[Closed] Accepting that you'll never be 'gnar' and moving on - anyone?

Anyone else found themselves coming to the same realisation?

Good luck anyway

I reached the same conclusion very early on in my mountain biking. I don't enjoy it any less. 😆

I do age related gnarr 🙂

Don't get me wrong, I love my Mojo HD, it was/is my dream build and I still think it's the best looking bike ever (and a fantastic ride) but I just don't use it to anywhere near even 50% of it's potential; I've always harboured these dreams of soaring through the air like the chaps in videos, nailing drops with ease, railing berms at mega speed etc. etc. but the simple fact is that since owning the Mojo I haven't improved at any of these things, I've loved riding it, but more as a XC/Trail bike that happens to handle very well when it gets steep...

a sales and marketing man's dream...... sucker!

You can either:

A: Walk when it gets to tough.

or

B: Become a better rider.

I should really have more of a go at B.

But as I'm more into easy trails, views, sunsets and good company it's difficult to get motivated to consciously try to become 'better'.

The couple of skills courses I've attended were great and really improved my riding, but if I have to get off and push, it's not really much hardship and doesn't annoy me.

I've been for some lovely walks with my bike. 🙂

OK,
Keep the Mojo, cos you will miss it, if not now one day you will.
Buy the niner cos you want it.. (dont on one do a near identical looking bike probably for a lot less?)
Keep the SS you have for when the mood takes you.

I never have been 'gnar', never will be. I don't care whether I'm the fastest to the bottom or to the top, I still enjoy myself.

Will the Niner be any better than the IF though? I doubt it.

Am I missing something here...?

You want to swap a geared full sus for a rigid singlespeed because you already have a rigid singlespeed and only ever seem to ride the existing one at the moment? Why on earth do you want two rigid singlespeeds? Surely better to have two differing bikes. I honestly don't get it...

This just sounds like you are looking for an excuse or at least positive assurance that what you are doing is normal. It isn't by the way, but then how many if our bike dealings are, to the general non biking populous, anything other than OCD vanity purchases anyway.

The niner looks nice btw, not my cup of tea but nice nonetheless.

Yep I came to the same conclusion and have gone from this....

[IMG] [/IMG]

To this......

[IMG] [/IMG]

Finally realised I don't like things all bouncy, can ride technical stuff much easier on the SS than the EX and have much more fun too boot, also can get up the climbs easier as well, as having the option to change gear had made me lazy!!!

It's irrelevant how much of its 'potential' you exploit. If you enjoy riding it, ride it, however you want.

Same goes for the Niner.

And if you can afford both, have both.

The whole self-inflicted anxiety about how things should be done and being hardcore enough is daft - I should know I suffer from it too.

In a few years all of us, from the minciest-mincer to the gnarliest hardcore grom, are worm food. I find that helps put things in perspective.

I'm getting more [i]Gnarr[/i] as I'm getting older. Trying more things like bigger jumps etc. It may well be that I'm getting old and won't be able to do them at all soon so trying to do them while I still can..

One bike will always get used more, that's normal I suppose.

I'd not chop in the Mojo for another rigid SS if I were you, too much replication with that choice and you might end up not using a bike you already love to ride.

Owning more than one bike is all about having tools to suit different types of riding that one bike simply won't accommodate...

If you're not using the bigger travel Gnar machine for it's intended purpose would it make sense to chop it in for say a 4" geared bouncer that better suits the type of riding you are doing / want to do and maybe lets you cover some miles in comfort and still enjoy descents (obviously without 30ft hucks to flat) a bit more...

And keep your Ti Rigid SS with all it's robust simplicity for what it is good at...

gnar is a state of mind..... dude.

You'll miss the Mojo.
You are just going through a phase that comes to us all.
You need the Niner cos it's an ace bike.

Two days ago you wanted another bouncy bike!! 🙂

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-nicolai-helius-st-bargain

my gnat ratio is based on the potential risk if it goes wrong and how long it takes me to recover from minor nigles

Plenty of stuff i ride I would be in trouble without a FS /Skill compensator
I guess if i only had one bike it would likely be a Hardtail but not rigid or SS [ I do own the later FWIW]

Sell both and buy the Niner and a lesser full sus for those days when rigid and singlespeed won't cut it. The Niner and a Camber or something.

I've never looked at my bike and thought, "actually I shouldn't be riding this as its more capable than I ever could be".
Does the man driving the Ferrari 458 or the Jaguar XF V8 think this? No I doubt it very much.
If riding / driving car bike / car gives you pleasure then that's enough of a reason for having it.
Just because others can make them do things better than you can, doesn't mean you should be allowed to ride / drive them still.
Stop worrying about what others think.
Cutting one's nose off to spite one's face is rarely a good idea.

Anyone else found themselves coming to the same realisation?

Did you humbly accept the fact,

or did you MTFU and book a skills course

Thinking about a full-on DH bike now.

Never ever give up! 😈

That Niner thing looks particularly grim - what's the point of it? Wouldn't a cx bike make more sense?

