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Just noticed a pic from 10 roughly years back and was from BPW, i was on a Commencal Meta AM130 which was considered a fairly burly bike back there. But my riding hasn't actually changed much at all in the last 10 years, it's still pedal bikes, trail center reds and local stuff. I've tried the bigger bouncer thing with say the RM Slayer and done the days in Belgium and Andalucia etc but generally it's same old stuff.
I'd like to think i'm quicker on certain things than i used to be, but i'm heavier and slower than 10 year ago me on fast XC stuff i'd bet.
I rarely ride mountain bikes at all now, I keep thinking about replacing my 13 year old On One Scandal hardtail but then I realise that I wouldn't ride it any more often than the current 2-3 outings a year that I currently do so don't bother, these days I much prefer taking the gravel bike out and just bimbling through the country side taking in the views and stopping for a pint or two along the way.
I went from xc, to trail to spending loads of time at a bikepark, to enduro trails, to lots of injury and not riding at all. Riding again now, but not much. Less fit, heavier, weaker etc.
I've gone from riding a Ti Inbred to playing Crown Green Bowls!! 🤣
I moved from Lincolnshire to the Tweed Valley in 2015.
That lead to quite a big change...
10 years ago I was doing 80m rebreather dives in the Adriatic and riding my Spesh Camber Comp when the weather prevented diving. Then a series of unfortunate events led to me selling my deathbox and buying my first eBike. I went from doing a couple of hundred miles a year to a couple of thousand and not being knackered at the top of the hills meant I was enjoying the descents even more. I've only ever ridden for the descents and the eBikes mean I get so many more in before I become a danger to myself.
I do miss the diving though... 😥
10 years ago? I think I was mixing crossfit with triathlon, so mainly on the road bike, but taking the Stumpy out onto the trails when I had the chance (like the Jennride!).
Then I moved to Sweden and the riding went to mainly commuting and road bike for the fitness. The Stumpy had a long spell in pieces on the workstand as I rebuilt the rear when and it is only now I am getting back into it. Still doing a lot more road cycling though.
10 years ago I was riding a jones Spaceframe and various other bits of custom niche titanium singlespeedy stuff.
Funnily enough I'm still riding the jones and various other its of niche titanium singlespeedy stuff with ever larger wheels up to monster wagon wheel 36 goodness ( I have added POLE evolink in a couple of years ago for big lumpy jumpy days out) but other than that I'll keep being happily under biked and under geared until my old knees explode and my hands finally turn into little gristly lumps.
it is interesting to see how we have developed over the years. I have had many bikes, from short travel trail, to enduro, to DH and XC. My current bike, a Raaw Madonna is by far my favourite.
I would currently say I am riding far more gnarly things, at a higher pace than i ever have before. Which at 44 years of age surprised me a bit. I am sure partly down to how capable bikes are these days, plus just natural progression. And having taking part in a few events, such as Ard Rock, Ard Moors, Megavalanche and been to places on my bike like Madeira, Italy, France etc, its been a fantastic journey.
Once my broken leg is healed, i will be back on the bike, enjoying many more adventures (Enduro2 in August!)
I rarely ride mountain bikes at all now, I keep thinking about replacing my 13 year old On One Scandal hardtail
Likewise, I haven't ridden MTB in over 2 years and so have just sold my ScandAl Mk2. I kept my Whyte 129 as I decided it would be more fun if I were ever to ride MTB again (and since the wind bears rumours of a pootle, that's reason enough!).
I mostly ride road tandem (with a fair amount of towpaths and occasional light gravel), or commute to work on my Planet X CX bike. I haven't even ridden my "road" bike since early 2024 when Mrs NBT's injury prevented her riding, and even then the last few "road" rides were the first few cycle commutes to our new office that I did on my road bike, before I sorted the cx.
Interesting thread, as with some others, I now only ride road and gravel, infact I sold my last MTB earlier in the year.
10 years ago I had I think an Anthem FS and a Bird Zero HT, plus cx and road bikes. Through a few health issues, some crashes, getting older and losing the desire for gnar, I have now fully transitioned.
It’s now all about getting outside in nice scenery, adventures and fitness. I have 2 nice gravel bikes, one at the MTB end with suspension fork and a dropper (Giant Revolt X) and one more fast trails and bikepacking/touring (Spesh Diverge) and a lovely road bike.
all still bikes though !
10 years ago I was far more of a trail rider chasing times against various other locals and also doing more alps stuff. Then it all dropped off a bit during the covid years but then i bought a 100mm FS bike (Rapide FS)...i love it, wished I'd bought it years early or similar; it became all about the long xc rides, followed by going down the Keep Smiling rabbit hole so the focus is the big rides like KAW, NDW, Cambrian, Eryri, Kernow etc Thats going to keep me busy for a few years and I'm very happy about that 😀
10 years ago I had mates and used to get out regularly.
Slower, breathless, more risk averse, but, still loving the feeling of freedom that I get from riding my ATB ‘s in the British countryside!
10 years ago I had mates and used to get out regularly
Ha yeah, same here. Riding huge, all day XC loops with a bunch of other riders.
Then, in that 10 year period, started taking my son out riding and he got better and fitter as the years went on, culminating in me taking him to the DH Bike Parks (way out of my comfort zone, having started as a 90s XC mincer!), my riding improved greatly as a result. Then some BPW trips with him, such a fabulous time.
