Trail sounds like a rather limited area, "All Mountain" sounds there but immediately much more versatile. In the capabilities of the two bikes, however, it is exactly the opposite. The AM bike can do a little of everything, the trail bike can do more! Bike tours, trails, bike parks - somehow you can conquer almost any route with an AllMountain. But there comes a point when another bike works better. The trail bike, on the other hand, can use a little more riding technique. The terrain may turn out for a trail bike significantly more challenging, blockier, rootier and looser - in a word: more versatile!
Why are we lumping the two bikes together here? They're pretty similar in design and equipment, that's one reason. Their area of use also overlaps for the most part, so that would be reason number two. If you read the following points, you will see that an AllMountain can do almost everything, a trail bike can do just a bit more of everything.
1. What is a trail bike, what is an AM bike
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AM stands for "All Mountain", it is the mountain bike with the widest and most versatile range of use. The whole mountain just. At the same time, it can also build up speed and is comfortable enough for continuous use. A Trailbike rocks flow trails and single trails. It has to be maneuverable so you can follow the trail wherever it takes you. It also has to be flexible enough for all the surfaces that come your way.
First of all, both bikes are usually fullys, which means you'll not only get a suspension fork, but also a suspended rear end. Further down you'll find more information on the benefits of a Fully MTBs.
As I said, their equipment is often very similar, although depending on the manufacturer or model, there can be many similarities and also major differences. The most important distinguishing feature is usually the suspension travel of the shocks. Trail bikes like to have a little more of it on board than AllMountains.
2. AM means everything is possible!
The AM can do quite simply everything! It is not called ALL mountain bike for nothing. Specialized bikes may be able to do some things better, but there's pretty much nothing in the terrain that an all-mountain can't do. The smart all-rounders are equipped with a balanced equipment and geo, so they come well uphill, best downhill and offer enough comfort for tours.
You get here a weight-optimized frame and the lightest possible equipment, on steep climbs a real advantage.
With 100 to 140mm travel, the bike swallows so much, but for the very big jumps, the reserve is rather scarce. The balanced seating position turns out comfortable enough for long tours and sporty enough for full control over challenging passages.
The area of application is correspondingly broad. You will have to turn around in front of (almost) no terrain, the bike comes on everywhere. However, the focus is on extended tours in mountainous terrain. AMs climb climbs well, and you'll make decent progress downhill, too, though perhaps not with the stability and speeds that a downhill bike can achieve.
3. Trail bikes in focus
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Trail bikes are just as versatile as AM mountain bikes, but here the terrain may be a bit more challenging, equipment and construction adapt accordingly. Technical single trails, bike parks or alpine terrain are quite possible with a trail bike. Even if it usually can not be whipped quite so perfectly uphill (that works better with the AM), it is quite usable uphill.
For this, the bikes get a potent suspension with up to 150mm of travel in addition to a robust design. "Robust" means in most cases also a little heavier, here you can counteract with a luxury chassis made of carbon. 1x12 gears with about 10-51T are the current gold standard.
4. Trail bikes and AM bikes are great for beginners!
A trail bike or an AM-Fully will perhaps not become your very first mountain bike, because the relatively high purchase price, which all Fullys have now once, many find excessive for a few small test rides. But if you like to get on your mountain bike regularly, do the house rounds, cycling vacations in the foothills of the Alps or weekends in the bike park, then a versatile fully is the best guarantee for hours of riding fun without restrictions. That's why bikers like to start their career as a bike groove on a trail bike. They then switch to an enduro for maximum hopping, thrash a downhill downhill or tear all speed records with an XC bike.
5. How much suspension travel does a trail bike or Fully
need?
Just like geometry, the dive of shocks is always shifting one way or the other. On the all-mountain, a taut 100 to 140mm is considered absolutely sufficient, because after all, it could be that you mainly want to power forward or uphill. Trail bikes get a little more travel administered, for the dampers of a trail bike is currently a suspension travel of 110 to 150mm usual. At the moment, because that can change quickly with a new model year!
6. AM-Geo
A steep seat angle gets neat power on the road, pardon, the trail. The currently heavily trendy long reach puts you in a sporty riding position with good control over the bike. The relatively flat front provides a shot of agility, but even for downhill rides enough stability.
