Mountain Bike Suspension Systems

Series Summary

The modern sport of cycling started taking shape around the 1970's, and has been gaining popularity as a legitimate sport ever since—especially with the late 90’s health craze. As this upsurge of amateur biking enthusiasm continues to reach untouched parts of the globe, the disciples of cycling, both recreational and extreme, continue to multiply. One of the great ways to enjoy cycling is to go mountain biking and trail riding in the great outdoors. Not only is mountain biking a fun hobby, it can also be an excellent cardiovascular workout. Riding through rough, rocky terrain, or exploring the hills and valleys of a densely populated, verdant glen is not only a test of stamina and endurance, but also requires an acute awareness of one's surroundings at all times.

Because of the varieties of terrain you’ll be tackling when you go riding, mountain biking can at times be an extreme sport. Your bike is your ticket to safely and comfortably navigating these myriad landscapes; and thus you should understand a little about how it works. In this free bicycle care and maintenance video series, learn how your tires and suspension system work to bring you over uneven ground with traction and shock reduction. Our expert will explain the front and rear mountain bike suspension mechanism and how they function, including a primer on how tension settings will affect performance. Also learn about different types of bicycle tires, especially which are best for traction, ease of repair, and durability. Follow these tips for your next mountain biking weekend trip and ride with a new sense adventure!

Video Transcript

"Like other wheeled vehicles, mountain bikes have developed a pretty sophisticated suspension systems over the last ten or fifteen years. The reason that we've got these suspension systems on these bikes, is, I mean, the general idea is that they absorb mechanical energy, you know impacts and turn them into, you know dissipate them into heat and that allows you to stay on course and keep riding with, you know, less energy. The idea is that the bike soaks up the terrain or you know at least the big impacts so your body doesn't have to, so you can focus on you know, pedaling to propel it and steering inputs and stuff like that. Other things you can do with suspension too, it allows you to, you know, compress it to change the way the bike handles, change the angles and stuff like that. But the basic idea is, you know, you've got bikes that have suspension anywhere from three inches in the front and none in the back, to you know, eight inches front and ten inches rear. It runs the gamut. Different types, and types of suspension for different uses. You've got, you know coil springs, you've got air springs, you've things that are a hybrid of the two, different damping systems, and we are going to try to break it down a little bit and give you some knowledge that you'll be able to use to help improve your ride."