[Closed] Has mountain biking become the new golf

STW is great, 3 pages of reaction from some obvious trolling, business as usual 🙂

I have a santa Cruz and and an Orange and a SS

I used to be niche but as everything is 26 " theese days I am a bit retro

How big is your personal space? Measured in km?

Km? Rank amateur, I measure mine in nautical miles.

Had to sell my Audi to pay for the bikes. Love riding out in the wild and trail centres. What's not to like? (except you)

I must admit I preferred cycling when fewer people did it and it was seen as being odd to do it

To be fair as the OP had said in the thread. As long as you are not a nob who cares. Ride anything as long as it is safe and 1st ride, last ride or somewhere inbetween - it's all good.

Every time this thread comes up, I post this.

I wouldn't mind rich people mountain biking so much if they could just be a bit more generous and swing their old bikes* to me.

* usually about six months I believe.

Golf is too difficult.

Perception is everything.

Just last weekend I turned up at Cannock, took a top of the range Orange Five off the roof rack of a brand new Mercedes estate and slowly rode round 12 miles of man made trails whilst wearing mostly Rapha gear.

To the outsider I looked like one of the newcomers the OP Is moaning about.

In reality I've been riding mtbs since 1986, raced the original Malverns for several years until someone was murdered in the tent next to me, had the first Orange Clockwork, worked in the trade and all sorts. Just because I've been lucky enough to have a successful career and therefore buy decent stuff, and unlucky enough to have an injury meaning I currently ride slow.

Sod off.

Just because I've been lucky enough to have a successfully career and therefore buy decent stuff

Whadju buy an orange 5 for then? Heh heh. Heh.

Whadju buy an orange 5 for then? Heh heh

Serious answer? Because I love Orange bikes, and have done for 25 years. I've ridden most things and frankly for the limits of my ability and the riding I do, a Five is fine.

mcnultycop - Member
Golf has that corporate feel.
Putting my Canyon in my Lexus and getting out in the hills is a different experience.

🙂

When we start destroying vast areas of natural land to lay down a few bits of nice grass and fancy club house with a dress code we might be getting close.
Until then people can drive a ride what they like.

jamj1974 - Member
To be fair as the OP had said in the thread. As long as you are not a nob who cares.

Serious answer?

I wouldn't have dignified it with a response 🙂

I'm of the opinion that mountain biking has become the new Rolf

Just avoid trail centres OP, all the ex golfers seem adverse to natural trails and stick to groomed stuff. You never see an unreplaced divot or unraked bunker at a trail centre do you?

Surely that's the equivalent of a braking bump?

rOcKeTdOg - Member
Just avoid trail centres OP

Golf has that corporate feel.

Putting my Canyon in my Lexus and getting out in the hills is a different experience.

You failed to give a nod to your clothing and tyre sponsors, but otherwise, a strong 8/10 for effort and completely losing everyone else with your ironing!

Chapeau sir!

IMBA reckon there's now more people in the USA who own a mountain bike than golf clubs.
So, in that sense, yes.

rOcKeTdOg - Member

You never see an unreplaced divot or unraked bunker at a trail centre do you?

HAH. The equivalent of an unreplaced divot would be skidding everywhere and never lifting a shovel.

Roadying is the new golf. MTBing is still far too niche.

"It's the future, I've tasted it...."

[img] [/img]

Mountain bike sales are flatlining

Doesn't that mean they've died?

Look at some of the sponsors in the road riding world (and I include sportives in there): Dimension Data, ING Direct, Maserati, Tag Heuer, Jaguar. They are sponsoring cycling because that's where their customers are going.

Interesting point, but is it the other way around? Customer demographic pulling them in.

Anyway, it's quite simple.

Rule 1: Don't be a dick
Rule 2: See Rule 1.

I usually ride stright from home, and to be honest I very very rarely see any other mountian bikers. When I do, we ignore each other as we almost certainly know one another and secret training is a shameful secret not to be spoken of.

brassneck - Member
Anyway, it's quite simple.
Rule 1: Don't be a dick
Rule 2

Think that sums it up nicely. Mountain biking and life.

I live and, mostly, ride in Surrey.

