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So, prompted by some of the comments on the [url= https://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/interview-sam-pilgrim-i-dont-ride-with-girls/#comment-147613 ]How Sam Pilgrim Made Me Jump[/url] article I though I'd ask the question:
What do you class as a 'Mountain Biker' - is it someone who shreds the gnar to the max?, someone who can backflip, can and x-up?, someone who can ride trials?, someone who can smash out 100 miles a day off road?, someone who only rides park?, someone who only rides trail centres?, someone who only owns a fat bike?, someone who can crush the opposition on a XC loop?, someone who will ride whatever they like on any given day - be it XC, trail or a family ride around a country park with their kids? or someone who "only rides Enduro braa"?
I'd suggest that they're 'Mountain Bikers' - just different type of riders. Mountain Biking is as diverse a discipline as I think you can get.
I've ridden with some great fast, technical riders - does it mater that they can't wheelie, manual the length of a football pitch, clear a double, know what setting to change on the shock or forks for every different trail or even set up their own gears?? No - I'd say what matters is they're riding to their ability and enjoying doing it.
I've never ridden a bike park, never done a gap jump, my wheelies and manuals are rubbish - but does that make me less of a mountain biker?
We all learn and progress at different rates, some people just 'get it', other have to work at it and sometimes won't ever 'get it'
Fair play to Hannah for sharing her jumping progress - it's something that I need to work on and plan to this year.
So what makes a “Mountain Biker”?
Someone who gets their bike dirty.
someone who prefers to go offroad. Does not matter what bike they ride or level they ride at as long as it's an mtb.
I would not call someone who rides a BSO offroad a mountain biker though.
So what makes a “Mountain Biker”?
The bizarre urge to label oneself.
Apparently, there are some using this forum! I know! Crazy talk!
I’ve ridden with some great fast, technical riders – does it matter that they can’t wheelie, manual the length of a football pitch, clear a double,
Bet they aren't that fast then 🙂
Enjoy being on bikes in the mud i say and live and let ride!
why do you need to know? just ride a bike.
or are you trying to differentiate between a biker and a bike jouro?
What about people in dry climates? Can they be mountain bikers too?
person who rides a bike on non-tarmac surface and self identifies as mountain biker if it suits them to.
fitness, skill level etc. regularity of participation, equipment irrelevant. There are no rules that govern this.
No need for arbitrary categories. Do stuff you enjoy on a bike, let others do the same and don't get hung up on the names people give to that stuff.
Riding a bike off road. Doesn't even need to be on a mountain or even outside 😉
Owning a flannel shirt. Obvs.
(Can't believe I'm the first to say this. Standards... etc.)
T5 and a wood burner, obvs
Riding a bike off road.
Without an engine? 😀
I like riding bikes in the following locations:
Off road
On road
On purpose built tracks
I dont GAS what you call me.*
*Apart from Louise!!
People keep calling me a cyclist which i'm not.
I ride bikes
For fun.
By definition I would say you have to be on a bike and on a mountain.
therefore...
someone who shreds the gnar to the max? - likely
someone who can backflip, can and x-up? - likely
someone who can ride trials? - unlikely (unless they ride trials on a mountain or also mountain bike)
someone who can smash out 100 miles a day off road? - yes if they do it on a mountain
someone who only rides park? - maybe
someone who only rides trail centres - unlikely
someone who only owns a fat bike? - maybe
someone who can crush the opposition on a XC loop? - unlikely
someone who will ride whatever they like on any given day be it XC - unlikely
, trail - likely
or a family ride around a country park with their kids? - No
someone who “only rides Enduro braa”? - Likely
This video I think sums it up...
PrinceJohn beat me to it!
Taking it off sweet jumps.
a family ride around a country park with their kids? – No
But what if that country park is on a mountain????
I am more of an All Terrain Biker.
Whatever Geex says 😊
I would not call someone who rides a BSO offroad a mountain biker though.
What if they whupped your ass on the trail? Do they still not to get to be in The Pigeon Hole of Righteousness because haven't spent enough money?
T5T6 and a wood burner, obvs
Get with the times.
A BSO isn't a mountain bike so it does not qualify.
So what makes a “Mountain Biker”?
Someone who mountain bikes on a mountain bike.
Someone who gets their bike dirty.
