[Closed] WTF happened to mountain biking

If it matters what you ride, you're riding with the wrong people!

To be fair... as a 'ride what you got' kinda biker... do we care about people with more money than skill? Nah man... just go back to riding, you'll find the kinda heads you like biking with. They're still out there, except they're riding their bikes.
[edit] What Mosey said. [/edit]

well... I generally ride on my own these days. Went to Forrest of Dean bike park the other day... Jesus WTF.... I am sure they spent more time thinking about how they would look than riding... Pads even on their cammel toes 😯

No posers in kitesurfing of course and everyone using 5 year old gear too, oh and riding to the beach on their Raleigh shopper

Is that you Graeme?

You need to go on the CX website/forum

it's OK to feel ashamed of your halfrauds special.

2/10 Fairly poor very little swearing and too much spelt correctly.

Did you copy it from one of the hundred other threads where somebody gets all upset that stuff changes.

We used to smoke some puff and hit the table tops on bmx's or any old crap and now it's all fat old guys riding around "slurrey hills" etc...

All the progress and innovation you've missed has gone into making those who want to ride faster and harder, ride faster and harder - and safer. There are lots of riders out there that have bought into it without the need for the gear.

they're all wearing crazy shit

I did chuckle at how many power rangers were at cannock the other week. And yes along with local stuff I also ride the odd trail centre 😯

That is one of benefits of riding solo (and a lot of people do looking at the riding solo thread.

Although I like to have a nice bike the nice bike is solely to please myself and what it 'should' be like has no bearing on what it is like. Probably explains why I still ride 26" wheels, steep angled geometry etc,. because that is what I like.

The high money, latest and greatest groups are found in any sport aren't they and maybe MTB has followed them or maybe they were always there. I think it has increased (along with road) but better for people to be out on bikes that not.

Welcome back Grumpf.

Ah, the inverse snobbery. You'll fit in well here.

And out since 2006? Bugger all has changed since then.

Nothing's changed.

0% APR still allows men to distort their perspective on what is good value/being ripped off. I remember buying a bike frame in 2005 for £899. However........Fast forward to 2015 and I bought a bike frame for... The same price! Merci Commencal 8)

All the progress and innovation you've missed has gone into making those who want to ride faster and harder, ride faster and harder - and safer.

Lakes MRTs have highlighted a significant increase in callouts to mountain bike incidents. Just sayin,' like.

Safer? Missed that bit. At A&E the triage nurse told me that they class Rugby and MTB injuries as 'self inflicted'.

Biking has changed, the sheer numbers of people buying into enduro is huge. Everyone thinks they're a weapon now. They also think they need full facers for spooky wood and that certain trails CAN'T be ridden on hardtails.

It's all very odd.

Wait till you try and buy some tires...

Intimidating other forest/outdoors users. An older rambler once said to me ' you know you lot are quite intimidating'. Depressed me abit. 6foot blokes padded up, haring around chasing strava times. I agreed with her. As for Cannock. Well, don't need to go there in many many ways.

Top trolling by op 🙄

Just had a look at his history.

The high money, latest and greatest groups are found in any sport aren't they and maybe MTB has followed them or maybe they were always there. I think it has increased (along with road) but better for people to be out on bikes that not.

#troll

Thread over kids. 😆

billygoatgruff - Member
so... been out for 10yrs... went to kitesurfing, getting back into mountain biking..

WTF... they're all wearing crazy shit and riding around on £4,000 wa^k machines.

Yeah, bunch of pansies, but you still can be "authentic".

Buy a Surly 1x1 singlespeed - they have barely changed since they were introduced in 1998 - fit a set of Dirt Wizard tyres and you'll have a bloody good bike.

How you dress is up to you. A tutu is recommended if you fit gears. 🙂

Fat blokes get a hard time in this sport. I suppose we should just stay indoors. Sigh.

my current bike is a carbon wonder sled/enduro gnarpoon/quiver killer but with 26 wheels

You've got a bike with 26 wheels? I feel hard done by, mine only has two

Ah! Explained by this ...

