Bike Setup + Glossary
Glossary of mountain Bike Terms + Slang
Booter
Can refer to either a huge jump or a purpose-built structure designed to jump you up to a higher segment of the trail.
Bonk
To lose absolutely all energy, and subsequently all enthusiasm, while deep into a mountain bike ride.
Brap
While traditionally an onomatopoeia of the sound of a motorcycle’s two-stroke engine, in mountain biking terms it refers to the sound knobby tires make while aggressively shredding on trail.
Chunder
Another way of describing extremely rocky, technical terrain- particularly a rock-strewn downhill.
Dab
To lift a foot off your pedal and stick it out for balance and control, often around a corner, and often to prevent yourself from crashing.
Dope
Very good or awesome.
Endo
A crash where the rider goes over the handlebars (aka OTB).
Full Squish
Full suspension bike.
Hero Dirt
Hero dirt is when the soil is the perfect consistency, the holy grail of balance between moisture content and softness where the flow is perfect, and the traction is optimum. Hero dirt has a very short lifespan, lasting for only a day or so after a trail reopens following a rainstorm. It is called “hero dirt” because when you’re riding it, you feel like the dirt consistency is actually making you a better rider, as if you were a super-hero.
Gnar
Can refer to a very difficult technical feature on the trail. Can also refer to a very rocky or rooty section of trail.
Off Camber
A section of trail where the outside edge of the trail is lower than the inside edge. The trail is not laterally flat and level, which makes the bike want to move toward the outside edge, so the rider must use balance and cornering skills to keep the bike on the trail.
Roost
To shred a turn in such a way you kick up a lot of dust and dirt with your back wheel. This is typically accomplished by riding sideways into a berm or banked turn at speed.
Shralp
Shredding the trail at a whole ‘nuther level’. It’s a cross between shredding the trail and ripping it.
Slack
Describes a head tube angle where the front fork is raked outward. Slack head tube angles can make a bike’s steering response slower but increases handling on descents.
Steezy
Riding in such a way that it looks effortless, stylish, and elegant.
Taco
When a wheel is bent in a crash it can take on the shape of a taco shell.
Washout
When your bike wheels completely lose traction and slide laterally out from under you. Washouts typically happen on flat or loose corners, or on very loose sections of trail.
Glossary of Mountain bike Features
Switchback
A section of trail that turns 180 degrees to create a corner.
Rolldown
A section of trail that drops significantly but can be rolled down with both wheels firmly on the trail.
Drop
A trail feature where the trail drops away vertically. Drops range in height from a few inches to several feet. Riding drop-offs requires considerable skill, often requiring the rider to maintain speed, raise the front wheel of the bike, shift weight back and manage their bike while airborne to ensure both tires land at the same time.
Double
An advanced trail feature that is effectively a ‘gap jump’ with a designated takeoff and landing. The middle ground between the takeoff and landing has been dug out so, typically, rolling is not an option, it must be jumped.
Table Top
A jump with a flat section of dirt in between the takeoff and the landing. A tabletop jump involves much less risk than a double since the rider will have a relatively safe landing area in case they come up short.
Berm
A corner that has a banked outer edge that runs the entire length of the corner. This bank allows you to go faster through the corner and pushes back against your tires giving them extra support/grip through the corner and allowing a rider to maintain a higher speed than a similar flat corner.
Flat Corner
An un-bermed corner that requires riders to manage speed and properly weight the bike to avoid losing grip on the tires.
Rock Garden
A collection of rocks of various sizes (from boulders to softball- sized) that cover a section of trail.
Step Up
A trail feature that often requires a front and rear wheel lift to clear (eg fallen tree, large mid-trail rock or purpose-built dirt, rock or wood feature).
Water Bags + Drainage Ditches
A channel cut in the trail perpendicular to the flow of water to allow precipitation to drain off the trail efficiently and prevent erosion. Boardwalk: a long elevated wooden deck built to avoid wet sections of terrain that would otherwise be unrideable.
Roller
A section of trail, wooden boardwalk or portable feature(s) (pictured here) comprised of relatively short ups and downs, similar to a pump track, where the rider feels like they’re riding a roller coaster and can ‘pump’ the bike to maintain speed