Downhill Dictionary

The purpose of this page is to help busy parents who don’t ride downhill to catch up on the lingo of the downhill mountain biking world.

Why I created this dictionary in case you are interested and have the time to read.

I feel like we all want a sense of belonging to something and that language is a connector that enables humans to define one hub of people from another. I also feel like language is fun and it’s especially fun for kids to learn new words and to use them.

Kids may watch hours and hours of social media videos of downhilling while the parent who doesn’t ride is busy working. The riders pick up words that are specific to the sport. If the parent doesn’t know the meaning of the words, it can create distance and conflict.

I personally don’t walk around throwing out words like “Shralp” and “Skeezy” (or is it “Steezy”???) and neither do my riders, but I want to be familiar with what these words mean. I give the riders in my family the space to immerse into this world without trying to live vicariously through them. But if I am going to give up weekends and holidays and health to chase down the next downhill park opening, I refuse to be just a by-standing taxi driver. I want and need to feel oriented. I usually ask them questions about the words of the downhill mountain biking world while we are in the car on the way home. Mostly, they can explain things to me. But sometimes they can’t. They pick up the words in the context of actual physical activity and so attaching a clear meaning to them can be a big ask. And yet, I don’t have time to watch hours of social media to figure out things. And if I did, I wouldn’t be able to remember the words from year to year. There are just too many other little fragments of data points that I have to keep up with from day to day. I want a straight forward tool I can use to create my own path in the downhill world (I truly did not mean that play on words). And so, here is my brain dump of downhill words. It isn’t complete. I will be updating it as I pick up words.

And yes, I am actually watching and reading social media posts to track down these words and their meanings. I have to get up at 4am to accomplish this. And yes, I will probably have to refer back to this list every spring as part of my prep routines for the downhill season. (I belong to the nerd mom clan, not the DH mom clan. Shh, don’t tell anyone). I suggest you also use the internet. This is just a spring board to get you started in getting oriented.

The word list in divided into groups of words that define the cultural lingo, mechanic and coaching speak and last, the types of mountain biking styles that overlap or seem similar to downhill to a caregiver who doesn’t ride at all.

Cultural Lingo

Shralp – When I was a kid, we used the phrase “skidding out” to screeched the rear tires of our bikes on the pavement to make a black tire mark on the road. Shralping is a similar concept but it’s accomplished without braking and it’s done on a turn or a berm and produces a spray of dirt behind the rider. There is a technique to it that you can look up online. Loads of videos on it. You will find that it’s quite controversial. When riders shralp on a trail, they degrade the trail and apparently piss off other riders. It makes me think of the rainbow kick in soccer. It’s a showy flashy move that is not necessary and can frustrate others. But apparently it’s very very fun.

Cuttie – pronounced “Cut-tee”, see shralp. I have never heard my kids or their coaches use this word. Might be regional??.

Roost – the spray of dirt behind the rider produced by the shralp or cuttie but can also be used interchangeably with these words. I have never heard my kids use this word. It could be regional.

Shred – When I ask my 10 year old daughter what “Shred” means, she feels like it is a compliment for riding really good. According to Red Bull, it is riding with speed, skill and aggression.

Steezy – Combination of style and ease. Making something difficult look smooth and effortless. There is not one shred of steez in me. I am a nerd mom. My kids, however, are steezy.

Smashing – riding trails with large shelf-like rocks with ease.

Mechanic Speak

For more information, do internet searches on individual terms. Before I started this project, I had no idea there is so much information available online. (*words marked with an asterisk means I need to double check my understanding).

Dropper Post – This is a type of post that the seat sits on that can raise up or be pushed down with the press of a lever on the handle bars. Downhill bikes have dropper posts so that riders can push the seat down and out of the way while they ride downhill. Downhill riding mostly involves standing over the frame and does not involve a whole lot of sitting or pedaling (in fact sitting can be actually dangerous). The seat needs to be out of the way for safety. However, once the rider is off the downhill trail, he or she will want the ability to sit and pedal to and from various points of interest at a park (the restaurants, the family car, the condo, etc.) Riders with dropper posts can press the lever on the handle bar and have the seat up when riding to and from the park on pedestrian trails and then push the seat down when they downhill. Kids bikes do not have dropper posts because the frame of the bike is too small (or short) to support the length of post. Bikes without dropper post need a quick-release lever on their seat so that they manually push their seat out of the way.

Quick-release – A lever that tightens a seat to a seat post without tools.

Stem – The is the part of the bike that holds the handle bars onto the headset and frame of the bike. Getting a good fit for your child will involve changing the length of the stem.

Hard-tail – a type of bike that has no rear suspension. A hard tail bike is lighter and cheaper but has less handling capability. The are fine for beginners but generally not a good idea for intermediate to advanced riders.

Full suspension – a type of bike that has both front suspension via the fork over the front tire and rear suspension. It’s important to note that both the front shocks and rear shocks on any mountain bike have settings for how much it presses down and how strong it springs back into place.

Compression – How much the shock does down.

Rebound – How quickly or forcefully the shock returns to starting position.

Sag* – How much your bike compresses when you sit or stand on the bike in normal position. The sag of a bike involves settings on both the front and the rear shock. It’s the amount that the bike elongates and lowers its center of gravity as the frame gives to rider’s body weight (I think I understand that correctly?). Sag needs to match the rider’s body weight. Too much sag and the bike feels like an elephant lain down to nap in the trail. Too little sag and the bike feels twitchy.

Over-sprung – When the shock is stronger than then the rider’s weight. When a bike is over-sprung, it may feel stiff and it may slide in the back wheel more. It doesn’t give to the rider’s body weight.

