Introduction to Downhill Mountain Biking & Racing

Series Summary

Downhill mountain bike racing began before "mountain bikes" officially existed. The first official "mountain bikes" were not sold in a bike shop until 1979 when downhill mountain biking competitors Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelley along with Tome Richie started a company called Mountain Bikes. The first bikes used in downhill cycling were street bicycles with no special gears or shock absorbers other than the riders' legs. Today downhill mountain bikes (DH sleds) are a specialized type of mountain bike with a great deal of research and technology invested in creating them. Downhill racing has also become an incredibly popular cycling sport with thousands of professional competitors. Downhill cycling is exhilarating, mixing the excitement of high speed racing, long drops, jumps, and danger. If you would like to learn how to prepare for downhill racing, including how to adjust your bike, you can learn for free from one of our experts.

In this free downhill racing video series, learn how to prepare for downhill cycling from DH expert Mickey Denoncourt. Mickey will show you how to adjust mountain bikes for downhill racing, how to position handlebars, how to adjust seat height and angle for DH racing, how to adjust the front and rear suspension spring rate for downhill racing, how to adjust the front and rear damper settings on a DH bike, and how to choose protective safety gear for downhill racing. Additionally, Mickey will teach you downhill racing techniques such as how to balance your weight on a DH bike.

Video Transcript

"MICKEY DENONCOURT: Setting up a bike for downhill or free riding is a little bit different and maybe a little bit more complicated than setting something up for just general mountain biking. You can take a frame that's been designed for more all around riding and make it more downhill specific but what's going to be best is to have a bike that's already specifically designed for this application or adaptable to this application. But what we're going to be talking about is setting up your drive train so you don't lose your chain. Changes you'd make in gearing, crank and pedal selection, handle bar, handle bar width and rise and stem length, tire pressure, tire selection, shock choice and selection, all these things all really impact the way a bike rides for more heavy duty, extreme use and application, so, yeah."