Schwinn Mountain Bikes

The sport of mountain biking has been evolving since its appearance the early 1900s. By the mid 90s mountain biking had exploded into the cycling scene. It then quickly evolved into a full-fledged sport. The sport of mountain biking has been consistently growing since the mid 90s with more and more people getting into it. Of late a lot of people go mountain biking as a recreational activity. Whether you go take it as a sport or as a recreational activity having the right mountain bike is absolutely essential. Here are a few things you should know about mountain bikes.

THE FRAME

Now this is the heart and soul of your mountain bike. You can change other parts of your bike like the seat or brakes but you can’t replace the frame of your bike (you can but you’ll have to buy a whole new bike for that). You should always remember that a bike with a steep head and seat angles and a small wheelbase will handle more quickly than a bike with more relaxed angles and a longer wheelbase. A typical mountain bike would have a 71 degree head angle , a seat angle of 73 degrees and a wheel base of 42 inches. A bike with lower head angle and a longer wheel base will handle more slowly but with enhanced stability. Frames are usually made from steel, aluminum and titanium (very rare not to mention expensive). Aluminum frames are very popular and are used in Avalanche mountain bikes as well as the Schwinn Mountain bikes.

Brakes

Now this is something you should seriously look into. Now going downhill without good brakes wouldn’t be a very good idea now would it? The best mountain bikes have the best brakes. The decision you have to make here is whether you are comfortable using disk brakes or rim brakes. Disc brakes offer better braking performance in wet weather conditions but in dry weather they both are more or less the same. Now the choice is yours but remember disc brakes will cost you a lot more than rim brakes.

Tires

Since mountain biking will involve a lot of off road riding you would want to have tires that are designed with the larger knobs. This way you will have more traction on uneven terrain. Remember larger knobs mean that you will sacrifice speeds on smooth roads.

Shifters

These are very handy in changing the gears of bike depending on riding conditions. There are basically two types of shifters they are rapid-fire shifters and grip fit shifters. Rapid fire shifters are located under the brake lever and Grip fit shifters are embedded into the handlebars. This is based on personal preference.

So get yourself the best mountain bike and enjoy this weekend riding down the hills