The mountain bike guide

This is the decision that matters most. A hardtail has suspension at the front only. It is lighter, cheaper, needs less servicing, and transfers your pedalling more directly, which makes it better at climbing and better value at every price under about $2,500. It is also a good bike to learn on, because it punishes bad line choice and teaches you to pick better ones.

Full suspension adds a rear shock. It is faster and much less tiring on rough, steep, technical trails, because the back wheel keeps tracking the ground instead of bouncing off it. It is also heavier, more expensive, and has pivots and a shock that need regular servicing.

As a rule of thumb, below $2,500 buy the hardtail. A good hardtail will beat a cheap full-suspension bike, because a bad rear shock is worse than no rear shock. Above that, buy full suspension if your local trails are genuinely rough.

Almost completely. A road bike has drop bars, 28mm slick tyres, no suspension, and puts you low and stretched out to cut through the air. A mountain bike has flat bars, tyres three times as wide, 100 to 170mm of suspension travel, and sits you upright.

On a smooth road the road bike is much faster for the same effort. On a rocky descent the road bike is unrideable. They solve different problems rather than competing. If your riding is a bit of both, the answer is usually a gravel bike.

• Marked singletrack at a trail park or state forest
• Fire roads and rail trails, where any mountain bike is overkill but comfortable
• Bike park and downhill runs, where you take a lift up and ride down
• Cross-country loops, which are long and mixed with more climbing than descending
• Bikepacking on rough terrain, with gear strapped to the frame

It is a poor choice for a daily road commute. It will do it, but you will be working about 30% harder than you need to, and knobbly tyres wear out fast on tarmac. A commuter bike is the right tool there.