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Just watched 'The Moment' on Red Bull TV, a documentary about the birth of Freeride and the Froriders in particular.
It ended up mostly about BC and North Vancouver, and it re-kindled my teenage obsession with 'The North Shore'.
I don't even mean the later stuff when it had jumped the shark and people were riding hamster wheels, I just mean the very beginnings when people just started using the local materials (cedar, cedar or cedar) to help them get over obstacles, or even ON to obstacles in the case of log rides. Some of the shankier more crazy stuff that came later was also awesome, like 'The McNugget' or 'Streets of San Francisco' or of course 'The Flying Circus'
I lived and rode there for a few months, the trails were already starting to get a bit sanitised, and the older stuff was starting to collapse for want of maintenance, but some of my best days were spent just down-hiking the remains of the old classics, like Jerry Rig or GMG. Finding the entrance to Jerry Rig (via 'The Banana Log') was an exciting day!
The nearest place to it in the UK was old Innerliethen, where the trails were narrow, steep, dark and hard to find! I still get cold sweats remembering my first race there on a V-Braked hardtail, scary times!
late 80's/early 90's for me.
no doubt rose tinted specs but i was getting into mtb in 88 onwards and just love that period (klein attitude,adroit,gt xizang zaskar, etc) all the new stuff that was being developed fluro day glo paint jkbs on bike and clothing etc
still love that period and always will 👍
I just missed the early 90s British period, although still love the bikes!
I got sucked into the late 90s Scottish DH scene just before Dirt Magazine started, and started to catch rumours and see pictures of the Vancouver scene while I still had the energy and time to build silly stuff!
The younger guys I rode with (Ben Cathro, Chris Hutchens, James and Andrew Phillips) quickly surpassed me and built some truly Vancouver-worthy stuff, although build quality was suspect lol!
It's always seemed to me that if you have to build a wooden road, it's not really mtb but something else.
But it's still fun on a bike.
Early -mid nineties for me. Felt like young pioneers of the sport, but even just the freedom and level of discovery open to us in the Peaks on a bike felt great. That and just dicking about all day on local "downhill" trails, timing and testing ourselves. So much fun, I'll always miss those days.
I think most of the real big moments happened between my times- I did some mountain biking back when it was shit, on a steel rigid with cantis and smoke/darts. Then I stopped, and when I restarted in about 2007 it was good.
For me, most exciting period was around 2010, a lot of stuff came together at pretty much the same time in the right places. For me, this was basically when the innerleithen mtb racing crew had pretty much nailed enduro and everyone else was just starting to catch on, and I got dragged into the orbit. It's easy to be cynical now but it opened up a whole other side of riding for so many people, there were probably only 1 in 5 riders at those early races that really had a clue what was about to happen, loads of people who'd never do "downhill trails" but were about to do 1 stage that was pure inners downhill, and 2 other stages which were harder 😉 And of course some dudes in lycra on carbon xc bikes. It was joyous carnage and so many people said "more".
You could see change all over the place- more trailbikes in dh races and in cattle trucks, more offpiste getting dug and old trails getting reworked and most of all more people on them. And especially round here it felt really open and you could meet and join the people driving it forwards. Steve Parr turned up for IIRC the 2 day may enduro in 2011 and you could see the cogs starting to turn- ukge already existed but it was pretty half-baked, he took away what he'd seen there and spread it all over and took a big local thing and made it national... Then it came back to here to join it into the international stuff. I remember people telling me I was insane to buy a 150mm bike for everday use and even more insane for putting coil lyriks in it. 65 degree head angle? MADNESS. I had to learn to ride in a hurry 😉
I think it'd have happened anyway, somewhere, but it happened there and at the exact right time for me. And it was completely awesome. (And every so often, someone on here tries to tell Queen Marshall Hels how enduro works 😉 "Completed it mate".)
When I first saw one. Probably 1984 or 85. Think it was a Dawes. Great fun to ride.
later stuff when it had jumped the shark
Nah, it pretty much went that way from the get -go. When you're aiming to use parts of the woods that require you to build a structure over it, and you choose to build a structure that is a hands span wide and 50ft in the air and in the process breaks you and your bike, it's stopped being MTB and is circus tricks. They may as well ridden to the tune of Entrance of the Gladiator and worn clown shoes
Most exciting period in MTB history?
