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.”
KYLIE
20 years ago ….. too early for the Piccolax thread?
I first found this place in 2002. I remember a lot of arguments about whether disc brakes were to blame for braking bumps and trail degradation in general, and about whether full suspension bikes could every be as efficient as hardtails. Not forgetting the arguments about trail centres. Brant Richards would be contributing to every other thread and if you judged bike sales by STW forum posts then On One were a far more successful company than Trek, Specialized and Giant combined. On top of all of that Dan and Beer would be trying to get people to click on links to truly awful things, and trolling was generally easier as your username was set by a free-text field that you could change every time you made a post.
Only by a year
Pffft, Magura please.
Any chance we can do the longest running threads?
I’m nominating this one:Â
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/off-topic/sick-of-the-incessant-snow-updates/paged/63/