I like to think that I've never been beaten by someone I couldn't bench press. It's probably not true but it keeps me happy. I've overtaken a lot of lightweights but no fatter fatties I think.
Bike Forum
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I don't mean to sound big headed, but can someone explain this ?
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Posted 1 year ago #
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Haven't read most of this, but maybe riding your bike is about enjoying it, whatever you ride, and not necessarily about fitness, endurance, competiteness or bling.
Or maybe the OP would be even quicker on a different bike.
Posted 1 year ago # -
tomaso - Member
Perceived wisdom is a wonderful thing.
Tomaso from MotoGPNews by any chance?
Posted 1 year ago # -
I've learned to take everything here with a pinch of salt.
I usually go for the whole bag
Posted 1 year ago # -
Cinnamon girl, ampthill and one or two others have got it.
Most of the rest are responding to what they would like to believe I said so they can shoot me down.
It's not about me,it's about the bike.
I used myself as an example because I'm old, fat, slow, unskilled and riding an unsuitable bike.
The question remains, why are so many riders who are convinced that having the shock preload precisely set and running exactly the right tyre pressures even slower than me.Posted 1 year ago # -
This thread did produce a couple of gems though.
Firestarter's egg & spoon comment for one. If I had claimed that I could have finished top half in the junior race, it would have had some relevance.
And SpokesCycles repeating the myth that bunny hopping is essential to riding "proper" trails as if that's all it takes to make it true.
I liked DeVs' reply and I'd like to be able to make the same claim myself, except that my power lifting total is 350kg at 100kg. Anyone who knows what that means will know it's the weightlifting equivalent of running a 50 minute 10km or peaking at 700w on a Powertap.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Lots of people answered this, but here's my take...
OK, I do mean to sound big headed. If that bothers you, stop reading now.
From various threads on this forum,it seems to be a common belief that...
Most of these threads are started, or commented on by the same individuals. This doesn't mean it's right.
29ers are no good on twisty singletrack
It's not that they're no good, it's just they're not as good as a 26er in the same situation.
Fat people ride slowly
They do. Or they can only ride fast for a little bit.
Tyres must be at least 2.2" wide and run at 20 - 30 psi for optimum grip
No they don't, but if you ride technical trails they're optimum for fun.
Hub gears are heavy and slow
They are heavy. And they tend to drag in lower gears. They're not slow though. They're possibly slower than mechs, but not enough for most to notice and they counter that with their low maintenance and lack of exposed parts for mud and damage to interfere with.
Suspension should be professionally modified and adjusted to suit the rider
They don't have to be, you can set everything to the middle setting and adapt your riding to suit. It's one or the other and if you have a bit of money hanging about then why not get your suspension set up for you, rather than average Joe?
Bunnyhopping and other technical skills are essential
Not essential, but certainly help you ride faster over technical terrain. Slow up and hoik the front end up, then lighten the back wheel for that log or stay fast and bunnyhop it?
Bar ends should not be used with risers
It looks gay. Seriously though, there's not much need for them as they bars are wider and your hands are in a better position than a narrow flat bar already....so how come I, a 47 year old
You didn't mention age above
with a BMI of 28,
BMI has nothing to do with fat, look at most of the English rugby backs.
riding a fully rigid Rohloff 29er with bar ends and risers and 45psi in the 2.0" tyres, who is unable to bunnyhop up a curb and gets off to walk the tricky bits, can consistently finish in the top half, usually in the top third and occasionally in the top quarter in races from 50km to 24 hours and currently be 5th in the Midland Trailquests Autumn League (did I mention I ride trailquests ?)
Your bike is suited to the events you do. A 5 inch trail bike would be overkill, and would in fact, be harder to pedal around.Where are all these people with their perfectly suited and perfectly set up bikes and why do so many of them ride slower than me ?
Riding trails and having fun. My ibis is perfectly set up for what I want to do on it. It's gash for riding round SITs and MM. In fact, it's not that great going uphill at all. However, it rips downhill. The point is, the 2 or 3 minutes I make over you by being faster downhill with my 5 inch travel, 2.4 inch tyred bike is little in comparison to the 15 minutes you'll take out of me on a rigid bike uphill.Doesn't mean I'm not having (possibly more) fun. And this is why I don't race.
Posted 1 year ago # -
The question remains, why are so many riders who are convinced that having the shock preload precisely set and running exactly the right tyre pressures even slower than me.
They are not as fit, obviously.
