Trail riding
The most common way to ride a mountain bike: loops that climb under your own power and descend the good stuff, on one bike that does a bit of everything.
Also known as: trail, all-mountain, trail bike riding
Key facts
- Bike types
- MTB, eMTB
- Typical travel
- 120–150 mm
- Wheel size
- 29″
- Terrain
- a bit of everything: climbs, singletrack, technical descents
- Protection
- Light
What it is
No race, no lift, no rules about the terrain. A trail ride is a loop of singletrack — with friends or alone, for an hour or a day — where the climbs are part of the ride and the descents are the reward.
The bike
A full-suspension bike with 120–150 mm of travel, a dropper post and tyres that grip: efficient enough to climb all day, capable enough for rocks, roots and small jumps. The eMTB version adds more laps to the same day.
What to wear
- A trail helmet and gloves.
- Knee pads if the descents are rough.
- Water, a pump, a spare and a multi-tool in a pack or on the bike.
Related articles
- Electric mountain bike (eMTB) — A mountain bike with a pedal-assist motor and battery. The motor helps only while you pedal, so you climb more, ride further and spend the day descending.
- Hardtail — A mountain bike with a suspension fork and a rigid rear end: light, simple, cheap to keep running — and the bike that teaches you to ride well.
- Full-suspension bike — A mountain bike with suspension at both ends. The rear shock keeps the back wheel on the ground over roots and rocks, which means more grip, more control and less fatigue.
- Dropper post — A seatpost that drops at the push of a lever on the bar and rises again on its own. The saddle goes out of the way for the descent and comes back for the climb, without stopping.
- Cross-country (XC) — Mountain biking as an endurance sport: as much up as down, on light and efficient bikes, where fitness wins races. The only mountain-bike discipline at the Olympic Games.
- Enduro — Racing the descents and riding the climbs: timed downhill stages linked by untimed transfers you pedal up yourself. Also the name of the long-travel bikes built for it.
- Gravel — Long rides on unpaved roads and easy trails on drop-bar bikes with wide tyres. Somewhere between road cycling and mountain biking — and the reason many riders discover dirt.
- Knee pads — Pads that take the hit when you fall on a knee — the most common crash injury on a mountain bike. Modern pads are soft enough to pedal in all day and harden only on impact.
- Gloves — Full-finger gloves give grip on the bars when your hands sweat or it rains, and save your palms and knuckles when you fall. Thin enough to feel the brakes, tough enough to slide.
- Mountain bike helmet — An open-face helmet made for trails: deeper at the back and sides than a road helmet, with a visor and plenty of vents. The one piece of gear no ride goes without.
- Attack position — The standing stance every descent starts from: pedals level, knees and elbows bent, weight centred over the bike and eyes up. From here you can react to anything the trail throws at you.
- Singletrack — A narrow trail, about as wide as one bike, winding through the terrain. The heart of mountain biking: most of the riding worth driving to is singletrack.