Also within that 10 year period, my heart ****ed up and went into AF and the long XC rides were no longer fun... until within the last 3-4 years, bit the E-Bike bullet. Can now have fun on those big loops again. Son is grown and we ride together sometimes, but he's too good for me now 🙂
Most riding is on the Ebikes with my partner, she got one about a year ago, so it's pretty much back to what I used to do in the 90s when I first started!
Most of my riding is still big days out in the hills as I still enjoy the challenge and the ability to clear the mind for a few hours. Two things have had a big effect for me. One is the Covid pandemic, which facilitated spending more time on the bike - the 5 years since have been my best in terms of time and distance. The other is kids, especially my eldest, who is a keen rider. In the last couple of years, mostly because of his influence, I’ve entered my first ever races and also been to Descend for the first time. I’m fitter now than when I was 40.
Hardly any MTB, occasional gravel, mostly commute which is divided between a 20+yr old inbred and new folding e bike.
I need to address the issue of less MTB and return it to something more representative of 10yrs ago.
I've not got fat but I am considerably weaker, arm strength being most noticeable.
Ive gone from an improving middleaged rider to a slower pensioner. Pretty much touring on and off road and gravel only now. Its a fair while since I did any "real" mountainbiking
Still riding round the woods on my 2006 kona... Or the 1997 one if I feel like it. otehr than getting slower/fatter/unfitter not much has changed!
I did go 1x on the drivetrain last time I needed a chain and cassette, but its still 9 speed....
God I must be the bike industries nightmare customer!
10 years ago I'd made the jump to 29" and had a 140mm travel all rounder. Was mainly riding trail centres and local favourites but wasn't getting out as much as I wanted, partly because it was always a drive to anything decent.
My riding changed in Covid when a pal got a gravel bike and started riding loads more than before so I joined in. Moved on from my gravel bikes to XC MTB now but set up very XC so riding from home is fun. TBH I'm probably riding more now than ever and planning on some longer rides over the summer. Still have a bigger bike and have been tempted to swap it for a new one but just don't use it enough to justify the cost. The one I have is modern enough and good enough to cope with the annual visit to BPW and the infrequent trail centre trips. I have a 150mm 650b HT too but really don't use that anywhere near enough atm.
I suppose my riding did swing more to the road/light offroad direction for a while but I'm back doing what I've always done, just more often and with a bit less gnaar week to week?
Thinking about it, I was still riding my retro stuff a bit 10 years ago but since bars go so much wider and geometry so much slacker they have become wall hangers these days.
Following the trend, I ride a lot more gravel and road than 10 years ago but as my mileage has increased I'm probably fitter. I do miss MTB and as I was pushing my Diverge beyond its limits too often I got an Epic Evo two years ago that I love and can cover much greater distances than on my Orange 5, a great rowdy gravel bike 🙂
10 years ago I was riding a Cotic Soul and a Santa Cruz Trc. I was also living in Leicestershire, but managed to get to Cannock to ride the main trails or the Peak District to ride the bridleways most weekends.
Now riding Cotic SolarisMAX and a Deviate HL2, both of which are have bigger wheels, considerably longer reach, slacker etc. We also moved to just south of Sheffield on the edge of the Peak District.
Which in contrast to most means I ride mountain bikes more than ever and I generally ride the steeper off-piste type stuff these days.
I genuinely don't think my riding has changed at all. I was on a Airdrop edit, now a Spesh Enduro, I ride the same trails at pretty much the same skill level. My 'from the door' riding is more mellow, so there's a hardtail for that, but otherwise, nothing's changed.
10 years ago most of my riding was short legs of a mixed mode commute on a brompton, occassional MTB, but got burnt off by my eldest doing the SDW on a "novel" 29" MTB. My Epic was 10 years old and already outpaced by standards.
Now I have graduated to 29" EPicEvo bought in lockdown (the very last bike in the shop). Lockdown allowed me to start riding much more, youngest son older so not so dependent. Started riding my old road bike, which got written off when some tw*t in a mini hit me so I built my first bike as a replacement. Managed to do some alpine climbs a year later. Still have some Ventoux related bucket list entries to tick off.
at 60 I am fitter than i was 10 years ago due to spending more time on the bike, and thinking about fitness and technique a lot more. I suspect the EpicEvo is also responsible for some of the descending PBs as well
10 years ago I was still( amateur) racing all year round (XC,CX RR,TT).
That's now been replaced by big distance rides ,road and off-road.
I still like a bit of speed, but I am even more 'wheels on the ground' these days as injuries take longer to go away.
Interesting when out riding with the younger crew, I still have the eye for a good line,so can ( just about)keep up. 😉 🙂
I rarely ride mountain bikes at all now, I keep thinking about replacing my 13 year old On One Scandal hardtail but then I realise that I wouldn't ride it any more often than the current 2-3 outings a year that I currently do so don't bother, these days I much prefer taking the gravel bike out and just bimbling through the country side taking in the views and stopping for a pint or two along the way.
Are we twins?
Yep, the Soul rarely gets out now, 95% of what I used to "mountain bike" is now gravel bikeable. I look at sexy new MTBs but can't see me having the opportunity to make use of one.
Do a lot more road biking, usually with a club, often leading or sweeping slower shorter rides. I'm slower, heavier and less fit than I was 10 years ago. I want to change that. My time on this planet is ticking away and I'd like to make the best of however long I have left.
