Folding mountain bikes are essentially practical bicycles, which are easy to store and transport. These mountain bikes can be folded in seconds and you will not even need any special rack for these bikes. Just put it inside your suitcase and carry it like another piece of luggage inside a car, boat, train or even inside an airplane.

The folding technique of mountain bikes is a patented military design and it was initially used to develop full-sized folding bikes for the US Marines and paratroopers for strategic use.

A folding mountain bike is a bit expensive when compared to a non-folding mountain bike. Despite the price-factor, purchasing a foldable bike will be advantageous in every respect. Actually, the manufacturers of folding mountain bicycles have not compromised with the sturdiness or toughness of the bikes in making them foldable (and hence portable).

As regards choices, these days you simply have plenty of choices with manufacturers like Airnimal, Montague launching a great many models that allow easy, convenient loading and unloading. Select from among the many lightweight yet tough bikes, choosing as per your requirement.

Following beneath are descriptions of some top foldable mountain bikes available in the market:

Hummer

Montague-made Hummer is a high-tech folding mountain bike. The Hummer bicycle, designed after full-sized military bikes, has normal wheels with knobby tires and hence it can be used on any terrain. It takes around 30 seconds to fold a Hummer and the folded bicycle measures just 36″ x 28″ x 12″. The folding is accomplished without the use of tools.

The Hummer is essentially lightweight yet it is perfectly tough and durable. Other plus-points of this bicycle are ? Shimano precision index shifters for a quick gear change, 24-speed Shimano drive train and a front suspension with a front disk brake.

Paratrooper Mountain Bike

The market-leaders have launched yet another folding mountain bike, the Paratrooper Mountain Bike. A very tough bike, the Paratrooper folds and unfolds in less than 30 seconds. This superb braking power and excellent engineering behind this Montague bike makes it unparalleled for rugged terrains. Montague also markets important accessories like foldable pedals and carrying cases – both hard and soft cases.

Airnimal Rhino

Airnimal Rhino, Airnimal?s first officially launched ?off-road? bike is a folding mountain bike. Its 20? wheels and front and rear suspension make it perfect for all terrains.

Giatex Stretching Bike

The Giatex Stretching Bike is based on a new folding concept. In this case, it is not the frame that folds from the middle, rather the steering column and the rear part that are folded down. The folded bike measures about 37 inches.

Bike Fridays

Bike Fridays made by Green Gear Cycling Inc. are revolutionary finds because they are collapsible bikes rather than foldable. The assembling and disassembling takes time, but the new bikes are, performance wise, excellent.

Robert Sheehan is a freelance writer and co-owner of http://www.bicycles-are-us.com Visit Robert and read more about bicycles at http://www.bicycles-are-us.com/Folding-Bikes.html

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As leisure activities go they don’t get as action and adrenalin packed as racing around a field of hills and mud on dirt bikes. The rush you get from dirt biking is like nothing else I had experienced until my friend took me along to his favourite weekend pursuit and brought his dirt bikes along, one for me to try.

There is something quite primeval about riding such a raw, mechanical beast like a dirt bike and from the first time I revved mine up I knew I would take to it like a duck to water and dirt bikes would become a great hobby of mine, even surpassing some of my other pass times which get the heart thumping like rock climbing and white water rafting.

Luckily my friend was experienced with dirt bikes and also a qualified instructor, therefore learning the safety and skills necessary to pick the sport up wasn’t much of an issue – after a few hours I was riding and taking those hills on my dirt bike, and I fell in love. The noise, the rough terrain and the trickery involved in actually staying on your foot and not falling off makes dirt bikes a real fun-packed challenge.

I would highly advise people to look at dirt-biking as a potential new leisure pursuit as it is in fact on the rise in most countries – I believe this is down to the stress we all feel from working in those cubicles in our office jobs. Man needs a release and dirt-biking fills the role perfectly.

If you are thinking about dirt-biking you should seek out of a professional tutor to get you up to speed on safety and how to handle a dirt bike, and then you’re set and ready to go. Most good motorbike shops will be able to give you a list of courses on dirt bike training and they aren’t that costly, and neither are the bikes themselves.

About the Author

Article by Frank Owen, visit his website on dirt bikes to learn more about dirt bikes and the popular rise in the sport.
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