There certainly are a lot of blokes with money, flash cars and bikes, but honestly, so what?

If you are making an argument against rich people having nice stuff, fair enough, but it isn't a mtb argument.

I get the point that over-crowded trails are annoying, but that's really an argument against the sport becoming more popular.

I think one of the reasons road cycling [i]has[/i] grown much more rapidly than mtb is that mtbers and the culture is a bit more spiky, less club orientated, dare I say it a bit more selfish.

I think there is also a valuable point to make about the consumerism in mountain biking. We all like nice toys, and, if I'm honest, if I had some spare cash going I would definately splash it on some new kit.

Equally, the industry does seem to focus a lot of its development on aspirational marginal performance gains which don't help the average rider. For instance, I probably wouldn't notice the stiffness gains of the move to boost, but if they could improve the durability of hub / headset / BB bearings that would be a big plus to me.

But, objectively, unless someone is slagging you off for having an older bike / cheap stuff (In which case they are a total loser and laugh it off) someone else having good kit doesn't harm you, the harm is only in your head.

Frankly it isn't the new golf - that is road cycling - but I would agree that like pretty much everything it is fairly fashion orientated and commercialised. Opt out of worrying about it.

I remember around 5 years ago I was chatting to a well known skills coach. He thought back then that MTB was the new golf, as in it was being taken up by affluent the "middle classes " with plenty of disposable income and these people were his target market.

I think there is an element of that still.

I've noticed at work that a few of the senior chaps have got into cycling in the last couple of years and thrown a fair bit of cash at it. It's their money and time. If they've having fun who cares? One of teh guys rides a lot (road and MTB) and is pretty good. One of the others normally has a wobble about this time of year and parks his up for the winter. One of them is much more into buying nice bikes than actually riding.

The 'lifestyle' element has really kicked in though at train centres. The Audi is so last year. It's all about the VW Transporter these days.

I've ridden since '96 and have had a few breaks along the wya but keep coming back to MTB's. It is more popular and things like train centres have helped. Surely it's a good thing? There do seem to be a few more tools about...the worst ones I come across are the wannabe racers in team kit. Most are pretty affable.

This discussion is a mini class war isn't it, ie "rich" blokes wth nice cars and expensive bikes are destroying this "grass roots" sport. Plus of course they are "all the gear and no idea" whilst the ordinary blokes are the real riders ? Frankly I'm a pretty ordinary rider but I'm fairly sure Cotic and Hope are happy I'm buying their quality products.

We sold our very nice A6 Quattro Estate for £6k - so are all owners of £6k cars the "wrong sort" ?

I agreee, if you are going to be class-war about mountain biking you have to be class war about other things too.

Also, what is wrong with [i]average [/i] riders having nice stuff?

I probably don't [i]need [/i] 203mm ice-tech rotors, but they do do the job rather well, especially if you are heavy. I know they won't let me down.

Some things are gucci for gucci's sake - a lot of riding glasses fit in to this category IMO, but its their money.

It's not just a class thing though. Think of how much easier it is to join a club now that the internet exists compared to pre-internet days, especially given the explosion in social media.

Previously, to join a mtb club would mean heading off to meet a bunch of guys you'd never met before in a muddy field somewhere with no idea of what was in store for you or whether they were a bunch of nice guys or total Be**-ends.

Now, you can peruse a website, view photos, check out message boards, exchange emails or even check the average speed of the weekly club-run on Strava to see how you measure up. There's a lot less barriers to taking the plunge of heading off to introduce yourself to your local club.

I'm pretty sure climbing, fell-running, open water swimming, triathlon clubs and many others are all reporting an increase in numbers at the moment? There's a lot less barriers to it these days.

This discussion is a mini class war isn't it, ie "rich" blokes wth nice cars and expensive bikes are destroying this "grass roots" sport.

Nothing that can't be solved by buying a niche* bike to prove how much more of a 'real' MTB'er you are

* see the latest SS/clown/rigid/fat fashion trend du jour

One of my local trails goes across a Golf course. I neither have a Santa Cruz or an Audi though so I don't stop to network!!

The 'lifestyle' element has really kicked in though at train centres. The Audi is so last year. It's all about the VW Transporter these days.

