Cross country

Cross country is the most popular form of mountain biking mainly because it is the easiest for a novice rider to participate in. After a rider becomes more competent at XC they might decide to try Downhill or Freeriding. XC is less featured on TV then downhill racing because it is allot more difficult to televise.

XC Racing

XC racing has more to do with a person physical fitness then there technical ability. Races can vary in length from 30mins to 24hours. XC race tracks are either a loop or a point to point. Loop tracks are becoming more popular because it is easier to spectate and televise.

Unlike downhill racing XC is generally a mass start event it is there for very important to get a good start as later on in the event it might be difficult to pass people.

The global governor of XC racing is Union Cycliste Internationale and the UK governor is British Cycling.

Bike components

Bike components

There are many different components that go on a MTB

Such as

• Forks
• Brakes
• Front and rear derailleurs
• Bottom brackets
• Cassettes, chains & chairings
• Crank sets
• Handlebars & grips
• Saddle
• Seat post
• Headsets
• Stems
• Shifters
• Wheel’s
• Tires & tubes

The two biggest manufactures of MTB components are SRAM and Shimano

Shimano

Shimano is a Japanese company, they make cycling components as well as fishing tackle. It is a public trading company and has just over 100 million shares.

Their headquarters is in Sakai which is in Japan. It has many manufacturing facilities that they produce their own goods in. Some of their factories are located in Kunshan, China Malaysia and Singapore. Most of their sales are from Europe about 4/10^ths, while only 2/10^ths of their sales come from north America.

SRAM

SRAM is an American company that is Shimano’s biggest competitors. They are a privately owned company.

SRAM first product was a Grip shifter which change the gears in a bike, they did this in  1988.

What I feel is most interesting about SRAM is that they have purchased a number of companies that where all ready established in the bike components industry.  Most of these were and still are very well know some of them are.

• Rockshox
• Truvativ
• Avid

This is a video that i think sums up the way that SRAM operates

DH Racing

DH racing is a time trial race system. The racer has to complete the courses as fast as possible. there is normally an indavule of 30 seconds between each racer. DH race bikes normally weigh between 14kg-19 kg. the tracks vary in length greatly some can be as sort as 1 minute and others can be 5 minuets long. the trackes are very steep and rocky and the bikes the racers use are very specialized. Downhill in Ireland has been increasing over the past 10 years. the National Points Series attract more then 250 riders from all over Ireland. Plans have been shown for the construction of a downhill track near Glenflesk in County Kerry. It will be the second highest downhill track in Europe.
There is a new and up coming type of down hill racing that is urban downhill.