Now. Bikes and gear are much better. You can still do all the stuff people did back in the day, but you can do much more. If you want to ride a bike with crap (or no) suspension, that's still possible. Same with brakes that barely work, skinny tyres with no grip, seatposts that you need tools to drop, etc.
Early to mid 90's for me too.
Some real legendary named in the sport, obsessing over some financially out of reach must have part in MBUK and riding early on a Sunday morning even with a massive hangover as you just WOULD NOT let your mates down.
Bikes are simpler and so were expectations I suspect. Halcyon days.
Even back then I never rode mountain bikes for the adrenalin rush. It was the banter, the mud, the comedy crashes and having the best time of your life... yet not actually really knowing that at the time.😄
Nah, it pretty much went that way from the get -go. When you’re aiming to use parts of the woods that require you to build a structure over it, and you choose to build a structure that is a hands span wide and 50ft in the air and in the process breaks you and your bike
Total misunderstanding of what actually exists on the ground, for the most part the wooden features are just used to get a trail from A to B, or as additions or detours from the main trail (e.g. you can ride around that massive fallen log, or take a ramp up and along the top of it). No less legit than berms, jumps or any other trail centre features. But yes, shark-jumpery did happen as people pushed boundaries.
Total misunderstanding of what actually exists on the ground
I've seen it with my own eyes, I know exactly what's there. As as you say, most of it has fallen to disrepair as there was only ever a handful of people who could ride the stuff, or were bothered to actually give it a try. Now sure those folk had better bike handling skills that 99% of people that ride mountain bikes, and it made for some amazing photos but then so do these folk, and this isn't mountain biking either.
mid to late 80's were ace. when out riding people would stop you to ask about the bikes because they were new fangled.
taking bikes to places nobody had been with em, in the lakes and wales on the walking paths and not getting any grief from folk for doing so.
riding routes out of Jeremy Ashcrofts books. proper brutal hardcore routes. red crag grey crag and high crag being on particular delight.
I’ve seen it with my own eyes
Oops, sorry! Sure you weren't only on Cypress? 😉 I only rode Fromme and Seymour. I'd say most of the silly stuff was confined to certain parts of e.g. Jerry Rig, Flying Circus and GMG. Even Flying Circus had large portions that were just making use of existing natural features to make a trail where one couldn't otherwise exist.
Jerry Rig had sections using massive old tree stumps as massive vert take-offs. Terrifying and bike breaking, but since jumps are apparently such an essential trail feature everywhere else you go, why not at least make them out of existing features on the forest floor?
Now. Bikes and gear are much better.
It's about a 5-to-1 vote in favour of old bikes with crap brakes and skinny tyres so far! 😉
Early 90's for me, XC racing most weekends, be it one off local events or regional series. All seemed more vibrant back then.
iding early on a Sunday morning even with a massive hangover as you just WOULD NOT let your mates down.
Bikes are simpler and so were expectations I suspect. Halcyon days.
Even back then I never rode mountain bikes for the adrenalin rush. It was the banter, the mud, the comedy crashes and having the best time of your life… yet not actually really knowing that at the time.😄
This. Getting in at 3am, and up at 6 to drive to the lakes and ride all day.
Was gonna type pretty much What Northy did, the time enduro took off in its current form, which also coincided with my first euro bike holiday with Mark and Pete of Joyriders in the Sierra subeticas.
Both the holiday and the new form of trails being built all over the country opened my eyes and showed me that I'd been riding within myself for years.
Pretty much also happened at the same time as my love affair for lake district hike a bike days too.
Happy days.
Fawning over old bikes is a cover for fawning over your now gone youth, and the riding you did with pals.
I missed the rise of Enduro proper (had crossed over to the dark side by that point!) but what I like about it was that it broke the link between good downhill trails and uplift/DH bikes.