My riding hasn't really changed. It's always been local stuff along with Stainburn, Warny/greno, peak, lakes, trail centres. The odd trip to some mountains every now and then. Its pretty on and off though with the big stuff.
In terms of MTB's in 2015 I had a Ragley Blue Pig, then got a Commencal Meta AM, Cotic Solaris, Nukeproof Reactor, now have a Cotic Rocket Max, which has been ridden all of about 3 times since I bough it in Feb! This year has been a bit strange for us and riding has been pushed to the side a bit. Not sure I'm going to get much in the rest of this summer either. Should have saved some money...
My lad isn't as interested at the moment either, as he has loads of other college stuff going on and girls... In feb I also bought him a Transition Sentinal and he's only ridden that a couple of times....we'd been riding loads before then, even got Dyfi and Samoens in last summer. But now its dropped down the pecking order. 😞 College has to come first though.
Similar riding and slightly different bikes for me*.
Riding: still the same 'local' MTB trails, there's more purpose-built steeper/twistier stuff but fundamentally the same riding areas. Less trips to official (7stanes) trail centres but more trips to the likes of Golfie/Dunkeld/etc.
Bikes: 10 years ago I was already on 29ers, but the current take on geometry's been brilliant for my height/preference - I've never had bikes that fit me as well as now. Addition of a dropbar gravel/MTB has been brilliant for riding from my front door. Biggest change probably the addition of an ebike but that's a relatively new thing and still a fringe addition to my riding rather than a dominating factor.
* Biggest impact on changes in my riding happened just over 10 years ago (arrival of mini a11ys) - my comparisons would be quite different had it been to 15 rather than 10 years ago.
I pretty much stopped riding MTB for a few years when my kids were younger, did a bit of road and the odd MTB ride but my skills and fitness all but disappeared. What and where I ride now hasn't really changed too much, it's still mostly "big BMX" DH/park trails at places like Woburn and Chicksands and a couple of local parks that have opened up. I do occasionally ride xc and trail centre stuff which then reminds me I hate doing pedally rides on a MTB, I'd rather be on a road or gravel bike for most of that. MTB is still all about the fun/gravity side of things still for me.
This year especially I've been getting back into riding more regularly and I'm slowly progressing back to where I was on jumps. Back on the singlespeed road bike quite regularly which is massively helping with both fitness and mental health. Singlespeed was intentional to force myself to push harder and not rely on gears and it's working. This is helping the MTB too and riding back up to the top of the trails doesn't kill me now.
Bike wise I'm still on a mid travel & spec "hardcore hardtail" if those are still a thing, only this time it's 29" instead of 26". Still kinda wishing I'd gone 27.5 instead and toying with the idea of building up a Banshee Enigma as a "jib" type of bike. No dropper/gears, more like a bigger slacker jump bike.
10 years ago I was having shoulder surgery after a big stack at BPW the previous year, and being told I may never be able to ride a 'normal bike'again.
9 years ago I rode the Transpennine Trail over 4 days on a Cotic BFe, just to prove them wrong.
Now most of my riding is to and from work and I've not actually done any off-road riding in 2 years. That is about to change in August though, hopefully
I ride a lot more on the road.
I still enjoy MTBing, and still think of road riding as a means to get fitter for it, but ultimately it's all riding a bike in the countryside, whether that's a 300km road epic or an MTB ride in the hills.
I got a bit disillusioned with the direction mainstream MTBing seemed to be going with shorter and shorter rides at destination trail centers (official, unofficial or just general areas) rather than just enjoying going out and riding all day. I'd rather a 4 hour road ride in the Chilterns than an hour in the car each way to Holmbury and 2 hours riding. I enjoy that, and appreciate that I'm fitter than I was so enjoy it more, but it's a nicer special occasion than it was doing it every weekend.
On the negative side, work has changed location by a few miles which somehow has made gravel riding from the door just awkward enough that it just doesn't happen anymore. We used to go out twice a week all year and could probably have picked from five different routes with little overlap and almost infinite variations, now because routes are effectively reduced to a couple of variations as there's a necessary 6-8 miles on the road we just don't seem to bother.
10 years ago I would regularly disappear for the weekend, sleep in my car or camp and do multiple big days in the hills or at trail centres.
Now I mostly just ride in the Deeside area of Aberdeenshire. The riding is really good and the weather is often the best in Scotland. Also, I really can't be arsed sleeping in my car/camping anymore and at 53 I find multiple big days much harder.
Riding wise I think that I am probably better. I feel much more controlled and confident.
10 years ago I had a fat bike, it was my only bike, my riding was mainly local bridalways and trails.
Now I have a (far more expensive) fat bike and a 150mm travel ebike. The fat bike only gets used when riding solo, generally in wetter months. The ebike gets used 10x more on local trails/bike parks and trail centres. All my mates have an ebike as a main bike, most have a regular bike as a secondary. When riding in a group it's very, very rare that we use the regular bikes as you can do so much more in a day with an ebike.
10years ago I would have been shocked, but not surprised at how/when and what I ride now.
Tyre logos are now run at 90 degrees to the rim logo, ride more often, bit more travel front and rear, bigger wheels, travelling further, other than that. Not much.
10 years ago I was riding a Specialized Langster Pro fixed gear on road and gravel. A few bikes/frames etc,. in between but I am now riding another Specialized Langster Pro fixed gear on road and gravel. Langster Pro is my favourite track frame as much lighter than 99% of them meaning my bike is close to 6KG at a low cost.
