Mountain biking

Mountain biking, often shortened to MTB, involves riding bicycles off-road, typically on rough terrain, using bikes built specifically for that purpose. These bikes share basic features with other bicycles but are designed for durability and performance on challenging ground, with additions like air or coil-sprung suspension, larger wheels and tires, stronger frames, and disc brakes that can be mechanical or hydraulic. The sport is generally divided into categories: cross country, trail, all mountain, enduro, downhill, and freeride.

Riders need endurance, strength in their legs, core, and back, balance, bike handling skills, and self-reliance. Advanced riders tackle both steep, technical descents and high-incline climbs. In freeride, downhill, and dirt jumping, riders perform aerial maneuvers off natural features or specially built jumps and ramps. Trails include singletrack, back-country roads, wider bike park paths, and fire roads; advanced trails often feature jumps, berms, and drop-offs. Enduro and downhill riders frequently visit ski resorts that stay open in summer, using ski lifts to carry their bikes uphill for downhill-only runs. Since riders are often far from civilization, self-reliance is key—they learn to fix broken bikes and flat tires to avoid being stranded. Many carry backpacks with water, food, tools for trailside repairs, and a first aid kit. Group rides are common, especially on longer trips. Mountain bike orienteering adds map navigation skills to the sport.

The history of off-road cycling dates to the late 1800s, with one early example being an expedition of Buffalo Soldiers from Missoula, Montana, to Yellowstone in August 1896. In the early 1900s through the 1960s, road racers used cyclocross for winter training, and it became its own sport with the first world championship in 1950. The Rough Stuff Fellowship formed in 1955 in the UK. In 1966, Oregon’s D. Gwynn built a rough-terrain trail bicycle he called a "mountain bicycle," possibly the first use of that name. In England in 1968, motorbike trials rider Geoff Apps began experimenting with off-road bike designs, and by 1979 he had a lightweight bike suited to wet, muddy conditions, using 2-inch × 650b Nokian snow tires (with a 700x47c version also made). These were sold under the Cleland Cycles brand until late 1984, and later by English Cycles and Highpath Engineering.

In the 1970s and 1980s, groups of riders in different parts of the US helped birth the sport. Riders around Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County, California, and Crested Butte, Colorado, modified bikes for off-road use. They used heavy cruiser bicycles, often old 1930s and '40s Schwinn models with better brakes and fat tires, for freewheeling down mountain trails from the late 1960s to late 1970s. These early bikes were primitive, with single-speed coaster brakes. The Schwinn Excelsior was a popular frame choice for its geometry. Riders eventually added multi-speed gearing, drum or rim brakes, and motocross or BMX-style handlebars, creating "klunkers" (the term used before "mountain biking" existed). Russ Mahon of Cupertino, California, is credited as the first to fit multiple speeds and drum brakes to a klunker, using it in cyclo-cross racing. Early downhill racing on fire roads caused lesser coaster brakes to burn their grease, forcing riders to "repack" the bearings after each race. The first organized downhill race series in Fairfax, California—the "Repack Races"—spurred early innovations and brought the sport national attention via TV’s *Evening Magazine*. The fire road called "Repack" still exists and is rideable. The sport originated on Marin County’s Mount Tamalpais.

Road bicycle companies began manufacturing mountain bikes with lightweight materials in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Joe Breeze is credited with introducing the first purpose-built mountain bike in 1978. Tom Ritchey then made frames for MountainBikes, a partnership with Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly. Ritchey, a skilled welder and frame builder, also built the original bikes. The partnership dissolved, becoming Fisher Mountain Bikes, while Ritchey started his own frame shop. Early mountain bikes were essentially road bike frames with heavier tubing and different geometry, plus a wider frame and fork for wider tires. Handlebars were straight and transverse-mounted, unlike the dropped, curved bars on road racing bikes. Some parts came from BMX bikes. Other contributors included Otis Guy and Keith Bontrager.