New guide from Reframing MTB offers practical solutions to remove barriers within the mountain biking scene.
A report called “Why Aren’t You Mountain Biking?”, released today, primarily urging trail associations and community groups – but also relevant to individuals – to take steps towards making mountain biking more open and inclusive.
Funded by PayDirt and produced by Ride Sheffield and Mòr Diversity, this guide hopes to offer practical solutions to remove barriers within the mountain biking scene.
The report asks, “Why aren’t you mountain biking?” not as a challenge, but as more of a call to action.
Aneela McKenna from Mòr Diversity: “We believe mountain biking has the power to bring people together, improve mental and physical well-being, and foster a deep connection with nature. However, our research confirms that not everyone feels welcome. Our findings show that 38.4% of all respondents believe mountain biking culture is inclusive. This drops significantly among underrepresented communities: just 22.7% of people of colour individuals, 22.5% of LGBTQ+ individuals, and 19.33% of disabled individuals perceive the culture as inclusive.”
Some key findings
Affordability and knowledge: for those starting out, affordability (22%), access to kit (15%), and knowledge about trails (21%) are significant factors.
Perception of risk: non-riders often view the sport as dangerous and risky, influenced by media portrayals focusing on “thrills and risk”.
79% of respondents discovered mountain biking through friends, family, or partners, underscoring a reliance on personal connections rather than more formal entry points like schools or cycling clubs.
Homogenous representation: the media often shows mountain biking as male-dominated, with a perceived lack of racial diversity. This contributes to feelings of being an outsider for many.
Henry Norman from Ride Sheffield: “This toolkit provides actionable steps, complete with checklists and inspiring case studies from groups like Rider Resilience, Bristol Shredders, and The Adaptive Riders Collective. It’s a testament to what can be achieved when we shift our focus to people, ensuring mountain biking is truly for everyone.”
The “Why Aren’t You Mountain Biking?” report and toolkit are available for download on the Reframing Mountain Biking website – reframingmtb.com
> Trying to persuade others to play our game rather than the game they do play? Do you think “our game" is in finite supply? More people on bikes and mountain bikes is always good, no?
The only people it seems to put off is grumpy people who already own and ride MTBs. I’ve been overtaken, tyre buzzed and cut up by more Strava chasing XC dicks than ebikers.
Meh, Within a wider social context MTBing is a “fad” that’s not to say it isn’t a good thing to get into or indeed that it doesn’t stick with some of us of course, but it’s not the centre of most people’s universe.
The problems it faces currently are a due to the Images that get projected in promotional stuff, people doing rad gnally stuff, that’s probably only 10% of what MTB is as a whole and really only a committed few engage in that regularly. Similarly the cost aspects, you can get a perfectly adequate MTB for a few hundred quid, same as any other flavour of bike, but that’s not what is promoted, instead when punters read round up articles that label £2k bikes as “affordable” and see headline RRPs north of £10k for an E-bike…
Basically a huge chunk of the media output around MTBing is going to put of those who are casually interested or don’t have a couple of grand and every other weekend to invest in the “sport”. Add to that various class/race/gender imbalances (cycling in general is “Stale, Male and Pale’)…
And the existing fans of MTBing can’t understand why they’re not overrun with new riding buddies?
My own take is that people have to already be a bit into riding bikes already to want to understand the various sub-niches of MTB and get into it, the rout for “newbies” into MTBing is increasingly going to be via road, CX and/or Gravel cycling and those entrants are not going to be immediately comfortable with rock strewn descents and jumping over gaps.
I see the word “progression” used a lot on various forums and in MTB related Meeja content and while I’ve perhaps rolled my eyes at another bullshit buzzword entering the MTB lexicon, it’s probably an apt description of what the few people who now take up MTBing are looking for. Structure and measurement for how they’re developing at what, to them, is an established “sport”…
That’s the route by which it grows now unfortunately, much less hacking about in the woods with mates…
It would be “gatekeeping” except these are people already participating who clearly haven’t got a problem with any financial hurdles, they’ve already gotten past any gatekeepers. And yep they are being a bit lazy, that’s OK life doesn’t have to be a constant game of maximum effort, hence e-bikes exist. But if they’re riding about with a chip on their shoulder, sat atop of a very obvious symbol of the financial and technological arms race within the MTB market someone is going to notice and maybe try to bruise their fragile ego with mean words.
It’s like sitting amongst the home fans at a Chelsea game, wearing an Arsenal shirt and getting all uppety when someone says something, you are going to get comments, either learn to deal with it, or find some other activity where participants are completely devoid of all opinions…
When I started mtb’ing in the late 80’s you could buy a reasonable bike for £500 which would go anywhere, and we did ride them everywhere, and learn’t how to fix and maintain them at relatively low cost- we didn’t need x number of high value accessories just to ride our bikes either. What’s happened now in all forms of cycling is that ‘performance’ level good kit has become ridiculously expensive with needless levels of tech and ‘must have’ USP’s of every brand pushing the cost beyond what is attainable for a lot of the population. Cycling has become more elitist, and cynically skewed towards a wealthier ageing demographic, selling fewer units at higher pricepoints -see it in road, see it in mtb, seen it working in the trade. It is not a good look and will bite further down the line. Grassroots is really important for any sport, in our over-commodified world its easy to forget that. Its worth remembering that riding really simple mtb’s (atb’s) is really good too…
I think you missed Xora’s point, which AIUI is that disabled folk who might be interested in trying out ebiking see the stick that the existing ebikers get and decide (rightly or wrongly) that it’s not worth the grief.
