Today, we’ll be discussing the differences between Mountain, BMX, and Trials bikes.
This may seem like an unnecessary discussion, but I get questions all the time from people
who are just starting out, trying to choose what their first bike is going to be.
Needless to say, these are not people looking for road bikes and cruisers…
As a starting point, let’s oversimplify what each bike is designed to do.
Mountain bikes are made for riding over rough terrain.
They’re made to go fast and cover lots of ground.
Trials bikes are made for negotiating technical obstacles.
They’re geared low and made for maneuverability.
BMX bikes are made for doing tricks and riding skatepark.
They’re built to be and indestructible.
Let’s start with the mountain bike.
I’d say this is the most popular of the three when you go across all age groups.
If you can only have one bike, I’d choose this.
Why?
Well first of all it’s comfortable and makes great transportation.
This means you’ll definitely get use out of it, especially if you’re not old enough
to drive.
Mountain bikes are of course great for riding trails, and you can even use them to do jumps.
While they’re not the best for tricks, you can ride a little street and get creative
on a mountain bike.
Mountain bikes have powerful brakes, capable drivetrains, plus big tires to take the shock
and vibration out of rough terrain.
For when things get really rough, mountain bikes also have suspension.
So it seems, the mountain bike is a fast, comfortable, and capable vehicle which can
do a lot of things.
This makes it the winner of the three in terms of practicality and versatility, but that
doesn’t mean you should choose it over a trials or BMX bike.
Let’s take a look at the trials bike next.
While this is considered a street trials bike, it’s still useful for our comparison.
The tires are fat, the bars are wide, and it has powerful disc brakes just like the
mountain bike.
It seems like you could ride trails on this, except for a few problems.
First of all you can’t really sit on it, and second of all there’s only one ridiculously
low gear.
In fact the gearing on a trials bike is so low that you’re better off using a skateboard
for transportation.
So, to get around town or ride trails, the trials bike is off the table.
So what about doing jumps and riding skateparks?
After all, it looks a little like a dirt jump bike, and seems maneuverable enough to replace
a BMX.
Again, the devil is in the details.
The fork on a trials bike puts the wheel dead center, as opposed to dirt jump and BMX forks,
which are offset towards the front.
This makes them sketchy for landings.
Also, the head tube angle is more upright, making it poor for maintaining control at
speed.
The trials geometry is optimized for tight maneuvers, not for speed.
Trials is a cycling disciple that puts your bike handling skills to the ultimate test.
For this reason, only get a trials bike if you’re really sure you want to do trials,
because it won’t be useful for anything else.
Don’t take this as a jab at trials, it’s just that trials really isn’t for everyone.
If you want to learn more about trials, check out my playlist which I’ve linked to in
the description.
Lastly we have the BMX.
Like the trials bike, a BMX bike isn’t any good for sitting on and pedaling through mountain
bike trails.
With that said, it’s actually not the worst transportation.
When I was a kid on Long Island, I rode my BMX all over town.
As an adult, I still grab it to run to the coffee shop.
The high tire pressure, moderate gearing, and huge riser bars make BMX bikes pretty
fun to get around on.
As a sport, BMX is very popular, so it’s easy to find people to ride with no matter
where you live.
The dead simple construction makes BMX bikes the most reliable thing on two wheels, so
for kids with a low budget and no tools, it might be the perfect option.
With the same bike, you can ride street, skatepark, and dirt jumps.
Even if you just have a driveway to ride in, there’s no shortage of fun things you can
do on a BMX.
So, what about cross training and doing some trials on a BMX?
Nope.
The lack of powerful brakes, and a super short wheelbase make BMX bikes pretty bad for trials.
The gearing is also way too high to perform any trials technique.
So, if you can’t decide between BMX and trials you’ll probably be stuck with two
bikes.
The more you watch BMX and trials videos, the more you’ll notice how radically different
the sports are from each other.
So if this video hasn’t given you a clear path towards what’s right for you, then
look at your surroundings.
What do your friends ride?
What’s popular where you live?
What is there to ride in your immediate vicinity?
If you don’t have anyone to ride with, don’t have anything to ride on, or can’t get to
the place you plan on riding, then the bike will likely sit in your garage.
Think it through, make the right choice, and remember you can never have too many bikes.
Whatever choice you do end up making, it’s better than spending the money on a game console.
Thanks for riding with me today, and I’ll see you next time.