Mountain bike racing

Mountain bike racing (shortened BMX or ATB racing) is a competitive cycle sport held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Purgatory, Colorado. The first mountain biking world cup series took place in 1991. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North America—and was sponsored by Grundig. In 1992, the Grundig-UCI world cup circuit expanded to ten races, and remained a trans-Atlantic series. Cross-country racing was the only world cup sport at this time, then in 1993 a six-event downhill world cup was introduced. In 1996, cross-country mountain biking events were added to the Olympic Games.

NORBA refers to the Board of Trustees that represent the sport of mountain bike racing for USA Cycling. There are three USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars: Endurance, Gravity and Ultra-Endurance. USA Cycling runs the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. In 2006, cross-country mountain biking events became part of the World Deaf Cycling Championships for the first time in San Francisco, USA. There are mountain bike racing types that are not recognized by the UCI, such as mountain bike orienteering that is governed by the IOF.

Mountain bike

A mountain bike or mountain bicycle (abbreviated MTB; or ATB, for all-terrain bicycle) is a bicycle created for off-road cycling.

Mountain bikes are typically ridden on mountain trails, fire roads, logging roads, single tracks and other unpaved environments. These types of terrain commonly include rocks, washouts, ruts, loose sand, loose gravel, roots, and steep grades (both inclines and declines). Mountain bikes are built to handle this terrain and the obstacles that are found in it like logs, vertical drop offs, and smaller boulders.

Mountain bike construction differs from a typical bicycle in many ways. The most noticeable differences are the inclusion of suspension on the frame and fork, larger knobby tires, more durable heavy duty wheels, more powerful brakes, and lower gear ratios needed for steep grades with poor traction.

Since the development of the sport in the 1970s many new subtypes of mountain biking have developed, such as cross-country (XC) biking, all-day endurance biking, Freeride-biking, downhill mountain biking, and a variety of track and slalom competitions. Each of these place different demands on the bike requiring different designs for optimal performance. MTB development has included an increase in suspension, typically up to 8" or 203mm, and gearing, up to 30 speeds, to facilitate both climbing and rapid descents. However, advancements in sprocket design has recently led to the "1x (pronounced one by)" trend, simplifying the gearing to one Chainring/Sprocket in the front and multiple sprockets on the rear of the drive train, more commonly, 9, 10 or 11 speed.

27.5 Mountain bike

27.5 mountain bikes, also called tweeners, are mountain bikes which use a wheel that is approximately 27.5 inches in diameter with the mountain bike tire installed. The wheel size is also known as ISO 584 mm and 650B. Some manufacturers are also marketing them as 650b. They are seen as a compromise between the two existing standards of the original 26 inch and recently emerged 29 inch mountain bikes. They were pioneered by Kirk Pacenti in 2007, and as of 2013, at least 10 companies are launching models with 27.5 inch wheels, and parts manufacturers are following suit.

Nino Schurter won the World Cup event at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and placed second in the Olympics in 2012 on 27.5 inch wheels.

See also

References

Motorcycle racing

Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and bike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major genres include road racing and off road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.

Categories

The FIM classifies motorcycle racing in the following four main categories. Each category has several sub categories.

Road racing

Road racing is the sport of racing motorcycles on hard surfaces resembling roads, usually paved with tarmac. Races can take place either on purpose-built racing circuits or on closed public roads.

Traditional road racing

Historically, "road racing" meant a course on closed public road. This was once commonplace but currently only a few such circuits have survived, mostly in Europe. Races take place on publics roads which have been temporarily closed to the public by legal orders from the local legislature. Two championships exist, the first is the International Road Racing Championship, the other is the Duke Road Racing Rankings. The latter accounts for the majority of road races that take place each season, with an award for the highest placed rider. Prominent road races include the Isle of Man TT, North West 200 and the Ulster Grand Prix. Ireland has many road racing circuits still in use. Other countries with road races are the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, New Zealand and Macau.