Fat blokes get a hard time in this sport.

Well apart from sumo wrestling and darts what options are there? 😉

Go back to kitesurfing. You won't be missed.

What a yaaawwwnnnful effort.

Enthusiasts in over expenditure on hobby shocker.....

I can't understand why folk spend £4K on a bike. I mean, why wouldn't you buy a nice one?

<ignoretroll>

Since when did it matter what your rode

Get back under your bridge.

They also think they need full facers for spooky wood

Why does this bother you so much? I have a couple of friends who choose to wear full faces, they don't ride very often but like to have fun on the jumps and chew their own food when they get home . Does it make them inferior? Does it prove something about you by not wearing one?

Biking became popular and accessible to the masses and that's a good thing. If people don't like it they can go and find a new niche to adopt. If people want to spend the money that they earned on nice stuff then good for them. I wish I could. Just ride what you've got and have fun. There are plenty of people riding old stuff or cheaper stuff.
A £1k bike nowadays is pretty good compared to what was available 10-15 years ago, we just forget that and look at the really shiny new stuff. New Deore destroys old XT and in some cases it is old XT

Was out for a few years, only things I noticed was more suspension, More gears and slacker head tubes.

Oh and better protection, which can't be bad!?

Cheers, Steve

+1 to the whole, entire world.

billygoatgruff

what a choice user name...

Haven't bought any new MTB gear for a few years now, and all that seems to have changed is bigger wheels and more cassette sprockets. I haven't noticed any genuine enhancements really. Prices seem to have risen disproportionately with other things. I think MTBs reached a pinnacle of design about 5-10 years ag, and anything 'new' seems to be little more than marketing fluff.

Nothing's happened to MTBing. There have always been people obsessing about gear, there have always been kids hanging around the local woods smoking and doing jumps.

Something's happened to you though - you've got older 🙂

Well apart from sumo wrestling and darts what options are there?

Lol, quote of the week 🙂

FWIW the bikes in my garage are going to be 10 years old this year. Still riding them, doing some new stuff from time to time though.

Best new thing, in my opinion is the dropper post.

I have 26" and 27.5", 2x9 and 2x10. I just like to ride.

As far as the clothing goes, I quite like sport specific clothing. I wouldn't go jogging in my jeans. Yes, I used to ride bmx in my jeans but I much prefer tear proof short and pads now. If I do fall off (at my age) I like to have the best chance to be riding again asap. Mate fell off at the track, jeans and no pads, out for three weeks with a busted knee. He looked sweet though.

All this 'mincers in the car park' stuff. Live and let live. Life's too short.

I remember when there was good trolling on here. This is just amateur.

er, perhaps if you had spent less time getting smashed off your head, and more time learning / working, you could also afford to buy a £4k gnarpoon....... 😉

And besides, for every "all the gear, no idea" rider i see, i genuinely see 10 others who have much more average bikes and ride them properly!

Finally, affordablilty and "value for money" are not the same thing, and are different for everyone.

Me? I can afford a very nice bike indeed, yet i know full well it doesn't offer as much value for money as a cheaper one, but so what. It's my money, my choice. The bit the Trolls don't see is days like today, a sunny sunday, when i'm stuck behind my computer writing code for some tests that have to start on monday. Makes me Cash rich, time poor.......

I've been out paced on many a rugby pitch and mountain bike by 'fat blokes'...it boils down to fitness and not weight.

I buy what I like and within a budget I can reasonably afford. If folks don't like it...then f##k off

I was in Dales yesterday and they had a full sus, fatty e-bike. Honestly, I'm a bit perplexed by it all.

