are-us.com/Mountain-Bikes.html
mountainbikeriding2010.blogspot.com Are you looking to improve your mountain biking skills and have more FUN out on the trails?
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Check out more mountain bikes at Amazon:
Schwinn Pillow Top Cruiser Bicycle Seat
- Comfortable cruiser bicycle seat
- Extra gel for maximum comfort
- Weather-resistant Lycra cover
- Ideal for cruiser bikes, comfort bikes, and more
Do away with discomfort while cycling with this Schwinn Pillow Top cruiser bicycle seat. The seat is outfitted with extra gel for maximum comfort, along with a weather-resistant Lycra cover. It’s the perfect addition to cruiser bikes, comfort bikes, and casual-riding road bikes.
Rating: 
(out of 110 reviews)
List Price: $ 19.99
Price: $ 19.85
GMC Topkick Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike
- 21-speed mountain bike features a full-suspension, strong aluminum frame
- Floating beam suspension design is mated to a Zoom suspension fork with elastomer/spring technology
- Microshift push shifters and Shimano TZ-30GS derailleur
- Strong aluminum wheelset featuring V-shape rim profile and high-flange alloy hubs
- Front and rear Promax disk brakes work great, even in adverse conditions
Mens GMC Topkick 26″ Dual suspension Bike with Shimano 21 speed index gearing~ For any service questions contact Kent at 1-800-451-KENT (5368) EST., for replacement parts, repair kits, tools and warranty information (or) www.services@kentbicycles.comBoasting a full-suspension, extra-strong aluminum frame, the GMC Topkick mountain bike is an ideal choice for both trail riding and rough city riding. The frame employs a floating beam suspension design mated to a Zoom suspension fork with elastomer/
Rating: 
(out of 53 reviews)
List Price: $ 299.99
Price: $ 249.99
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Tags: bike type, country mountain bike, hardtail bikes, knobby tires, mountain bicycles, suspension fork
Posted in Best Mountain Bike | 
Tags: bike type, country mountain bike, hardtail bikes, knobby tires, mountain bicycles, suspension fork
10 Responses to “Mountain Bikes For Rugged Terrains”
Review by J. Soltis for Schwinn Pillow Top Cruiser Bicycle Seat
Rating:
My wife and I both have the same bikes, with very similar setups. We both needed replacement saddles around the same time, so I did my homework and purchased two of these Schwinn Pillow Top saddles. What a difference! No more sore rear end! Don’t be fooled by the “pillow top” desciption – it’s just marketing. It’s not “soft” like a pillow. The seat is firm, but comfortable enough for long rides, with a stable frame and well matched springs. The split down the middle of the seat is functionally effective without making the seat feel odd. It doesn’t feel like there is a major section of the seat cut out. Also, it’s not really a big, wide, oversized seat like a lot of the “cruiser” marketed seats. In other words, it doesn’t look out of place or dorky on our hybrid street/trail bikes. I would definitely recommend buying this replacement model from Schwinn.
Review by Low for Schwinn Pillow Top Cruiser Bicycle Seat
Rating:
Out of the box it seems very soft & cushy but once I installed it after about 10mins it felt hard. I took it off and took a better look at it, Theres 2 screws that you need to loosen up to make this seat work better, I guess the factory overtightens them to be sure, but by doing this they totally compress the rubber springs making the suspension/cushion useless. I just loosened the screws and now the seat works 100% it was $$ well spent. All & all a pretty good seat with plenty of cushioning. Just wanted to pass this tip off
Review by Dawn E. Reilly for Schwinn Pillow Top Cruiser Bicycle Seat
Rating:
Great replacement seat if you get at all uncomfortable while riding. The seat is wide and cushy, giving plenty of support to the places where we need it most. Looks good too, not overly enormous. I ride a Schwinn bicycle, so it looks like it belongs. I definitely recommend this seat!
Review by J. Butler for Schwinn Pillow Top Cruiser Bicycle Seat
Rating:
Be relieved, those days of feeling like your being assualted by your bike seat is over. This seat is ultra comfortable, and it’s wide so you have ample support. The instructions are kind of hazy, but luckily you can just slip the whole seat in, and take out your old one.
Hope this review helps.
Review by Cajtar for Schwinn Pillow Top Cruiser Bicycle Seat
Rating:
I’m as close to a classic ectomorph as it comes (6′2″, 165lbs) so I don’t have a lot of -ahem- padding back there. Let me tell you this seat is bliss! It’s wide and soft and also narrow in all the right places. The seat is not soft like a pillow top mattress, rather I would best describe it as supportive – firm but still plenty padded. There are rubber bumpers in the back which do a good job absorbing the bumps, even with a hardtail bike. There is a small channel down the middle to protect your man parts, but it’s not as deep as other seats so if man part protection is really high on the list, you might look elsewhere. Otherwise, its really comfy and I can pedal for miles in this saddle.
