During capstone I have to answer my main inquiry question because, it is a question and I want to know the answer. Speaking about answer down below is the essay with the answer to my main inquiry question:
My main inquiry question is “How do mountain bikes and road bikes compare and what are the key differences.” I am going to answer it. I am going to break this up into segments. Design, gear, terrain, competitions and types. This will make it easier to answer my main inquiry question.
First: design. The frames of mountain bikes are thicker than road bikes. The pipes/tubes on road bike frames are more spread out. Mountain bikes also need a part to connect the back suspension, but sometimes the bikes don’t have back suspension. Mountain bikes also have thicker tires than road bikes and have grooves popping out. Road bikes on the other hand, have skinny tires and the groves go in not out. Another difference are the handlebars. On road bikes the handlebars are curved down, toward you. On mountain bikes the handlebars are horizontal. On road bikes the brakes are also vertical, unlike mountain biking’s horizontal brakes. Another thing is the shifting. The road bike shifting is vertical and directly behind the brakes. Mountain biking has horizontal shifters. Another big difference is that mountain bikes have the option to have suspension. With mountain bikes you could have no suspension, front suspension or suspension in the front and back.
Road Bike Mountain Bike
Second: gear. First I am going to talk about mountain biking gear then road biking gear.
Mountain Biking: You will need a helmet. You can either get a full face helmet or a regular helmet. Next you need gloves. You can get fingerless gloves or regular gloves. I like regular because your fingers won’t get hurt if you crash. Next padding. You can get shin/knee pads or elbow pads or both. I like just shin pads because you will land on hands, not your elbows. Then a backpack. You could get a regular backpack or a hydration pack. A hydration pack has a built in water reservoir, so you can drink on the move. Next glasses/goggles. Well, some kind of eye protection just in case something flies up from the trail. The last thing is some kind of tool/tools to repair your bike if it gets damaged.
Road Biking: You will need a helmet. Road biking helmets are very aerodynamic, perfect to help you go fast. Next will be a go pair of sunglasses/eye protection. These will help you see and protect your eyes. Next you will need water to help you keep on biking. Then you should want a pair of road biking shoes. These are special because they clip into the pedals. You will also need some gloves just in case you fall. Then you will need a jersey. Jerseys help with sweat and make you more aerodynamic. The last thing are some padded shorts.
Third: terrain. This one is kind of self explanatory. Mountain bikes go on mountains. Road bikes go on roads. But what is on the mountains? What is on the roads? On mountain bike trails you will find big rocks, to make a rock roll. Sometimes you will find small rocks to make some challenging tech. You will most definitely find dirt or mud. You also might find wood. If I say wood you probably think, oh the trees around you. That is kind of true. By wood I mean features made of wood. Sometimes this will include fallen trees. You might also find jumps. These can be made of lots of things like, dirt, rocks, or wood. For road bike terrain you will find roads. You might find rocks on the road and potholes. You might find towns or cities, parks or cars. You will find what you find when you ride in a car.
Forth: competitions. Mountain Biking: In mountain biking competitions you can either win by getting the fastest time or if you get the highest score in terms of tricks. These include, Red Bull Rampage, Red Bull Hardline, Red Bull Joyride, Downhill World Cup, etc. The mountain bike competitions are not very long but are very challenging to navigate, there are many chances to crash. Sometimes these competitions are in cities. These are called urban races. In urban races they make a course so you don’t crash into random people and they pre build jumps and berms and things like that.
Road Biking: road biking competitions can be short and long. They are almost all the time longer than mountain bike competitions. Some competitions include, Tour de France, Olympic Games, Rosewood Series, etc. Road biking competitions can be very long, some can be over 200 kilometers! Some also have stages, such as the Tour de France. One day you bike 80 kilometers, the next day you bike 150 kilometers, etc.
Last: types. Mountain biking: The types of mountain bikes are, downhill, trail, cross country, enduro, dirt jumper and freeride. A lot of these are self explanatory. But I will tell you what they are anyway. Downhill is complex downhill riding. Trail is basic trail riding. Cross country is larger and more physically demanding riding. Enduro is the one that is not self explanatory. Enduro is a mix between cross country and downhill. Dirt jumper is for dirt jumps and freeride is a combination between downhill, dirt jumper and trail.
Road biking: The types of mountain bikes are, cyclocross, commuting, time trial, fondo, gravel. Some of these are self explanatory like mountain biking but I will explain nonetheless. Cyclocross is kind of off road like grass or mud. The tires are also thicker to handle grass and mud and that type of thing. Commuting is not for racing, but commuting, such as riding to work. Time trial is to go very fast, as fast as possible. Fondo is for a specific race called a gran fondo. This is a long distance race with many people. Gravel is for racing on gravel.
These were the key differences of mountain biking and road biking. This was also the answer to my main inquiry question. To recap the main differences were design, gear, terrain, competitions and types. Mountain biking and road biking are very different put a good activity and physically challenge in their own way. I like mountain biking more. Which do you like more Mountain Biking or Road Biking?