I have ridden fixed for 25 years and just prefer it and always go back to it.
Good question.
Much less of a change than in the 10 years before that.
In 2015 I was an occasional mid-pack amateur enduroist - but realised I wasn't really enjoying racing and sacked that off in about 2016.
Was just getting onto bikes with modern geometry and have improved my confidence and technical riding as a result of it being much harder to go OTB now.
But I've also started to move back to more XC riding sometimes, following a diversion into gravel. A good way for me to resist the lure of the eeb as well.
I had a long period of almost zero MTBing, instead doing mostly road and gravel. My old Cove got 2-3 outings a year if it was either bone dry or very snowy! That in itself was a product of years of racing, coming home from a weekend at an NPS and having to hose off a ton of mud, wash all the kit, strip half the drivetrain. Got bored of that and refused to ride in the mud and rain. Or indeed if it might be muddy or looked like it might rain! 😉
Eventually, after occasional thoughts of "I could convert it to a 1x..." etc, I eventually sold it on ebay; it actually went to a really sound guy who was well into retro bike tinkering, conversions, parts swapping, buying/selling and so on so I hope he had fun with it!
I do now have a modern MTB, just an entry level thing but it's really fun to ride. I'm quite glad I stopped with all the racing and the continued spiral of upgrades. Now it's mostly just a day at a trail centre or some short local evening blasts.
Riding, not changed, still map based mainly xc, some quiet roads explorer.
bikes, changed, from a 2006 orange 5 that I owned from new to a variety of e-bikes since 2018.
10 years ago this week we picked up the van so as to be able to make Abigales race weekends more enjoyable and hopefully more affordable 🤔
I was riding a 650b Enduro and trying to ride it like I stole it 🤪
Today riding a mixture of 29er or mullet.
In the ten years I've ridden in places that I would never have imagined then and ridden trails i never thought i would have been good enough to get down
My girls have grown up but still keen to ride
Retired early this year due to Kevin's injury so spending even more time in the mountains and hills.
I would like to think im a better rider now than then.
Still can't get enough of it. Still trying to ride it like I stole it.
Type of riding not changed too much - xc on a short travel fs still my fav in the UK. Don't do as many away days to ride more descent-focussed stuff, but I'm still miles better on that because the bikes are so much better. This actually does create a virtuous circle of skill reinforcement and improvement, ime - being under-biked on stuff you find hard is a big obstacle to improvement.
Rode with my kids a lot for MTBing in recent years, which I guess is the big change of focus.
It hasn't changed much in style in 30 years to be honest, the amazing thing is as soon as the ride starts - it still feels just like it did as a teenager. In reality I ride less far, do less dodgy things, and now climb at 200W not 300W- even though without the metrics I'd never know or care... in that way, bikes are like time machines in a good sense, you could package them like an anti ageing cream.
10 years ago I was riding/racing a 650b Giant Reign & using my 50km round commute for training.
Big group of local riding mates, we rode most weekends together & a whole load of racing over the UK and other places. Time moved on & everyone now has families, but we still get together a few times a year to ride.
I race a whole lot less now than then, but seem to do better (R&R tells me of the last 10 or so races I’ve done, I’ve won 3 of them, podiumed a few more) - which is basically all the racing I have done post Covid, where it was 10 or so races a year back then.
Bikes wise, well I never ride road now, and my Epic8 has better geometry than my old Reign, otherwise I’m on a ebike. Still have a mid travel bike but that doesn’t really seem to get used any more.
I would say due to the nature of MTB the riding has progressed to riding harder stuff, way more consistently, but I bet I’m a few kilos heavier & a bit unfitter than I was 10 years ago now.
Pics are a good idea 🙂
2015 me, on my first FS 29er:
2025 me, riding a mullet FS down Beinn Ghlas:
10 years ago I think i got to Woburn ever week for a quick blast. I think I must have done short rides on the road too.
I now mainly ride from the house which has far more options than one might expect in Bedfordshire. But i raerly ride the MTB trails at Woburn. I mosty ride a drop bar bike with biggish tyres. Is it gravel or old school XC? No idea and it doesn't matter.
I have also got into doing a bit of bike packing and longer events. I'm not fit, as in race fit, or big mountain day fit. But I'm fitter than i was 10 years ago. A few times a year I get to to places with my MTB
10 years ago I was on the steel HT Sanderson, and much riding was with kids. This one is now in NZ riding bikes and boards, so he's moved on...
Big change for me is replacing a hybrid for commuting with a 'do it all' tourer and actively enjoying some road rides, touring and gravel type riding, not just MTB.
I still MtB, I am not as fit, but I'm still quick enough particularly downhill....
I had just spent 6 months with my first cx bike (still going) this was to compliment the Cannodale HT and Spesh Camber FSR in the garage. It was much more suitable for the riding I was doing round my local area, I ended up only taking the Camber with me on holidays or when travelling in Scotland with work.
The MTB's both got stolen (my second lot to be nicked) and I've never replaced them. Bought a nice road bike for my 50th with the insurance money.
I still read the mag, still browse the shops, still read reviews online but cant find the space in the garage for a 29 inch bike the size of a motorbike. Maybe one day.
