EditorialHalf of all Americans participated in outdoor recreation activities during 2013, of which 16% or 46.6 million (older than 6 yrs) take part in cycling (Road, Mountain bike, or BMX). Excursions totalled at 2.7 billion and ranked it 2 nd for number of outings (887.9 million) for ages 6-17 yrs [1]. This presents a positive picture in regards to health promotion, yet there are concerns regarding bone health and excessive time spent in a weight supported position in road cyclists [2]. On the other hand, mountain bikes are the most popular bike ridden in the western world [3]. This discipline of cycling not only improves cardiovascular health, but also provides an osteogenic effect greater than both road cycling and normal recreational activity [4].However, this sport does come with it's own risk and the overall injury rate is classed as very high, with 16.8 injuries per 1,000 h exposure [5]. While the majority of these injuries are acute, traumatic, and isolated to the minority [3], it is expected that many overuse injuries are not reported. This is supported by data showing 51.4% of participants completing an endurance mountain bike race suffered symptoms of overuse, particularly in the lower back, buttocks, knees and wrists [6]. Similarly, participants exposed to 4h of intense mountain biking suffered benign paroxysmal positional vertigo without any prior symptoms [7].Purportedly, such negative effects are primarily due to the nonpropulsive work demand caused by shock attenuation, a consequence of negotiating obstacles, and the continuous damping of vibrations. These vibrations are produced via the interaction of tyre surface area with trail surface [8] and are the very same thing that promote the sports osteogenic effect [4]. As such, the vibrations mountain bikers are exposed to are complex in nature, containing many frequencies (generally <50 Hz) in all directions and ranging in amplitude (rms) from 15-20 m·s -1 at the handlebar and 20-30 m·s -1 at the seat post [8].The energy from such oscillating movements must be absorbed or else result in little or no wheel contact, albeit for a very short period of time. Even so, during these small epochs, the transfer of energy from the drive mechanism to the tyre-trail surface interaction cannot occur.In order to negate this negative effect, the bikes mechanical parts and bike rider's soft tissue, absorbs energy in a damping mechanism enabling more efficient forward momentum and thus prevents injury to the axial skeleton. This occurs in the mechanical-biological system, particularly at the point of contact including handlebar-arm; pedalfoot-leg; and saddle-lower back [8]. It is reflected by an increase in upper body muscular work done [9] and likely plays a part in overall decreased economy during off-road compared to road cycling. The continuous nature of which leads to overuse injuries at the joints.Therefore, the challenge for the mountain bike industry is to provide a bicycle that interacts in the most efficient and safe manner with regards to performance and ...