People learn to ride a bike when they are young children, but many few carry the ´skill´ on seriously into later stages of thier life. There are may disceplines of Mountain Biking. Some examples of these are X-Country, Enduro, Freeride, Downhill, Dirt (jump)and Trials.
To many people a biki is just a bike, but for each of the different forms MTB´ing can take, there is a different bike. Enduro and Cross Country have light, Comfortable bikes that are used for cycling lond distances on. Downhill & Freeride use bikes with huge suspension travel, tough frames and extremely hard-wearing components. Jump Bikes are made out of the strongest materials as they are punished with every jump, so they need to w1thstand the amount of force the rider gives them. Trials bikes are light, small frames that sometimes come without a saddle. They are extremely lightweight as rider need to jump onto rocks, walls, off rocks etc etc. There are many competitions and clubs you can join, for each discepline of Biker. If you need any equipment to do with biking, then go to www.wiggle.co.uk. If you need cheap bike parts, go to www.bikedock.co.uk . Buy Mountain Biking UK (MBUK) magazine for everything to do with biking. It is the dogs bollocks.