Conversely my mate who only started riding 15 years ago is now on to his 7th bike and 2nd emtb. hes 67 next year and is getting more in love everyday, not long returned from a week up in Scotland riding Skye and islands.
Much the same as 10 years ago - and, indeed, 35 years ago. Only differences are that a) my bike now is, in real terms, the cheapest I've ever owned and also the best and b) I'm fitter in my late 50s than I was in my early 20s, precisely because I ride bikes without a motor doing the heavy lifting for me. Good ride out the front door today for a productive June (860km, 12452m climbed, all avoiding roadie slogging - best thing I ever did was getting rid of the road bike and the limitations it imposed on me).
Yikes, my two comparable bikes 10 years apart are quite a comparison...
- Travel F/R: 160/155 vs 170/162
- HA: 67.5 vs 62.0
- STA: 75.0 vs 78.8
- ETT: 617 v 660
- Reach: 445 vs 535
- Stack: 631 vs 634
- CS: 430 vs 453
- WB: 1183 vs 1351
- Weight: 15.1kg vs 17.3kg
- Dropper: 125mm vs 200mm (soon to be 240mm)
My MTBing hasn't changed much but the MTB world around me has. I/we still ride with a club most weekends but over half are now E-bikes which means Madame is off the back and pedalling hard rather than comfortably in the middle of the pack, we persist. There's no general motivation for long club weekends in Ainsa/Basque Country/Med... . It's all from the club hut. My last race was in 2015 but we still do organised "randos". The MTB tandem was sold before I crashed it - I was finding it harder to hang onto and didn't want to hurt Madame - zero crashes on the tandem in twenty years was a record I didn't want to end badly. Bikes - no change since 2016 - carbon 27.5 Zestys.
Covid in March 2000 did me no good at all, susequent infections hampering the slow recovery since. 5 years on I've rejoined a roadie club and I'm holding my own.
Cycle touring: long weekends happen but fewer long tours. We're happier walking long distance than riding these days. We've got some ideas though. 🙂
My riding has changed quite a bit. I have been back on road bikes since covid mostly for my very short commute but for fun too. E bikes have made a difference, so that although I now live near a trail centre I don't ride there very much. I aways preferred more remote and natural riding anyway and with the e bike the longer distances have become possible again despite being past 60 now.
Still riding the same stuff I rode 10 years ago, local woods, trail centres and bike parks, still have and ride one of the bikes (well, frame) I had 10 yrs ago, but have other, more nicherer bikes as well now.
plus I commute by bike a lot more now. On a gravel bike.
10 years ago my riding was with my kids. Now they’ve got cars so I ride alone. 🙁
I’m surprised how much I’ve taken to longer, slacker bikes - was much more lighterweight, XC focussed ten years ago.
I've gone from riding a Ti Inbred to playing Crown Green Bowls!! 🤣
Time for whisky & a service revolver?
10 years ago i was mainly riding road as I had been volunteered to do Ride London. Most riding had tailed off in the 5-10 years before that then did the same post Ride London. Have started to ride more after volunteering at a disability riding group and going back to more xc orientated riding at the moment.
10 years ago I was riding a 26er Orange Five and a 29er Trek Cobia hardtail. Now its a Privateer 141 and a Ragley Bigwig. Mostly rode XC with the odd trail centre visit BITD. TBH my ridings not changed dramatically, but evolved. Don't ride so much XC now as living in the Calder valley lots of it is enduro-esque 'winch and plummet' (hate that term 😆 ) In the various woods we've got. I'm definitely a better rider than I was but the bikes are much more capable to be fair!
10 years ago I was bagging KOMs, now I'm making mountains out of molehills.
I cannot believe how slow I am - not that I ever had a fast top speed but I'd keep up a decent pace over distance. It seemed to happen so suddenly as well, I can almost imagine a day when I went 'no need to keep pushing'.
I do more road - or sort of off-roadish - than ATB these days, and my 'mountain bike' is a rigid Whippet, kind of like the first MTBs I rode.
My only complaint is that I now live somewhere with great off-road stuff nearby, and I don't have the energy to do it. When I had the energy I lived in Milton Keynes! Oh well.
10 years ago I was only riding a road bike (and only 1k km at that) as my Canyon mtb was knackered. Even that basically stopped until I built up an old Giant ht at the start of Covid from spares. That got me enjoying riding again so I bought a Bird Aether 9 which has been great. I'm back up to about 5k km a year on road and mtb, and am riding technically as hard as I ever have.
Good thread.
I don't think my riding style has changed much over the past 10 years, still probably ride at about the same level of skill and shy away at similar levels of gnarliness. I mostly do mountain bike rides from my doorstep now, part of it is moved to a better location for it, part of it is a bit less time/energy to flump all over the country to different places each weekend. Mostly ride on my own now too. Bike-wise, still have the bikes from that era, but also a 29er - didn't really find it to make much difference.
Outside of mountain biking, I've picked up doing a lot more long distance stuff now. Longest audax I'd done up until 2015 was a 200k, and since then I've done two PBPs, an LEL, and a few ultras.
A fairly recent revelation is folding bikes. I used to commute every day (~35 miles round trip), and so having a fairly fast and efficient bike was a priority. I still want to use bikes as transport, but I'm a little less concerned with going as fast as possible. Folding bikes are awesome tools for the job.
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Nearly forgot gravel riding! Gravel bike probably gets taken out more than any other bike.