Packing-up* – a term used when a shock cannot come back to its starting position between bumps. With each repetitive bump, it gets stuck farther and farther down until it loses all travel (ability to move up and down). This happens when the rebound setting is too soft (I think?), or too much pressure has been released from the rebound chamber of the shock.

Travel – the amount of movement of a shock to go down and come back up.

O-ring – a silicone ring that allows you to measure the amount of compression travel in your shock. When the shock is compressed it pushes the o-ring down. Then the shock rebonds back to position but the o-ring stays where it was pushed to. Riders can look at the placement of the o-ring after a jump or drop or a series of rocks to see how much their shock is compressing. It helps riders match their preference for handling with specific settings and it also helps detect damage to the shock.

Stand-over clearance – the amount of distance from the rider’s crotch to the top tube of the bike when the rider is standing flat footed on the ground. This is important for kids. Too little stand-over clearance means the bike is too big.

Getting dialed in – Means matching the settings of the bike’s suspension, tires and levers to the height, weight. arm and leg length and hand size and ability of the rider. This is a very uncool analogy, but here goes: As your child grows, you have to make adjustments to the car seat, and then the booster seat, and then the shoulder strap of your car. Getting a child dialed into the fit of a bike is similar in that matching the settings of the bike to the child’s size allows them to be one with the bike and the trail and to be safer and achieve their goals as a rider.

Jump – This what we used to call a ramp back in the early 80’s on our Huffy bikes in streets of the neighborhood. In downhill, it’s a professionally constructed dirt or wooden ramp that slopes upward and riders gain speed leading into it and fly upward through the air with both wheels off of the ground. Before this dictionary project, I never would have thought to look up the term “Jump” in Downhill Mountain Bike lingo. Boy, you can find a deep dive into the different types of jumps that are constructed and the different phases of the action of jumping (these would be words that an instructor would use when teaching jumps skills). I never intended to go into that much depth with this dictionary. But, just know, you can look these things up so you can follow along in conversations with your riders should they advance to that level of riding.

Drop – These are abrupt drop in trail that can be achieved with a professionally constructed feature, a rock ledge, or a a gap in terrain with a downward difference in height. The rider is basically riding down something akin to a giant step. Again, search “What is a drop in Downhill Moutain Biking” and you can find more in depth explanations than I feel comfortable providing. Just know, that if you want to converse with your kids and/or their instructor or coaches, you can find as much detail as you need

Berm – when a trail changes direction and the outer rim of the trail curve is built up with either dirt or a wooden wall. As a rider is flowing downhill and picking up speed and then enters into the berm, the change in direction puts force on the bike such that the wheels want to slide out in the opposite direction of the turn. A berm provides an extension of solid ground that keeps the wheels attached and rolling. Without a berm, many riders may slide out and scrub off most of the skin of their hip and thigh. Before I knew anything about downhill, I would call berms “shwoopy things that look fun.” I know. It impresses you.

Tech – A term used to describe a stretch of trail that has a lot of smaller obstacles such as rocks and roots that must be traversed. They may use the adjective form of the word, as in “That part of the trail was techy”

The Various Types of Racing and Mountain Biking

Downhill – The full suspension bikes are hefty with a long base from center of front wheel to center of back wheel; they have seats and gears but these things are almost after thoughts, the brakes, suspension and tires are an emphasis with these bikes. They use wide tires with a lower pressure for more grip. They have hefty suspension that can be adjusted for compression and rebound. The head tube angle allows for the front wheel to jut out in front of the handle bars and thus elongating the wheel base. Riders in this sport mostly use lifts to go up a mountain and then they bike all the way down. The decline slope and technical aspects of trails can be extreme. Some parks do not provide lifts but instead provide shuttle buses or the bikers have to ride up hill in order to go down. The focus of the sport is mainly only going down. There is racing in this sport. Downhill mountain bikes are generally not used for any other type of riding.

Cross-country – The bikes are full suspension and lighter than Downhill bikes and have a shorter distance from center of wheel to center of wheel. The head tube angle is smaller allowing the front wheel to be somewhat directly below the head tube and handle bars for easier ascent. This type of biking relies on endurance and stamina to ride up and down hills and mountains over a longer distance. The bikes need to be nimble for powering up an incline, but strong enough to handle the pounding of going downhill. Riders need to have the ability to navigate terrain going up and down but the trails and courses will generally not have the same steepness of downhill. The trails are usually more smooth and flowy although each course is limited to the natural terrain of the area. There is racing in Cross-country and it can be recreational as well. Riders might combine back country trails with park trails. Cross-country bikes may be used at downhill parks it depends on the rider’s ability to compensate for the bike’s shorter wheel base. Our daughter rides a hand-me-down cross country bike and I have to say, we have to have it serviced every year which is costly. She is a fearless rider who can hit some big jumps and so its hard for me to know if the bike components break because she really needs a downhill specific bike or if she is just hard on her bikes in general.

Enduro* – I have to say, I have been confused about this term for a full 10 years now and only because I created this dictionary have I finally become clear on it. It never occurred to me to just sit and look up terms on the internet. So, yea, follow up with anything with your own research. Enduro is a form of racing in which the rider rides uphill, but is only timed on the downhill sections. It is a form of racing. You might use the term for biking teams and training regimens that are for Enduro racing. I don’t think you’d call up your son’s mom and say, “Lets the kids out there to Enduro.” It would be more like, “Katie has an Enduro race next weekend and she needs someone to train with her.” I feel like Enduro races are mostly completed on Cross Country bikes.