I’d love to do a load of Enduro competitions, but the courses I’ve seen videos of just seem way too hardcore for my riding ability and risk taking.

I probably fit into the (fairly large?) category of average MTB riders who would really love to have a go at Enduro, but know that attempting that steep off-camber rooty chute in the rain, is probably going to end up in a trip to A&E, or at best an afternoon of sheer frustration that the course is just technically too hard to enjoy.

Some would say try XC then…but although I can appreciate the fitness and riding skills needed to compete in a XC event, I’ve absolutely no interest in doing XC racing as the Lycra culture, bikes and course types seem a million miles from what I enjoy riding and aspire to, whereas Enduro does. (That’s not intended as a slur on anyone who loves XC, but it’s not for me).

Is there a need in UK for ‘sport’ Enduro events (Funduro?) where there are Enduro series with technically-easier timed sections, where Joe average can be challenged but still ride the course, have fun and not worry too much about hurting themselves badly?

Many sports have easier ‘club’ or ‘sports’ class events for beginner or intermediate competitors who aren’t good enough to compete in the same events as the more skilled competitors. So this just follows that thought process.

Obviously the existing Enduro format and standards will continue to grow to cater for those who want to compete at the top level and the courses and technical difficulty will reflect that. Perhaps people could start in Funduro and then move up to full level Enduro if/when their skills develop.

Interesting to see this link http://enduro-mtb.com/en/race-preview-funduro-cream-o-the-croft-bike-festival/

I’m guessing that grass roots Funduro events would help Enduro grow further inUK and everyone wins?

Views? thoughts?

I think it’d be great tbh. Can’t say I’d do them but that’s not the point. There’s been occasional ones- Muckmedden (who I think are involved with cream o the croft?) do a few through the year, they tend to have some techy trickiness but less so than say an inners race. And sometimes no practice too, which changes things about and also makes it less of a time investment.

I suppose it swings more towards the “why would I pay to do this” thing maybe. But unless I’m wrong, in Scotland we have more national and international races than anything else, that’s weird. I guess the vocal #enduroists are all about the steep and tech but that’s maybe just because anyone that’s not into madness has probably ended up fairly excluded?

This isn’t any sort of complaint, I love that we have this amazing higher end scene, but we’ve arms raced to get it.

Thanks. I’d like to think that for every hardcore capable Enduro rider on the current UK scene, there is another Joe/Jill average who would very happily pay to spend a day competing in a friendly competition where their skills would be tested and improved but without having to try and tackle the same extremes as the top riders.

Maybe a bad example, but the Ard Rock events seem to have been very popular, not just because they are set in amazing terrain and well organised, but that the courses are not mega-gnar and are rideable by Joe average.

I wonder if there’s really room for another ‘niche’ between Enduro and MTB marathon?

@ninfan, I’m not really suggesting any differences to the existing Enduro format, just making the timed downhill sections technically easier.

Enduro1 probably falls into the category you’re talking about.
Maybe the mini enduro series, as well.

Thanks for that info. Yes, Enduro1 looks like what I’m after, but don’t think we have a series like that ‘up north’ yet (?)

How far north are you?

NDH ones are pretty steep and technical according to my pals, but the PMBA races at Gisburn, Kirroughtree or *TBA* later this year might be more up your street.

I did the first Gisburn one this year and there were chicken runs on the drops and nothing very difficult to ride.

Riding it fast however…

Hebden bridge, so PMBA would be ideal for me, but I’d been put off from entering so far as I believed most of their rounds were pretty full-on gnarly. I.e. The most recent round at Lee Quarry and Cockhill.

If PMBA Gisburn will be ‘easier’ then perhaps it might be worth a go, although I appreciate that the speed the top riders will cover the stages will be in a different league to me (and that’s fine, I’d be there to have fun and learn)

Most grassroots stuff is fairly tame in my experience…although i was caught out by how bloody difficult a local DH promoter made a non-hill the other day as i ran off course time and again during practice!…..just look for your local stuff, scope out the venue to get an idea in advance of what the Enduro course might be like.