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[Edit2]
Also forgot indoor training. Smart trainers and Zwift have definitely made getting through winter much more pleasant.
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I think I'd just retired or was about to retire my knackered old Cotic Hemlock, which I had built up as beastly as it could be with coil lyrik dhs, an angleset, all that good stuff but was still feeling its agee. And then either on a BMC Trailfox, super capable ahead-of-its-time enduro 29er that I did not like at all and which I was delighted to have stolen, or a Trek Remedy 29 which was absolutely awesome and which I only replaced 2 years ago.
I think by 2014/15 it was a case of "the future is here, just unevenly distributed", long low and slack and sorted 29ers were out there but a lot of bikes still weren't close, I was pretty lucky I guess and just happened to try some of the right bikes at the right time. Honestly I could have ridden that Trek til the end of time, it was an erratic jumper because of the funky shock but everything else was ace, my current Bird is barely any better at anything except for that.
Riding, only real difference is I just cannot be arsed to push up any more. I went full #enduro in about 2010 (again pure luck, got on the innerleithen mtb racing enduro train at almost the first stop) and never really looked back. The bikes have got a bit better but that just means I shit my pants a little bit less often. Still can't jump.
10 years ago I was cycle commuting on a hardtail, with a short minimum commute distance but regularly extended that with varied routes that I'd race around as fast as possible, with a couple of slow days. It formed my not-serious training for a handful of cross country races, getting mid pack results in races raging from an hour long to four hours and occasional six hours.
Now I ride a rigid hybrid on a longer commute but rarely extend it at all. I don't often race around on it, other than short sharp bursts. I rarely vary the route. I still ride off-road on my commutes (daily this time of year) and still have fun doing so - rutted farm tracks have seen quite a lot of erosion this year, making them a bit more interesting.
I ride a trials bike (pedal powered) at weekends in my back garden and that's much more likely to happen than going out on the MTB. It's just massively more convenient (need to drive for decent mountain biking), far les time consuming, intense (mostly slow speed) technical riding compacted into a short space of time. Views aren't much, but I'm enjoying the process, despite how difficult it is and how slow I feel I progress. More importantly the skills transfer to MTB so when I do go riding MTB (for instance in Spain earlier this year - a rare trip abroad) it doesn't take too much to get back into it.
One thing that hasn't changed - I'm still commuting on a 26" wheeled bike.
Ten years ago I had a 14 month old, a 26er single pivot and a strong sense of self preservation.
Now I'm a middle aged dad of 2 and I ride my 29er Enduro barge like I've had a lobotomy.
Expecting I'll wreck myself soon enough.
Oh, another thing thats changed is now I rarely carry a bag on a mountain bike. Switched to a hip pack a few years back, and now I'm mostly completely bag-less. One of my main reasons for buying the 29er was in-frame storage.
10 years ago I was in my 2nd year of racing enduros in Scotland. It felt like there was a real buzz about it . I was always rubbish at it but it definitely helped improve my riding to some extent and it encouraged me to work on my fitness in order to manage 2 days of riding. One of the things I loved about it at the time was it felt a great way of finding out about off piste type trails in a new area , Strava was around but I don't think trailforks was so finding the good stuff was maybe a bit harder , now with trailforks and YouTube etc etc I think it's probably easier to find those kind of trails without the need for events to showcase them .
As for now , well we moved to the North Island of New Zealand 2 years ago and I suppose my riding is still kind of enduro style although last year was the first year I didn't race any in a long time but that was more to do with the format of the local series , that will change this year as the old organisers are back and I preferred they're way . The main difference is now I'm not necessarily interested in riding harder stuff anymore, I have a much more enjoyable time riding slightly easier stuff a bit better than making hard work of a harder trail if that makes sense .
The best change is that my eldest is 12 now and enjoys riding enough that we can have a good day out together, as long as we use the shuttles for the climbs 😁
I've been mountain biking for 30 odd years now and whilst I've got a gravel bike which I use fairly regularly on the road it's still riding mountain bikes on singletrack and that feeling of being in the great outdoors that gives me that hit that means I don't think I'll ever stop , I hope not anyway.
Ten years ago I was bombing around the flatlands of Lincolnshire on my 26" BFe.
Now I'm bombing around the coastal mountains of British Columbia on my RocketMAX
For a while in the middle, around covid, I did a lot of road biking.
It was all great fun.
I was still riding 10 years ago before my awkward injury induced break. Still riding the same old 26" wheel bike that I'm still riding now. But then it didn't seem like such an old bike. It seems ancient now.
Have tried a bunch of 29" and mullet bikes now and I'm definitely getting a new bike or two. Currently veering towards a 'proper' enduro bike, short travel XC bike and a gravel bike.
Planning on doing some big rides next year, with the aim of building up to something like Badlands in a few years time.
10 years ago, I was on my '09 Orange 5, which came in right before widespread 1.5" headsets and the gradual death of 26", 3x10 drivetrains, etc. I wasn't riding much at the time, young children imposing a lot of time constraints. Experienced a lot of FOMO, given that this coincided with the rise of enduro and an accompanying explosion of trail building.
Thankfully, kids get older. In 2019 I managed to get a hold of a new bike and set about rejoining the party. Today, I mostly ride enduro-style stuff (Aberfoyle, Dunkeld, Tweed Valley, etc.), with the odd uplift day, or big day in the mountains (Highlands or The Lakes). I occasionally spend some time trying to get less-shit at jumping. Currently riding a Stumpy Evo, which seems a pretty good compromise for all of the above.
