Cookeaa has a good point. An MTB is probably the most versatile vehicle on the planet.

It can haul a load, tour, commute, climb, descend, ride on or off road, be for race, pleasure, business or emergency. It can go where no engined vehicle can go, and where you can’t ride on any animal (50 ft gap jump on a horse anyone?)
And a multitude of other stuff I can’t think of 🙂

I think this is actually a rather difficult question. Clearly you don’t have to go on mountains or few of us do much mountainbiking.

If I go for a ride on my road bike but I only ride on lanes, am I really road riding?

It sounds stupid, but mountain biking is whatever you want it to be. XC racing is as much mountain biking as DH racing or FR.

What if you ride a road bike off road? Is that mountain biking? Or is it just cross on a road bike? Or road biking in the wrong terrain?

atb for me

TJ, I think you have to ask the question: “why do you need to define Mountain biking”
Are you having a moment of doubt?
Are you worrying that you might not be a real mountain biker?

if i’m having fun on a bike (by definition this means i’m not on a public road) then its mountain biking to me 😀

If it’s not riding for extended periods on the road I reckon it’s mountain biking. Only because MTB seems to have replaced ATB.

If you think you are mtbing, then you are.

ATB is bit of a daft term too. Maybe STB “Some Terrain Bike” would be more accurate (even if it sounds stupid) ? Or MTB “Multi-Terrain Bike”.

Now who wants to define the various sub-classes of “mountain” biking? XC, Tour, Marathon, All Mountain, Enduro, Freeride,… Suspect there may be some differences of opinion there too, especially across geographical boundaries.

I would say those two pics of mine are the two extremes of ” ambient jeycore lite”

Its my niche and I am keeping it

When I bought my very first Trek way back in 1989 I was genuinely asked: “But why? There are no mountains around here (England)”.

For me, the type of bike and the routes are defined by what can be done with that bike and what would destroy other bikes in the process, or be impossible to ride on.

MTB, ATB, WTFTB it’s all much of a muchness. There are really only two categories: smooth road vs rough off road and use the appropriate bike for each.

Andrew – what about the RSF boys ? tourers on offroad routes

RSF = Rambling with a bike.

MTB – Men Talking Ballcocks

I don’t know why all the angst about defining mountain biking ? If your riding off road on a mountain bike, well your mountain biking. what else would you call it !!!!

No angst or overwhelming need to define it. It just amused me that it is so hard to define.

For me it needs to be more than riding offroad on a mountainbike however – rides like the one I did today are IMO not real mountainbiking. could be done easily on a roadbike

ATB is bit of a daft term too. Maybe STB “Some Terrain Bike” would be more accurate

how so?
what terrain can you and your mountain bike not cope with?

For me it needs to be more than riding offroad on a mountainbike however – rides like the one I did today are IMO not real mountainbiking. could be done easily on a roadbike

If your trying to define what type off terrain defines a mtb ride, I can’t see how there can be a definative definition. There’s probably as many answers as riders.

It’s called a mountain bike so if you ride one you’re mountain biking surely? I would call any hill over about 1000ft a mountain but it’s not often I’ll ride to the very top of one and down again. Most of my mountain biking is done on local trails on hills and in woods and stuff.

Different definitions for different people. For some of the more socio-economically challanged youths they would say:
There must be jumps, it’s no mountainbiking without jumps.
There bike must be “minted”
They will ride it like they stole it, whether they did is another question.
Some sections of the trail will be “Pure Jailbait”
Any minor crash will entail them telling the rest of the group “I nearly died”
There must be a section where they can wheelie for at least a hundred feet.
There must be skids to bring the bike to a stop. “I’m no using the front brake I’ll go over the handlebars”