I sort of sit on the edge of the Mountain Biking world

Looking in I do worry that the kit getting better could damage the sport. I know that seems stupid but it seemed to happen in Windsurfing. The kit got better and the sport got more exciting, but the price of the kit then becomes a barrier to entry and anythin less than a windy day is boring. Its still true that you can buy windurfing kit for next to nothing that is better than ever. But when everyone else has better kit than you it's not quite the same

I do think the gravel bike thinking will save it for some. I did a gravel type ride today on 17 year old hard tail with 2 inch slicks, great fun...

[img] [/img]

A fatty bike full suss. Yes because middle aged men seek and seek anything different to subliminally make themselves stand out. They don't realise it but it's a cry for attention in their increasingly dull world.

Look at the hipster £100+ threads that Gok Brant is knocking out! Middle aged men looking for a definining fashion thing that they can call 'their own' love em.

Double Denim is a telltale sign of the most brutal bridge trolls

[img] [/img]

A fatty bike full suss. Yes because middle aged men seek and seek anything different to subliminally make themselves stand out. They don't realise it but it's a cry for attention in their increasingly dull world.

Oh.... I wont be getting my Alfined Singular Swift built to 27.5+ then or buy a Pink Stooge...... 😆

Cheers, Steve

Last years Commencal El Camino 650b = £357 ! That's straight from them in Andorra via direct buy website. You can buy this whilst stoned and slouched on your sofa if you like.
If you become a keen MTB'er then a full suspension Bird Aeris kitted out with SLX components, Renthal bars and RockShox Pikes will be around £1600. Bargain. Some people may think it is a £4000 bike as you fly past.
You're welcome.

Last years Commencal El Camino 650b = £357

Cheers, Steve.

We were out for a few years and when we got 'back' into it it was all tapered head tubes and 10 speed. 10 speeds! Never in the world, what will they think of next? 😯 11? Away with you, you madman. I remember when all this was fields and 1x8 was what the cool kids with plaid shirts and cut off jeans were doing. Missy Giove, Anne-Caro, jumpers for goalposts... I remember when BMX tracks had [i]proper[/i] jumps on them, not this pumpy nonsense that's all the rage now and stand up straight and stop mumbling and look at me when I'm talking to you, not your phone. And pull your bloody trousers up. Werthers, anyone?

Buuuut... people still use their 'mountain bike' as just a 'bike' and, y'know, use it to pop to the shops on and stuff. It's not all rad to the gnar road trips and going big or going home or taking up too much room if you're not living on the edge. It's just bikes, innit. Fun and that 😀

It went mainstream. That's all.

Thankyou kayla1 for your excellent post, just cheered up my Monday morning.

@kayla1 🙂

It went mainstream. That's all.

Yes it did, around 1995 - maybe a bit earlier.

It went mainstream. That's all.

wait until there are dedicate mags and forums - your sport will be in trouble then OP 😉

I am always gobsmacked at the money thrown at riding bikes down a slope, but the same can be said of golf equipment where despite all the innovation, handicaps have hardly changed. Hmm, how odd....

As for skiing.....

I do half my riding on a £500 bike. But it's a fatbike so I'm not sure if that'll console you or anger you.

Secretly hoping it flips your NOT PROPER MOUNTAIN BIKING buttons though.

Why is it that when people (perhaps legitimately) claim to have not ridden a bike for 10 years they also appear to have been on the moon or somewhere for all of those years and become surprised and enraged upon returning to planet Earth to find that things are not how they left them.

If you want to have a rant just have one - most of what you say is true. You don't need to justify your rage with fake surprise.

We used to smoke some puff and hit the table tops on bmx's or any old crap and now it's all fat old guys riding around "slurrey hills" etc...

The kids grew up, got desk jobs and families, had mid life crisis and spent money on Audis and £4k bikes to go ride "slurrey hills" 😛

Actually this is fairly old now, things have moved on in 5 years. We now have bigger wheels, and Santa Cruz replaced the Ellsworth as the required bike to ride the hills 😉 (although I think YT Capra is more dominant now)