Lots of technology if you want to go fast.
Otherwise keep it simple, and enjoy the hassle free riding.
Bike Forum
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So...is technology ruining the point and fun of riding?
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Posted 1 year ago #
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I found better technology like better shocks meant I could go faster on tougher terrain. Downside is it means more pain when things go tits up, financially and physically
Posted 1 year ago # -
No, after a self imposed 'new bits ban' I've ended up digging out some MX Pro's from the spares shed.
They're shit.
No two ways about it.
Spring is wayyyyyy away from being linear, stiff initialy, nothing mid way through then ramps up at the end.
Damping is 'basic', I didn't think I'd miss SPV as I hated it, but these forks just use their travel up pumping through sections! Trying to carry speed is a nightmare. Come back SPV all is forgiven!
They're not particularly stiff (see below).
Lightweight? Theres a couple of huge holes bored out of the crown if they count?
Riding old stuff and new stuff back to back just shows how much has changed! Riding the old fork is still fun, but it's a lot of hard work compensating for its weaknesses. Even the much maligned SPV was a huge inovation over the marzocchi squelch we all look back on through rose tinted glasses.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I ride my SS rigid almost exclusively now - thats cos i have more fun on less demamding trails that I normally ride and have access too
That said I can and do ride it on other stuff too - it was good fun and quite a challenge mentally to ride it down Llannberis path last November in the snow
As I broke my front wheel on last Saturdays turbines ride this Weds I used my FS that only gets used in the Alps normally - it feels big/heavy but great in an entirely different way than the way I normally ride
I'm glad I have both but happier with my general trails to ride a rigid
Posted 1 year ago # -
I only occasionally ride the odd bit of trail* that is only possible because of technology (eg nan bield) the vast majority of trails just get faster with better equipment and faster entails the downsides kuco mentioned. Suspension is a skill compensator which can be good for all sorts of reasons, I've comfortably got down fast/tricky DHs at the end of long rides where my reduced concentration and reflexes could have caused a crash on a rigid bike.
As mogrim said uphills are more of a level playing field, you can't buy climbing skills
and for anyone who got into riding in the last 5 years, give a bike like IanW's a go they are (a different kind of) fun!
*this is an indication of the tameness of my local/usual trails not a claim to trailriding godhood
Posted 1 year ago # -
most of the fun is in the going up
Surely this is a troll! I don't mind the challenge of a climb but it's nothing compared to going back down the other side
Posted 1 year ago # -
and was wondering if this sport is now getting too dependent on tech and gear
No. It's optional, you know. You can ride whatever the hell you like. If you want to be all Amish about it then go ahead, makes no difference to anyone else
Then the marketeers will start telling us that we need to buy 11-speed
So why not just ignore them?
A fair few of us started when it was all rigid and cantis. We all had a great time, none of us held out of riding until the technology became better. Though for me yes it does. I remember doing my first decent on a full susser and whilst it was quicker I arrived at the bottom not shaken or stirred, kinda dulled it a bit for me.
It makes it different. Rather than having to hang on being rattled about at 15mph, you can take the swoops and curves at 25mph. It makes trails different. I personally like seeing the trail's lines more than the bumps in it, but it's all good. No-one's stopping you riding a fully rigid with cantis.
It would appear to me that as the bikes get better the trails have to get more difficult to get the same level of thrill
True - stuff is being built in the woods now that only pros would've attempted 20 years ago. That's fine though. Progress, since more is now possible.
Balls to the wall fast and I had to really work on my technique to let me carry the speed I gained on the straights through the corners. It also opened up different line choices, and the ability to use trail features in different ways - doubling up over multiple crests etc
Spot on.
Suspension is a skill compensator
Wrong. It's an enabler.
This debate seems to be entirely caught up with marketing. People seem to consume the marketing and either believe it or react against it. Personally I ignore it completely (made easier by not reading mags) and just ride my bike. If I break something or something's not performing as I want, I research for a new one (or more likley, see what's on special offer and then read up about that).
Posted 1 year ago # -
I ride my SS rigid almost exclusively now - thats cos i have more fun on less demamding trails that I normally ride and have access too
This is the main point IME. Some people say that their local trials are boring and this is why they need to drive 2 -3 hr to Wales to go riding to find a challenge but tamer trailers become a challenge and exhilarating on the correct bike. I still have never needed a different bike to ride any trail I've ridden in the UK. Wanted for short stretches but then 95% of my other riding would be boring on big bongy bike. Given the money I would have one hanging in the shed for those handful of ride a year.
