a bit of a stupid question but can anyone explain to me what is the difference between XC riding and AM riding?
sorry guys to waste ur time but iv been wondering for a few years now!!

XC is for thin people
AM is for fat people

HTH

garibaldi, anyone? 😀

what is the difference between XC riding and AM riding?

About 1-2″ or thereabouts…

and the level of gnar has to amped up to at over 5 on the stokeage meter before a ride can be considered AM…

AM is more gnar than XC, jumps drops.. wheels off the ground stuff, more technical terrain etc…

Well I hope you haven’t been riding in the meantime. That’s how accidents happen, people riding around without knowing what type of riding they’re riding.

For AM you need a Dakine pack with pads strapped to the back of it

I guess XC is what most of us do, riding around a forest/some hill/a field on our bikes. You enjoy all of the ride, be it up, down or across.

AM (to me at least) is when you are mich mopre focussed on the downs and are prepared to ride a heavier bike up the hill to have more fun coming down.

But yeah, AM has more gnar…

All mountain? Overmountain is where it’s at now bro.

Anyhow, AM:
Take a XC racing bike – v light, weight forward on the bars, short travel suspension. Climbs like a rat up a drainpipe, bit of a handful taking it downhill on the rough stuff.

Now take a DH bike – heavy, weight way back, big suspension. Descends like the wrath of God. Doesn’t go uphill.

All-mountain design seeks to marry the two and make an allrounder that can climb just fine yet still be shellacked down the trail. Not too heavy that you couldn’t ride it all day. So you end up with a bike that is either superbly versatile or a crippled compromise, depending on your point of view.

It’s an exercise in marketing, to a degree, because you can ride a XC bike on any trail in the UK justabout. But if you look at a XC bike and an AM bike they’re clearly different and designed around different parameters. So it’s not total bollox, IMO.

schnullelieber – Member
Well I hope you haven’t been riding in the meantime. That’s how accidents happen, people riding around without knowing what type of riding they’re riding.
POSTED 56 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

😀

AM – minceing round Swinely

XC – riding round Swinely at 2x the speed on half the bike.

I consider AM to be a ride where the descents are long enough to give you arm pump, as well as riding to the top.

I thought AM (All Mountain) was exactly what it says; riding over all of the mountain, not worrying if it’s up or down. Consequently you can do AM riding on whatever bike you want, but bikes that are designed for “AM” are light enough to ride up anything (or carry what can’t be ridden), and burly enough to decent whatever terrain you find (skill permitting).

Ballsy xc is where it’s at

mtbing is where its at

Stuey01-true dat 😆

AM bikes come with a lifetime’s supply of Monster energy but you’ve got to sign a contract to throw your empties in the hedges of the nicest parts of the countryside

xc = lycra (with optional baggies over)
am = baggies (with optional lycra under)

State of mind I reckon!