MrSmith – do you deliberatly attempt to come across as a self righteous **** in the majority of your posts on here?

no. it's a genuine question, i definitely noticed it recently. it was the bike radar thingy a few weeks ago, i was sat on a stand in the shade watching the cycling world go by.
it was obvious that the MTB'ers had a higher proportion of slightly overweight but happy people.

Never seen Diet Stella Artois or Low Cal Raspberry Jam Doughnuts 😉

Although I am 2 1/2 stone lighter than about two years ago.

Have seen plenty of roadies with pot bellies bulging under tight lycra!

Unless you're very committed it's hard to stop the march of time, even for the skinnies. I'm guessing mtbing is reaching maturity as a sport, all those who started back in the day are now in their late 30/early 40's. Life does get more complicated but as long as you're still smiling so what !

If someone said to you they were a footballer – you'd assume they did it for a living. The fat beer swilling baldies who dress up like their hero players on a Sunday and play at least have the decency not to call themselves footballers. Sadly, the mountain bike equivalent dress up and call themselves mountain bikers – a bit like when we at primary school and got to play with the dressing up box

I'm only 9 stone & in the very low 20's BMI-wise, so definitely not 'chubby' 🙂

Did see the most amazing backside on a lady cyclist today though. She was a roadie heading down into Hebden from Peckett Well & going very slowly, i sat behind for a few seconds admiring the view then felt like a dirty old man so shot past her with a red face!

Beautiful black girl on a road bike – not something you seee everyday unfortunately 🙁

You overtook her though. That's the important thing.

Only because she was down in the drops & dragging her brakes a lot. Obviously a nervy beginner, would never catch let alone pass a roadie on that hill otherwise.

also cycling doesnt exercise your torso much. for mtbing, its all about the buzz, so you get the kind of people that like to indulge, meaning lots of booze and lots of food.

exercising your torso or not has little to do with fat storage, it's the amount of exercise and the calories eaten that are the biggest factor.

do you really think there is a correlation between the buzz of exercise and overeating? only most obese people get a buzz out of eating, watching trisha and sitting on the sofa not partaking in thrillseeking sporting activity.

pootling around a hill and then having a pie and a pint is hardly the mark of an addictive personality but perhaps just somebody who eats too much of the wrong food?

Because most mountain bikers are only mountain bikers for three of four hours on a sunday and do **** all exercise the rest of the week. That's not a good way to keep the pounds off.

Just like footballers only play for 90 mins on a Sunday

Unless you're very committed it's hard to stop the march of time, even for the skinnies

I think it's more that, as vanity wanes, selfindulgence becomes more attractive (to oneself)

interesting how people are saying it's the amount of exercise that's the reason instead of the calorie intake.

Does this forum make my bum look big?

Truth is, I like cake. It's a balance and this is where I'm happy balancing. I could shift a load of weight but then I wouldn't fit into a lot of expensive cycle clothing.

I guess it isn't a case of mountain bikers being overweight per se, it's overweight people pretending to be mountain bikers

johnny_met – Member

I guess it isn't a case of mountain bikers being overweight per se, it's overweight people pretending to be mountain bikers

lol 😆

Unless you're very committed it's hard to stop the march of time, even for the skinnies.

obesity / weight gain is not a symptom of old age like going grey or bald*. What SFB + Samurai say is correct people eat to much and are lazy. a few hours a week spinning slowly up a hill then rolling down the other side wont make you slim / non fat.
All the portly ones I know either eat too much or drink too much and dont ride enough or all three…I am sure at least one has a glandular issue to be fair 😉
All the skinny ones ride more as well.

* You wont keep a flat stomach if you ride and dont do core excercise either.

I guess it isn't a case of mountain bikers being overweight per se, it's overweight people pretending to be mountain bikers

i guess people who don't live in the north are just pretending too, what with there not being any mountains anywhere else.

"Sadly, the mountain bike equivalent dress up and call themselves mountain bikers"

What strange and bitter life experiences produces such bile toward fellow men!?

0/10 for troll above OP:roll:
Would say you must try harder but in your case you could not, You just need to get better, much better.

oldie but a goldie

"Only because she was down in the drops & dragging her brakes a lot. Obviously a nervy beginner, would never catch let alone pass a roadie on that hill otherwise."

As long as she had a higher Food Chain Number than you, it still counts.

"What strange and bitter life experiences produces such bile toward fellow men!?"

