The stratification of the mountain bike market

Have you noticed how many categories of riding there are these days?

Paw through a few mountain bike magazines and you will notice a smorgasbord of terminology used to categorize what we do. Terms like cross-country, freeriding, trail riding, all-mountain, downhill, flow-riding - the list goes on and on - get tossed around like rag dolls.

The trouble is, no one ever takes the time to define them. Not only that, but as more categories get defined the line between them begins to blur causing even more confusion (at least to me). Furthermore, do we even need to be defined?

We've got a lot of apples and oranges being defined in these industry labels. What exactly is the industry trying to describe? Is it the riding style, terrain, bike type - or something else all together?

Next, add in singlespeeds, 29ers, and endurance riding, and we've got a real vertical and horizontal mess on our hands. Judging from this springs rash of buyer's guides (look for my "battle of the buyer's guides" article shortly), the magazines covering the industry are clearly struggling to make sense out of this problem as well.

Perhaps Mountain Bike Magazine (sister to Bicycling) does the cleanest job categorizing bikes in its buyer's guide. They list the following bike categories: Performance cross-country, trail, all-mountain, freeride, and downhill. Trouble is they didn't know what to do with singlespeeds and 29ers so they lumped them into a category of their own called "freaks." Hmmmmm....

A sequence is implied with the order that these categories are listed. The sequence is based on the amount of suspension travel needed, from the least; performance cross-country, to the most; downhill. These two categories are perhaps the easiest to define. It's the categories in the middle that become a little murky.

Ok...so using the Mountain Bike Magazine categories, I'll put forth some definitions, but I'll do so GC style with a little commentary thrown in for good measure:

Performance cross-country: Most mountain bikers ride cross-country, which usually involves a mix of terrain and equal parts of uphill and downhill riding. Performance cross-country refers to racing over such terrain. The bikes in this category are designed to be efficient and fast. They tend to have quick steering and little suspension. Most hardtail bikes fall into this category, but increasingly riders are finding that the advances in rear suspension are creating more efficient bikes with little pedal bob on the hills and increased contact with the ground over the rough stuff. It is now common to find between one to three and a half inches of rear travel on many performance cross-country race bikes.

Trail: This category seems to be gaining in popularity. By popularity, I mean mentions in bike magazines. This is the category for most of us. It's the every(wo)man cross-country category. The bikes in this category are meant to climb and descend equally well, however they are more forgiving than the performance bikes with a more stable wheelbase and less snappy steering. They tend to average around four inches of rear travel with a range between 3.5 and 5.5. The industry markets these bikes as endurance riders that provide more comfort during epic rides.

All-mountain: With rear suspension ranging from 5.5 to 7 inches, this category is the most cloudy. Actually, the only difference between the trail and all-mountain categories seems to be the amount of travel. One could argue that these two categories should simply be one. After-all, doesn't climbing and descending a mountain constitute being "all over the mountain?"

Freeride: You probably won't find anyone that will agree on a pure definition of freeriding. Technical trail features (TTFs) define this genre. Drops, gap jumps, and chutes are some of the obstacles these bikes are designed to handle. Although the bikes are capable of going uphill, they are at home with gravity and often have travel greater than seven inches. While freeriding seems to have started with the idea being about just riding the bike across the mountain over any obstacles that get in the way, it has grown to be defined by man-made features.

Downhill: Just get on a monster machine with maybe 10 inches of suspension and bomb on down the hill. Ok...obviously there is skill involved in downhill riding, particularly racing downhill, but this category is about speed. There is no need for the bike to be able to go uphill as most are satisfied with lift access trails or ride in groups setting up shuttle runs with their cars to get back up to the top of the hill.

There you have it. I just had to get something out there. Do the "freak" bikes fit into these categories? Do you think there are additional or different categories? Different definitions?