Posted 1 year ago # -
The point about big bikes isn't to ride them at the same speed in greater comfort...
Posted 1 year ago # -
I never said it was ....
Posted 1 year ago # -
I've ridden with Cantis and fully rigid moved to a HT with V's and now ride a 5 inch FS with discs.
I am having approximately the same amount of fun but my arse hurts less.
Arse hurting less is good in my book.
Oh and I can stop better in the wet and I don't get as bad arm pump or as many pich flats and I ride far far more quickly downhill without crashing as often because having suspension is wise off road. .
Posted 1 year ago # -
Wrong. It's an enabler.
You say potatoe, I say potatoe
Posted 1 year ago # -
Molgrips
Yup ,I agree.
I gave an HT SS (v-brakes)a go over the winter cause one of my mates was trying it. Then the forks needed looking at so I made it rigid.
Riding it made me remember what it used to be like in the early days (feeling everything)and some of that was a good thing,but mostly I found it too annoying .
On the plus side ,it felt great to get back on my usual HT again.Posted 1 year ago # -
I floated about on my 6" overbike today and had a hoot.
I got my teeth and eyes shaken out on my rigid yesterday and also had a hoot
Posted 1 year ago # -
Having come back to this there has been a good response. However, I am no luddite and the point I made was not that I want to go back to the old days, cantis, rigid etc just that the performance of suspension etc is taking the sting from the trails. So is the fun going faster over the same stuff or the same speed over harder stuff or faster over tougher stuff. For what it is worth, I don't think I ride any differant terrain now than I did 20 years ago on a rigid GT. Not much in the way of trail centres needed living in Calderdale. Yes, the bike stops better and is more comfy but aside from an annual jaunt to the alps, the fun factor is probaly the same...I think. Maybe not actually, the fast bumpy descent on the FS is more fun now than then with the speed factor. But how much do I want 29'r wheels and longer travel forks to absorb the bumps. Probably no more than I have with the system I have. Maybe the post should have been, "what is the definition of mtb fun?"
Anyway, a good response all round.Posted 1 year ago # -
"So is the fun going faster over the same stuff or the same speed over harder stuff or faster over tougher stuff."
Be careful not to confuse challenge and progression with fun - they may be the same, but they may not.
Fun is mates, beer, trails, sunshine, no matter what you ride
Posted 1 year ago # -
so for the racer, tech is good is it gives a performance adavntage. For casual riders we have all we need???
Posted 1 year ago # -
I think the question really is.....why do you ride a bike?
Posted 1 year ago # -
I think it is, see this thread: http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-was-happy-now-im-unhappy-and-undecided-ibis-hd140-sl-r-content
Posted 1 year ago # -
exactly.
Posted 1 year ago # -
beanieripper - sometimes I ride a bike for reasons that are more to do with challenge and progression, and the training rides to get there are not exactly fun.
That's a road bike though
Of the four things I listed above I would say mates beer and sunshine are more likely to provide fun than how much travel your bike has. I was out on a ride for a mates 40th today and there was every bike, rider shape, fitness level, etc conceiveable on the ride, it didnt matter, it was sunny, trails were dry we had some beers and a laugh and a lot of FUN.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I couldnt agree more with you. I've been riding too long to admit to, the guys i ride with that are worried about their tech on 3k bikes have less fun than my non biking mates that come on their 300quid claud butlers for a blast and a pint. peace. and ride how you like.
Posted 1 year ago # -
If worrying about what technology to use is the only problem we have, we are truly spoilt
Vive la difference!
Posted 1 year ago # -
5thElefant - Member
"Technology" doesn't make it any easier it just makes it faster. More faster = more funner.
Try a MX bike and you'll see what I mean
Funny that as I come from an MX /Enduro background and find low tech MTBs much more fun than any of the MX races, British Championship Enduros, European Championship Enduros and ISDE's I did. Though getting on the British team twice for the ISDE was a bit of a buzz.
Posted 1 year ago # -
my first mountain bike was a 1988 dawes ascent (fully rigid,15 speed,sis thummies,cantilever brakes,grips harder than a Glaswegian bouncer
i loved riding it,offroad and on.i still ride the same trails that i did all those years ago,but now have a lovely giant anthem x2 bike to do it on.i loved riding the dawes,but thank heavens for technology (would never want to go back to the dawes now) my anthem just makes trails more fun to ride (and i thank it when it saves my arse.in more ways than one Posted 1 year ago #
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