What Style of Biker Are You?

From touring to off-road riding to track riding to cyclo-riding to recreational biking-there are almost as many different styles of riding as there are bikes. The following is a discussion of three of the most popular styles of biking today.

Street/Urban Riding
Street/Urban riding is when you bike through urban areas, ride on ledges and other man-made obstacles. Some riders execute tricks as well as stalls and grinds. Hybrid bikes, sometimes called city bikes, are typically used for street/urban riding. Hybrid bikes are a cross between a mountain bike and a road bike. Most have front suspension with wide comfortable seats and upright handlebars.

Free Riding
The essence of free riding has it origins on the shores of British Columbia. As some free riders have explained it, free riding is more than just riding, it's about riding with your friends and doing things on your bike that push the limits of both yourself and your bike. It's not about being the fastest or coming up with a new trick. Rather, it's about being totally free on your bike. Free riding is different for everyone. Essentially, when you ride for pure enjoyment, do your own thing, in your own way, that's free riding--making it more of a mindset than a structured style of riding. For example, you could free ride downhill, cross-country or down the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland.

Many free ride bikes closely resemble downhill bikes and weigh as much, although they are usually designed to be easier to pedal. Free ride bikes should be in the 30 to upper 50 pound range, have a steeper angled frame in order to make maneuvering on narrow obstacles possible, and be built from stronger, heavier materials.

Downhill Mountain Biking
If you think downhill biking is all about kicking back, stretching your arms and cruising at a leisurely pace, think again. Even though it's all downhill, biking down a mountain demands concentration, quick reflexes and bike-handling skills much different than free riding or city riding. It's also a blast! Downhill mountain biking races involve race courses that are designed for riders to speed down while navigating huge jumps, obstacles and more. It's very similar to motor cross racing.

While it's true that all bikes go downhill, bikes that provide the optimum ride for Downhill Mountain Biking have what is called full suspension. This means that the front and rear of the frame are equipped with shock absorbers.

Getting The Right Bicycle Seat

It takes only one ride on the wrong bicycle seat to demonstrate irrefutably that a good bicycle seat is paramount to regular bicycle riding.Even the shortest, smoothest ride can be painful and joyless if your bicycle has a bad seat on it.

What differentiates a good seat from a bad seat?It will differ between any two people, and it will differ especially between men and women.Our anatomies in the lower torso are made for strikingly different purposes, and it's pretty safe to venture that none of them include bike riding!Truth be told, the perfect bicycle seat has not yet been marketed.There are, however, some seats that are markedly better than others.

The biggest mistake made by occasional riders, particularly the elderly, is to opt for a bicycle seat that is bigger and better cushioned.Stop right there.Bigger seats are the wrong way to go, for anyone.Bigger seats increase friction and contact.All they will do is to broaden the area of your discomfort.Go for a smaller seat.The aim is to decrease the contact area between your derriere and the bicycle seat, not increase it!

As for cushioning, here you have some leeway.There are some very comfortable, stream-lined bicycle seats out there now, especially those made with the bumps of mountain bike riding in mind, or for the hybrid bicycles so popular with urban riders.Here, you can combine a svelte seat with some very nice and unobtrusive cushioning that will be positioned right where you need it: under your right and left buttocks' contact points.There is absolutely no good reason to have cushioning under your entire derriere.

Today, there are a lot of bicycle seat designs intended to account for the anatomical differences in men and women.The most important is that the flare of a woman's seat is just a little bit wider to allow those contact points and their cushioning to hit where a woman's anatomy requires it, but there are also bicycle seats made with various openings in the middle to decrease painful prolonged contact with male or female genitalia.

Whatever you decide might be a good option for you, try out a bicycle seat before committing to purchase.Shop at a good bike shop.Their employees know a lot and most will allow you to return it if you need to take it home to try it on your own bike. You really can't know if it's right unless you try it.

Necessary Mountain Biking Equipment

Being prepared while out on the mountain bike trail is an absolute must and a great rule of thumb is to always pack more mountain biking equipment the farther away from help you plan to be. There are a few important considerations you should also make regardless of the skill level of mountain biking that you plan to partake in.

The first consideration, for anyone planning on being active outdoors regardless of mountain biking or not, should be to have a well stocked first aid kit. You can purchase biker specific first aid kits, that are purposefully designed to fit nicely in a small pack, under the seat or even in saddlebags. A well stocked first aid kit will contain antiseptic, pain reliever, tensor bandages, band-aids, moleskin, and tweezers.

The second necessity is to have a mountain bike specific tool kit and there many options available as to the type of bike you have and the tools you want it to contain. The very basic tool kit should have the required tools needed to repair a flat tire and will fit nicely under your seat or in a saddlebag. Other tools to look for are an Allan key or small wrench, a chain breaker, a tire gauge, a Swiss army knife, and some strong tape.

Another highly recommended piece of mountain biking equipment to include is a spare mountain bike chain. Any experienced bikers know all to well how easy it is to bust a chain on the trail and the headache it can cause. Often a broken chain can be repaired but do not take the risk of being left without one.

Last but definitely not least is a portable air pump. These pumps come in numerous shapes and sizes and can be purchased specifically to fit your bike. Most can fit under the seat or in saddlebags, and often the repair kit includes one.

All these pieces of equipment are designed to be light weight and easily stored on your bike. Never risk traveling far from help without then because being prepared with the right mountain biking equipment can save you many hours of frustration.