I’m going to sound like an a##ehole now but….modern trail/AM/enduro bikes (anything long and low these days)…there is huge variation from short travel 29er Orange Segments to the 180mm travel Cube Fritz…and everything 140-150-160mm in between….will all get you down virtually anything staged in an Enduro race in the UK, you dont have to be Dan Atherton fast, you just have to have some very basic skills to stop you going over the bars…and the geometry of a lot of bikes these day (combined with short stems) goes some way to preventing this anyway…the days of narorw bars and long stems pitching you into a precarious position as soon as the trail points down are long gone.

Do you have a suitable bike?, doesnt need to be flashy, i do this kind of thing on a hardtail and i’m a very average rider….the important thing is its got reasonable top tube length that allows me to run a 35mm stem and will take a 140mm fork and has a head angle between 66-67 degrees…the numbers are meaningless to some people but they give me confidence and thats all that matters….i’d say go for it, worst case scenario is you come last and from there you can only improve!

I find days at uplift centres like FoD and BPW invaluable for gaining confidence to tackle actual races….obviously nothing come close to the nerves, excitement and nausea i experience on the morning of a race but knowing i’m ‘on form’ and riding well at venues like the above is better than turning up at a race with no recent gravity type riding under my belt.

Have the bike/gear deviant and have done BPW, trips abroad, skills coaching, etc, but I’m just a bit wary of biting off more than I can chew and ending up on a stage with drops or jumps that I can’t handle.

Sheer steepness is less of an issue, it’s when things become non-rollable that I reach for the eject handle 😉

deviant – Member

will all get you down virtually anything staged in an Enduro race in the UK, you dont have to be Dan Atherton fast, you just have to have some very basic skills to stop you going over the bars.

With respect, I think this is bobbins. If you go into any enduro I’ve done lately with very basic skills, you’ll end up walking. Even Glenlivet SES had sections that required more than that.

I think the concept is fundamentally flawed, as it sounds that ultimately what you’re after is an event that isn’t xc because you don’t feel you can compete on fitness, and not enduro because you can’t compete on skill/risk.
There’s nothing wrong with not wanting to compete on those terms, but if you come up with an event that is slightly less gnar enduro and less meh xc, people will still compete, and they’ll compete on skill/risk/fitness.

You might be pleasantly surprised at the progression the adrenaline and fun of a being in a race and amongst other people progressing can cause 😀

edited again- why not try a grass roots DH to sharpen up over a course you can ride again and again to start with?

thanks Ian, I could (try) and compete in XC from a fitness perspective, but the format, culture and courses just don’t appeal to me. I’d rather give competitive road cycling a go, if that makes sense. Again, no disrespect to XC riders.

I’ve no doubt that the riders who would win an ‘easier’ Enduro event would be those with the best skills, who took the most risks and were fit. My point was that such an event would allow less skilled riders to be able to have a go at Enduro and enjoy the experience and learn, whilst as a secondary point, hopefully avoid injury (no guarantees on that though)

If you can ride the Hebden trails competently then you shouldn’t struggle TBH. Drops and doubles are never compulsory at the enduros I’ve done, though the chicken runs will take more time obvs.

And you always see the hardest bits in the media coverage.

If you go into any enduro I’ve done lately with very basic skills, you’ll end up walking.

I suppose it depends on your definition of basic skills.

If you need to bunny hop logs across the trail, jump road gaps etc then yeah, basic skills wont help….but even when i’ve done national level UKGE races i’ve never had a problem with my skillset….and i dont like jumping as per previous threads on here where i’ve asked for advice on how to improve….

…but i can drop my heels, move back on the bike and take a drop in the trail, i’d consider that basic skills….if somebody is still wobbling around a trail centre, cant position themselves to ride across off camber roots, cant ride a small drop/step down, cant negotiate a downhill switchback etc then they probably shouldnt be racing yet….to me that is basic stuff, its trail riding in the true definition before we all started riding wide, smooth groomed tracks.

