So, you finally decided to give the greatest sport in the world a try? You fell in love with the sport and are now trying to decide where to start in order to become the next Red Bull Rampage Champion! Most likely you aren’t looking to send it off a 50 foot cliff while doing all sorts of cool tricks, but you are trying to figure out where to begin in the world of bikes in order to get out on the trails more regularly and have a good time. Look no further! I got you covered. Below I’ll dive into the basics of starting out in mountain biking from choosing gear to the different riding disciplines and just general safety.

Before diving into equipment and more technical aspects of getting started in this incredible sport, I want to dive into some of the different disciplines in mountain biking. Understanding the discipline you intend to ride most frequently will help you decide the type of bike, helmet, and general equipment to purchase. The correct equipment for the discipline you intend to ride regularly will help you ride faster, feel more comfortable, and have more fun. But perhaps even more importantly, you will also be safer out on the trails.

Cross Country (XC): This is the most popular form of mountain biking and is even an Olympic sport. XC riding is the least extreme discipline of mountain biking but is an extreme challenge of endurance and technical riding skills. Bikes tend to be hardtails or full suspensions ranging from 80mm to 120mm of travel.

Trail Riding: This is essentially a more aggressive XC discipline. The bikes tend to have stronger wheels and a slightly slacker geometry than XC to help in riding steeper more technical terrain. Wider handlebars, more sensitive brakes, and wider tires are some other common features to trail bikes. These bikes will also have roughly 120mm to 150mm of suspension travel. Trail riding involves rugged single track on many different types of terrain but the features tend to be larger and riddled with climbs and steep technical descents.

Enduro (AKA All Mountain): This discipline is where features begin to get very large. This is true mountain riding. It blends the endurance of XC, the climbing ability of trail, and requires the confidence and nerves needed to ride downhill. It is arguably the most popular riding discipline at the moment and continually getting more popular. Throughout these types of trails you will be riding over intense natural features such as massive roots and rock gardens as well as large drops, jumps, and other gnarly features the trail builders could devise. You will also be pedaling to the top of the mountain to ride the descent which means the bike needs to remain light enough and “geared up” enough to make it up the climbs. These bikes will also have roughly 150mm to 180mm of suspension. I highly encourage you to wear some extra padding such as knee pads, gloves, and a slightly burlier helmet as a minimum.

Downhill: Save your legs and take a lift or shuttle to the top and have a blisteringly fast and fun descent. This discipline has burly bikes with lots and lots of suspension (about 180mm and up) due to downhill routes taking you on very steep, techy, and incredibly fast descents. Expect very large jumps, drops, berms and other features. Also expect the trail to take a more direct rout down as opposed to a slowly winding down the mountain like in XC or trail riding. You will need a full-face helmet knee and elbow pads, goggles, and potentially body armor of sorts depending on riding level.

Freeride: This is extremely similar to downhill riding but with a focus on drops, jumps, and other features to showcase your skills and tricks. It is a very popular discipline and growing rapidly. The bikes ridden are also very similar to downhill bikes but tend to have a slightly shorter wheelbase, lighter frame, and slightly less suspension all for the purpose of making it easier to maneuver the bike in order to showcase tricks.

Before getting into riding some gnarly trails, you’re going to need some basic equipment.

The Essentials:

• Bike (duh otherwise you wouldn’t be biking). When starting out, any bike will do to get you on the trails. But to get into it more choose a bike based on the discipline you intend to ride most or you most enjoy.

• Helmet (You look significantly more stupid riding without one)

  • Half Shell- SMITH Engage MTB Cycling Helmet

  • Full Face- IXS Trigger Full Face Helmet

• Sunglasses or goggles of some sort

  • Sunglasses- KAPVOE Polarized Cycling Glasses

  • Goggles- Smith Fuel Goggles

• Pair of shoes that feel stable on pedals (assuming you are not riding clip-less)

  • Shoes for Flat Pedals- Five Ten Freerider Shoes

Non-Essentials that I still recommend:

• Knee pads- IXS Flow EVO Knee Pads

• Gloves- I own 2 pairs of Handup gloves and absolutely love them. They are tough, comfortable, grip well, and protect your hands well.

  • HANDUP Gloves

• Mud Guard- Makes bike look cool and keeps mud out of your face

  • Mucky Nutz Fender

What I Recommend to Carry on You When Riding:

• Phone

• Spare inner tube and/ or patch kit- ensure inner tube is correct size and valve type. Most bikes above the “Walmart level” will use presta valve

• Co2 inflator or hand pump- Bell Airstrike Hand Pump

• Tire levers- x2

• Multi tool- Crankbrothers 19 multitool

• Zip ties- excellent for holding things together if something breaks

• Water Bottle

For a full list of my Mountain Bike Gear with Links click HERE

Bike Setup Basics: There is an entire science behind setting up your bike perfectly, but I’ll just give you the bare bones version to get you on the trails and have a slightly more comfortable and enjoyable ride. There are tons of resources diving into the nitty gritty details such as GMBN on YouTube. Note that at the end of the day bike setup comes down to personal preference and what feels good to the individual rider. So, take setup guides as starting point and work from there.