It’s not that they’re doing it and finding it annoying, its that they’re put off from trying in the first place.
@doris5000 said it perfectly.
We are preaching to the converted here.
Here’s what I have seen. Youngsters are keen but obviously can’t afford decent bikes. Most parents won’t pay much more than 200 quid for something that might get nicked (kids get more grief than adults) or left in the garden to rust away. I need this 2 grand bike dad, son you better rethink this hobby of yours! Younger generations ability to travel is to some degree dictated by their parents who may or may not be keen to help!
Even within my generation there is a divide of people who just view it as a childish endeavour/waste of time “you going out to play on your BMX" is one the retorts I have had. If you aren’t engaged in more profit, BTL, better house, better car, better holidays most people around my age don’t see any value in it.
Lots of good points above.
In my view
Its get people on bikes and then some may go mountain biking, if they want to.
Bikes are the future to towns and cities, thats the push thats needed.
if you get the bug you will find the biking aspect you prefer.
i remember when some people called mountain biking a ride to the pub back in the 90’s.and most of them do not ride bikes now at all from those I know and they can well afford it.
I also remember searching out grassy paths, embankments beside subways and anythjng not paved when I lived for short time in city and rode around it on my mtb. To make my commute a bit more interesting. It made me feel good maybe a bit different, the yearly trip to a mtb centre was very special.
I also remember putting cow horn handlebars on my road bike as a teenager and riding it off road.
Life evolves and some choose different paths , some bike, some do not. We need to make cycling more normal and everyday.
“Mountain biking" industry media etc does miss the less gnarley stuff and the way you can explore like a walker yet move faster and maybe even push on occasions , its not all about jumps,drops and berms.
Its about riding a bike.
A mountain bike may make some aspects of the sport you prefer to do easier.
Or just get a cheap bike ,ride it to work and then mtb home on the grassy bits!
Maybe do a jump of a kerb.
Its excercise and fun
Oneday you may do what we do and search out more mountain bike stuff,save up for a bike.
I remember a feature of Greg Callaghan doing a DH course.on a road bike faster than an ex Pro roadie on an mtb.
I see my neigbours kid doing (terrible) wheelies outside he is not a mtb rider really and plays other sports . Its his preffered interest.
He may go onto ride more in later life or leave his bike out in the rain like he does now and do something else instead.
Possibly because of lack of publicity and press coverage. Brits won a gold and two silver medals at the European mtb championships and got a small mention on the bbc sport website if you go searching for cycling.
It’s not mentioned on here just things sponsored by RedBull.
To be fair it completely passed me by that the TdF finished last weekend, I watched it on catchup last night!
I think without Wiggins/Cav/Froome cycling’s fallen off the radar a bit so we’re back to Clare Baldings inane commentary at he Olympics once every 4 years.
There is no reason why Singletrack could not have put a report on the front page. They chose to promote a soft drinks manufacturer instead. The editorial here as become very focused on jumpy down hilly bike and is very one dimensional.
It did pass me by TBH as his own disability was noted once in his earlier post, but also lets be honest E-MTBs/E-bikes are really not being marketed to the disabled are they. They’re being pitched as a labour saving version of the bicycle, they’re the new Dandyhorse aimed at those with the cash to throw at fancy (disposable?) Toys, which is fine, but lets not pretend well paid Dentists and Personal Finance advisors rolling about trail centres on £10k E-rigs every other Sunday are an oppressed minority…
At the same time, outside of this forum I don’t actually pick on e-bike riders, I would not say anything negative to the riders of E-MTBs in the real world. I question just how much real life “gatekeeping" E-MTBers are encountering. If you’re taking negative comments received online to heart, close the browser and go ride outside, most people are much nicer off the interwebs.
Personally I blame WB/Discovery, They’ve hoovered up lots of cycling rights and put as much coverage behind the TNT paywall as they can. That doesn’t help general awareness or engagement. There are of course other threads covering that particular issue. It is worth noting though that professional competitive cycling isn’t all there is to cycling…
Plenty of Ebikes available for way less than £10k and I’m still riding my 2018 Vitus esommet so no more disposable than any other mtb
You should have seen my grin riding down from the top of the road from Dylife to Machynlleth this weekend, that road is just incredible.. Or along the B4392 near Hidden Valley with a tailwind, or the stunning B4407. The MTBer’s trope that road riding is joyless watts monitoring is fair to an extent I reckon (MTBer at heart here, rode with a road club a bit and .. nah) but road riding, to someone who simply likes to ride, can be a joy and exhillarating. As well as far more accessible and less dirty/techy/’extreme’ than MTB. Not hard to see why it’s a lot more popular overall, and truth is the dour club roadie is the minority. Trail running is also growing more than MTB. I like it because of the lack of kit needed, it’s simple and it gets you outdoors. I think MTB has become too tech-nerdy for many with all the mid stroke compression this and digital gear tech that – it’s popular with mainly blokes for the same reason engines or model trains are. Simpler is funner. MTB is funnest I agree, but many just don’t get that far into it.
