Has mountain biking peaked?

[rodgy-dodge]

Cannondale Synapse its gorgeous lift it with one finger

What did you get OOI?

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Cannondale Synapse its gorgeous lift it with one finger

We have different ideas about entry level lol. Mine was just over £200. It is though a beautiful bike I must say.

 

[rodgy-dodge]

We have different ideas about entry level lol. Mine was just over £200. It is though a beautiful bike I must say.

I would have bought a second hand one but couldn't find one locally my size, and hey if the husbands buying well I'm not going to refuse. I did try some cheaper ones but this felt the best for me and its geared like the mountain bike which helps with the climbs although never had to use the granny gear in this yet.

 

[rodgy-dodge]

I have a nice little mountain bike that I keep meaning to use (once I've checked it all over to make sure it's safe because it's been sat in the garage for 18 months). But it seems much more difficult somehow. Most of us don't live right next door to lovely offroad trails or a MTB centre, so the first thing you have to do is get where you're going (and riding along a few miles of road on the MTB to get to the trails still feels like the journey rather than part of the ride). And then you and the bike come back dirty, and possibly a bit beaten up. It's so much easier with the road bike because you start your ride the moment you get outside the door, don't tend to come back dirty or beaten up, and regular maintenance is pumping up the tyres and giving the bike a quick wipe down and re-lube every now and then.

We have some lovely trails around here, but I still find myself getting out the road bike.

I know what your saying after going out on the road bike it feels effortless on the road, the mtb wheels feel like octopuss tenticles sometimes lol.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

I would have bought a second hand one but couldn't find one locally my size, and hey if the husbands buying well I'm not going to refuse. I did try some cheaper ones but this felt the best for me and its geared like the mountain bike which helps with the climbs although never had to use the granny gear in this yet.

Oh lucky you!!!!. The one think I am not looking forward to is the gearing on mine. That said I have already decided that it will need to be modified over time. I will probably fit a triple on the front at some point.

 

[Globalti]

I have a nice little mountain bike that I keep meaning to use (once I've checked it all over to make sure it's safe because it's been sat in the garage for 18 months). But it seems much more difficult somehow. Most of us don't live right next door to lovely offroad trails or a MTB centre, so the first thing you have to do is get where you're going (and riding along a few miles of road on the MTB to get to the trails still feels like the journey rather than part of the ride). And then you and the bike come back dirty, and possibly a bit beaten up. It's so much easier with the road bike because you start your ride the moment you get outside the door, don't tend to come back dirty or beaten up, and regular maintenance is pumping up the tyres and giving the bike a quick wipe down and re-lube every now and then.

We have some lovely trails around here, but I still find myself getting out the road bike.

This is absolutely the same for me; I used to go out night riding Wednesdays and I got disenchanted with coming home late, filthy, soaked, having to clean the bike down while in filthy freezing damp clothes then change in the garage and have a shower then get moaned at for coming to bed late....

In the old single days I had time for weekends away mountaineering , climbing or mountain biking. Then came marriage and family and now even mountain biking is too time consuming as a day out is an entire day. I can pack three hours of MTB riding into an hour on the roadie and come home clean and needing only a quick shower. I find it more exhilarating too.

 

[John90]

There's a good case to be made for commuting by MTB, at least if you're doing less than maybe 15 miles a day. It's better exercise and the fork really smooths out the roads.

 

[marzjennings]

I don't think it's peaked yet. We put on one of our biggest races this year with over 600 racers turning up to race.

And beer has always been a factor in mtbing I don't see that as anything new. 20 years ago we used to plan rides around bridle trails and pubs.

What has changed is for the trails to more mtb specific. By adding a bit more flow to the trails we seem to be getting more and more folks coming out to ride.

 

[marzjennings]

I can pack three hours of MTB riding into an hour on the roadie and come home clean and needing only a quick shower. I find it more exhilarating too.

Either you local mtb/bridle trails suck or you've just not been doing it right.

Plus mtbing is, from what I've seen, always a more intensive ride than roadie and I can't see how an hour on the road can equal 3 on the trails.

 

[lulubel]

Either you local mtb/bridle trails suck or you've just not been doing it right.

Plus mtbing is, from what I've seen, always a more intensive ride than roadie and I can't see how an hour on the road can equal 3 on the trails.

I assumed he included the journey time to get to and from the start of the MTB ride in that 3 hours, as opposed to zero journey time for the road bike.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Whilst I agree that the MTB boom peaked some time ago, within our Abingdon Freewheeling organisation our Tues nigh MTB rides are growing like topsy, regularly getting 30 -odd out.
But right now, roadying is cool and so is currently the fastest growing segment of the market.

 

[Globalti]

I assumed he included the journey time to get to and from the start of the MTB ride in that 3 hours, as opposed to zero journey time for the road bike.

