Cross-Country Mountain Bikes vs Trail Mountain Bikes

Cross-Country Mountain Bikes vs Trail Mountain Bikes

  Differences between Cross-Country Mountain Bikes and Trail Mountain Bikes

           

    A lot of people usually find it hard to identify the correct mountain bike for them. Although choosing a bike may all depend on your riding style, the terrain you will be riding on and who you will be riding with, getting the right bike that fits your style is tricky. The trail mountain bike and the cross-country mounting bike are quite identical and can easily be confused at first glance.  There are several areas where you can find a significant difference between the two bikes. Physical features of the bikes such as the length of the stems, the width of the handlebars, the braking system, the suspension travel, and tires are normally taken into consideration when identifying these types of mountain bikes.  You can find all your mountain bike parts and accessories below on the Blue Sky Cycling website.  

The Handlebars - The cross country mountain bike has a narrow handlebar.  Since the cross country bikes are built for maximum speed and agility, a narrow handlebar enables the rider to get a feel of what the front wheel is doing. It is also quick to steer around corners. A wide handlebar on trail bikes gives the rider enough leverage to maneuver technical terrain. It helps the rider not to be thrown around when going through rock gardens. 

The Stem length - The cross country mountain bike features a longer stem length of approximately 90mm - 100mm. The long stem positions the rider in a posture that pushes the rider's body further forward for enhanced grip on flat terrain, and maximum acceleration. On the other hand, the trail bike has a shorter stem length of approximately 40mm -80mm. A short stem keeps the rider's posture laid more backward for better stability during steep downhill riding.

The Suspension Travel - A cross country mountain bike has a shorter travel of suspension than the trail bike. A shorter travel of suspension enhances a quick uphill sprint. For real fast cross-country mountain bikes, the comfort of the rear suspension has been eliminated to boost pedaling efficiency.  A longer suspension travel provides comfort and easy crawling capabilities over obstacles. 

The Head angle - Due to a longer suspension travel in the front, trail bikes also have a wider head angle which is good for down hill riding. It positions the front wheel far much ahead of the rider making the bike stable even on steep downhill maneuvers. On the other hand, the short suspension travel on a cross-country bike forces it to have a narrower head angle which makes a cross country bike more twitchy when riding on steep down hills.

The Brake Rotor - A trail bike has a relatively large brake rotor compared to the cross country bike. A large brake rotor of about 140mm - 160mm is key to a more powerful braking system, which is essential when down hilling at a fast speed. Due to its wide surface area, a large brake rotor is less likely to overheat and cause brake failure than smaller brake rotors. Since cross-country mountain bikes are quite twitchy on the downhill ride, a powerful braking system will only make things worse. Therefore, its brake rotor is much smaller and less powerful.

Tires - A Cross-country bike has smoother tires to enhance faster rolling for maximum speed while the trail bikes feature wide and heavily threaded tires for better grip and stability on unstable grounds.

     Apart from the physical features of theses mountain bikes, they can also be identified by their capabilities, or what they can do better than the other. For example, cross country mountain bikes are slower on the descent and faster on climbs and flat surfaces. Trail mountain bikes are slower on climbs and fast and fun to ride on down hills. Considering the overall speed, the cross country bikes are far much faster than trails bikes. While the trail bikes can take a corner quite aggressively with more grip, the cross country is able to maneuver sharper corners with more agility. The trail bikes do break faster and more precisely. The cross country bike is lighter and quicker in acceleration and steering while the trail bikes are heavier and optimized for descends. Today's mountain bikes have become extremely specialized in terms of their intended use. On one extreme you will find the cross-country racing mountain bikes. On the other extreme, you will find the downhill racing mountain bikes. The trail mountain bike sits in between the two types of bikes and tries to serve the purposes of both ends but to a limited extent.  How to set up your mountain bike is important.  Click to check out how to set up a mountain bike.  Or you can watch a quick video below that will show you the steps...

     You can tell the difference between them by having a closer look at the handlebars, the stem length, the suspension travel, the brake rotor, the tires, and the head angle. The handle bars vary in length with the shorter ones for cross country bikes and the longer ones for trail bikes. Long stem length creates the appropriate body posture for cross country bikers while short stem lengths pull the cyclist backward for safer down hill riding on the trail. A long suspension travel is fit for trail bikes while cross country bikes feature a shorter travel on the suspension. Trail bikes have a large brake rotor for a more powerful breaking experience while cross-country bikes have smaller brake rotors. The tires on a cross country mountain bike are thinner relatively smoother for maximum speed compared to trail mountain bikes which have rougher and wider tires for better grip on technical terrains. With all these features in mind, you can easily tell the two types of mountain bikes apart.  If you have any questions please feel free to leave us a comment.  Thank you! 

