Mountain biking involves riding a fat-tired bike on dirt roads, singletrack, and over rocks and roots. The bikes are heavy-duty and commonly include both front and rear suspension (and sometimes 29″ wheels) to help you navigate difficult terrain with speed and comfort. You’ll get wet and muddy and have tons of fun!

Scroll down this page where I’ll cover all the skills you need to enjoy the sport and even some advice if you want to take part in MTB racing!

Or jump to mountain bike skills, mountain biking tips, mountain biking gear, or mountain bike racing.

 

Mountain Bike Basic Skills Tutorials:

Here’s the basic skills and riding advice you need to get started in order to stay safe and enjoy yourself. Please practice this before heading out to the tough trails!

If you plan to ride on the East Coast, you have to know how to ride through a rock garden. I've only been to one

Whether you'll be mixing it up in XC races, or just exploring the vast backcountry trails, you have to know how to ride a stream

The "attack position." This is the most important concept in mountain biking. It forms the basis of all the complex maneuvers and techniques that you'll

If you ever do a mountain bike or cyclo-cross race, you're going to encounter mud. Or sand. Or both. And you're going to love it!

An important skill for mountain bikers, especially XC and CX racers, is being able to hop over a log. At least here on the East

As if climbing a hill isn't hard enough on its own, the hills you encounter on mountain bike trails can be extremely steep - much

Whether you're doing casual trail riding or XC racing, you're bound to encounter some steep descents. This guide will teach you how to ride a

This article explains how to shift SRAM Trigger Shifters on your mountain bike...

Mountain bikes are typically equipped with either a grip shift or trigger shifters. The trigger shifters look more intimidating, but they are fun and easy

A very useful skill for both road and mountain bikers is the track stand. A track stand is when you balance the bicycle in place,

It's important for cyclists to do certain training drills to keep their skills sharpened. One drill I recommend you do is practice crashing! Here is

Moving from a one speed bicycle to one with multiple gears is a big step. Not only do you have to learn how to shift

 

Mountain Biking Tips and Advice:

Here’s some practical advice for all mountain bikers that will make your rides more fun.

These articles cover miscellaneous topics that are still very useful. So much can happen when you’re out mountain biking, so there is a lot to learn if you want to be prepared.

Today's question is about using different width tires on your mountain bike and why that might be a good idea...

If you just like to mountain bike for fun, maybe you ignore the trend toward more core conditioning and flexibility training. Even if you race,

The days are hot, you sweat, and the sweat drips into your eyes. It stings your eyes and smears on your glasses. Helmet pads just

Let me tell you a little story about properly routing the cable for your front disc brake... It all started when I purchased my Specialized

(This article was originally published on BloomBikeShop.com, but I'm republishing it here because the advice is still useful!) It's inevitable. At some point in the

Deer season is fast approaching, and you know what that means - time to break out the fluorescent orange spandex! (If you are a mountain

 

Mountain Bike Gear:

Everything you need to know about buying a bike and choosing the right gear for your adventure.

Planning to buy a bike from Walmart? Well, you might want to reconsider your decision. There are a lot of reasons NOT to buy a

One very popular topic that's always asked about online is mountain bike sizing. But here's the funny part - you need to get off the

If you're planning to buy your first mountain bike, you are probably wondering what size to get. The "what size bike for me?" question comes

Tubeless tires are a huge performance improvement for mountain bikers. But before you go all in, you should be aware of both the advantages and

If you get a new mountain bike for around one thousand dollars, it will be a good bike, but you will probably want to upgrade

Master links are great. But you need to get the right one for your chain. Up next I'll share a story of when I did

It was a beautiful day, way back in September of 2004. I figured it was about time to write about this ordeal - this lesson

 

Mountain Bike Racing:

Want to test your skills and fitness in cross country racing? Or even ultra-endurance events, stage races, and Super D? These tips and advice for racing your mountain bike will help you take the lead.

So much attention is paid to proper training strategies and racing tactics, while pre-race warm ups are often taken for granted. It's like good nutrition

A lot of small, local road races include a mountain bike category. This is nice because a lot of recreational riders do not own road

If you've ever been to some sort of mountain bike festival, you have probably witnessed the Huffy Toss. For the uninitiated, the Huffy Toss is

When I first started group mountain bike rides, we always stopped to regroup, making it easy to get a bite to eat. But, you can't

If you're hitting the mud in an XC mountain bike race, it's bound to be tons of fun... but the mud can also slow you

Packing for a mountain bike race can be more nerve racking than the race itself! You have to make sure you have everything you need

 

Recent articles:

Planning to buy a bike from Walmart? Well, you might want to reconsider your decision. There are a lot of reasons NOT to buy a

What are you to do if you own fancy bikes, yet there is absolutely no storage space inside your home? You find yourself some outdoor

Most cyclists scoff at big box bikes. You know, bikes from a department store. Wal-Mart bikes. Not without good reason - the bikes are low

With gas prices on the rise and everyone wanting to get in shape and lose weight, bicycling has seen a rise in popularity. With that,

If you plan to ride on the East Coast, you have to know how to ride through a rock garden. I've only been to one

Whether you'll be mixing it up in XC races, or just exploring the vast backcountry trails, you have to know how to ride a stream

The "attack position." This is the most important concept in mountain biking. It forms the basis of all the complex maneuvers and techniques that you'll

If you ever do a mountain bike or cyclo-cross race, you're going to encounter mud. Or sand. Or both. And you're going to love it!

Today's question is about choosing mountain bike tires for winter riding on snow and ice... Mountain Bike Snow Tires? Hey Coach, I was reading on

An important skill for mountain bikers, especially XC and CX racers, is being able to hop over a log. At least here on the East