How many bikes have you still got then- have you cut down to just those two?
Was a time you seemed to have bought another one most weeks! 🙂

It's duplication really, if you're on a one in/one out life now, and you've not got anything to replace the mojo. Because, sure as eggs are eggs there will be lots of times in the future when you wish you were on the mojo, especially if, and I'm not giving you a hard time, you don't feel that your skills are improving how you'd really like them too. The niner is a great bike, but it'll be a bigger challenge on a lot of riding than the mojo.
Mines a great skill compensator, and I don't mind admitting that it takes me lots of places I couldn't ride on my rigid bike.
Mind, it's also been a great companion on some long walks.

You want to swap a geared full sus for a rigid singlespeed because you already have a rigid singlespeed and only ever seem to ride the existing one at the moment? Why on earth do you want two rigid singlespeeds? Surely better to have two differing bikes. I honestly don't get it...

The IF is a bit of a bodged together SS, it's a geared frame but I'm running WI Eno wheels on it, it was an experiment that I've found I really like, so much that it's almost my 'go to' choice whenever I'm heading out for a ride (have done two 70km+ marathons on it recently rather than use the Mojo setup more XC-like with lighter tyres - doing these races SS was tough, but felt like more of an achievement to me).

I didn't pay full price for the IF btw, it was a secondhand bargain of this forum, would never sell this one as it couldn't be replaced and is such a sweet ride 🙂

How many bikes have you still got then- have you cut down to just those two?

Pretty much, these two plus two road bikes (one modern titanium, one classic italian steel)...

Judging by your first pic, you ride where I ride.

I say keep the Ibis for Wales/rocky places. Keep the IF because you love it. And get yourself a short/slack 29er HT, like a Singular Buzzard or Canfield Yelli Screamy (or see the Trek Stache in the window of H4TH but to my mind it's a bit of a compromise). You may just find the geometry brings out what you're missing in the Ibis.

my gnat ratio

You can get sprays to sort that.

Can't be arsed with breaking bones and bikes personally, pushing my speed through sections is the fun bit for me, not the 2 second rush on techy features. Know people who have given up on the sport entirely through breaking bones, sure they're very gnar sat watching TV at the weekend.

Not fallen off for a good few years now, generally sit in the top third or so on Strava for trail centery stuff, work in IT, weigh 15 stone and ride an Orange Five. I feel that I've accidentally fallen into a stereotype here, not sure when that happened 🙂

Why not go for a short travel bike with lockout fork?

Almost everyone I see at trail centres is on a full susser and looks at me and my mates on hardtails as if we're some crazy luddites for riding anything without 150mm of travel and a rear shock, dropper post & remote levers for everything on the bike. Each to their own, but I think you should just enjoy riding whatever type of bike on whatever type of terrain you want. Yeah you'll get some "all the gear no idea" comments if you turn up on a £3k dh machine on a canal path, but mountain biking is what you make it, you can ride as fast, as hard, as difficult as you want, on pretty much any bike, within reason.

ps I very nearly bought an A9C a few months ago, they are true objects of desire, but I got outbid, that door closed, another opened and I'm really glad I went for something a bit more fun now.

can ride technical stuff much easier on the SS than the EX

When you say "technical".............?

It's horses for courses. Sounds like you need to vary where you ride rather than what you ride?

NO SURRENDER!

I only started riding MTB 6 years ago (when I was 31), after a largely bikeless adult life, and I'm slowly, and badly, getting better at the hard stuff. I can jump (a bit) and do steep techy descents (a bit) and had some skills training and whatnot, and I love it. My ambition's far, far behind my technique but I don't think age should be any barrier to getting better. I'm off to the QECP Enduro next month, where I'm certain that the vast majority of the field will hand me my overambitious ass, but I still spend some part of every day lost in thoughts of speed, trails, drops and whatnot.

I'm saving the cruise about years for when I've shattered my femur and my wife won't let me ride anything requiring kneepads any more.

legend - Member

When you say "technical".............?

one of my favourite local trails is a technical traverse/contour trail.

(that's right, it's neither a climb, [u]nor[/u] a descent, imagine that...)

it's quite tight and slow, full of rocks and roots, and needs a little bit of stopping/hopping/thrutching/luck to clear it.

(i've found) it's [s]easier[/s] less difficult on a rigid bike, than anything with suspension, and yes, 29er wheels help too - bridging the roots and finding a bit more grip.

I used to be on a gnarrquest, until I fell and messed up my right shoulder, dislocated it, and ended up with a rotator cuff tear and it took ages to heal, and still gives me bother now.

A course of expensive physio plus losing pay due to time off for MTB-related injuries (was a contractor at the time) made me re-evaluate my riding ambitions somewhat. I try and enjoy the whole ride experience now rather than just finding the most gnarr bits I can - I still like steep techy stuff and drops and challenges, but I do have to weigh up the consequences if it goes wrong, and think "Is this really within my ability, and if it's a bit outside it, how bad can it go!"

