Today, Mountain Biking consists of a range of event types and categories. There are six disciplines described by the
Union Cycliste Internationale - the sports governing body. These can loosely be grouped into either
Endurance or
Gravity based disciplines.
UCI Sanctioned While often associated with mountain biking,
bike trials is governed separately despite the close association with mountain biking. Since 2024 UCI started organizing
UCI Snow Bike World Championships for mountain bike racing on an
alpine skiing course.
Non-UCI Sanctioned There are many non-UCI sanctioned disciplines. Some of these are listed below. These may include events which are the precursor to modern formats (such as the evolution of Super-D into Enduro), or events which have fallen from vouge for whatever reason (such as Dual Slalom), or non-time based events (such as Freeride). •
Super D – Super D (SD) is a blend of cross-country and downhill. Most of the race is downhill, on trails similar to the downhill segment of a cross-country race. There are also short (100–500m) uphill sections which make the use of downhill bicycles difficult, as a result, most riders use cross-country or 'trail bikes'. Depending on the trail and race venue, the start may either be seeded (riders start in short intervals), or Le Mans mass start (riders run to their bikes, timing is started when the riders start running). Probably the most famous of this type is the
Megavalanche. race the
2009 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships held at
Mount Stromlo, near Canberra, Australia •
Dual Slalom/Dual – Dual Slalom (DS) is a ski-inspired event which pits two riders against each other on two identical man-made tracks side by side with the same jumps and berms, with a rider on each track, and the first across the line wins. The contest has a knock-out format. Dual (DL) events are similar, only two riders share the same course/track. •
Mountain bike orienteering (MTB-O or MTBO) is an
orienteering sport on a mountain bike where
navigation is done along
trails and tracks. The major focus becomes
route choice while
navigating at bike
speed. Special equipment used is a
map holder attached to the handlebar of the bike. The sport is governed by
International Orienteering Federation. •
24 hour mountain bike races are a form of endurance mountain bike racing where solo competitors or teams race for a period of 24 hours and standings are based on who has ridden the furthest distance in that time (typically, the most number of laps around a loop). •
Freeride – Freeride (FR) competitions are not so much a race as they are a competition of skill and style. Courses contain varying cliffs, drops, obstacles, and ramps. There are usually a large number of ways in which to complete the course, and scoring is dependent on the competitor's choice of routes, the fluidity of riding and tricks performed (style), and sometimes also the time in which the course is completed. •
Dirt jumping – Dirt jumping (DJ), similar to freeride, it is a competition of skill, differing that it involves the rider to jump off mounds of dirt to perform the best tricks with the best style. It differs to freeriding that the jumps are usually much larger and designed to lift the rider higher into the air and the bicycle is different from its counterpart. ==Notable events==