I was quite surprised to find it ships with a seat clamp that fits 7/8inch seat posts (BMX style). If your bike is more modern, chuck this out and clamp to the seat rails directly. The seat rails are rather short so there’s not a lot of fore-aft adjustment possible.
The seat is not overly heavy. In fact, considering its size I’d say it is surprisingly light. I’m sure this is due to use of high density urethane foam vs. gel. Seat is covered with a rubbery surface (no fabric at all) so its not well ventilated, but when you’re pedaling hard no seat fabric type will really prevent the sweats.
Overall, highly recommended and one of the best investments I’ve made for my bike.
Review by cdog for GMC Topkick Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike
Rating:
This is a good bike – the best feature is the dual suspension. Light and easy dropping off curbs on the way to work – huge difference from my hardtail mountain bike.
Disc brakes are nice to have, on front and rear – work much better than rim brakes. To adjust them hold the brake lever in and tighten them down via a hex wrench on the opposite center of the disc brake until the pads are flush against the disc, then turn back until the brake lever has enough play in it.
The rims are v-shaped, and narrow – much more so than my other bikes. It was quite a job to add tuffy liners to to the tires. I think I will have a bike shop change the tire next time they need it. The hard part is getting the tire off and on those narrow rims. The people at REI said to squeeze on the sides of the tire as you put it on, so both ends go deep into the rim.
Be careful when you put the front tire on that you have the fork facing forward. (I had it backwards the first time). Make sure the big round points on U part of the fork point towards the front of the bike.
The tires are very knobby. If you ride on the street a lot you might want to change them to something with a smoother tread in the middle.
The bike weighs 38 pounds put together – not exactly light, but since I ride for pleasure and exercise, and don’t plan to race, the weight is fine.
If you get it for less than 150, (what Amazon is selling it for the week of Feb 20), it is quite a bargain. (disc brakes by themselves often add $100 to a bike).
I raised the seat pretty high for a comfortable ride at my height, and found the handlebars are two low. I fixed this by adding some handlebar extenders which allow me to be more upright when I am not braking.
To my knowledge you can’t raise the stem on the handlebars without adding a spacer. If anyone finds out otherwise, please comment to this post.
Another possibility (besides handlebar extensions), would be to replace the handlebar with one that has more of a rise to it.
The Topkick is made by Kent Bicycle Company for GMC. They also make some Cadillac Mountain Bikes – the Cadillac AM2.4 and AM2.7, which are sold on Amazon. They are both dual suspension with disc brakes and have a very similar frame as the Topkick. Both bikes sale for over $1000.
Review by UART for GMC Topkick Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike
Rating:
Phenomenal bike! That is all I can say, especially for the price. Ideal for casual riding. This bike however came with instructions and was purchased from Dunhams in Michigan for about $200.00.
Pros: Stylish, Appealing, both aluminum and steel build, and the full strut suspension system gives it a comfortable ride. Disc brakes are very nice, too!
Cons: (applied to stock build only) After long rides the pedal-bearing hub assembly becomes tightened, very difficult to pedal forward until you reverse-pedal. The rims are too narrow and the high knobs will cause the tire to twist making it difficult to ride sideways on concrete slopes at 45 degree angles or more, The rear suspension system makes is difficult to buy accessories such as a rear tray or basket, The rear derailleur causes the chain to “jump” only during high speed/heavy torque conditions (rear derailleur=7 front=3)
Overall: BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK. It’s a beautiful bike that grabs alot of attention everywhere I go.
Facts: I am solid, 200lbs 5′10″ from Michigan, Ride bikes an average of 4hrs/day, in harsh climates/terrains, (Mich. area) and daily commuting 7 days/week. I’m tough on bikes, and haul groceries with my trailer attached to it.
(good job, GMC/Kent bikes)
Review by Daniel Spitzer for GMC Topkick Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike
Rating:
This bike is phenomenal, i enjoy riding it AFTER i assembled, i do not reccomend this bike to people who are begginers to the world of Mountain Bikes. I found NO assembly instructions for this bike inside like many others. Luckily i have assembled bikes before. When i opened the bikes packagind it wasnt the best box,I believe it was handled poorly. When assembling the bike i noticed the Disc Brakes took ALOT of tweaking. My rear disc break was not properly fit for the bike, OR shipping bumped it and damaged the rear disc,causing it to bend and mechanical failure. I found myself NOT using the Rear Brakes anymore,it was rubbing on the caliper constatly making a noise and slowing me down. I decided to just take off the top and tie back the wire. I reccomend looking into a more exspensive shipping unless you want bent parts. Its a nice bike, but small things like that make the company look poor in the eyes. So i reccomend looking into an inch smaller Rear Disc Brake. A good bike that needs a little more than assembly. Hope my review helps Customers!!
