"While that definition is super broad and could be updated to reflect the recent surge in gravel cycling, it's a beautifully simple way to describe a sport that is pretty confusingly diverse. Mountain biking is a subcategory of cycling, and there are many subcategories within it. And as someone who has been obsessed with riding bikes since a very early age and has dabbled in all aspects of the sport, I feel like I have kept pretty good tabs on the new branches of the mountain bike family tree."
"Mountain biking is a relatively young sport, not in terms of rider demographic, but in terms of the number of years it's been categorized as what we now know as mountain biking. In reality, mountain biking, or adventure cycling, has been around since the late 1800s. The 25th Infantry Regiment Bicycle Corps could be seen as the kickoff of 'mountain biking', or at least the start of what would eventually become mountain biking, gravel cycling, bikepacking, and any form of riding a bike off-road."
Mountain biking encompasses a wide range of off-road cycling disciplines and remains a broadly defined sport. Definitions can be updated to reflect emerging branches such as gravel cycling, but the core concept centers on riding bicycles over hills and rough ground. The activity traces roots to late 1800s adventure cycling and early military bicycle units, which seeded later developments. Modern mountain biking was later coined by riders in Colorado and California; early mountain bikes closely resembled road bikes but featured wider tire clearance, flat bars, and modifications for steeper, rougher terrain. Many subgenres now exist, some confusing to newcomers.
Read at BikeMag
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