That'll do for me.
A BSO isn’t a mountain bike so it does not qualify.
Tell that to my 11 year old lad's best mate. She has a BSO and is definitely a "Mountain Biker".
What an odd thing to need to confirm / ascertain
Unless op has an inferiority complex
Or is it for the trail centre car park bravado ?
Large chunks of this thread:
I feel bad now for excluding BSO's. Point taken, BSO's are in.
i believe Sartre's Being and Nothingness covers this pretty well
I feel bad now for excluding BSO’s. Point taken, BSO’s are in.
I think the original comment was quite telling though. I've been reading this forum for a long time, and I thought a mountain biker was someone who spends a lot of time fetting about whether their fat tyred bike looks attractive to other people. I think you also have to have a sublimated urge to own a road bike, but every time the subject is mentioned, you loudly proclaim "I hate riding on the road, it's really boring".
ker, me? I've never said that?? I ride on the road too, commuting to town. Although it is on a mountain bike. I have nothing against roadies?
@ OP, someone who rides a bike in the mountains. Surely?
I also think you could ride in town and be an mtber. Take street riding, and trials riders, surley they are mountain bikers too.
Flannel, off road cycling, no motors of any kind.
Theres loads of people id consider mountain bikers.
There's also loads of people I consider dicks on mountain bikes
Too me it's a not about gnar or ability it's more an attitude and a general behaviour. Too me a 7k bike on your blinged t6 who rides trail centrez and has no trail etiquette when out in the real world is a douche.
Some one who us considerate maintains trails and isn't a tit is.
One group on Facebook who organised a group ride by me in rivvy when advised too stay out of the gardens as it had a dig day on replied theyll soon move... that's not mtber that's a ****. Said groups video shows them just being dicks.
So maintain a trail. Be nice to people say hello to other riders and proffer help and assistance when required is.
Or in short ride like a dick not a mtber be a decent individual on a bike mtber..
live and let ride!
I think this - labels don't matter and causing division based on arbitrary and subjective criteria only ever ends in discord.
Whatever Geex says
I certainly won't bother arguing! 😆
Thanks for all the replies.
Just to clarify I wasn't Trolling and didn't intend to label anyone - I ride my bike to the best of my ability, get muddy, have fun and hopefully learn and improve as I go and try not to be a dick/stravawhore/inconsiderate rider whilst doing it.
It was more about the perception between disciplines and attitudes towards those. As I said if you can't jump a 50ft road gap does that make you less of a mountain biker?
I can manual and hop over trail features but can't hold a manual for more than a couple of feet (something I'm working on - badly...) - does that make me any less of a mountain biker?
Does it matter as long as you're out on a bike (be it BSO, retro rig or the latest dentist spec Santa Cruz) and having fun?
Too me it’s a not about gnar or ability it’s more an attitude and a general behaviour. Too me a 7k bike on your blinged t6 who rides trail centrez and has no trail etiquette when out in the real world is a douche.
So "mountain biker" and "douche" are mutually exclusive labels?
I've seen the same sentiment expressed many times about "cyclist": someone who behaves like a dick can't be a cyclist; can't possibly have the same label that the person criticising them awards to themselves.
Bradley Wiggins provided possibly the ultimate example of this snobbery when he said of people killed on the roads: “They are termed under the phrase ‘cyclist’ but they’re not cyclists as such, they are not membership holders of British Cycling.”
You really can't get much more douchey than that.
That's not the sentiment that one was aiming for.
From the outside looking in we are all judged good or bad as mountain bikers or cyclists because we ride mtbs.
From the outside looking in we are all judged good or bad as mountain bikers or cyclists because we ride mtbs.
The point being that the only truth here is that "what makes a mountain biker" is nothing more and nothing less than "someone unilaterally deciding to label someone a mountain biker".
And labelling someone is a douchey thing to do.
I didn't realise 'douche' was a current insult!
Does it matter as long as you’re out on a bike (be it BSO, retro rig or the latest dentist spec Santa Cruz) and having fun?
No it doesn't matter. What's great about MTB and most cycling disciplines is that there's such a low barrier to entry but you can take it as far as you like or are capable of.
A childhood spent outside on bikes & a mid-life crisis?
They're either the ones with the big ears or the smaller ears, I can never remember which is which.