This may have been done already but, anyone care to place this pic? 1992?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-31556008

tbh I’m just disappointed that front wheel isn’t radially spoked….

Looks like the model of XT or XTR RF+ that was current in 1994 to me

Nagubas not snapped?!

Indeed, when the non specialist media need to illustrate an article on mountain biking they tend to either us a classic MTB pic from the early 90’s (all lycra and long stems), and classic “family” MTB pic (a 2.3 children family on a smooth gravel track in the sun, all smiling, on halfords BSOs) or go totally mad and use a pic from Red Bull Rampage (some nutter back flipping a 200 yard canyon gap). As if any of those are typical “Mountain Biking” 😉

The guy in the picture is about to enter a world of pain

He’ll be fine, he’s got Red Toad’s helmet on

And he’s attached to the bike with toe clips!

A large proportion of stw still steadfastly refuse to move on from that look don’t they according to the how old is your main bike thread…
Could have been last week… 😉

As if any of those are typical “Mountain Biking

Agreed, what they should show is a portly midlander wobbling around the chase on a 4k spesh freshly plucked from his Audi.

Contender for the ‘what happened next’ competition.

what happened next

The dinosaurs died.

I think he is bordering on the point of no return.

How is it with £23m to the Welsh economy. Aren’t mountain bikers the tightest gits in the world.

And especially since use of trail centres is broadly free.

How is it with £23m to the Welsh economy.

Easy when you look at the cost of parking and over priced coffee.

How is it with £23m to the Welsh economy. Aren’t mountain bikers the tightest gits in the world.

And especially since use of trail centres is broadly free.

Presume you mean “worth” rather than “with”…?

I’ve seen some of these “we generated £x in revenue” post-event surveys before, they can be quite interesting if you’re into stats. You survey a representative percentage of trail centre users and extrapolate (which is surprisingly accurate, that’s how voting polls are run) and include the obvious things like accommodation in local B&B, campsite etc, eating at the trail centre cafe but also less obvious ones like stopping to fill up in a Welsh petrol station.

The key question is “would you actually have come here if it wasn’t for the trail centre – did you happen to be on a family holiday in the area anyway and just pop over for the day or did you specifically come to Wales to ride CyB?”

Bit of mathematical averaging and you have a nice figure you can give to the media who generally won’t question impressive sounding statistics anyway and the authorities will then use it in further bite-size media friendly quotes to point out how great they are for supporting whatever it is that generates this money.

Not sure if this is what you’re after, but apparently it was taken last summer in the Rhondda:

There’s no snow on the ground, so it can’t be last summer. 1977 was the last time it stopped raining in The Rhondda.

The caption under the video needs amending

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said the facilities attract cyclists from across the world space-time continuum.

Easy when you look at the cost of parking

How long will it take for you to save up the £3 it costs to park all day at Cwmcarn? Admittedly, this is ruinously expensive compared to the £1 a day at Afan.

rone – Member

How is it with £23m to the Welsh economy. Aren’t mountain bikers the tightest gits in the world.

If you want your eyes opened though check out the Laggan analysis, the trailcentre’s initial development paid for itself in barely a year. And that’s despite being in the middle of bloody nowhere. I’m pretty surprised that the value to Wales isn’t bigger tbh, Tweedlove brings in almost 2 million quid in a fortnight.

The irony is that the FC get very little from it.

As Llandegla is now owned by the Church of England expect the next survey to look at how many mtb’ers have spent the morning on their knees praying for divine retribution.

How is it with £23m to the Welsh economy. Aren’t mountain bikers the tightest gits in the world.

And especially since use of trail centres is broadly free.

When Afan was going through the pain of being felled the local businesses (especially the likes of Skyline and Afan Lodge) were badly hit by the lack of visitors. I was still riding there and the place was like a ghost town compared to before!! BPW has had a massive effect on Merthyr, despite the relatively low numbers (compared to eg Cwmcarn or CYB) and it being out of town. The travelodge is well-booked with bikers, the local campsites do well in the summer and the food places do well out of it too. All that £5 for cake and a brew, filling up with fuel and other little bits add up quickly when you gat a decent number of people.