mountain bike

American

noun

a bicycle designed for off-road use, typically having a smaller and sturdier frame and smaller and wider tires than a standard bicycle.

mountain bike British

noun

a type of sturdy bicycle with at least 16 and up to 21 gears, straight handlebars, and heavy-duty tyres

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

mountain bikes

plural

Etymology

Origin of mountain bike

1985–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

mountain bike

“You want a mountain bike track, we’ll get you one.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

“We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026

"He had such a great attitude. We'd chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now," Drekonja wrote on the social media platform Bluesky.

From Barron's ● Jan. 25, 2026

Six-time Olympic champion Hoy announced in October 2024 that his cancer is terminal, but the 49-year-old has continued to ride his mountain bike since entering "a bit of a stability period" in his treatment.

From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025

No rebuilt motor, no fancy mountain bike, no nothing.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023