It’s not all about tyres. Except it is.
1. What tyres for UK winter?
Probably the most repeated thread on the forum. An absolute classic.
Standard reply: “Magic Mary front, DHRII rear.” Followed by 50+ further comments debating compounds and casings.
2. Hardtail v full sus
Usually either posted by people buying their first ‘proper’ MTB or returning to the fold after years away/roadieing.
Standard reply: “A good hardtail teaches you to ride properly.”
3. What bike for £3 – 4k?
Kinda like the next level to the post above; someone buying their next ‘proper’ MTB.
Standard reply: something costing £5k
4. SRAM v Shimano brakes
One of the eternal arguments. Pick a global cycling conglomerate and be a d*ck about it.
Standard reply: “You’re wrong.”
5. Are e-bikes cheating?
A debate that has evolved significantly over time. From ‘burn with fire’ through to ‘meh’ and ‘e-preacher’.
Standard reply: “It’s still riding a bike.”
6. “Which bike rack for my Transporter?
With van ownership being pretty common amongst forum regulars, this is a perennial favourite (that also helps bring in lots of non-STWer web traffic).
Standard reply: “I gave up and built my own interior storage that ended up costing several hundred pounds more.”
7. What is the best UK trail centres
This is pretty swiftly hijacked by the Natural Trails Alliance who go on list everything they don’t like about trail centres.
Standard reply: “What I don’t like about trail centres is…”
8. Tubeless won’t seal – help!
Much like the e-bike debate above, this is an area that has evolved over the years. It used to just get endless “just use inner tubes” comments but now things are a bit more helpful. Usually.
Standard reply: “Just ride it, it’ll seal.”
9. Anyone still riding 26/27.5/29?
A thread of varying degrees of nostalgia combined with ‘science’ and general resentment towards the bike industry.
Standard reply: some cliche about “playfulness”
10. What car for bikes?
Most folk don’t live bang adjacent to decent riding it seems. Transport discussions are very popular on the STW Forum.
Standard reply: “Skoda Octavia” or “Ford Transit Custom”
11. How much travel do you really need?
Underbiked, overbiked, Wombling free. The age old discussion about the amount of travel and the effects it can have.
Standard reply: some cliche about “playfulness”
12. Budget lights for night riding
Common debate topics: lumen claims, battery life, helmet mounted versus bar mounted.
Standard reply: “AliExpress” or “Exposure SixPack”
13. What bags for bikepacking?
Sign o’ the times. Queries about frame bags and bar bags are becoming the new ‘what tyres for…’ style threads.
Standard reply: “I’ve not used them yet but.”
14. What’s your coffee setup?
Off-topic thread that appears surprisingly often. The STW forum has a large coffee nerd population.
Standard reply: “Aeropress.”
15. How do I get fitter/better?
This type of posts are usually started by riders who don’t want to really hear the truth.
Standard reply: “Just ride more.”
Be interesting to see what the most popular topics were 20 years ago
Presta vs Schrader
Conti Vert Pro vs Fire XC Pro
is 17mm rim width ok for 2.3″ tyres?
How do I stop my front mech rubbing?
I’m suspecting that this is AI written or at least very heavily influenced by it which I find puzzling. While I understand the publishing world is being hit hard from all angles and there is a probable need to adapt or die, I’m very surprised to see a publisher actively using AI to write articles.
I guess the AI is stealing our jobs point is counteracted by the fact that no one would really have been employed to write something so basic.
If Benji is a robot, we should be told!
Benji has spent much of this morning putting that together from the forum software reports we have access to.