the field guide
Setup, tech, and buying guides for people who actually wrench on their own bikes. Every guide is built around a real question riders ask, and wired into the tools in your Garage and Builder.
Watch Red Bull Hardline British Columbia 2026 Live: Start Time, Riders and Course
Watch the Red Bull Hardline BC final live right here, Friday, October 16 at 12 PM Pacific. Here is who seeded where, what the Cypress Mountain course throws at them and how a run is won.
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Red Bull Rampage 2026 Results: Wind Cancels the Men's Final, Goomes Wins Women's
Wind cancelled the men's final with no winner after nine riders dropped, and Szymon Godziek led on 90.00. Robin Goomes won the women's final for a third straight year. Here is how it played out.
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Best MTB Tire Pressure: Front and Rear PSI by Weight, Tire and Trail
Where to start front and rear for your weight, why the front runs lower, what tire width, casing, tubeless and inserts change, and how to dial it in after one ride.
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5DEV AV3: Asa Vermette's Signature Crank, Price, Specs and Which Spindle Fits
The 5DEV AV3 is the crank Asa Vermette raced to the 2026 downhill World Cup overall, now on sale for $299.99. It is sold as arms only, and the spindle you pair it with decides whether it fits your bike.
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How to Choose MTB Brakes: Pistons, Pads, Rotor Size and Fit
How much brake you actually need, why rotor size is the cheapest power upgrade, which pads to run, what fits your fork and frame, and the brakes we would buy for each kind of riding.
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How to Bleed MTB Brakes: Shimano and SRAM, Step by Step
How to tell a brake actually needs a bleed, the two quick fixes to try first, what kit and fluid you need, and the Shimano and SRAM procedures step by step.
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RockShox Select vs Select+ vs Ultimate: What Each Trim Actually Gets You
What you actually get for the money at each RockShox trim: the dials, the damper inside, the air spring and the parts Ultimate adds. Full lineup and trim charts for Pike, Lyrik, ZEB and Super Deluxe, how a Pike beats a Revelation on the same two dials, and what RC2T means.
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Fox Rhythm vs Performance vs Performance Elite vs Factory: What Each Trim Gets You
What each Fox trim actually gets you: the dials and their click counts, what is inside GRIP, GRIP X, GRIP X2 and GRIP SL, and what Kashima is worth. Chassis, trim and damper charts for the 34 SL, 36, 38 and 40 and for FLOAT, FLOAT X and FLOAT X2 shocks.
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Tuned Mass Dampers on Mountain Bikes: The World Cup Part That Hides in Your Fork
A tuned mass damper is a weight on springs that hides inside your fork steerer and cancels part of every hit before it reaches your hands. They are all through the World Cup downhill pits. Rimpact’s TMD V2 is £199.99, the CounterShox CounterSycle is $275, and the only blinded test anyone has published could barely tell one from a dummy.
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Wolf Tooth Locked-In Bar Ends: The Most Hyped MTB Part of 2026
The Wolf Tooth Locked-In Bar Ends are a $34.95 pair of bar ends that bolt into your handlebar so the outside of your hand has something to push against instead of squeezing the grips. They fit bars with an 18.0mm or wider internal diameter and need grips with an open outboard end.
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Michelin Tires, Explained: Racing Line vs Performance Line, and Every Tread
Michelin bundles the casing and the compound into a single word, so one of its tires is two decisions instead of three. Here is what Racing Line and Performance Line actually buy you, why the DH numbers are not a scale, and the pairing to run.
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Schwalbe Tires, Explained: Radial vs Diagonal, Every Casing and Compound
Schwalbe renamed most of its mountain bike range, killed three treads people liked, and is the only brand selling radial casings at scale. Here is what radial actually does, whether you want it, and how to read the new sidewall.
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Continental Tires, Explained: Kryptotal, Xynotal, Argotal and the Rest
Continental threw out its old mountain range in 2022 and replaced it with a grid: five treads, three casings, five compounds. Here is what each axis does, which combination to actually buy, and what the 13 new options added this month unlock.
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Maxxis Tires, Explained: Every Casing, Compound and Tread (Plus the New Minion DHX)
EXO, EXO+, DoubleDown, DH. 3C MaxxGrip, MaxxTerra, MaxxSpeed. DHF, DHR II, Assegai, Dissector. Here is what every one of those actually means, which Maxxis tire belongs on which end of your bike, and where the brand-new Minion DHX and its reworked DH casing fit in.
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What Size Mountain Bike Do I Need? Size Chart by Height, Then Reach
Start with a height chart, then settle it with reach. Here's the size chart, how to measure the bike you already have, how to break a tie when you're between sizes, and what you can still change after the frame is bought.
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Are Dropper Posts Universal? Diameter, Travel, and What Actually Fits
No, they are not. A dropper has to match three things on your bike: the seat tube diameter, how deep the post can slide in, and how the cable gets to the lever. Here is how to check all three with a tape measure.
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Coil vs Air Shock: Which One Belongs on Your Bike?
One uses compressed air as the spring, the other uses a steel coil. The ride feel, the maintenance, and the tuning are genuinely different, and some frames flat-out can't run a coil. Here's how to pick.
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What Is a Mullet Mountain Bike? Mixed Wheels, Explained
A 29" wheel up front, a 27.5" out back. Why race bikes went mixed, what you gain and give up, and what actually happens to your geometry if you convert a 29er yourself.
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Mountain Bike Geometry Explained: Read the Chart Like It Matters
Reach, stack, head angle, chainstay: a geometry chart tells you how a bike fits and how it behaves before you ever swing a leg over it. Here's every number that matters, in plain words.
Read the guide →Is There a PCPartPicker for Mountain Bikes? (Yes, and Here’s How It Works)
PC builders have PCPartPicker. Mountain bikers now have BuildMTB. Here's what the two tools have in common, where the MTB side of the fence is way messier, and how the compatibility engine actually works when you spec a build.
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Hardtail vs Full Suspension: Which Mountain Bike Should You Actually Buy?
The first real fork in the road when you're buying a mountain bike. Here's what actually changes between the two, how each one rides, and the honest budget math that decides it for most people.
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What Order to Choose Parts for a Custom MTB Build (Frame First, and Why)
Building a custom bike is really a chain of decisions, and the order you make them in saves you money. Here's the part-picking roadmap, from frame to the bits that barely care, and how each choice quietly decides the next.
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How to Build a Mountain Bike From Parts (And the Compatibility Traps)
Building a mountain bike from a bare frame is mostly one thing: making sure every part fits the next. Here's the build order, the compatibility traps that bite people, and how to check fitment before you spend a dime.
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How to Set Sag on a Mountain Bike (Front + Rear, by Discipline)
Sag is the first thing you dial and the thing most people get wrong. Here's how to set front and rear sag right, what numbers to aim for by discipline, and the o-ring trick that tells you if you nailed it.
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