Think of a trail mountain bike as a jack of all trades. Because a good full suspension trail bike can do a bit of everything. It can climb, it can descend, it can flick through tight, flowy singletrack. Trail bikes are popular because they really are a “do it all” solution. Trail mountain biking sits between cross country riding and enduro racing/riding. Trail bikes aren’t as light as cross country bikes (so climb a bit less well), but they can handle gnarly terrain much, much better. A full suspension trail bike (and even a hardtail trail bike) is meant to do it at all—if you’re looking for one bike to handle a bit of everything, go with a trail bike.

The ideal trail bike is tough, versatile, and fun. A light trail bike never hurts, either—if you’re tackling trail riding, there will be a fair bit of climbing. Most trail bikes are full suspension, and will have more travel than a cross country bike, but less than an enduro bike. Trail bikes usually are in the 140-160mm travel range. The ability to lock out your suspension on a trail bike is huge, too—it makes climbing way easier and efficient. On top of that, dropper posts are basically a must—it makes descending way more confident, and climbing way faster.

Absolutely! Trail biking is all about riding a bit of everything, and covering big distances in one day. Now, imagine you had the ability to ride further every day, and to float up climbs with way less effort.

The result? Really big days outside! Electric trail bikes open up the opportunity to cover a bigger range of terrain in a single morning, afternoon, or full day. You won’t be quite as feathery as a light trail bike, but that doesn’t mean the ride gets dulled or compromised in any way. For folks looking to explore more in a single day, or to keep up with slightly faster friends, an electric trail bike makes a ton of sense.

But if you like to suffer a bit on climbs and keep the heartrate high all day, keep it old school.