I've done a skills course or two, but I've definitely heard the bearded one does the best ones.

can ride technical stuff much easier on the SS than the EX
When you say "technical".............?

Afan, Coedy, Cannock and doing Dalby for the 1st time next month!!

Local ride is Woburn which has some decent technical single track...

I wouldn't call it very technical but happier on the local singletrack without gears. Gears ruin flow.

Very occasionally I spin out and could go a bit quicker with gears. Who cares.

N + 1

not

N

thrutching

[url= http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Thrutch ]Really? A few swear words here...[/url]

Is a mojo meant for proper soil your trousers gnar though? I'm sure they are very capable but most I've seen are used for crashing around trail centre reds where they make the ride nice a comfy and give the user a bit more confidence.

Is that you every now and again? If so, keep it. You don't have to huck n' whip (whatever that means) to ride a nicely put together modern bike. It might have a bit more suspension than you truly need but hell, you own it already so its not costing you anything and its plenty light enough with nice efficient suspension so probably as good as anything for a nice bimble.

stevied - Member

well, this is more what i had in mind:

[url= http://climbing.about.com/od/climbersslang/a/ThrutchDef.htm ]climbing slang[/url]

[i]thrutching = climbing using strenuous moves, awkwardly, without grace[/i]

but to be honest, your link makes just as much sense! 🙂

mattjg Gears ruin flow.

Not when they are working and used correctly they don't!

Back to the original post: "gnar" is a personal thing. One mans "gnar" is another mans bimble. The HD is not what I'd call my "gnar" bike (well I'd never call any of them that but that's a different discussion). It's my do it all bike (set in 140) but I probably ride my hardtail more and I have a proper big bike for chuckin' myself down mountains that I don't pedal to the top of.

Keep it - its a great bike and far more fun/versatile than a rigid singlespeed - but don't let that stop you from getting one of those too!

Don't get me wrong, I love my Mojo HD, it was/is my dream build and I still think it's the best looking bike ever (and a fantastic ride) but I just don't use it to anywhere near even 50% of it's potential; I've always harboured these dreams of soaring through the air like the chaps in videos, nailing drops with ease, railing berms at mega speed etc. etc. but the simple fact is that since owning the Mojo I haven't improved at any of these things, I've loved riding it, but more as a XC/Trail bike that happens to handle very well when it gets steep...

Greg Minaar raced at WC level on a 222, but my 'skill level' when riding mine is a fraction of his, so in that respect I don't use it anywhere near its 'potential'.

Anyone else found themselves coming to the same realisation? Did you humbly accept the fact, or did you MTFU and book a skills course to progress to 30ft gap jumps in just 2 days?

No skills course required, I just MTFU and went for it (ended up in hospital in the process a few times too) 😉

@crazypete my gears work, as for whether they ruin flow, to be fair you responded to an subjective statement presented as fact with a subjective statement presented as fact, so we could both be wrong 😉

if you've not tried riding ST without shifting, give it a whizz.

to be fair you responded to an objective statement presented as fact with a subjective statement presented as fact

I have no idea WTF you are on about?

that's fine

I'm just getting more Gnar actually 😀

I continue to live in denial, hence why I've just bought a Banshee Rune. In reality, I'd probably have been better off with its little brother but I rode the Rune and liked it so thought sod it. I like it and I'm not that fussed about what other people think if it or of me for riding it.

If the Ibis is laid for, I'd hang on to it. It's a lovely bike and you'll end up taking a massive hit on it.

A: Walk when it gets to tough.

or

B: Become a better rider.

I should really have more of a go at B.

But as I'm more into easy trails, views, sunsets and good company it's difficult to get motivated to consciously try to become 'better'.

The couple of skills courses I've attended were great and really improved my riding, but if I have to get off and push, it's not really much hardship and doesn't annoy me.

I've been for some lovely walks with my bike

^ This. Although I'd still want an Ibis Mojo, because it's so very, very pretty.

I realised that the bike I had was perfect for 10% of my riding and compromised for 90%.

So now I'm building up a rigid 29er SS which will be compromised for 100% of my riding 😀

At 53 I bought a Spicy and did a season in Whistler ! That's after being diagnosed with Osteoporosis , 2 crushed vertebrae in my spine and being told never to MTB again ! No doubt the way I rode in Whistler was hardly on the Gnarr scale at all but I survived to the point that with hindsight I wondered if I should have tried harder ! Still keep thinking should I flog the Spicy , took it to Crested Butte last year and off to Utah and Arizona with it this year ! No doubt still riding like a girl ! 🙄

No doubt still riding like a girl !

So is she 🙂

[img] [/img]

 

Ditch the Trek and Mojo and buy a decent full sus 😆

It's not about me; It's only about the ride. I changed a bike because it wasn't right for my riding at the time or when i got bored with it, But there's no sense of either striving or resignation, just gentle and natural progression of style and approach. Hence there is no guilt. Do what you want .