Meant trails didn't need to be 100% perfectly downhill, didn't have to be between 3 and 4 minutes long, and pedalling wasn't frowned upon etc.
I spent too long as a kid trying to build DH trails that had to run the whole length of the hill when I could have built several excellent short sections with pedals in between instead...
Fawning over old bikes is a cover for fawning over your now gone youth, and the riding you did with pals.
nowt wrong with good memories mate. even tho they are sometimes a bit cloudy....... ;o)
Started off in the mid/late 90s, can't say i miss much about that time, full suspension was coming in and it was heavy and inefficient, trails were a battlezone with ramblers, councils, farmers, landowners, etc hating bikers, luckily i lived in Perthshire at the time so could head over to Dunkeld/Pitlochry where it was more open and less hostile.
I think the best period i have seen was probably early 2000s to mid 2000s, when trail centres started opening, the likes of Fox came into the suspension market and showed the market seals that actually worked and full suspension getting a bit more advanced with some reworking of old designs and novel designs being tried out.
Nowadays is good as well, with the amount of computational modelling available it's hard to see a bad design these days, but the amount of change is annoying, do we need so many standards, in the 2000s all you had to worry about was whether a BB shell was 68 or 73, now there's about 20 variations.
Fawning over old bikes is a cover for fawning over your now gone youth, and the riding you did with pals.
Mebbe, but also 'back in the day' everything was new and untried.
Imagine finding something like Kinlochleven or Torridon back in the day when stuff like the Malverns was still huge? Would have been mind-blowing for most.
Maybe that's why I got so excited about early North Shore days, it seemed remote and far away and just so different to what I knew. After a couple of years living there it quickly became commonplace.
Still thinking about buying one of those Sterling Lorence prints...
My fawning comment ain't a criticism btw, just pointing out it's the memories that are important, not the stuff.
Early-mid 90s for us to. It was all new and constantly developing. Races were massive, but even the major events were still approachable and a little homegrown rather than super professional stuff of today (eg as a spectator / helper I could still sneak onto a world cup or world champs xc course for a cheeky pre-ride).
Sure bikes are better now, but it was mostly about the people. Some of our best friendships are from back then, with people that you lose touch with for 5-10 years and then pick straight back up with when your paths next cross.
I have been riding apart from a 18-month break since 1987. The most exciting time in MTB history is now. Whenever ‘now’ is...
Every time I take bike off-road, is the best time. The pleasure and excitement of being outdoors on a bike, however you like to ride - hasn’t changed in 30+ years of my experience.
Rigid, full suspension, droppers, clipless or flats, discs or cantilevers - all made riding possible. The ages of XC, freeride or enduro - it’s all been inspirational and made me want to be better.
Been riding since 92, so many exciting periods but for me, the best is the time since the growth of Enduro.
I first went to race an Italian Superenduro (series final in Finale) in 2011 after seeing something online about a new discipline - and was instantly blown away. I remember (much akin to Northwind's post) telling the lad back home that these MENTAL Italians were putting 160mm forks on their bikes, and often running 1x10, some of them even had DH rear tyres too!
It's been amazing seeing the growth of the discipline, the global friendships I formed through the 2012/13 Superenduro are solid to this day, and I can hand on heart say that the way the sport engaged riders, trailbuilders, regions and brands has created real win/win/scenarios in terms of bikes & kit being miles better, improved tourism revenues in far flung locations and a sport in good health when previously it was getting a bit too polarised between XC (that at the time was all "legs and lungs" non technical riding that favoured roadies) and DH which had high barriers to entry.
Right here and right now. Brilliant bikes, trails and my son to ride with, can't see how it gets any better. We have enough time and money to enjoy it, along with the most exciting trails known to man. Simply astounding
can’t see how it gets any better
just extrapolate from all the awsumz we have now - e-bikes with 36" wheels and batteries that run all day, 27 speed transmissions, 45 degree head angles, 90 degree seat angles, 18" dropper posts, 1001 mm bars...
Bikes are better now, but I liked the late 80's when it was all new and exciting.
Today and tomorrow.
Should really have just started an 'Old School North Shore pics' thread...
