History Of The Mountain Bike & Types of Off Road Bicycles

The history of the mountain bike includes contributions from cyclo-cross in Europe, the Roughstuff Fellowship in the UK. The mountain bike was created in California. It was a modified heavy cruiser bicycles used for freewheeling down mountain trails in Marin County, California. However, it was not until the late 1970s and early 1980s that road bicycle companies started to manufacture mountain bicycles using high-tech lightweight materials. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, mountain biking moved from a little-known sport to a mainstream activity.

Mountain bikes today can be classified into four categories based on suspension:

• Fully rigid: A frame with a rigid fork and fixed rear, no suspension.
• Hardtail: A frame with a front suspension fork and no rear suspension.
• Soft tail: A frame with small amount of rear suspension, activated by flex of the frame instead of pivots.
• Dual or Full Suspension: A front suspension fork and rear suspension with a rear shock and linkage that allow the rear wheel to move on pivots.