Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 62 total)
  • Best to call Alpine non-DH non-XC riding "All Mountain","Enduro" or "Freeri
  • PeterHerold
    Free Member

    Hi all, I am struggling to decide whether to use the term “All Mountain” or “Enduro” or “Freeride” to describe non-XC non-DH more-descending-than all-day AM rides like
    1. the “Steptoe to Death Metal” ride described here
    2. rides which my Italian and Dutch journalist friends describe as Enduro (for Italians Enduro means between All-Mountain and Freeride, you would be quite happy to get a lift up and ride down on your bike which could have 160 mm travel; here’s the Elvis referred to in 1. on one such ride

    or this is another similar local ride

    I know that in UK Enduro means marathon…for Dutch (and Germans as well I think) people Enduro means much more technical than XC.

    I am tempted to use the two terms All Mountain and Freeride (mentioning uplift), and underlining the Alpine similarity,
    1. ‘cos these are the categories into which we’ve classified rides in the guide we’re writing to Sardinia (ONE RIDE LEFT TO DO)
    2. the Enduro word seems too open to different cross-european interpretations

    I ask ‘cos we are starting to discuss with publishers Versante Sud translation into either English or German, and need to describe what the riding’s like here.

    Ta Peter

    DaveyBoyWonder
    Free Member

    Oggles
    Free Member

    From that photo I would say All Mountain.

    Freeride IMO means hucking big gnarly rocks and sick woodwork.
    Enduro is… riding for a long time.

    It’s all bikes though, innit.

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    Northwind
    Full Member

    Until the UK gets itself sorted out and stops calling endurance races enduros, you need to avoid that one tbh, it causes a lot of confusion.

    mtb_rob
    Free Member

    All Mountain seems the best fit.
    Freeride brings to mind lines with ridiculous features. Enduro is enduros is endurance.

    grum
    Free Member

    Freemincecore lite? 😉

    (But really wot Northwind (and others) said.)

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    Hare and Hounds is the motorcycle equivalent of the british mtb enduro. While enduro is more like the gravity enduro (european enduro?).

    So… I propose Hare and Hounds to replace enduro and enduro to be used for special stage events.

    Or… how about the American motorcycle term: Hare Scramble.
    😯

    jedi
    Full Member

    lets call it mtbing

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    I agree with Jodi but that pic looks either like XC riding if you ride up the hill to get to it or DH if you or only riding down it.

    It was all so much easier before mtb marketing got sophisticated and people started thinking they needed to pigeon whole the type of riding they do and if they have the right bike!

    scruff
    Free Member

    Gravity fed trail taming on burly sleds.

    nickf
    Free Member

    nickf
    Free Member

    [GRF mode]

    Look, if you’ve got flat pedals you’re hard as nails; chicks dig you and check out your scars, innit. This means that you’re a real man and therefore it’s proper DH.

    But if you ride the same trail with clippy pedals (or faggot-pushers, as my uber-masculine friends call them) then you’re a screaming queen who wants nothing more than to have sexual congress with other such riders. This means you’re a complete girl, and thus the riding is best decribed as fairy-like XC.

    [/GRF mode]

    Hope this helps

    nasher
    Free Member

    Hey Pete

    We have the same problem, many of our italian and French guests call our pedally but Downhill trails as enduro trails but if the re is no pedalling requireed its called freeride or dh.

    I tend to call it all mountain as its more linked with longer travel bikes and long downhill sections often bit more gnarr and with climbng involved….

    god i have confuesed myself again

    Nice site BTW, We may visit you sometime later this year…. If you fancy some riding in Liguria then give us a shout rivierabike

    PeterHerold
    Free Member

    OK thanks for all the comments, enduro is OUT as a term.

    Freeride IMO means hucking big gnarly rocks and sick woodwork.

    We have these


    (BTW I have yet to ride these two.)

    I still think “All-Mountain” puts off those who are quite happy to get a lift up before riding down features like the ones in the photos here (my Elvis photo above was a reference to the linked article 😉 ) and is a label we use for rides like the one in this video[img]http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/pNfTN0OLA5M/default.jpg?v=4dd00002[/img]
    where we don’t wear elbow/knee protection and it’s a big day (or weekend, in this case) out in the hills, requiring a level of fitness and navigational ability that Freeride certainly doesn’t. On an AM ride, one of the criteria for tackling an obstacle is that you really don’t want to break yourself or your bike ‘cos you’re on your own.

    So I go with AM and FR I think.

    cheers Peter

    Trimix
    Free Member

    To avoid confusion, just call it mountain biking, but make sure you say where it is and provide some pictures.

    Trying to label it is asking for trouble.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    How about ‘Alpine riding’ ?

    hambl90
    Free Member

    Technical Xc / all mountain

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    Maybe we should be grading rides by how much armour you need?

