4 types of mountain bikes – why Downcountry is not for everyone. Buyer’s guide.

Hello guys!
I bought this bike for racing. I’ve been riding it for 4 weeks on my training camp and I got to know the topic of downcountry very well. I think…
Example of downcountry and XC version of the same frame:
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en/bike/4072/ninety-six-7000
https://www.merida-bikes.com/en/bike/4069-5626/ninety-six-rc-xt

No it doesn’t make sense for everyone down country isn’t isn’t just new best mountain bike in my opinion I do have down country it stays with me and it is to stay on the market in my opinion but it’s not for everyone why is it so I’m

Going to try to explain to you four main types of mountain bikes um we’re not going to be talking about the gravity bikes like downhill and Enduro bikes just like overall kind of mountain bikes and talking about full suspension bikes today which means that you have uh

Travel on the rear and on the front here’s the damper here is the uh front suspension fork and let me explain the differences between Different Bikes this is down country full suspension bike four main types of bicycles are number one trail bikes the trail bikes are the most capable on the downhills

But still will be pretty good in riding up the Hills trail bikes will have larger suspension uh travel than down country bikes usually dropper post with larger travel as well they will have really aggressive and wide tires and then of course slack pretty slack head angle I’m uh exaggerating

Right now so not like this with the fork but like this so trail bikes really fun bikes for riding down the hill for everyone who just loves mountain biking lovees single Trails trail bikes are safe and fun to ride number two this bike this is Merida

96 this is down country bike in order to explain down country I’m going to mention the third bike already which is cross country so cross country are the bikes made actually for racing like you have a mountain you have the loop and you’re racing on the loop you have to be

As fast on the descend as on the uh climbs but of course uh you can win the races mainly on the climbs so CrossCountry bikes are very very light and down country bike like this one is in between cross country and trail bike what it means this bike weighs 12 kilos

Which is really little because it’s got carbon frame Carbon wheels if we add some super light carbon saddle and and super light dropper post it would weigh around and lighter tires maybe it would weigh around 11 kilos but then this bike actually would become a CrossCountry bike so what’s the difference on this

Down country merid 96 we have standard for cross country 100 mm travel on the rear suspension and 120 instead of 100 travel on the front so it’s got 120 travel right here it also raises your frame and makes the the head angle even slacker if I remember

Correctly on this down country 96 it’s 65 67.5 and on the 96 CrossCountry version with the 100 mm of the travel it’s 68 so it’s like half um half uh degree uh difference okay down country bikes will also have pretty aggressive tires these are Aspen minion DHR 235 you can

Put 2.4 on this bike no problem some CrossCountry bikes also accommodate really white tire so these are white wide tires but these are also considerably heavier we have pretty large um travel on the dropper po this is 125 mm I’m going to show you at the

End how it works right but some tra maybe most of the trail bikes won’t have the lockout on the handlebars for both front and rear suspension here you can do it with this it’s not not the lever it’s a twister here by using this you’re locking your suspension which means that

On the uphills it will be very very efficient okay and this down country bike as um really modern bike has also Progressive geometry which is longer front end of your frame really short stem this bike will be a little bit more capable on The Descent down than a

Standard CrossCountry bike but it’s very very is similar okay so we had trail bike down country bike then CrossCountry bike usually will have 100 at the front 100 at the rear some lighter SE dropper seat post or no dropper seat post they will still have uh about 225 or 2.3 uh

Tires with smaller knobs the tire will be uh will will have less rolling resistance and it will be much lighter than this one than these minions as for the drivetrain it can be actually pretty much the same and then the fourth type of the full suspension bikes in my

Opinion they don’t make a lot of sense is the super light XC full suspension with lower travel on the rear so you’re going to have 100 at the front and some 60 or 50 mm at the rear why it doesn’t doesn’t make a lot of sense it doesn’t

Make a lot of sense in my opinion because it’s still a full suspension bike it will not be much lighter than the standard uh cross country full suspension bike but still the travel is half of uh of the standard uh cross cross country bike so you can still lock

Out both front and rear on cross country on down Country and the weight difference between those super light with 50 mm of travel and standard is not much so this doesn’t make a lot of sense but why did I say down country isn’t for everyone since it’s actually in the

Middle between cross country bikes and trail bikes it is because in my opinion for all those who simply love riding mountain bikes a trail bike is the best option because you don’t need to think about the weight I would even buy a trail bike with aluminum frame it would

Cost let’s say from up from about $2,000 this bike costs about five over $5,000 right so it’s a huge difference of course $2,000 will be no carbon crank set no Shimano XT right here but still it will be one by 12 let’s say Diora drivetrain it will be much cheaper and

Still very capable on the down Hills it will be heavy but two or even 3 Kg of difference in the weight hey some of us weigh 80 kilos some weigh 90 kilos some weigh 120 kilos these are the differences uh in the weight 2 or 3 kilos for somebody who’s not counting

Seconds on the single Trails doesn’t make a lot of difference and trail bike will be super capable and very fun riding down the hill and then for those who are racing in the cross country but maybe not as uh pros and not on really gnarly terrain with uh some really huge

Jumps for cross country right now the cross country bike which you already probably have is great option down country is in between this down country uh stays with me the only difference I’m going to make with this uh the only three differences I’m going to make with this bike before

I start racing on Cross Country uh on it is putting lighter saddle lighter seat post and lighter um tires because I don’t need such heavy tires uh I would also want to have less rolling resistance so something like for example Maxis Aspen or um I’m testing

Right now and I love uh Victoria mesca Victoria Saguaro 2.3 are awesome choice for such a bike so down country between Trail and cross country capable on the downhills not as the trail bike lighter faster not as fast as cross country so yeah those steps between those types of mountain

Bikes are now little but for me it’s clear trail bike is clear what you have in mind buying a trail bike and cross country super light expensive very capable uh on the on the up heels and still okay on the down heels with the dropper post and that’s what I think so

Hope I made it in the clear way because now also on the road bikes you don’t know actually what the bike is made for like Road plus Road endurance road kind of gravel kind of road it’s not that um uh that simple anymore but down country

Yes I love it last week I did one of my because I’m on the training camp right right now I did 4 hours ride in the the mountains 3 hours was the uphill and 1 hour was the downhill 1 hour non-stop downhill so wider tires huge travel of the dropper post really

Helps when I’m already fatigued after 3 hours of uphilling and then during the the downhill my arms also were getting in my back was getting more and more fatigue down country bike does make a sense there but for most Trail and X SE and yes I was supposed to

Show you how the dropper post and its travel works so I’m pushing the lever and going down with the saddle you need to push it with your butt and then I’m pushing the lever again the saddle goes up this is the travel of my saddle this

Is 125 mm I would say 100 mm is still great for cross country and then the dropper post also will be much lighter uh but they’re also more like 150 mm for let’s say some hard trail riding or Enduro I don’t know if Enduro have more

But this is the difference so we have also the travel on the dropper post and you put it down on the down hits that’s it