24 Mountain Bike Terms for Dummies
24 Mountain Bike Terms for Dummies
There are more dummies than you realize
There is plenty of slang and technical jargon thrown around in the mountain biking community. New words or terms are being invented almost every ride. It’s not uncommon for new products to be explained with complex terms to make them sound high-tech when in fact they are very simple. Sometimes, even the MBA crews hears terms or phrases that we don’t understand.
Apex: The apex is the “clipping point” or geometric center of a turn that allows the rider to take the straightest line through the turn while maintaining the highest speed— without crashing, of course.
Fuel up: Much like a car needs gasoline, a human body needs fuel. A lack of fuel supply can cause a racer to bonk.
Bonk (ed, ing): It’s usually an epic ride (or when you’re just way out of shape) that causes you to bonk. Bonking occurs when you are completely depleted of energy. This typically happens due to extreme heat, lack of hydration or nutrition, or chasing STRAVA beyond your ability. When you’re too exhausted to keep going, you’ve bonked.
Boost 148: Boost 148 is a spacing standard for rear axles that extends the axle to 148 millimeters wide and allows engineers to push the rear wheel closer to the frame. Boost axles are also claimed to be much stiffer.
Boost 110: To go along with the Boost 148 rear spacing, the front axle spacing is widened to 110 millimeters. The benefits are similar to those of the new rear axle standard.
Going down: Casing a jump can have heavy consequences on a full-suspension rig. Your bike’s rebound can cause the bike to buck like a wild bull.
Brake modulation: A brake with more modulation has power that comes on slowly, as opposed to the on/off feeling some brakes have. More modulation is desirable to a point, but brakes with too much modulation can feel spongy and not as powerful.
Camber: Camber refers to the angle or pitch of a trail. An off-camber turn is one where the angle of the turn slopes down to the outside of the turn. An on-camber turn is the opposite, like one with a berm.
Pile-up: These three riders do a great job of demonstrating a classic chorizo wagon.
Casing: This comes from motorcycle terminology, when a rider would come up short on a jump and hit the motor case on the landing on a jump. It applies to mountain biking when a rider comes up short and has a rough impact.
Chair: A comfortable, well broken-in saddle, like an easy chair for your bike.
Chorizo (ed): Certain terms have varying usage depending on geography. This term is often heard in Northern California in reference to a rider crashing hard. In order for a rider to have properly “chorizoed,” at least one bruise that is a minimum of 3 inches across must be a resulting injury.
Chorizo wagon: This phrase refers to a pileup or crash of at least three consecutive riders. A true chorizo wagon will only occur when said wagon train of riders is pursuing a downhill STRAVA segment.
Loamy dirt: Riding loam is pure nirvana.
Chunder: This word describes the rocks, roots and technical features that make a trail bumpy. If a trail is challenging and full of stutter bumps and rough sections, it’s said to be “chundery.” This is generally used to describe trails in the Pacific Northwest and B.C. that combine loam with steep sections littered with technical roots. Trails with proper chunder are guaranteed to keep riders on their toes.
Damping: No, damping is not making something wet, which is dampening. Damping is the effect the damper has on suspension by pushing oil through ports inside the fork to control the spring rate. It’s what makes suspension adjustable. Most forks and shocks have adjustable compression and rebound damping that control the feel of the fork on impacts and upon recovery afterward, respectively.
Goggles: Enduro bros pride themselves on their goggle collection and receive brownie points for reflective lenses and flashy-colored straps.
Enduro bro: An enduro bro generally rides a full-suspension bike with at least 6 inches of travel, wears a half-shell (or full- face) helmet with goggles and will shuttle just about anything. Enduro bros are often seen driving lifted trucks and wearing hats with their ears tucked into them.
Hip: A hip jump is a type of jump that transfers you from one side of the trail to the other, or forces you to change direction. Hips used to be referred to as “airplane turns” in certain circles.
J.R.A. (Just Riding Along): This is a common acronym used among shop employees to make known that a bike was crashed or severely damaged but the owner will not take responsibility for it. A customer brings in a mangled bike and says something like, “I don’t know what happened. I was just riding along when…”
Loamy dirt: Riding loam is pure nirvana.
Loam: This is the type of dirt that mountain bikers live for; it’s a perfect combination of sand, clay and decomposing vegetation that offers maximum traction and minimal dust. Certain types of loam may have straw mixed in as well.
Monocoque carbon: There are plenty of ways to lay up carbon fiber these days and plenty of claims about strength and such. A monocoque carbon frame is made in one piece as opposed to being molded in separate pieces and then bonded together.
Ramped: This term is used when talking about suspension feel. Essentially, it refers to how consistent the suspension feels as it goes through its travel. If a fork feels firmer as it goes through the travel, it is ramping up. Air-sprung forks and shocks typically “ramp up” as they go through their travel, while coil springs do not. Coil springs feel more “linear.”
Roosted: Proceed with caution when following your buddies down the trail; you might get roosted.
Roost: Excess dirt that is pushed out from your rear wheel into the air, usually hitting your riding buddy in the face.
Scrub: The scrub is a technique that was invented by motocross star James “Bubba” Stewart. It requires laying the bike over before the lip of the jump to clear it as low as possible and maintain speed.
Sled: This is a general term for a mountain bike, either hardtail or full-suspension, although it’s typically reserved for longer-travel full-suspension bikes.
Scrub: Keep it low, keep it fast.
Slack: Enduro and downhill riders love this word almost more than “goggle.” Slack is used to refer to more relaxed frame geometry. The slacker it is, the more technical terrain the bike was designed to handle and the more stable it will feel. As a general rule, downhill bikes are slacker than trailbikes, and trailbikes are slacker than cross-country race bikes.
Tapered: Tapering refers to the narrowing of the diameter of a fork or head tube as you move down its length.
Whip: The skill we all wish we had.
Whip: A whip is the act of bringing the rear wheel forward vigorously during a jump, almost as if the rider were whipping the air with the wheel.
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