“The editorial here as become very focused on jumpy down hilly bike and is very one dimensional.”
Have you read the magazine in recent years?! It’s mostly about riding bikes to go places and looking at nice views.
I’d much prefer it was like Dirt (RIP) because I might not be a hardcore downhiller (at all!) but I get the time to ride my bike as hard as I can for a few hours a week and I don’t get to go on nice multi-day away trips, especially overseas.
Add “perceived" in front wherever you like…
Cost
Complexity
Knowledge
Lack of proximity to suitable trails
Cultural / social norms and / or barriers
Time constraints
Lack of appetite for danger / interest in scenery / physical challenges
To answer another point we have seen lots of happy roadies this week in the Southern Lakes, many a cheery wave. We’ve also been road riding this week and it’s been lovely, no drive to the trail head or any of that loading bikes in the car pain just grab the bike and bottles, clip in and go.
If you think encouraging people to mountain bike is difficult, try encouraging them to take up trials riding 🤣🤣🤣
Even most mountain bikers aren’t interested 🤣
Lesson one of trials riding: no no no dont ride anywhere, nooooooo stop, stop pedalling… Just stand still perfectly balanced for as long as possible!
Nah you’re alright mate thanks.
Having ridden tens of thousands of miles on my road bike & CX bike (which has been replaced with a gravel bike)… all I can say is riding a MTB is WAY more expensive and time consuming.For starters, maintenance costs are a lot higher. I cycled 915 miles from Land’s End to JOG years ago – all my bike needed was a chain clean when I got back. On the MTB, stuff wears out quicker and needs more attention. With that sort of mileage, I’d need 2x 50h services to the shock and fork… my dropper post. Plus whatever else needs replacing due to mud/crud/water etc. Even if you work on your own bike, there are still additional costs.Also, unless you’re really lucky, you’d need to factor in transport to riding locations – it isn’t free, neither is parking (or entry) sometimes.Then there’s the cost of the kit to transport your bike(s) to and from those locations (depending on your vehicle)… the additional cleaning of your bike because it’s ridden off-road, cleaning your riding gear, and possibly additional cleaning your car too.So it isn’t cheap or hassle free compared to riding from the house.All things considered, it’s not the most environmentally friendly form of cycling either… but it’s suppressing my temptation to un-SORN the motorbike and go tear-arsing round the ‘hood like a yob. 😂
A few musings on an interesting topic from me. I started riding off road when I was a kid, then rally burners came along and then mtbs. Great fun, relatively cheap and although I came from a poor background (sob sob 😄) I did grow up in the countryside, it was my playground…but kids are a too cosseted these days,broads are too busy etc…that’s big barrier as I see it. Even my son’s mates aged around 13-14 many wouldn’t be allowed out to wander on bikes unsupervised now.
Another barrier I see is the image. I am pretty much a roadie these days but still love can xc blast or a gravel ride but xc isn’t cool, I can turn up at a trail centre on my xc bike and get round but I get funny looks in my lycra. My bike isn’t rad but it is affordable. The bike cost barrier is huge, although it doesn’t need to be that huge but the image or to fit in makes it higher.
My son did some xc MTB races when he was about 8-10. OMG the other kids were on 5K bikes, competitive angry dad and his competitive angry son were in full effect. He did a few and didn’t enjoy them in any way, but was happy riding round the woods with me still. Came home from primary school and announced he wanted to do a triathlon (I obviously beat him with big sticks and told him not to be so stupid but he still wanted too). Turned up to a Tri, had a great time in a far more inclusive and encouraging atmosphere. Who would have thought that.
Last week we did the six hour pairs race at 3six12 24. Son was nervous after poor experiences in kids races but in this adult field he was not shouted at, made to feel stupid or slow and had a great time. Note he did a faster lap on an £800 Rock Hopper than I did and a shop loaned £8k Epic Evo! Now obviously to many that £800 bike is too expensive but it does show that you can turn up on a cheap bike and get round and compete even if it looks like you can’t. But how many kids have dads who get beg, steal or borrow bits and bikes from other biking mates?
My partner is heavily involved in trying to get more women into her road club..massive barrier is the worry over fixing, punctures or simple mechanicals. Girls are often not encouraged to ride when young and certainly not encouraged to learn how to maintain bikes. It’s simple sexism. Most girls won’t ride bikes to the school I work at and those that do are thought of as weird. It’s simple sexism holding them back.
and that’s before we start to consider the barriers ethnic minorities experience just getting out in the countryside.
Random musings over….