Posted 1 year ago # -
''Where are all these people with their perfectly suited and perfectly set up bikes? '' Probably out having fun rather than busting a gut at some event, trying to prove a point!
I can't bunny hop a curb either, but I'd like to be able to! I think it's a bit sad that you assume Mountain biking is all about proving your self at events - to me its about getting out with mates, making the most of the fantastic natural riding we have in this country and pushing myself to learn how to tackle the technical bits when getting off and pushing would be the easy option. If I were you, I'd take some time off events and get out and ride for the enjoyment of it, rather than training for the next event, and maybe if you decide to start competing again, you won't need to get off and push at the tricky bits and you'll get round even faster!
Posted 1 year ago # -
and there I was thinking I was king of the pointless posts! Wow, you are truly awesome
Posted 1 year ago # -
Where are all these people with their perfectly suited and perfectly set up bikes and why do so many of them ride slower than me ?
You only finish halfway up the field? I imagine all the good bikes are finishing ahead of you and the Asda specials behind.
Personally I have a carbon race machine, my body is a temple I am a finely tuned, finely honed racing machine and I'll kick your a55 on whatever bike you choose 29er, 69er, 26er, RM250. Bring it on old timer...
Posted 1 year ago # -
The question remains, why are so many riders who are convinced that having the shock preload precisely set and running exactly the right tyre pressures even slower than me.
KINGTUT - Member
They are not as fit, obviously.
Yup
Or maybe don't feel the need to prove a point.
Either way, it's not exactly rocket science. In fact, it's not even science at all. Your observations would have much more relevance (other than qualitative assessment) if either
a) all the other riders in the races were milandstrailquestgrahams and riding different bikes
or
b) you took all the riders and put them on identical bikes to yours.
I guess you could, of course, always start riding a light carbon framed XC race machine, with finely tuned suspension, and see where you end up in the race stakes.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I'd say stop fixating on comparing yourself to others and have a good hard look at yourself:-
Fatties vs thinnies & oldies vs youngsters - How would YOUR times change if YOU lost weight? As an ex roadie with a bit of pedigree I can say that my performance is significantly lessened (and riding enjoyment decreased) by the extra "comfort" I'm currently carrying. Age has also blunted me. I can't do anything about time sadly but I can sort out the extra baggage - not to get back into elite contention but I know I'll enjoy myself more.
Skillz - Would YOU be faster or enjoy the trail de jour more if YOUR skills were honed? My off road skills are not great but I'm always trying to improve them. I came to mtb with practically no off road sense and was still a lot faster than most because of a big engine from the road - making big gains on the forest tracks & easy stuff and then having the world queuing up behind me on the techy stuff. If the course was mostly easy (a la trailquest style riding) I'd do well, and increasingly poorly as the technical content rose. You might be happy where you are technically and that's cool but improving in that department will improve your adaptability and ultimately your ability to enjoy and wider variety of riding.
Kit - Would YOUR riding improve if YOUR kit was better honed? All kit and setups have an ideal window of usefulness. A Rohloffed 29er with bar ends & thin tyres blown up to buggery would absolutely be the ideal bike on some tracks - I can imagine it being the perfect weapon of choice on a muddy trailquest. But is there a chance that you might be faster on certain locals if elements of that changed. It might be that your current skills and riding location preferences dictate that this might not be the case, but don't besmirch those that venture further afield and feel the need for example to use wider tyres at lower pressure to stay fast and in control. It might be that until you are in their shoes, you will never understand.
And finally, the kicker - you ain't all that! Sorry fella but you do have a little room for improvement in the performance department if that is important to you and maybe shedding a little weight & adding a few skills (I wonder if "must be able to bunnyhop" should be read a little less literally and thought of as a benchmark of "comfort and at oneness with ones bike"?) might do that. I checked your set2rise lap times & whilst this is clearly an apples and pears comparison my mate's wife was on average 8mins a lap faster than you. Now admittedly she was part of a team and only did the 4 so it's a harsh comparison with you soloing but......she is not the quickest on the flat tracks and had to get off and walk at least half a dozen of the techy bits on the lap as she bricks herself with anything pointing downhill (she has only be riding for a year). She was also feeling terrible and throwing up all night - turns out she was pregnant.
If I was you I would be reviewing your current racing performance, thanking whatever/whomever you believe in for an inherently good engine, and instead of wondering why those that obsess with the technical minutia are not as good as you think they should be, think positively about what you can learn from them.