Blue Sky Cycling "Mountain Bike Parts Specialist"

2530 Randolph St.

Huntington Park, Ca 90255

(323) 585-3934

www.blueskycycling.com

Proper Mountain Bike Gear Shifting

Proper Mountain Bike Gear Shifting

                 How to properly shift gears when riding your mountain bike                         by Eddie Aguilar

  On a recent mountain bike ride with the Blue Sky Cycling team I noticed several riders not shifting gears when needed.  This led me to write a quick blog about the proper way to shift your gears when riding a mountain bike.  The mechanism of a bicycle’s drive train that controls a cyclist's cadence; that rate at which a cyclist turns the pedals, and that rate at which the rear wheel turns is called bicycle gearing.  A bicycle gearing system includes the whole set of components involved in the gearing mechanism: The shifters, shifter cables, the derailleur, the gears and the pedals. Most conventional bicycles have only one gear, meaning that the gear is fixed. In this case, the cyclist has no choice but to vary his/her cadence to match what the terrain offers or the speed he or she wants to ride at. On the other hand, most contemporary bicycles such as mountain bikes and speed road bikes have multiple gears hens a variety of gear rations.  

   These gears are meant to solve the problems of efficiency and comfort. The rider uses the shifting system to select a desirable gear for most comfort and efficiency. For instance, it is most comfortable and very efficient to ride on a low gear when climbing and a middle gear when riding fairly flat and smooth trails. A cyclist's pedaling speed and strength is limited to the power of their muscles. Different cyclists of different stamina have different exhibit cadences. Therefore the gearing mechanism is used to ride a bicycle beyond the limits of the cyclist. A bicycle’s gearing mechanism uses the limited range in cadence of a cyclist and gives it the highest                                                                                                      efficiency if used properly.  

Taking advantage of your mountain bike gears

    In my opinion,  it is every mountain bike cyclist’s interest to make the full use and take full advantage possible of the gearing system and mechanism on the bicycle. Mountain bike cyclists such as cross country riders, whether in competitive riding, workout or any riding purpose need to know and decide when and when not to use the gear. They should also have the knowledge of which gear will best work for them in different circumstances. Efficient gear shifting doesn’t occur naturally. It is more of a skill that has to be learnt over time than an inborn phenomenon. Perfect gear shifting involves smoothness, precision and efficiency. Good gear shifting makes the rider a more capable mountain biker. Good gear shifting skills enables a rider to adopt rapid changes in the terrain smoothly and easily. It enables the rider to roll over obstacles with less fuss and induce more momentum faster with little effort. Well let us have a look at some gear shifting habits that can make you a better mountain biker if properly nurtured.  Some mountain bikers usually wait for a climb to get tough and start wearing them out before they can shift to a lower gear. This is not correct. It is important to look and anticipate the terrain ahead and get prepared for it. Shift to a lower gear just before the climb starts getting tough. This will reduce the loss of your momentum and make the shift smoother and easier.  Check out this link for more information on proper gear shifting.  

  Preparing Your Gear Shifting

     You may be tempted to shift gears when riding on large corrugation or rock gardens. These features are normally very rough and very fast. You should prepare in advance and decide to shift to an appropriate gear just before or after such features. If you dare shift while riding on these terrains, your chain risks falling off as your bike roughly jumps and bounces. Eventually you will lose momentum, concentration and in some cases you might be forced to stop and correct the chain before you continue.   If you intend to stop, it is not advisable to shift the gear immediately before you stop. It is recommended that you pedal at least two revolutions after you shift the gear before you stop. This will allow time for the chain to transition completely. This also ensures that you get a smoother quicker and more focused start after this.  

If your intention is to stop, it is critical that you quickly assess your terrain and shift to an appropriate gear in readiness for the next takeoff.  For example, if you are on an uphill terrain, it would not be efficient at all to start on the highest gears. If you stop on a sandy flat terrain, the best gear to make the next start is the low gears.  Low gears will help you get out of sand quickly by adjusting your gear ratios. 

Up Hill Gear Shifting

     When you are about to begin an uphill ride, it is more reasonable and efficient to begin shifting the front derailleur first. Then you will have the advantage of slowly shifting lower and lower using the rear gears. This will ensure that you keep your cadence steady through the whole shifting process. When riding uphill you need to get focused on the track and keep a steady cadence and shifting the rear gears first and the front last creates a great uneven change hence confusing your cadence and focus.  Pedaling hard during a gear shift only puts a lot of stress on the chain and gears and makes it more difficult to shift. It is advisable to keep the pedaling at a lesser force making it easy for the gears to engage smoothly.  If you are riding and the chain keeps brushing against the front derailleur cage, it means that most probably you are riding on a bad chain line. 

Great Video on Gear Shifting...

     An example of a bad chain line is when you ride on the smallest gear in the front and the smallest gear at the rear, or the largest gear in the front and the largest gear at the rear. This forces the chain to run diagonally between the front and the rear gears. Apart from inefficiency, a bad chain line can damage your bike by sagging or even snapping your chain. To ride on a good chain line, make sure that the chain does not cross excessively across the front and the rear gears.  For example, if you have three gears at the front and nine gears at the rear, make a habit of combining the three largest gears in the rear with the smallest gear in the front, the three middle gears at the rear with the middle gear in the front, and the three smallest gear at the rear with the largest gear in the front.  Thank you for reading and I hope this is helpful.  As always please feel free to leave a comment with any questions.  

Check out our website for all your mountain bike parts and accessories.  We also carry road bike parts!  

Blue Sky Cycling

2530 Randolph St.

Huntington Park, Ca 90255

(323) 585-3934

https://www.blueskycycling.com

info@blueskycycling.com