Anti-MTB diatribe from 1993
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incorrigible
Senior Retro Guru
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It sounds to me like he needs a hug.....and the bug removed from his @$$. 
Jeez! Some people aren't happy unless they have something to bitch about! He's obviously an angry malcontent with a small pen1s whose girl lost interest in him and fell in love with a mountainbiker, and he never got over it.
I'm no doctor, and thus I'm not qualified to prescribe possible solutions to whatever ailment he is obviously suffering from, but I really think he'd see things differently if he got a mountainbike and actually tried to enjoy life instead of choosing to wallow in his own bitterness.
That's wrong. Skinny tires will mean the same weight in a smaller footprint, therefore higher pressure on the ground, and thus on soft ground he would be creating ditches wherever he rode, and those ditches would be the place where water would collect whenever it rained, and any ditches that he created on hills where he rode would be the first places that erosion would begin to destroy a path, which is the main reason that cycling is now banned from those trails. Having fat tires instead skinny tires would put the same weight on a larger footprint, resulting in less weight per unit area of footprint, i.e., less pressure (lbs per square inch) on the ground, and thus less of an environmental impact.angry malcontent egotistical elitist roadie":aair92x8 said:
Jeez! Some people aren't happy unless they have something to bitch about! He's obviously an angry malcontent with a small pen1s whose girl lost interest in him and fell in love with a mountainbiker, and he never got over it.
I'm no doctor, and thus I'm not qualified to prescribe possible solutions to whatever ailment he is obviously suffering from, but I really think he'd see things differently if he got a mountainbike and actually tried to enjoy life instead of choosing to wallow in his own bitterness.
To some extent he has a point but I don't believe him on other points. I do not believe he can get up a lot of hills with road bike gears and tiny smooth tyres.
Selecting the best line for up and down hill is a skill but is not so necessary with suspension.
I also doubt he is able to descend over rough terrain without suspension.
Selecting the best line for up and down hill is a skill but is not so necessary with suspension.
I also doubt he is able to descend over rough terrain without suspension.
Bearing in mind it was written in 1993 when suspension was (at best) crude and poorly-performing, it does reflect the reality of the time it was written.
Fast forward 20 years and rigid singlespeeds ridden with determination by fit riders still shame many on their tooled up full sussers. OF COURSE full sussers can handle a wider range of terrain faster than lesser equipment. But the difference is less than many think. You just have to see how many people even here say things like 'you will die' at the prospect of riding a rigid retro machine down a black run at their local trail centre!
And what exactly do they think people were racing at Mammoth etc in 1990 then?
Fast forward 20 years and rigid singlespeeds ridden with determination by fit riders still shame many on their tooled up full sussers. OF COURSE full sussers can handle a wider range of terrain faster than lesser equipment. But the difference is less than many think. You just have to see how many people even here say things like 'you will die' at the prospect of riding a rigid retro machine down a black run at their local trail centre!
And what exactly do they think people were racing at Mammoth etc in 1990 then?
I've seen some great efforts by people on inferior equipment, some amazing, but the winner at any given race of substance is usually aboard the appropriate tool for the job.
For anything but cruising fireroads - and if you look at his background, that would be the guy's stock in trade - the article is dealing in pure fantasy, even when talking about early 90s equipment.
I grant that you can get up, down, around and over anything on pretty much any mechanically sound bicycle, however the quotient of extreme low speed or even getting off and walking will be greater the further from appropriate your ride of choice is.
Once I'm finished building my LTS up I'll try and back-to-back test it with a Force (IMO its a pretty accurate comparo). My feeling says the difference will be night and day.
For anything but cruising fireroads - and if you look at his background, that would be the guy's stock in trade - the article is dealing in pure fantasy, even when talking about early 90s equipment.
I grant that you can get up, down, around and over anything on pretty much any mechanically sound bicycle, however the quotient of extreme low speed or even getting off and walking will be greater the further from appropriate your ride of choice is.
Once I'm finished building my LTS up I'll try and back-to-back test it with a Force (IMO its a pretty accurate comparo). My feeling says the difference will be night and day.
We_are_Stevo
Old School Grand Master
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Edit for double post... 