I’ve seen videos from some Euro Enduro races where riders are taking tight turns by pulling a stoppie and swinging the back of the bike round the turn…nope, cant do that….i’ve seen riders manualling what seem to be large sections of bumps to maintain their speed and stop the front suspension from tying itself in knots…or just showing off!….either way i cant do that either….certainly cant pull whips with my ugly and basic jumping technique either and i wouldnt back myself to make a decent sized step-up either!….i consider that stuff advanced and i wouldnt go near a national level DH race without those skills.

I suppose if people are just sitting on their bikes like a sack of spuds and hoping the bike will do all the work (and sadly i do see this from time to time!) then they will come unstuck but surely knowing how/when to brake, what position to get into for certain terrain/cambers etc counts as a basic skill set?…or have we genuinely reached the depths in MTBing now where people throw money at the bike, crash….throw more money at the bike, crash some more….change the bike because obviously thats the problem, crash some more….spend some more, repeat etc etc?!?!….and then moan that events are too hard!

I still love watching the video from the inaugural year of UKGE when that section across the downhill exposed roots caught out so many people….thats not scary, its just funny…the weather was hideous and didnt help obviously but the way some people had no idea how to ride that was funny, watch it, you should be able to do that kind of thing, it doesnt require skills in the air or the style of Fairclough, it just requires some momentum and technique with bike handling and body positioning….but modern trail centres obviously dont have sections of trail like that, the carnage would be unthinkable on weekends!

Anyway, a rambling post but i stand by what i said, if you can ride off-piste on fairly steep and technical stuff you shouldnt have a problem….we’re not talking RedBull Rampage here.

deviant – Member

Anyway, a rambling post but i stand by what i said, if you can ride off-piste on fairly steep and technical stuff you shouldnt have a problem….

Totally agree with that; but that’s not basic skills imo. You don’t have to be great (obviously, if I can race an EWS!) but generally you’ve got to be decent.

Sounds like the OP probably has it nailed already, tbh, but the wider point is there’s a gap here that’s not well filled any more. I reckon we’d have a healthier racing scene at the top level, if we had a better one at the bottom. And the enduro format can totally handle that, it already does. Just as long as organisers are totally clear what they’re offering, anyway.

I know some people get uptight about what is and isn’t enduro; I can’t see why the sport should limit itself and exclude people. In an ideal world it should be as big, as wide and as good as it can be, imo. And if you don’t like the idea of an easier enduro, just don’t do it. There’s no way it hurts the top end, it probably helps sustain it.

I’ve only raced a few local-ish enduros but some of the loose rooty steep switchback sections were striking fear into many riders – at the last race I gather about half the riders hit the ground on the toughest part and the vast majority ended up with feet out to stay upright. But if you’re too scared of those bits just get off, climb/slide down and carry on – and enjoy the rest of the race!

I’d argue that riding steep off-camber rooty trails, especially in the wet, is far more technically challenging than being able to hit a series of dirt jumps with style – but it’s easier to build the skills for trail riding than dirt jumping if you’re an older and more cautious rider.

If you can ride the Hebden trails competently then you shouldn’t struggle TBH.

This, I’ve ridden in plenty of places in the UK and the trails round here are some of the more techy natural stuff around.

Thanks for the views, advice and feedback guys,much appreciated.

I’ve been riding less than 2 years although I do ride on average 3-4 times a week. I did the PMBA lee quarry and cock hill last week. There was nothing in it that was overly techy or steep. Absolutely everything was rollable. Folks were super friendly too. I had two objectives, to finish and not to be last – I achieved both, and was far from last.

I was also at the Grizedale one (didn’t get a riding place though) and again there wasn’t anything really tough.

I’d suggest giving one a go, try the practice day at least. It might not be as bad as you think. Maybe try doing a coaching class before hand and tell them what you want to work on.

Julzm, good info, thanks.

I think I will try and give one of the pmba rounds a go and see how I get on.