Posted 1 year ago # -
CBA reading all but the or has made some points and missed a few. her not actually that fast and huge amounts of tripe are spoken on here.
Posted 1 year ago # -
...so how come I,
It's because all your initial assumptions are wrong.......nothing to be big headed about getting them so wrong.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Best missing the point completely so far post...
"Sorry fella but you do have a little room for improvement in the performance department..."
Thanks for trying to be tactful and not hurt my feelings while pointing out that I am slow, after I have mentioned several times how slow I am.
Best thought provoking post so far...
"a) all the other riders in the races were milandstrailquestgrahams and riding different bikes"
Wow, can you imagine that ? A whole race full of MidlandTrailquestsGrahams. That really would be awesome.*
As I said, I used myself as an example because I'm slow.
I used racing as an example because it offers an opportunity to compare one bike and rider with another. Maybe I should have said that riding a bike that doesn't match the majority view on STW forum of how a bike should be set up doesn't prevent me from enjoying the scenery as much as other people.* Before we get in to even more misunderstandings and accusations, this was satire. Or possibly self parody, I'm not sure. My language skills are at about the same level as my mountain biking skills, although my spelling and grammar are better than cynic al's.
Posted 1 year ago # -
MidlandTrailquestsGraham - Member
OK, I do mean to sound big headed. If that bothers you, stop reading now.
From various threads on this forum,it seems to be a common belief that...
29ers are no good on twisty singletrack
Fat people ride slowly
Tyres must be at least 2.2" wide and run at 20 - 30 psi for optimum grip
Hub gears are heavy and slow
Suspension should be professionally modified and adjusted to suit the rider
Bunnyhopping and other technical skills are essential
Bar ends should not be used with risers...so how come I, a 47 year old with a BMI of 28, riding a fully rigid Rohloff 29er with bar ends and risers and 45psi in the 2.0" tyres, who is unable to bunnyhop up a curb and gets off to walk the tricky bits, can consistently finish in the top half, usually in the top third and occasionally in the top quarter in races from 50km to 24 hours and currently be 5th in the Midland Trailquests Autumn League (did I mention I ride trailquests ?)
I even managed to get a top half finish in the Kona mash up after they'd sorted the timing shambles, when trail centres are really not my sort of thing.
Where are all these people with their perfectly suited and perfectly set up bikes and why do so many of them ride slower than me ?
Sorry, I think you need to reread your first post. I think you have missed your own point, not I!
What you have tried to say is that someone who does not fit into what you think is a commonly perceived stereotypical "fashionable" persona can perform at a more than respectable level - therefore making the argument that the qualities that constitutes the minimum requirements of a "proper" mountain biker (lithe body, riding a fully tuned bike with fat soft tyres) are null and void. Your assessment indicator for this argument was comparing your performance to others. Whilst I understand and even agree with elements of your argument, what I and many others have said is using your performance as proof does not really cut it as YOUR PERFORMANCE (note - I'm not calling you slow - lots of aspects make up performance inc fitness but also experience, skill level and equipment choice) is not all that great judged by standards I and others would consider worthy.
I used racing as an example because it offers an opportunity to compare one bike and rider with another. Maybe I should have said that riding a bike that doesn't match the majority view on STW forum of how a bike should be set up doesn't prevent me from enjoying the scenery as much as other people.
- now you are just changing the goal posts entirely
Slightly as an aside - I would suggest the "perfectly suited and perfectly set up bikes" you refute are just carefully considered purchases which the owner hopes will suit their preferred riding style and location - not unlike your own purchase! If you went into Halfords and said "Sir, give me your finest bike £500 can buy" it is very unlikely it would be a 2.5" tyred 750mm handlebared long travel hardtail as beloved my many on here. But neither would it be "a fully rigid Rohloff 29er with bar ends and risers and 45psi in the 2.0" tyres". Both are nichemongertastic - one fashionable to pseudo gnarr rad dudes and the other fashionable to the bearded trailquester
and both the preserve of STW forum geeks obsessed with kit (please note I own or have owned bikes that happily fit into both these categories!). If you mainly ride trailquests your beardy bike is the best bike for the job so if you pass apparently fitter folks on their silly wide tyres & bars on your trailquest silky smooth forest tracks it's hardly surprising. Similarly if throwing yourself down blacks is your thing the beardy bike might be the reason you have a queue behind you and it would have been a more surprising statement if you had asked why others were so much slower than you in that environment.
Posted 1 year ago #
Topic Closed
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