Review by Amy Weierman for GMC Topkick Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike
Rating:
I got this bike for my husband for his birthday. I put it together in about 2 1/2 hours myself, and test rode it, seems to be working well. The toughest thing was adjusting the disc brakes, which I had never done before. I found it easier to adjust like this: loosen all four bolts holding the caliper assembly on, then lock the brake, tighten the two bolts attaching the assembly, release the brake, spin the tire while manually fine-tuning the position of the pads while looking head-on to see a little daylight on each side of the disc and hear no rubbing, then tighten the remaining two bolts a little at a time while maintaining the position of the caliper by hand. I also had to tweak the inside pad 1/4 turn counter-clockwise, but it worked well! Just need to see how my hubby likes it. The bike looks great, but is heavy. I will try to update this after he’s ridden the bike for a bit.
UPDATE: He likes the bike, it handles well and is a good fit for him (he is 6′2″). I thought the handlebars seem a little low, but he hasn’t mentioned this as a problem. I had to adjust the front brake one more time after he’d ridden it a few times, but now seems to be just right. Seems to be a good investment, I recommend to anyone looking for a good quality, dual suspension mountain bike at a very affordable price. Also, I just uploaded some photos of the bike so that you can see more detail, look for them to show soon on the product page.
Review by F. Moreau for GMC Topkick Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike
Rating:
I purchased this bike in February of 2009. I was looking for something to improve my cardio health but wasn’t sure that I would really enjoy biking. After seeing numerous ads in the online classifieds of nearly new $1000 to $2000 bikes being sold for substantial discounts after being ridden for only a few miles, I decided to err towards caution in my initial purchase. I was hoping that by purchasing a mid priced bike I should get a reasonable quality components and not be deterred by a low quality bike. Assembly was basic requiring me to attach the front wheel, handlebar, pedals and seat. Everything else was preassembled. Pretty simple really. Inflate the tires and in 45 minutes it was ready to ride.
I am 58 and live in the mountains in the Pacific Northwest so I was looking for a full suspension bike, mostly to ease the shocks and jolts from riding on bumpy chip sealed roads. Since I was looking for a bike for exercise, weight of the bike was not a huge factor to me.
Having not owned a bike since my 20s, I was unfamiliar with the improvements in cycling. The 21 speeds seemed a bit of overkill to me at first, but now I find it well worth having in the rolling hills in my area. The push button indexed shifters were a real treat to me and easy to learn. The rear derailleur shifted extremely smoothly with no jumps clicks or clatters especially in the upshift. It simply changed ratio and I could feel a little extra resistance in the pedals as I gained speed. The front derailleur is a little less sophisticated but it works adequately. The disk brakes are a good idea in the wet region I live because they are far less likely to lose effectiveness due to getting wet. I remember rim brakes that would become almost ineffectual after riding through a large puddle. My only complaint would be the squealing noise they make at the end of a stop.
On flat roads the gearing is adequate to allow me to pedal along at 22+ mph until my legs tire, but it isn’t designed to be a race bike. I have climbed some rather challenging but short hills (total of about 400′ gain over a mile and a quarter) and pedaling like mad, I can climb a 12% short grade at 4.8 mph. The bike is heavy, approximately 37 pounds so it makes the hills a little more challenging. Over varied terrain on paved roads I can routinely average around 14 mph. Going down the above series of grades I have coasted up to 38 mph.
The only things I have found to be problematic are that as the bike breaks in, the cables stretch a little so the shifters need to be adjusted after a 100 or so miles. (Common on all bikes) The inner tube in the rear wheel failed at about 130 miles when the joint around the valve gave out while I was off the bike taking a photo. That brings me to a second problem, the tubes. Because of the deep V rims (which makes them stronger) they require a long schrader valve tube. Department stores carry the standard size but not the 48mm valved tubed this bike requires. I would recommend that anyone buying this bike order a couple of 26 x 1.9/2.125 48mm valved tubes at the same time.
The bike is fun to ride and so far, after over 700 miles, it seems very durable. The only problems were the aforementioned inner tube and derailleur adjustments. The seat isn’t the best either, but unless you ride more than 30 minutes at a time it will do. The only changes I have done is to replace the saddle with a male gel saddle (I sometimes ride for two hours or more at a time), added a couple of lights for safety, a bike computer, a clamp to the seat post carrier rack (a cheap and effective dual purpose rear fender), and replaced the knobby off road tires with a smoother tire designed for pavement for lower rolling resistance.
Overall I am very pleased with the bike. The bike is good quality especially for the price. I have recently been test riding some higher end bikes and the only difference is that they are are significantly lighter and significantly more expensive. I would have no problem recommending the bike to anyone.