1. Tire Pressure– This will greatly depend if your tires are tubeless or not. The benefit of tubeless is it virtually eliminates pinch flats. Going tubeless also allows you to run significantly lower tire pressure and in turn have more grip. I typically run my tubeless tires around 22 psi but will go up to 26 psi on the rear tire if I know the trail is going to be extraordinarily “chunky”. When running tubes, you will want to run your tires around 30 psi. You can run them softer but the softer the tube is the more likely you are to pinch flat. Similarly, if they are too hard you are sacrificing more and more grip. I found 30 psi to be a happy medium with tubes.

2. Cockpit Setup (Handlebars)– This is completely up to each and every rider and will take some time to find what is both comfortable and works well for you. Once you have played around with the positioning of your brake levers, dropper post remote, shifters, and any other gadgets you may have, use some way to mark them. Get a sharpie or some thin strips of tape to mark each component and how it lines up on your handlebars. Also be sure to mark your handlebars to line them up on your stem (the component that attaches the handlebars to the frame/ head tube).

3. Suspension– This is another setup that takes time to dial in completely and also learn how to do properly. This also requires a shock pump if you don’t have one already. Your shocks will have a table placed onto them most likely and will contain information about where to set your sag. This will be a good starting point. Be sure to use your weight when fully kitted up in your riding gear to accurately set your sag. I recommend using GMBN, a local mechanic, or another trustworthy technical MTB group to learn how to properly learn setting sag, rebound, high speed compression, and low speed compression. Settings this can get complicated but not overly difficult. The process will also slightly differ based on the suspension brand you’re using.

   1. Sag– How much your suspension “squishes” just by you sitting and being on the bike. Getting this set properly ensures the suspension won’t be too soft or too hard when riding.

   2. Rebound (dampening)- How fast your suspension returns to an uncompressed position after a hit. More rebound (+) means more dampening or a slower rebound. Less rebound (-) means less dampening or a faster rebound. Too fast and your suspension will feel like a pogo stick but too slow and it will remain packed in consecutive hits.

   3. Low speed compression- Compression from the loading of the bike in turns, g outs, berms, etc.

   4. High Speed Compression- Compression from hitting things on the trail such as roots and rocks.

General Safety on the Trail:

1. Ride trails and features within your skill level. Considering this is being written for the beginner, you should not try and ride the techiest double black diamond you can find starting out. Work on your skills and progress your skills in order to ride techier and faster trails safely and to enjoy them more. If you’re confident your skills are up to par with a feature or trail, then give it a try. If you have the confidence for a feature or trail but you don’t think the skill is there, then this is called false confidence, and this is how you get hurt.

2. Tell people where you are going and how long you plan to be gone. If something were to happen on the trail, then you want people to be able to find you and help you. Tell someone the trails you plan to ride the time you plan to be home so if you do not then they can start taking actions to track you down.

3. Ride with a buddy (or group of buddies). Riding with friends is not only more fun, but it’s safer. Like above there is someone else there to help you in case something unfortunate were to happen. Plus, you can challenge each other to different “things” and learn skills from each other while riding. It also gives you a cameraman for some rad photos and videos.

4. Make sure your bike is ready. Before riding you should check your tire pressure, ensure spokes are tight, make sure all the bolts are torqued down correctly, brake pads aren’t worn, chain is lubed, and there are no deformations or cracks in your frame or wheels. There are tons of resources for how to do these things properly and I highly recommend learning these. My personal favorite is GMBN’s YouTube Page as they have a large selection of videos on these topics and do superb job explaining everything.

5. Always wear your Helmet! Yes, helmets are bulky and hot and can be annoying. But you only get one head and it’s not worth risking messing it up simply because you were hot or thought you looked silly wearing a helmet. If you are interested in racing, then you have to wear the helmet the entire time anyway so it’s good to build the habit of leaving it on now (train as you race). I promise you that if you are riding without a helmet then you look more like a fool than you would without one on. Anyone who mountain bikes understands the importance of a helmet and will be wearing one, so wear yours!

The Most Important Part of Mountain Biking:

Go Ride! Have fun, meet other riders, and don’t be worried about anything at all. Just enjoy the moment of complete freedom and pure joy on your new mountain bike and hopefully enjoy it with some friends.  That is why you’re doing it after all! Hop on your bike, grab your gear, and hit the trails! There is nothing quite like riding trails on a bike that is finally dialed in for YOU. And of course, after you’ve sent it down some crazy gnar and shared a few laughs, go grab a burrito and an ice-cold local brew to wind down and talk about the days shred!

Happy Migrations Everyone!