Some little hints to help you get the most out of your biking holiday in Italy.

Full suspension Mountain bike

A Mountain bike with suspension units at the front and rear, allowing the bike to travel easily over rough terrain. This type of mountain bike was originally designed for downhill riding, but now bikes have gotten so light with advancements in suspension systems, that half of cross country riders are using full suspension bikes or newly termed all mountain bikes. Some models allow you to turn off the suspension system so the bike acts like a hardtail, which assists in making the bike stiffer for climbing or riding on the road.

Hardtail Mountain bikes 

A bicycle with a single suspension unit at the front, designed to allow the bike to travel over rough terrain easily, without sacrificing any climbing ability. This was traditionally the cross country bike, with even no suspension at the front ...back in the day! Another way that the rider can help assist in the suspension of a hardtail would be the use of wide tubeless tyres which assist in the rolling of the wheels over rough terrain whilst absorbing the bumps.

Singletrack Trails

A narrow section of mountain bike trail, forcing riders to go in single file. Typically twisty and a lot of fun! This is what many people think mountain biking is all about. Some of the best single tracks we have ridden are located around Riva Del Garda in northern Italy, with twisting flowing dry trails through alpine glens...amazing.

Disc brakes

A braking system similar to that on a car, available in two types, mechanical or hydraulic. A very reliable and powerful brake. This type of braking systems first entered the mountain bike world through downhill riding, but now all top end cross country bikes are sold with light weight disk brakes that make for smooth and gradual braking instead of the traditional "v" bake system which was either full on or off and tended to fail in wet and muddy conditions. 

Levelling out

A phrase quite often used by bike guides to help you get up the hills, i.e. "It levels out just around the corner" Never believe them!  Tarja is famous for using this phrase!

Berms

The natural banking around a corner to assist you in turning. This feature of trail riding adds to the flowing nature of the trail, which ultimately adds to the fun enjoyed by the rider. Berms don't have to be super high, even the smallest berm in a forest park can make for great riding by everyone. 

Bunny Hop

Lifting the two wheels off the ground sequentially to help ride over obstacles. This is not to be confused with lifting the two wheels of the ground at the same time. The skill should be executed smoothly so that the front wheel lifts over the obstacle firstly and then followed by the rear wheel, and the same pattern applies when the wheels land smoothly on the ground again. 

Easy Gear

A light gear, something you'll use quite often when in Italy, allows you to ride hills at your leisure.  A riders gear selection depend so the type of rider they are, some adapt a "push pull" option, which leads to faster fatigue, whilst "spinners" opt for a higher cadence and thus less resistance from the pedals which results in less fatigue on the leg muscles. This is definately a better riding style to adopt whilst riding over hilly terrain and if you are out for several hours.