Finally had the time and resources to book a dedicated riding holiday abroad this year, and it's been a good motivator to get out as much as possible. Feels good to be getting better at something in my mid-40s. I'll never be FAST-fast, but I still love it. Will keep it up until my body tells me otherwise.
Another, less-welcome difference is the fact that I now ride alone, pretty much exclusively. Riding mates have largely aged out of the game, got into other riding disciplines, or just don't have time between work and family pressures.
10 years ago it was mainly trail centres and a DH bike in the Alps for holidays. Now it's an Enduro bike in Spain for holidays and rarely visit trail centres mostly natural stuff. I ride harder stuff but that may be due to bikes being much better. Lot more gravel bike rides, bought an eBike this year for big mountain days, self uplift, bikepacking trips in UK every year, credit card tour in India later in the year. Gave up ice climbing and trad as my elbows are pretty shagged, I miss climbing but bikings all good.
Bigger Jumps with no fear
10 years ago was around the time of my first Bike Park Wales trip shortly followed by my first capable trail bike. Prior to that it was mainly riding a cheap hardtail far harder than it was designed to and constantly breaking them.
2016 was my first time dabbling in enduro. Since then I've done a fair few enduros but drifted away as events got stale and venues disappeared.
Uplift days became more frequent and I bought a downhill bike off the back of amazing Morzine trips in '18 and '19. Since Revs closed I got out of the habit of uplift days and I've not made the time since it reopened. Dyfi never quite filled that void and Dirt Farm is just that bit too much of a drive. It's been over a year since the DH bike left the garage.
Who knows what's next? I'm riding less than ever and don't think I'll bother racing again, but hoping that passion and motivation that I've had in the past re-emerges.
10 years ago this week I was sat at work following a mate do his first megavalanche... I was riding a 140/140 Nicolai Helius AC, that then got bumped to a 150/160 arrangement with a bigger fork upfront when I did my first mega in 2016.
I was commuting to work again, very similar to now on my (t)rusty specialized langster, and had also started racing BMX the year before. I was crap at BMX so after a few crashes gave up pretty quickly to watch my son ride at a much higher level than me!
Back then I was mainly a trial centre rider with some days in the peaks. Now I ride less trial centres, but do the odd uplift day and I'm now sat at my desk following a mate who is in the Alp d'Huez again this week. We're all going back next year (well that's the current plan) for my 6th go at it and my 50th birthday.
Now riding a Geometron G1 and I'm setting faster times up hill than when I was 39 on a heavier bike. A few descent times have fallen as well, but I wonder if I'm slowing down in terms of reaction times etc.. Feel far more confident, I'm sure I'm a better rider, and it still feels quick, but aging is possibly catching me.
Not riding enough at the moment due to life events, but I am planning on squeezing time on the big bike back to a more favourable level over the course of the next 12months...
Won't be returning to 20inch bikes any time soon!
I've gone from: XC MTBing> purely road riding> Triathlon
(bring it on)
Up until this year I would have said that I’m riding the same stuff but much much less often. The only regular riding in last few years has been dadcountry. But this year has been 3-4 times a week doing what I did before but with an ebike
10 years ago, I'd already sold my Stumpjumper HT Expert a few years prior. A 26" 11.5 kg (ish) bike with 90mm of travel.
All I remember is it being great at climbing... not so great at technical stuff (due to lack of grip, skill and huevos). So it was used for fast and light duty, covering distance without exploring anything that might spit me off the bike.
After going down the Chimney (Quantocks) backwards - I thought I'd better not push it. How I ended up backwards, I'm not sure. 😂
My alter ego back then:
Today - I have a FS bike with 29" wheels, gripper tyres, 110/120mm travel. It weighs at bit more at 12.7kg, but heck it's a lot better at doing the stuff I was too scared to do all of those years ago. And yes, I can go down the Chimney without somehow doing a 180 on the way down... I guess I can't complain.
My alter ego now:
I guess some things never change. 😂
In 2015 I vaguely knew of Strava, but didn't think I had a device to record on (except I did, my Nexus 7 2013 tablet), plus I was rarely cyle commuting after my Xmas '13 RTA (where I turned my teeth/jaw into a jigsaw and fractured two metacarpals, piling into the back of a stationary rubbish collection lorry on a storm warning day just three days after turning 40, ended up in the Wessex Rehab Unit at Odstock Rd Hospital Salisbury Mon-Fri for five weeks). RTA bike (Specialized Tricross Singlecross) hadn't been ridden since RTA (sold to TimP on here eventually), my Alfine hybrid (Saracen Pylon8) had developed a crack around most of the seat tube junction with top tube, was using better half's Saracen Zena 2 hardtail until it was nicked within 2mins of starting a shop in Sainburys. Was terrified on my Felt F5C road bike after RTA, barely used.
2016 I got the Voodoo Wazoo, those huge tyres and hydraulic brakes gave me so much confidence back. Got a set of FatNotFat 29er wheels for them, plus a load of other bargain upgrades, made it a fraction over 10Kg!