I generally have such contempt towards all liars fat or not 😉

Doesnt help that because of the stenuous nature of MTBing most mountain bikers probably only get out for 20 miles or so often at a high heart rate. Not very good for fat burning but good for building a bit of muscle (which appears to beef you up even more) If you are roadie you get out for 4-6 hours at least and do 50 miles plus, most of it at a steady rate suitable for burning fat more readily.
Plus it has to be a bit of a lifestyle thing as well. Most roadies i know dont drink, watch the rubbish food intake and have early nights! Mtbers (myself included)like a drink, like a packet of pork scratchings…… Roadies get their kicks from the endorphins inspiring them to go harder for longer, most mtbers get their kicks from adrenelin where you just need a big pair of bollox and the extra ballast doesnt really effect that too much 😀

0/10 for troll above OP:roll:
Would say you must try harder but in your case you could not, You just need to get better, much better.

there was no effort involved, i just had to put down in words the procession of cyclists that were in front of me, it was a valid assessment especially as nobody has argued that most mtb'ers aren't a bit chubby and only made excuses for their weakness for cake.
EDIT: (apart from what's just been posted above)

obviously there are the racing snakes out there but they seem few and far between

There's your answer, they're too busy riding to be on here!

Quod Erat Demonstrandum

Society has better targets for your contempt than a few jolly but slightly older, tubbier folk who happen to wear appropriate clothing for the little bit of sport they enjoy.

Is trail riding really that strenuous? OK riding up hills is more intense than hiking up them, but overall it's much less effort than fell-running, aerobics, boxing etc.

😛

Well I'm fat but I ride to lose weight as well as have fun. So I'm always slimming down (gradually), maybe I'll be an xc race snake eventually.

I like the way a simple comment on an observation, with no judgement about whether being "a bit tubby" is a good or bad thing, has to turn in to another argument with phrases like "What a KNOB…" and "Society has better targets for your contempt…" aimed at the person who made the observation.

Nobody's denying that it's true, so should he just have pretended he didn't see it ?

Gave up mtb (hardtail rigid marin back then)when the kids came along. Working a non strenuous job from sun up till sun down, eating the wrong things on the fly took its toll.
Eating like i was still training etc on days off then took up drinking and enjoying life again when the kids got older. I got about a stone heavier then my fighting weight in that time so decided since i liked eating rich food and micro brewery beers i needed to start taking more energy out then i was putting in to enjoy life while not getting heavier.
So took up mtb again.
Stayed at the higher 15.5, stone but it was muscle instead of fat until last november when weather and and a series of injuries cut down my riding, excercise and mobilty. Got to 17.5 stone around april, but because i was now pushing extra weight around, instead of dropping weight my legs built up muscle while the midriff stayed. If i'd have kept this up i would only got even heavier.The only answer is a reducing diet, im hoping first to shift the midriff and then loose a bit of the muscle mass from my legs, but im not delusional i'll ever see 14 stone again!

i definitely noticed it recently. it was the bike radar thingy a few weeks ago, i was sat on a stand in the shade watching the cycling world go by.

Impressively rigorous research there…

What gets me about this site is EVERY TIME I have an idle look at clothing in the classifieds thinking "oh maybe it's my size" it is always size L-XXL. Never anything in "normal size".

Chubby feckers. Ride more. Eat less.

Impressively rigorous research there…

it's an internet forum about bikes. not The Lancet or a research paper.

but overall it's much less effort more fun than fell-running, aerobics, boxing etc.

fixed that for you 🙂

Probably more to do with the crap English diet than anything else

Probably more to do with the crap English diet than anything else

but what does that mean ? We can eat any way we like unless we think we have to copy other people…

I ride a bike to have fun.

The fact that it's good for me is of no consequence whatsoever, although I do like the fact that it allows me to eat more without becoming morbidly obese.

If bikes were bad for the health (say, in the same scientifically provable way that cigarettes are) and carried an appropriate health warning I'd like to think I'd still ride (although I have given up motorcycling due to the fact that I became convinced that it would eventually kill me).

no. it's a genuine question, i definitely noticed it recently.

Me too, starting to think MTBing might be a "fat person sport". Like darts or, as some other people have said, walking.

Because most mountain bikers are only mountain bikers for three of four hours on a sunday and do **** all exercise the rest of the week. That's not a good way to keep the pounds off.

Or often, even less then once a week. And then they are surprised/come up with a load of excuses why they can't keep up.

OK riding up hills is more intense than hiking up them, but overall it's much less effort than fell-running, aerobics, boxing etc.

Dunno, I've got my heart rate up to 211bpm on the bike. Don't think I've ever got it that high in boxing (not that I measure it). I think the problem is a lot of people see a hill as hard work that just leads to the next descent. Rubbish. Climbing is fun. People who flee to the comforts of their granny ring at the slightest hint of an upward incline are kinda annoying, they just hold up everyone else because they don't want to try?

I've lost 1/2 stone in a week. FACT. 😀

Well this is interesting.
I have never once thought or heard any of the chaps I ride with state that riding keeps your weight down, what I have heard very often that after a few consequetive rides we notice fitness levels changing and start to feel rather good… we have 168 hrs in a week, even if we rode 2 hrs per day over seven days we would only ride for 8% of the week – so what are we doing the other 92%? probably doing sedentary type work? eating and sleeping…

hmm, don't know about tubby but many of the mtb men I've seen look pretty good to me – nicely built in all the right places. Can't be doing with a skinny fella 🙂