I love riding my bike and I’m happy my bike is more capable than me.
I enjoy it that way, glad its not going to let me down. I’m not particularlly skilled at this, but I’m learning and trying new skills as I go. I know my limits (and try to expand them) but I also know the bike’s limits are greater, and I feel safer that its not going to break and injure me. I’ve got other responsibilities now (like most on here) and I couldn’t afford for my hobby to put me in hospital. I also ride “better” with confidence that my bike won’t let me down. Personally, I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want their next bike to be one they can “grow into”, or develop with. Why would someone get a bike that their skillset has already outgrown. That said all bikes are fun, I’d just prefer not to find their limits in practice.
If this makes me, in your opinion, “all the gear, no idea” then fair enough.

Andyhilton – Member

Oh No. I’m agreeing with TJ again.

sorry – I won’t let it happen again

Who cares? People get different things out of riding – as long as they enjoy it and I enjoy riding with them I don’t really care.

At the end of the day if you enjoy it, you enjoy it.

When people start a new hobby like mountain biking they want to get a good bit of kit because they think it will help them ride better and have more fun which is perfectly normal.

When I started I got the best FS bike I could buy for a grand on the C2W scheme (ok so it wasn’t that amazing) when experienced mtb friends said I’d probably be better off getting a hard tail.

Since then I built a hardtail SS which I now do most of my riding on and is helping me to learn a lot quicker.

As long as your happy riding that’s what counts.

if you can afford to buy(finance) a fancy ride good on you,most bikes look simalar when cacked up with mud anyway,and most people have a big cheesy grin on there muddy little faces ,so all good.

ride what you want!
it’s your leisure time, do what makes you smile. good bike or shite bike, good rider or not. it just matters that you ride and smile

The fancier the bike, the less skilled the rider?

Check 8)

ride what you want!
it’s your leisure time, do what makes you smile. good bike or shite bike, good rider or not. it just matters that you ride and smile

check 😀

I like walking too.

I bought a nice pair of Mammut boots that cost a fortune.

They are really comfy, but they are far better than I really “need”

I sincerely hope I’m ruining the Badass image of hillwalkers too 🙄

I honestly don’t recall seeing a shit bike at the weekend on the trails anyway, at one point there was 20 people and easily £75kish of mountain bikes at the bottom of a run.

On that basis i can only assume these poor people cant even afford to get out and ride? Although the average temp was -1 according to my garmin so they probably couldn’t afford fancy cold weather clothing.

That’s a joke by the way The average was 1c and the minimum -1c

One of my good friends has just started mountain biking this summer after having enough of motocross.

He borrowed a bike and loved a lap of dalby which was the first time he’d been in a push bike in 10 years.

He has a fair bit of cash and didn’t see any problems in forking out £3k for a nice Zesty. We all including him have a laugh about all the gear no idea. But once in Hamsterly he stacked it next to a couple of guys who got a bit nasty over the whole nice bike shit rider rider. FFS its just a guy riding a bike in the woods.

He has money and likes nice things why should he buy a cheap halfords special when he’ll get far more enjoyment out of nice bike. I can’t see any member of this forum not spending that amount of cash on a bike if they had it.

On the whole image thing, Who cares I don’t ride a bike to look cool and don’t know many people that do.

I have spent a small fortune on my addiction to mountain bikes over the last 7 years. And I believe that good gear helps you improve. Plus it has kept me out of the pub!

Truly great riders can ride down anything on anything but I have needed all the help I could get 🙂

No correlation IMO. Poor riding just stands out more when it’s a bling superbike.

I dont know where you lot are all from, but round where I live we are viewed as the athletes I’ve described.

Me and my mates used to go out and push the limits on the fire tracks around grizedale forest. Parents and children, dog walkers, the elderly etc. all used to stand aside to let us come screaming through. We obviously caused a bit of a commotion with our skills – the big dogs higher up the chain in the FC decided we needed much more challenging terrain to test our mettle, hence the North Face Trail was created.

Alot of our cycling was at high speeds across open moors/grasslands. We noticed that fences and walls had been built by the local farmers (obviously out of respect/admiration) to stop their cattle getting in our extreme ways.

The local bakery used to provide us with free flap jacks and pasties if we gave them some money. “Oh don’t worry about it, I feel proud to be fueling the athlete” was what they said.

I was cycling through town once and I wanted to avoid the one way system so I bunnyhopped up the pavement to take a short cut. A woman shouted and waved her hand, I couldnt hear what she said but I can only imagine it was along the lines of “I didnt think that was possible on a bicycle, how do your feet stay stuck to the pedals!”

Prime examples of what I was talking about.

*swoons* 😉

.

Can I have some on what you’re on?

ride what you want!
it’s your leisure time, do what makes you smile. good bike or shite bike, good rider or not. it just matters that you ride and smile

That’s the thing, I know quite a few guys who have the most pimped up bikes you have ever seen but don’t ride them. When they eventually get them out of the shed they seem so mortified that they are not riding like a god, that the bike goes back in the shed and more shiny bits get added. Almost as though they prefer to collect shiny things to add to the bike rather than ride it.

Each to their own, but I’m curious as to whether this is a common phenomenon?

I know a man who rides a Carrera ! Yes . Someone who actually owns a Carrera , and I kid you not , He rides it… very fast.