2017 got my first hydraulic brake road bike and discovered the South Downs hills were less than 60mins ride away after being in Southampton ~25 years. Replaced Nexus 7 2013 with Sony Smar****ch 3 to record rides on, but not great, bought a Lezyne Enhanced Super GPS. Dropped to ~73Kg from being ~95Kg the previous summer, havig started "fitness cycling" in earnest in Jan '17. Turbo trainer (Elite Direto) and Zwift just before Xmas '17. Did a crazy ~75 mile loop from Warminster station to Mendip hills on 29ered fatbike on first day of Center Parcs hol November, got lost due to poor mobile connection, but reached villa just as going dark and very tired.
2018 Did my one and only 100-miler, climbing most popular categorized climbs on western side of South Downs (9000 feet), while carrying a ridiculously heavy rucksack of bits including an extra 2l of water!
2019 Got my first pair of 3-bolt shoes/pedals and then promptly wrecked my knee for at least a month by not setting them up very well for my bow legs.
2020 Got myself back down to ~76Kg around late Jan, having been ~80Kg since spring '18. Felt like a machine on the bike. Then covid hit household week before lockdown. Fine during, but cronic fatigue for weeks afterwards. Took a while to regain lost fitness, but managed ~300W up long Cheddar Gorge segment and Burrington Combe in Sept '20 hol. Did my first cat 2 climb, 6.9 miles Road To Hell from Denbigh to Llyn Brenig.
2121 Was a health rollercoaster, each of three covid vaccine jabs hit my for six for at least a fortnight, started wondering if it was worth trying to get fitness back everytime I lost so much in weeks after each jab. Then got proper flu Nov for a month and I've lost everything fitness wise, ~100W was a struggle for an hour, took until end of year to think maybe I could ride South Downs hills again the following year.
2022 Started gradually including increasing amounts, sometimes back to back, of super short Zwift races. Started to feel a bit like early '20 and for a change I didn't get my usual March lurgy that would knock winter gains back a bit. I was back challenging my segment times from '17 and '18 despite being 83-80Kg. Brief lurgy just after the insane heatwave hot me a bit. My last segment challenge with power data was on Queen Liz's funeral. Then got covid in last week of September that tested positive for ~3 weeks and left me a mess, with long covid that still plagues me to this day. Misplaced Lezyne Mega XL on train minutes before getting off at Warminster.
2023 Limited to ~30min very gentle rides, often on turbo. Increased duration towards end of year. Piling on weight. Lezyne Super Pro bought in CRC fire sale for £26!
2024 Tried to do more, mostly on the turbo, odd longer ride outdoors that left me with PEM. Hired ebike at Center Parcs than enabled me to do a ~3 hour ride without PEM. More weight gain.
2025 Another ebike hire at Center Parcs, bought my GT eGrade Bolt not long after, caught respiratory infection day it arrived for two weeks and then a 2.5+ week infetion a few weeks after recovery from first one! Now done more 20+ mile rides and visited the western South Down hills more on the Bolt than rest of time since September '22 put together. All time high of 98Kg in early Jan, now struggling to get under 95Kg, increased ebike riding without an infection should help hopefully.
I was managing one or two away trips a year and the odd race back then, but with two more children and work being busier and also making music again I don’t really have the opportunities much.
I’m doing some more XC rides and less night riding because my regular riding window has moved. Still happiest smashing singletrack!
I was riding a geared full-sus and geared hardtail. I now ride an ebike and a singlespeed hardtail.
I don’t think I’m any slower up or downhill and I think my mediocre drop/jump skills are no worse (riding the same stuff, crashing less, still setting the odd PR).
Would be nice to get to ride more though! Am hopeful that my new commute will get some more riding and tech/jump progress in…
Started riding again properly in 2014 a couple of cheap hardtails (Cube LTD ) then an Orange 5 . Lesters old 2013 Orange 26 inch one ..awesome bike .
Up until 2021 I really didnt seem to give two monkies if I fell or came a cropper but a right bad day with a couple of big tumbles changed that a little . I still like a good mountain hike a bike and a few road miles but no longer interested in chasing KOMs . Im much happier spending a quick hour for miles or an all day epic involving peaks and slower sketchy descents ticking mountains off .
Same doorstep riding in and around the Stroud valleys, gone from a short travel 27.5HT & CX & commuter to a short travel 29 FS & 20" folder. The last few years I've reduced my distance and ascent. 1hr - 3hrs (max) is all I'm doing currently.
10 years ago I was riding a fuel x8 round local trails and trail centres. I was also riding the odd sportif (the Fred, Etap de Dales etc) and riding the cross bike to be able to race the 3 peaks. And surfing a lot. These days I pretty much only mountain bike (Occam); local trails, moors lakes and dales. Alps again end of the week. Still surfing, started climbing again, a bit. Age is not making any of it easier. I'll road bike again when I get even older and stop enjoying the above. I'm sixty ****ing two and wondering how it happened
10 years ago I was riding a 26" Superlight and a 27.5 Bronson, regular Peaks rides and occasional weekends away with mates. I was also dabbling in road and gravel riding to keep fitness ticking over in between mtbing. These days I have sacked off the road and gravel and don't worry about fitness and pushing my limits any more but my motivation to ride and the kind of mtbing hasn't changed, I still love woodland singletrack and riding techy rocky stuff. For me a huge difference is how capable modern bikes are, making me much more comfortable and capable with the tech. Still riding, still loving it, I find I'm doing less of the peripheral stuff (road, gravel, riding data, fitness etc) and condensing riding down to the core where my motivation is