Has it or is this just a symptom of the participants getting older and circumstances changing?

I'd have a T5 in a flash. 3 boys and a wife who cycles = 1 x 29", 2 x 26", 1x 24" and 1 x20" wheel bikes. You can just about do that with towbar rack and one in the boot, but give it a year and it'll be tow bar rack and 1 or 2 on the roof. Not sure how that's possible in an S Max for a weeks camping.

When it was just me and Mrs B off to races, everything fitted in an Almera, no rackes required. Had to put the seats down mind!

Its really not as you have to buy clubs and then pay each time you play.
You can buy a bike for next to nothing - though none of us do this- and riding it is then free

You have to be trolling /trying to get a reaction here as that is just silly

is it?

$150 quid for a set of second had bats/bag/balls and £15 quid a round near me. Compare that with a cheap mtb, basic seriving and tools and helmet and the costs are similar.

I started golf around the same time as i bought my first mtb, back in 1992. Bike cost me way more than my clubs!

My local municipal course is 25 quid a go. Do that once a week, adds up to £1300 just to play. Then there's all the bats and silly clothing to add on.

£25 quids worth of petrol to a local trail centre each week adds up to the same amount if you're going to pick random numbers to justify things.

And whilst we complaining about the 'silly clothing' golfers wear I think we need to look closer to home as well.

I'm hoping the magazines aren't putting new bikers off. Apparently I need to spend over £1500 to get an entry-level full susser. And those latest £950 forks are decent value too... 😯

We're not a niche market anymore. Get over it.

£25 quids worth of petrol to a local trail centre each week adds up to the same amount if you're going to pick random numbers to justify things.

Not like that it isn't! Who lives in walking distance of a golf club?

Well, I overlook the local one so I do, for one...

I suspect golfers also live pretty local to the club they play at. Yes, it might be a couple of miles, and yes they will no doubt drive there.

My point was that some random numbers we made up to justify that golf was 'expensive' and mountain biking wasn't. Both [i]can[/i] be as expensive as you want to make them.

What on earth is random about the Tee fees? Research tells me that £25 is cheap!

If you're that keen to play 52 weeks a a year then the cunning thing to do instead of paying £25 each time you play is to actually join the club for a considerably smaller amount and get your golf for free each time.

Of course. You can buy a £200 MTB and a £200 set of golf bats. You can't just gloss over the fact that the Tee fees and membership costs are usually bloody pricey when comparing the two. My local club charges £300 per year and £20/round. The all in cost is £1100/year!
Edit; plus an "entry fee" of £400! FFS!!!

If you're that keen to play 52 weeks a a year then the cunning thing to do instead of paying £25 each time you play is to actually join the club for a considerably smaller amount and get your golf for free each time.

+1.

and pick up a beautiful set of Hogan Apex irons 2nd hand for about £100, a decent putter for £60, and a couple of ping woods 2nd hand for £100 each maybe from ebay, and then its just golf balls and drinks to pay for.

Mtbing has the bike plus servicing changes (even if only for the shocks) plus wear and tear which can be a lot.

If you're going to get into arguments purely on a cost basis, then I'm sorry but here's the facts...

Both Mountain Biking and Golf are fairly expensive hobbies/passtimes as they go. Yes, you can do both on a shoestring, but play/ride once a week or more with mid range kit on a local course/trail centre, and everything starts to add up.

By contrast, road riding is MUCH cheaper to get into. Again, you can blow huge wads of cash on it if you want to (and plenty of people do!), but for your average joe who wants to get a few hours in each week, he will ride to and from his door (doesn't need a T5 or a Jag to transport it!) and road bikes are typically quite a bit cheaper to run on a £ per mile basis than an equivalent MTB.

Enjoy your hobby as you see fit, spend as little or as much as you want to to enjoy it. Probably the most fun I've had playing Golf was with a few mates at a local pitch and putt, so it needn't be expensive, but then again if I choose to spend money on the latest carbon wheels or XYZ driver that guarantees you will hit your drive another 10 yards, then why should you judge me? Those that spend the top dollars on the more expensive kit are funding the trickle down of technology after all...