This was maybe the upper end of what I thought I could ride, by the time I found it I was un-biked by some crystal meth addict, and the take-off at the end had fallen sideways, was a two man job to fix.
I was in Spain in the late 1980s hiking in the Picos de Europa, and met a couple of guys from California on these incredible mountain bikes with a bajillion gears that went down to some crazy low ratio and could go up anything.
I was very impressed.
I went home and bought a bright orange "Mountain bike" from my LBS, which was made of some superheavyweight alloy of scaffolding pipes and lead.
It was unbelievably crap, and the bottom bracket kept coming undone, making it even more underwhelming.
This was before the days of the internet, so I had no way to work out that this was a thing I could just fix, I just kept taking it back to my LBS, then tried glue, and then eventually I gave up on it.
I also found that Cambridgeshire is not nearly as hilly as Northern Spain.
I also tried "mountain biking" on the Ridgeway, which back then mostly consisted of getting stuck in giant ruts made by 4x4s filled with sticky mud, and then walking home.
On the other hand, 2019 is really rather good.
The great wheel size debates of the mid-to-late 2010s?
The advent of boost?
But seriously, personally probably riding in the Alps at the start of this decade on a freeride bike.
Or modern geometry compensating for my weird body shape and combining with big wheels to make me feel like a much better rider in recent years.
Reminiscing about a time when CRC weren't on some type of huge sale offer, and when prices were lower without these permasales!
Eee I remember when a Pitch Pro were £900. And it weren't like these modern Pitches neither
Late 90’s chain reaction had all the cool stuff cheap !! All the oe bagged stuff on supercycles 🙂
I agree with the now and tomorrow. Why? Because it took 15 years to design a good suspension fork and 15 years to design a good rear suspension. And 20 years to realise that 1 ring is far far better and that a dropper post is an essential part of riding or that angles don't have to ressemble a road bike's. Don't get me started on V brakes and tubes.
We have reached a level of maturity where the law of diminishing returns is starting to hit hard.
Yes it was fun on canti equipped rigids but mainly because we didn't know any better.
I am lucky enough to have been there from the beginning and I have a suspicion that, having said all that, e bikes are going to revolutionise the sport again and I am looking forward to it.
That first ride on my oversized Muddy Fox Courier Comp in 1990. I was hooked.
For me it's the early 90s....
MBUK & Mint Sauce, JMC, Tomac v Overend, riding in the Pyrenees with cantis (and burning through new pads on one descent), early/scary suspension forks, the FoD before any official trails were built, Malverns 91-94.
Though bikes have got really good in the last 10 years too.
People are just describing their youth, nothing to do with actual MTBing!
I'm going to nominate today as the most exciting time. You can get more types of bike than ever before, all much better at their niche than some dayglo shit handling poorly designed junk with purple anodising. You loved those bikes because you were young and impressionable and the magazines told you to. That's why I loved them!
If you consider it exciting when your main focus was trying to stop the front wheel washing out in every downhill corner because your front wheel was simply in the wrong place, then maybe. But personally I think that the cumulative improvements in design and handling have made modern bikes so much better, which allows me to fly down trails far quicker, and biking is consequently far more fun.
You loved those bikes because you were young and impressionable and the magazines told you to.
Hey, slow down there. I'm still impressionable and buy stuff because magazines say it's awesome.
After having a go on an e-mtb earlier today for the first time ... I will have to say 2020 because I will be getting an e-mtb very soon.
Proper exciting times for mtb-ing in 2020
After having a go on an e-mtb earlier today for the first time … I will have to say 2020 because I will be getting an e-mtb very soon.
Proper exciting times for mtb-ing in 2020
Hmmm, to paraphrase the Lion King (I have 2 young kids, so sue me 😘)
"If this is where MTB is headed, count me out!
Out of riding, out of shorts - I wouldn't hang about...
This shit is getting wildly out of hand."
Before anyone slates mooman for being lazy his name is absolutely plastered all over the sharp end of Strava round here!
got to be year 2000ish when dh bikes started getting alright fs and Anne Caro was racing dh.
CRC used to be super cheap too with free postage and next day delivery