Okay, so i’m back into biking (which is pretty much why I haven’t blogged all summer) and wanted to share what I’ve discovered. Biking has changed! It was apparently starting to change back when I was into it last time (circa-2002) but I never really paid attention.

The biggest and most obvious change is the influence of .com and the acronyms now used in biking. Years ago, biking manufacturers produced a few different bikes for “road biking” and a few more for “mountain biking”. Most of the road bikes varied from cruiser to full on racing and it was very commonplace to see them at any bike shop. Mountain bikes were just that … mountain bikes. The big difference back then was whether or not they had a front and/or rear suspension. Little did I know, the acronym storm was brewing…

After my return I started seeing terms like AM, FR, DH, XC, and DJ pop up. I had NO IDEA what those meant so I started doing some digging. In the past we just bought a mountain bike and swapped out a few parts to suit it to the style and terrain that we rode on. Now they build custom packages for each and every style. Here are a few of the acronyms and their meanings.

XC – Cross Country – Going really fast on featherweight bikes. Riding trails that are raked, packed, and have painted markers to warn you of “danger”. This is what you do when you live in a really flat area like Louisiana where vertical isn’t an option… Might as well go fast. These bikes are generally hard tail with a small amount of travel on the front fork. (Who needs travel when you go around all of those roots?)

AM – All Mountain – Doing trails and hitting all the fun but mostly reasonable stuff. These bikes are heavier and designed to take more abuse than an XC bike. These bikes are generally full suspension with 4-6 inches of travel but with the ability to climb as well. AM riders take their bikes up the hills as well as back down.

FR – Free Ride – Building crazy wooden tracks all over Whistler with incredible jumps and drop offs. Full throttle, throw down. These bikes are heavier than AM with tougher components. They also tend to be full suspension with a lot of travel.

DJ – Dirt Jumping – Falling off cliffs while holding on to a bicycle.

SS – Slope Style – Big jumps and stunts that go downhill. Commonly associated with Dirt Jumper.

DH – Downhill – A race to see who can coast the fastest on a motorcycle that’s had the engine removed and then using a ski lift to get back up. Big ass bikes, tons of travel to work with. Usually in the 70lb range, these things suck to pedal uphill but smoke everything down.

UA – Urban Assault – Terrifying your neighborhood parks on your mountain bike. This is what you do when you live in the burbs and are too lazy to take the bike out to the trails where it belongs. It can also been defined as “Trying to justify spending all that money on a mountain bike for riding on the pavement.”

As much as I can appreciate all of the new “styles” of riding and the diversity, I think it really boils down to where you ride and how you want to ride there. You need a bike that’s strong enough to do what you want to do at the speed you want to do it at. Sure, you can downhill on an XC/AM bike, but you’re going to use the brakes a lot more and you can forget the big jumps. I’ve done a lot of great stuff on my XC bike, but i’ve also had to replace a good bit of the components on it thanks to my All Mountain Habits.