his "signs of being a mountain biker":
"… The other is seeing a pretty boy/girl riding down the street and noticing what bike they're riding"

not me then. I'll take in face, hair, figure, body language, boobs, thighs, arse, calves, hands and wrists (though not necessarily in that order), and the bike (bike ??) would get about the same notice as the shoes – for which it serves a similar function.

later he says "…obsession with kit, being able to identify a bike from 50 yards, being able to tell what tyres have been riding down your local trail".

Again, no – I think I'm more interested in steam trains and viaducts than bikes and kit, and I'm no trainspotter…

so there we have it, an enthusiastic rider but not actually a biker at all 🙁

…and…. ?

We all knew that 🙂

You must write down 50 times
I want to be a proper mountain biker

I get mocked by my other half for 'perving' bikes. Any bikes. And yes, I do the tyre thing… 🙁

is this in the mag or something?
or has he written about you in his memoirs?

I think that just means you are a dirty old man, not a mountain biker.
Personally I take in the whole scene, bike and all

SFB – I am with you there.

If you are a real mountainbiker as opposed to a fashion victim then the bike is merely a tool to do the job not and end in itself. Who cares what the bike is and about all the geekery that goes with it.

Real mountainbikers get out there and ride – and whatever else you may or may not be guilty of you certainly ride your bike.

depends how hot the rider is whether they or the bike get my attention.

its like jeeves & wooster .

sorry, it's his editorial in the latest issue – you know, that mag thing they do in their spare time when not slaving over STW ?

I want to be a proper mountain biker

no, I don't, that obsession with kit thing is too "autisitic spectrum" for my taste…

I think that just means you are a dirty old man, not a mountain biker.

but I started doing it when I was 15…

TandemJeremy – Member

If you are a real mountainbiker as opposed to a fashion victim then the bike is merely a tool to do the job not and end in itself. Who cares what the bike is and about all the geekery that goes with it.

Real mountainbikers get out there and ride – and

Some of us do both

I nearly crashed the car once checking out a bike……

I think there might have been a girl on it a well!

I shall pass comments once my subs copy finally turns up 👿

Just because you started being a dirty old man when you were young is not an excuse 🙂

druidh – you a bike geek?

Just because you started being a dirty old man when you were young is not an excuse

I'm thinking it's genetic programming. The types that drool over kit become extinct 🙂

TJ – I'd say that I'm on the geeky side. Partly an occupational hazard of course, but what else would you call someone who replaces their Shimano brake hoses with Goodridge just because they are white?

Hmm maybe you have something there. Just keep your lense to yourself though 😯

You keep it decently well hidden away druidh – anyway – thats being a tart not a geek. Geeks are the ones who recognise people by their bikes and can tell this years xtr from last years at a glance

A little bit of licence being taken there, sfb, considering the word used is 'sign' not requirement.
Unfortunately I don't have too many of the 'signs'. thankfully.

I'll comfess to doing the tyre thing, but only because I hope it makes me look a tiny bit like Ray Mears… 😳

I liked that article. The kit geek was not the only point made

TJ you do constantly suprise me with your narrowmimdedness. Guess I should be used to it 🙄

Interest in bikes to the exclusion of the riding is one thing but it's perfectly possible to combine the two.

The kit geek was not the only point made

but I agreed with most of the other stuff:)

I'm both a geek and a tart love all elements of mountain bikes maybe something to do with my engineering back ground but I enjoy all the technologies whether it's bollox or not. It's my hobby I guess and occasionally I even go for a ride !

does anyone else speed up on the motorway if you see a possibly interesting bike on a roof rack in the distance?

if you don't engross yourself in the geekery, the tartery and the fashion(ry) of mountain biking as well as riding, then you're missing out on half the fun
maybe if you had a nice bike you'd understand 🙂

rOcKeTdOg – Member
does anyone else speed up on the motorway if you see a possibly interesting bike on a roof rack in the distance?

Only if I'm riding my tourer.

Geeks are the ones who can tell this years xtr from last years at a glance

Oh, c'mon all you need is a working set of eyes for that comparison. Methinks the lady doth protest too much

I am not a sad individual. I tend to get on with people better than I do with non-human things.

When out for a ride with people, I will usually recognize people and tell them apart from what bike they are riding.

Right now I'm wearing a specialneeds t shirt and fox shorts. And endura socks.

I'll notice if you have new jockey wheels, but probably not if you have had a hair cut.

Being a bike geek is fun. Just a shame there aren't more out there to talk gear inches with.

then you're missing out on half the fun

half for you mebbe, less than 1% for me :o) Give me totty any day!

I'm crap at remembering names but quite good at remembering what bike you were riding all day.

nickc – Member

"Geeks are the ones who can tell this years xtr from last years at a glance"£

Oh, c'mon all you need is a working set of eyes for that comparison. Methinks the lady doth protest too much

I wouldn't be able to tell xtr from any other mech without reading whats on the side – the whole geekery simply escapes me. I don't recognise or remember bikes at all.

Its just geekery – same as trainspotting

but quite good at remembering what bike you were riding all day.

it never registers for me. Sometimes I can remember the colour of the bike…

"no, I don't, that obsession with kit thing is too "autisitic spectrum" for my taste.."
er, i think not, autistic obsession would be the noise the kit makes, not the looks.
"not me then. I'll take in face, hair, figure, body language, boobs, thighs, arse, calves, hands and wrists"
wrists? blimey, never noticed wrists before, although there must be entire websites devoted to it!

rocketdog, er, yes many a time, just to get a glance! 😉

tumnurkoz – Member
….> hands and wrists"
wrists? blimey, never noticed wrists before, although there must be entire websites devoted to it!

Might be quite important if you're into fisting though?

'sickbag'!

Simon, I don't know you, but you are perhaps just a bike rider, and not a mtb rider, like Chipps said.

Last night someone asked me if the rear mech on my new bike was last year's XTR. I didn't even realise I had an XTR rear mech 😳