Mountain Bikes –
Suspension Choices
Mountain bikes are specialized machines designed to meet
specific needs. Early mountain bikes are built with a rigid
frame and fork. As the hobby caught, so have the need to
augment the design to fit more to the terrain it is already
being used. In the early 1900's the mountain bike was fitted
with suspension forks. Early suspension forks had only 2 inches
suspension travel. This suspension travel was evolved and today
the suspension travel of mountain bikes could exceed 8
inches.
The suspension that you choose for your bike is almost as
important as the activity that you will be doing it with.
Without the proper suspension in a bike, its maneuverability
could be compromised and when traveling at certain types of
terrains.
The Dual Suspension Design
When the popularity of aggressive off road, mountain trail,
down hill biking caught on, bikers and manufacturers
alike realized that a new set of suspension should be fitted to
the bike to make it adopt better to the terrain that it is
being used on. Previous suspension designs where only the fork
is fitted with suspension is no longer sufficient and so a new
set of suspension for the rear tire were also fitted. Fitting
new suspensions for the rear tire resulted into smoother ride
while enabling the bike to travel upwards or downhill as the
rear wheel can now absorb the energy that is generated whenever
a bike hits rocks and other obstacles.
The only downside to this design is that it is heavier, more
expensive and pedaling is not as efficient as those with the
single front fork suspension. This down side though is
enormously compensated by the amount of control that a biker
has when the bike encounter bumps and when traveling on a
rugged down hill descent.
This is so because as the bike hits an obstacle or a hump,
the tendency of the bike is to bounce up that could often
careen out of control when the bike lands. The advantage of
having an added rear suspension is to absorb much of the energy
of the bounce. This is so because the forward momentum of the
bike that results in upward motion when it hits the obstacle is
now absorbed by the rear suspension that results in decreased
upward motion allowing for better control as the bike lands.
Anther advantage of having a dual suspension is that the bike
could travel faster on both downhill and smooth terrain. Having
dual suspension on the bike is also easier on the back.
Previous dual suspension designs also dramatically increase
the weight of the bike, the latest makes today however resulted
to reduced weight. However if the bike will not be really used
on hilly terrain a single suspension bike will suffice
The Single Suspension Design
Single suspension design means that only the tires are
fitted to a suspension. When the bike is to be used for some
slopes and dirt jumping, the single suspension design will
already suffice. This will lessen the weight of the bike and
make it less expensive also. The single suspension design also
called a hard tail design provides better pedaling efficiency
and easier maintenance.
This design though is getting less popular as the choice has
been shifting to the Dual suspension fitted
bikes.
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