LMAO @ DTF

I dont know where you lot are all from, but round where I live we are viewed as the athletes I’ve described…… A woman shouted and waved her hand, I couldnt hear what she said but I can only imagine it was along the lines of “I didnt think that was possible on a bicycle, how do your feet stay stuck to the pedals!”

Get over yourself.
Its only cycling. There’s much greater things in life.

I think he was having a laugh… As we all are, this tread has disintegrated.

Its only cycling. There’s much greater things in life.

If you could ride a bike properly I dont think you’d hold that view.

This can’t be true as I have sold all my mtbs and only have two cheap cx bikes and I’m still crap

Right please don’t shoot. 😳

But in the early days pre ’96ish mountain biking was new and people where amazed at what people where doing on bikes. It was seen as this unreal extreme sport because hardly anyone did it. Especially in the lakes where DTF is talking about.

Imagine going to the middle of africa with your bike and showing some people it. People who had only ever seen people riding bikes to the next village and you go pop a little manual and jump a goat. They would freak out. You wouldn’t just a get a flapjack you’d get a chicken and some dudes daughter!

Wow this is like an Mbuk thread from back in the day.

Imagine going to the middle of africa with your bike and showing some people it. People who had only ever seen people riding bikes to the next village and you go pop a little manual and jump a goat. They would freak out. You wouldn’t just a get a flapjack you’d get a chicken and some dudes daughter!

Class!

Is this thread related to the next niche thread?

Do I need to buy a new, but crap bike?

If so, what crap bike does STW recommend? 😉

But in the early days pre ’96ish

that’s rather late chap lots of folks on here been riding since the 80’s or since the very start 😀

“But in the early days pre ’96ish mountain biking was new and people where amazed at what people where doing on bikes”

Yer smelly arse. I was right in to it by then and everyone thought I was a right wally.

turn up at Glentress with my old GT RTS,

awesome bike!

Most excellent riders i have met have had pretty good bikes to be fair. I do take mild amusement at people rocking up at glentress in their audi q7s or whatever with £5k bikes on though.

I dont know where you lot are all from, but round where I live we are viewed as the athletes I’ve described

by your mums

Yer smelly arse. I was right in to it by then and everyone thought I was a right wally.

+1

and this has been the case since 1986 too.. and every year since.. and so it will always be..

sorry to burst your bubble guys

Its only cycling. There’s much greater things in life.

If you could ride a bike properly I dont think you’d hold that view.

Geez man I really love cycling but you really need to get life.
Lots of great life changing shit out there that doesn’t involve a bike.
Took me a while to learn that.
I can ride a bike but I can do a lot more. Good luck mate.

Clearly no correlation. I do not get better when I get off my flash bike and climb onto my Carrera. And I’m a better rider now than when I only had that Carrera.

Why would anyone believe there’s any connection? Some folks will believe anything.

I know this chap called jeff jones, his bike is rather nice and he rides like a demon.

Also at the clunker classic all the bikes are real shite but the riders are mental fast.

But in the early days pre ’96ish
that’s rather late chap lots of folks on here been riding since the 80’s or since the very start

Yep fully aware of that, still pre 96 though 😉 Was talking about it moving into the mainstream.

You could probably even argue it wasn’t till 2000 when mtb became more mainstream but that’s a whole other argument.

I ride a distinctly average 456 most of the time. Sometimes I take the Nicolai out, sometimes the Turner. Unsurprisingly, I have just as much riding ability regardless of the bike.

So am I allowed to ride any of my bikes when I want to, or do I have to pass a special STW coolness/riding ability test for the better ones?

I ride a boardman pro ht so I can go under the bike rider radar and not be laughed at when shit but still ride a great bike. 🙂

loum – Member

Why would someone get a bike that their skillset has already outgrown. That said all bikes are fun, I’d just prefer not to find their limits in practice.

How do you find a bike that you skill set has outgrown? Surely this is backwards, a really skilled rider is going to be able to outride most people on a shopper, let alone £4k’s worth of full sus carbon.

Clearly no correlation. I do not get better when I get off my flash bike and climb onto my Carrera. And I’m a better rider now than when I only had that Carrera.

Why would anyone believe there’s any connection? Some folks will believe anything.

That’s the interesting thing about life, people have different experiences. I happen to know a few brilliant riders who ride pretty average bikes, as they seem more interested in riding than collecting anodized trinkets for their bikes.

I have also met and know quite a few guys who spend months building bikes that are dripping with matching chris king, team green hope and any other shiny expensive bling bit you care to mention. The are not great at riding (hardly ride at all in fact) and the spend more time lusting and collecting shiny things, rather than using their bikes.

Now I have no idea whether this is the norm, hence me asking the question. I do not care either way (although I do find it a bit odd collecting shiny things and not using them or perhaps expecting them to make you go faster) Maybe I happen to know some very strange people who are magpies, or perhaps collecting shiny bits to build the ultimate bike and then not actually riding it is a fairly common thing?

I personally couldn’t care less if someone has a ten grand mtb and rides it on the road, as long as they are enjoying themselves. Buying an expensive bike and then using it as an excuse because it doesn’t have the latest bit of go faster bells and whistles, or not actually riding it at all is not something I understand.