No, I mean that if I go out with my club for a 3 hour mountain bike ride I feel I've done about the equivalent of a 1 hour road ride. That's because I usually ride with my club and the bigger the group, the slower they move as members of different ability cope with the obstacles and the mechanically ill-prepared stand around while while another club-member fixes their bike, or the club waits for slower riders to get up hills. I set my computer to record only riding time so from start to finish on a three hour ride you might only actually be riding for two and a half hours or less. By contrast you can go out on the road bike for an hour and ride non-stop for that full 60 minutes, get home, shower and be off for some family activity.

A competitive MTB event like Polaris or any trailquest, I do solo or with a rider who matches my ability and there's no messing around apart from the odd brief stop to check the route or dib the recording chip, that's not the same as an easy-going club ride.

 

[Cubist]

No, I mean that if I go out with my club for a 3 hour mountain bike ride I feel I've done about the equivalent of a 1 hour road ride. That's because I usually ride with my club and the bigger the group, the slower they move as members of different ability cope with the obstacles and the mechanically ill-prepared stand around while while another club-member fixes their bike, or the club waits for slower riders to get up hills. I set my computer to record only riding time so from start to finish on a three hour ride you might only actually be riding for two and a half hours or less. By contrast you can go out on the road bike for an hour and ride non-stop for that full 60 minutes, get home, shower and be off for some family activity.

A competitive MTB event like Polaris or any trailquest, I do solo or with a rider who matches my ability and there's no messing around apart from the odd brief stop to check the route or dib the recording chip, that's not the same as an easy-going club ride.

That is a feeling I know only too well..... there always seems to be a certain amount of buggering about to do, but give the club its due, at least the ride is "inclusive".

One alternative would be to split the group, so that the Globalti's and other whippets can get on with a longer, more technical ride, while a more sociable group can lead some beginners/improvers in a ride that doesn't faze them, or make them feel they're holding folk up. Our club has three levels, Sociable, Intermediate and Turbo-nutterbastard.

That said, both Cubester and I found ourselves a wee bit stalled with the same repertoire of Cross-Country Bridleway routes week in, week out, and now alternate between OS Landranger-Planned rides and Trailcentre visits. There's too much out there to get bored with, and this time of year you don't get too muddy....

MTBing can become a day-out only thing if you're not careful though. I'm lucky enough to live in Pennine heaven, so there's any number of local loops on the doorstep that can be dipped into to create a half-hour thrash to a half-day epic, with getting on for 70 or 80 percent off-road.

 

[lulubel]

No, I mean that if I go out with my club for a 3 hour mountain bike ride I feel I've done about the equivalent of a 1 hour road ride. That's because I usually ride with my club and the bigger the group, the slower they move as members of different ability cope with the obstacles and the mechanically ill-prepared stand around while while another club-member fixes their bike, or the club waits for slower riders to get up hills.

Oh, I see. Yes, I can understand how that could be frustrating. You don't get that with pure roadie clubs, because they just drop anyone who can't keep up (Yes, I know that doesn't apply to all, before someone picks me up on it.)

Splitting the group sounds like a good idea in that situation. There are usually a couple of experienced, altruistic souls who are happy to look after the newbies and slower riders.

Out of interest, does everyone improve and get braver/faster over time, or are there always some riders who are really, really scared and go as slowly and carefully as possible in case they fall off?

 

[Cubist]

Oh, I see. Yes, I can understand how that could be frustrating. You don't get that with pure roadie clubs, because they just drop anyone who can't keep up (Yes, I know that doesn't apply to all, before someone picks me up on it.)

Splitting the group sounds like a good idea in that situation. There are usually a couple of experienced, altruistic souls who are happy to look after the newbies and slower riders.

Out of interest, does everyone improve and get braver/faster over time, or are there always some riders who are really, really scared and go as slowly and carefully as possible in case they fall off?

That last bit always makes me grin.... the majority of riders do indeed get faster/braver over time. It's all about believing that your bike won't fall over unless you make it fall over especially on technical bits. I spent quite a while fearing loose rocky steep descents, so much so that I was on the verge of throwing the towel in as I thought I'd never be able to conquer that fear, and being over cautious just made it worse..... momentum is your friend in such circumstances.

However, one rider in our club is as slow today as they were three years ago. They never quite get the hang of lifting the front wheel on steppy climbs, and always stutter to a halt on tough-ish descents. They also never seem to anticipate gear changes, so they always grind to a halt on sudden risers. Other riders fight to make sure they don't get behind this rider on technical sections, and on one memorable occasion I got stuck behind them on a lovely fast singletrack section with some stepdowns and drops. I stopped, had a pee, adjusted the gears which had been skipping, centred the rear brake which had been rubbing, and after several minutes calculated that the rider would be about half a mile in front by now. I saddled up and set off at warp speed, looking forward to the run and ran into her about a hundred yards further on..............