Bikepacking is just touring with a marketing budget.
The brick, isn't this supposed to be a non judgemental post, your pedantic snidiness is hardly in the spirit. Grow up killjoy.
26” ain’t dead.
Mountain biking in England seems to be taking on the business model preferred by the golf industry. In many (or less) years from now we will have as many small trail centres/bike parks with bike shops and cafes attached as there are golf courses, golf shops and club houses now.
Well put endomick, there's always one.
Merino kit is pure sh*te.
Cold in the winter, warm in the summer. It may wick slightly better than ordinary wool but who the hell wears ordinary wool kit anymore? Nobody 'cause it's sh*te too. But only slightly more sh*te than Merino.
For the average STW member, the larger the cumulative value of the total number of bikes owned the more they sit on this forum compared to actually riding said bikes.
Gears and suspension are for the old and frail.
Stompy
For the average STW member, the larger the cumulative value of the total number of bikes owned the more they sit on this forum compared to actually riding said bikes.
Ooh, that stung. 🙂
Fat bikes are for snow or the desert.
A trail designed purely for a rider to use as a fairground ride is not what mountain biking is really about. Trails formed over hundreds or even thousands of years are the only true mountain biking.
27.5 is virtually dead.
😉
Fat bikes are for folk that are slow as **** and need something to blame
snow or the desert.
FTFY
When out riding you can tell a lot about a person when you first meet just by their choice of components and attire
I wouldn't want crowds of cyclists meeting daily outside my front door either.
Gravel bikes make loads of sense, in the north Americases. Here they are the tartan zip up slippers of bicycles.
Trail centres rock.
Arguing on the internet is not going to change policy on anything ever.
I have no problem with QR hubs/wheels. Can't see the point in big axles.
Change my mind.
Team Sky or whatever they are called this week have been at it from the get go and when they are finally exposed they will make Lance Armstrong look like mother Teresa!
Quite cathartic this eh? With the lack of the usual biting back?😆
CX is for people who are shit roadies but too wet to try MTB. Enduro is where mediocre DHers go to die. Roadies are belters.
1. The Rules are real and vaguely matter.
2. eBikes are fine if they have flat bars. Otherwise they're just cheating.
Merino kit is not as good as synthetic
that’s not controversial, it’s true. Marino is awful. Where else in your bike would you choose a heavier, worse performing and less robust alternative for more money? Especially in a damp climate!
Old bikes are not retro, pure, simpler, more raw, etc, they're just more shit. Modern bikes are just way more fun. (Mostly because they are way more flattering, but none of us like to admit that)
It's ok to be a bike snob
Cycling as activity is getting "better".
No it isn't , there are too many people. In the good old days you could go out all day and never see a bikie. The woods weren't trashed by people who want to leave their little urban ghettos , go to the countryside and recreate their little urban BMX parks. Vast car parks weren't there draining vast numbers of environmental polluters. You could walk all day and not see a tyre track let alone a maze of them .
The cycling world wasn't full of self labelled rebels all wearing the same uniform.
Cyclists were clever enough to work more than one derailleur at the same time and didn't need suspension and electric engines to compensate for lack of talent or fitness. They had enough fitness to use gears that work properly.
Cyclists didn't spend a fortune on junk food or over priced coffee.
A silly bit of paper doesn't mean that you are able to teach and who the hell needs to be taught to ie a bike in the woods. Your dad does that on day one.
A bike was for life, all you did was stick on a new tub occasionally and clean all 5 sprockets on the block.:)
Shimano Dual Control (flappy paddle) shifters were great but Shimano did mess up with the reverse rear mech; they worked best when combined with a normal rear mech.
There is no better sound in cycling than the screaming of native bluebells being decapitated by a freshly sharpened, cold, hard mattock.
On national trust land.
Fixed gear bikes shouldn't have brakes. If you can't stop using your legs along then ride a different sort of bike until you have the skill to do so.
Trail centres are shit.
or ...
Trail centres are the future of mountain biking.
I think I've covered all the bases there. 😊
Mountainbikes were a marketing exercise.
Every wheel size other than 26” is a marketing exercise.
Fatbikes are the ultimate marketing exercise, in fact when the emperor got his new clothes he ordered a matching fatbike.
E-bikes are the new fatbikes and are, you guessed it . . .
Riding round in a circle is silly; riding from A to B is infinitely more rewarding.
Too much opinion, not enough ride.
The brick, isn’t this supposed to be a non judgemental post, your pedantic snidiness is hardly in the spirit. Grow up killjoy.
Ehh!?! It's a question? I did not understand hence the question. Other ones I get. I get the triple are good , tripples are bad 29er good 29er bad. I don't get the controversy of gmbn jersey Vs fox jersey. It's like blue jersey Vs red jersey.
I'm completely happy if you want to tell about being a triathlete or vegan. People being excited by things is joyful
Riding around the edges of flat, muddy fields on a bridleway in the Winter, getting caked in thick mud, and collecting a slurry of grass, mud and dog sh*t on your bike is None of the following:
- character building
- good for the soul
- better than just going for a road bike ride
- better than just staying home and getting fat(ter)
1) A properly designed trail centre/bike park trail that’s appropriate to your skill level is superior to the best natural riding.
And its evil twin - there's nothing like riding for ages then stumbling across the most perfect bit of singletrack in the middle of nowhere. and you'll keep going back to it, despite the longer less interesting bits, because it really is a soul lifting feeling in the middle of a ride.
Anything red on a bike does not make it go faster.
Driving your bicycle to a sportive makes you a double bell end.
Road cycling began before 2012.
Cyclocross really is just riding posh kit round a muddy field.
It’s not a race unless you pin a number on.
The drugs do work.
Which bit of that is controversial?
sportive
Are actually good fun, it's the trail center for roadies. nice route, no navigation, and bonus 'free' coffee and cake (at the good ones, no one wants to be confronted with a plate of jelly beans and a glass of isotonic orange squash at a 'feed stop'.
sportive
Are actually massively overpriced.
And on that note, why aren't there more permanent sportive style routes? There's a Round Berkshire 100 route, with signposts, but it's a mix of roads (not all quiet) and at it's worst a muddy field. So doesn't appeal to anyone, Similarly you see "tourist routes" signposted for cars, and buses. Surely some enterprising cafe's could setup signpost some nice 40/60/80/100 mile routes in cooperation with some other cafe's on the route to attract groups from elsewhere?
.gpx's are nice, but it's nicer being able to keep your head up and see where you're going.
And on that point. Garmin's are utterly ****. tiny screens, low resolutions, unresponsive touch screens, just stick a smartphone on your bars.
retro bikes are brilliant. Well Marins and Konas are.
26 inch isn't dead.
shimano and magura disk brakes are brilliant.
fixed bikes should have a brake - remember that guy who killed the commuter - he's inside now.
no arguing - yay.
Shimano disc brakes are useless and require constant attention to offer even mediocre stopping power.
Hope on the other hand never need bleeding, fettling or any care whatsoever. Work whatever the conditions and are utterly fit and forget.
Rapha clothing is very stylish and excellent value for money.
Drug use in The Tour levelled up and spread opportunity.
Rim brakes are total and utter rubbish.
Especially in UK, thanks to the weather.
Cheers!
I.
Stuffing everything into your pockets is a poor way to carry kit on any bike.
Water bottles, caps etc do not need poncy french names.