7. The perfect tires for trail bikes and AM
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Good traction, grip and damping are absolutely indispensable in the terrain . Therefore, you will find in this division a wide tires with lots of profile. 2.3 to 2.4 inches are common, in rare cases there are plus tires with 2.5 or 2.6 inches.
The tire size becomes just here gladly a question of conscience, it is also always somewhat as a fad. Smaller tires with 27.5 inches are more agile, accelerate more nippy and drive more playful. Larger 29-inch wheels conserve your strength, because they climb looser and like to make distance. Their directional stability and smooth rolling behavior provide a stable, quiet ride. Here in the online store you can buy both setups, depending on which riding characteristics are important to you.
8. Why should you buy a Fully?
Playful, technical riders need a Fully, those who like to ride direct and ball forward need a Hardtail. Unfortunately, this nice rule of thumb has gone up in smoke in recent years. As before, full-suspension mountain bikes or fullys are more off-road, more versatile, heavier (and - let's be honest - more expensive). Hardtails are more efficient, faster, lighter and cheaper. However, there is a lot of overlap between the two types of mountain bikes in the field of use today.
With trail bike and AM-Fully you don't have to worry about lugging around unnecessary ballast, the weight optimization most manufacturers take very seriously. You can also count on the ride comfort and good grip of a full-suspension bike, because you have the suspension reserves at the start when you need them. Whether after-work round or Alpencross, with a trail bike you keep all options open. If you do not want to commit in advance, like to go to your limits and experiment with what is possible, the purchase of a trail bike with a suspended frame or an AM-Fullys is the only correct conclusion.
9. Will it stay that way?
The well-known top manufacturers that build MTBs like to come up with something new every year! However, with the well-filled bike market as we know it today, this is not so easy. There is nothing that does not already exist. Therefore, the changes you can expect with a new model year are often in the range of a few millimeters. A little more steering angle, a few mm less dive, a shorter, more playful rear end, 82 grams lighter...
The small tweaks, however, can greatly affect the handling of the bikes! Among the latest mountain bike creations are quite interesting candidates. Race fullys or downhill hardtails are exciting experiments, whether they can prevail, the coming years will show. Like everywhere else in the bike universe, E-bikesare currently drawing level with their non-motorized counterparts in terms of choice and versatility.
Conclusion: it remains exciting!
10. Trail bikes and AM bikes for men and women
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Mountain bikes come in many versions, there are of course models for women and men among them. But what actually distinguishes a bike for ladies from a men's bike? There are manufacturers who adapt the geometry of their bikes to the body proportions of women. For other bike makers, it's actually only the painting that makes the difference. There are also saddles and handlebars specifically for women, but that should not be the decisive decision criterion when buying a bike, because with a few simple steps you can change both components.
With the wide selection here in the online store, you will find the right bike, that's for sure! If you want to have an idea of the fit of the frame, you can find in the Article descriptions of the bikes the Specifications. There are also the dimensions of the frame given, so you get a good idea of the frame construction.
To make it easy for you to find the right frame size, we have a guide to finding the right frame size for you on our blog. There you will learn how to first measure the stride length and then select the appropriate bike.
11. The alternatives to the trail bike and AM: MTBs compared
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If you want to buy a versatile Fully, there is nothing better than an AM or a trail bike. But every biker has different preferences, and for each there is a suitable wire bike. Here are the alternative suggestions at a glance:
- For more speed, you have two options. An XC-MTB or race-fully also brings a suspended chassis. However, these bikes are built to build more speed. Also efficient and fast, but also lighter and cheaper, is a hardtail. It also makes for less maintenance stress!
- More versatile terrain you can plow with a Enduro, because for even a little more demand what underground and terrain concerns, such a mountain bike would be the next stage of development. The Enduro is more for the jump/drop/ airtime faction meant.
- If your heart beats for extended bike tours, and you are looking for an efficient long-distance vehicle, you should store at our Hardtails. For bike touring, a gravel bike or of course a touring bike would also be suitable, but here you'll have to do without the MTB flair.
- Down they all come, this also applies to an AM. Better downhill, however, is with a downhill bike.
- Huge savings potential is available with the Dirt Bikes here in the online store. A stable off-road bike is unlikely to be cheaper. But the field of application is very limited, about the seating position we want to better keep quiet at this point.
