Is it me or are there less people taking up Mountain Biking?

[highlandsflyer]

Re:

We have extensive off road tracks suitable for road bikes as well as mountain bikes, guess we are lucky they keep building wind farms! Not!

 

[PurpleFrog]

Re: Re:

Road riding = easy ride and good distance traveled over a short time.

Offroad riding = harder riding with less distance travelled.

I flirt with road riding...but with the intention of bettering my off road stamina...

Doug

That's probably the wrong way to do it - the physiological mechanisms for sustained moderate steady state and repeated "go for it" are quite different. If you're at a decent level of fitness then the only useful you could spend on the road would probably be short sessions doing hill intervals.

 

[MADJEZ]

As previous it's the Olympics/Wiggo effect.
In the late 80s/early 90s racing/touring bikes were the norm and MTBs were specialised.
By the end of the 90s MTBs had become the norm, you wanted a bike you went to Halfords and got an MTB.
If you wanted a roadbike you had to go to a LBS & spend serious money.

Now Halfords etc have just jumped on the bandwagon as it's what the public want.
Expect to see lots of cheap & nasty road bikes in the shops.

 

[PurpleFrog]

As previous it's the Olympics/Wiggo effect.
In the late 80s/early 90s racing/touring bikes were the norm and MTBs were specialised.
By the end of the 90s MTBs had become the norm, you wanted a bike you went to Halfords and got an MTB.
If you wanted a roadbike you had to go to a LBS & spend serious money.

Now Halfords etc have just jumped on the bandwagon as it's what the public want.
Expect to see lots of cheap & nasty road bikes in the shops.

The mamil thing was going on before the Olympics. Road riding is something everyone can do to get a cardio buzz instead of jogging. You don't need to take the bike somewhere special and you don't need the skills that riding offroad requires.

 

[MADJEZ]

I wasn't talking about the mamil thing. Kids/teens buying a bike are opting for road bikes
over MTBs as they are currently cool.

 

[ultrazenith]

In a way, I welcome the falling out of fashion of mountain biking, and a reduction in fair-weather / all the gear, no idea mountain bikers. Selfish as it is, and probably even pretentious, I'd prefer the MTB scene to be more like the way I remember / experienced it back in 93-94. Before the sport became so mainstream that every second teenager decided to try their hand at it, oftentimes approaching it as an extreme sport, rather than as the endurance sport with extreme sport elements that many of us experienced it back then (and still do now).

I'll be honest, I've never really got over seeing 'my' scene being subverted in the 90s, but I reckon all things considered there are plenty of benefits for the mainstreaming of mountain biking, including how easy it is now to find clubs and groups to ride with, and how many unfit riders there are around to make yourself look good on club rides and marathon events. I'd also say that technological advances in mountain bikes have come about faster, thanks to all the extra, high spending enthusiasts over the years.

 

[bigkeeko]

In a way, I welcome the falling out of fashion of mountain biking, and a reduction in fair-weather / all the gear, no idea mountain bikers. Selfish as it is, and probably even pretentious, I'd prefer the MTB scene to be more like the way I remember / experienced it back in 93-94. Before the sport became so mainstream that every second teenager decided to try their hand at it, oftentimes approaching it as an extreme sport, rather than as the endurance sport with extreme sport elements that many of experienced it back then (and still do now).

I'll be honest, I've never really got over seeing 'my' scene being subverted in the 90s, but I reckon all things considered there are plenty of benefits for the mainstreaming of mountain biking, including how easy it is now to find clubs and groups to ride with, and how many unfit riders there are around to make yourself look good on club rides and marathon events. I'd also say that technological advances in mountain bikes have come about faster, thanks to all the extra, high spending enthusiasts over the years.

I get that.

Been round the block and tried all the bikes, styles , suspension travels and sub genres. I`ve tried nearly it all and when it comes to down to it, the truth is this. I`m now in spite of my years of enthusiasm, stuck in the past. I`m back to where I was in the 90s with a Steel Seven hardtail and 80mm up front. Its not a Fat Chance but I love it although its been called an old shi**er by youngsters (clunker would be the apt word). I love Hills, natural singletrack, stopping, looking, appreciating, sunsets, finding new trails and life.

I`m going with what feels right. So what if the wheels aren`t the `in` size?

 

[ultrazenith]

I get that.

Been round the block and tried all the bikes, styles , suspension travels and sub genres. I`ve tried nearly it all and when it comes to down to it, the truth is this. I`m now in spite of my years of enthusiasm, stuck in the past. I`m back to where I was in the 90s with a Steel Seven hardtail and 80mm up front. Its not a Fat Chance but I love it although its been called an old shi**er by youngsters (clunker would be the apt word). I love Hills, natural singletrack, stopping, looking, appreciating, sunsets, finding new trails and life.

I`m going with what feels right. So what if the wheels aren`t the `in` size?

I'm like you, except I stopped riding between 1998 and 2012 so missed quite a lot of development and fashion evolution. What I find right at the moment is rigid retro steel, but I am very tempted to try out FS and front suspension. Being able to use my existing kit form back in the day, and having several cheap bikes with interchangeable kit is also pretty nice.

I find I also get the odd weird look or comment from modern riders, but some younger riders (this is in Portugal) also comment very positively.

 

[widowmaker]

Re:

My recent observations, and this is not an attack on all roadies, I have been recently involved in several club rides, weekend training rides, sportives, charity events and there does not seem to be any warmth from them especially the younger 'carbon-balls boys' the older guys with their Italian steel bikes have been fine with me and my inexperienced training buddy.

It just seems like a really tight clique, almost where you have to fit in by years of being an apprentice :roll:

Whereas I have been out with a few group riding mtb's and they are a nicer, warmer bunch and this could largely be in my head, but there is less pressure to conform and more about the fun out getting out, enjoying the countryside and riding bikes

And riding bikes is what its all about

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Given most commuter bikes are now as capable as our retro bikes and fashion isn't as important when you are 30+ as when you are a teen. You may as well buy something comfy and light and many of them still look good. They work excellently I'm the places many people bought atb/MTB bits. To ride some bridleways, rough tracks get to work or pop to the shops. Even a trip I'm the countryside roads with into the cafes.


So that style of MTB is just not needed.
People bike road bikes as always, !y brother just did but he live in London and it good for there, he can get out and awa quickly and as he say quite importantly fit it in his flat as the bars are narrow and not as wide as the corridor.

So you are left with the extreme looking MTBs and people just don't want them unless they already know they want them.

Hiring of bikes at places like Dalby or Centreparc seems to be more popular than it was. Probably as the bikes are easier to keep working and there is a good market for it now. So these bike do not need to be bought for the people that one bought one to ride every blue moon.

Bmxs around here seem to be reasonably popular, at least as popular as it was around here in the late 80s elary 90s.

Interestingly we do not see groups of young teenagers out on the trails, the only people are couples or families or the older like us groups outwith a few 20+ youngsters out with the older lot.

That's the big shift, you domhoweber seem them at the trail centres.
Which to me comes back to the bikes designed and marketed for 'extreme' riding and not for riding around the general countryside.