    (As opposed to how much you wear)

    1freezingpenguin
    Free Member

    All mountain or just plain old mountain biking. Freeride imo normally include drops,jumps and built stunts.

    GlitterGary
    Free Member

    Cycling? Off road?

    scottidog
    Free Member

    That’s definately AM riding. For freeride think Redbull Rampage, Crankworx etc….

    http://fmbworldtour.com/

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    I think it should all be given names based on facial expression;

    1) ‘tricky slow bits’ – tongue out of corner of mouth.
    2) ‘mtbing’ – mouth closed but face relaxed
    3) ‘uphill’ – mouth like a fresh landed trout, eyes lookign at front wheel
    4) ‘downhill’ – mouth smiling, teeth clenched, eyes lookign 30 yards ahead
    5) ‘freeride’ – lips open, teeth clenched, eyes saying ‘I could get hurt doing this so I’d better be looking good’

    thomthumb
    Free Member

    call it enduro. by making up a term because of the confusion around the word you are adding to the confusion. 😕

    PeterHerold
    Free Member

    OK decided “Alpine All Mountain” riding it is, often by the sea so all-year riding

    EXCEPT in our guidebook we don’t use for a cover shot tracks we don’t include in the guide, this descent is rideable only half-way down 😥
    thx Peter

    RHSno2
    Free Member

    This is Enduro All Mountain (‘Enduro Des Hautes Voseges’ and part of the ‘All Mountain Series’) 😉
    http://www.zapiks.com/enduro-hautes-vosges-2011-.html

    RHSno2
    Free Member

    and its just easy and better to call it Enduro (with variations) as we know its got a mountain in it already as we are riding a ‘Mountain Bike’. Just cos the UK called the boring races around a field Enduro doesn’t mean it can’t be coined in its correct use.
    In My Opinion

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    Just cos the UK called the boring races around a field Enduro

    those are called endurance, surely?

    franciscobegbie
    Free Member

    My eyes glazed over about 3 sentences in. We are all still talking about Mountain Biking, right?

    stevomcd
    Free Member

    Hi Peter!

    To the French, it would be “Enduro”, no question. For the Brits, I generally just call what we do here “Technical Singletrack”. Think that would probably work for you too. Takes out any confusion over riding up/down, etc.

    If you’re getting lifts/vehicles up then it’s “Lift-accessed Technical Singletrack”.

    If you’re not, we call it “Backcountry Technical Singletrack”.

    We were looking at coming down your way this Spring, but ended up spending a few days in Lake Garda instead. Maybe in the Autumn!

    PeterHerold
    Free Member

    Hi Steve, you’d be welcome and come and stay. We can make a vid for Dave 😉 😉
    ciao Peter

    RHSno2
    Free Member

    ‘Enduro 6’ as an example of boring race

    NormalMan
    Full Member

    My wife walked past and looked at the first picture and muttered ‘sheer stupidity’ so will that do as a description then? 😉

    DavidB
    Free Member

    Hi Steve, you’d be welcome and come and stay. We can make a vid for Dave 😉
    ciao Peter

    I’ll beat you to that in the Alps with Stevo in August.

    TheBrick
    Free Member

    I just found some fluff in by belly button.

    This is the naval gazing thread is it not?

    RHSno2
    Free Member

    I just found some fluff in by belly button.

    This is the naval gazing thread is it not?

    You must be bored if you are posting on a thread that bores you.

    traildog
    Free Member

    I think Brits are slowly waking up and realising what Enduro means. Hopefully the term should stop meaning riding round a field until you’re very tired indeed. If you call it Enduro All Mountain, then I’m sure people will know what you mean.
    Having said that, I still think the term Enduro to mean some sort of staged event, but that’s probably just me.

    This thread appears to be a good excuse for some pictures of some nice riding spots. Hardly boring in my mind, but then if you’re only on here to pick fights and have no interest in mountain biking, then I suppose it might well be like naval gazing… 😛

    ampthill
    Full Member

    I think its a very sensible question to which I have very little idea what the answer is

    Freeride and DH imply having to jump, does all mountain?

    Where does say a black graded trail centre fit in. Is that just trail riding or is it all mountain? Or do you need a mountain for all mountain?

    traildog
    Free Member

    No, you don’t need a mountain, but most of the black graded trail centre trails would generally struggle to be anything other than XC. IMHO.

    grum
    Free Member

    Where does say a black graded trail centre fit in. Is that just trail riding or is it all mountain? Or do you need a mountain for all mountain?

    Depends how you ride it not just the trail itself. 😉

    RHSno2
    Free Member

    A mountain or a good sized hill would normally* be required.

    * I am sure there are flatter places with testing terrain.

    Does anyone actually really do ‘Freeride’ anymore?

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 62 total)

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