[Closed] what did Enduro riders do before Enduro ?

not win at XC
not win at DH

Play golf

Is this just natural evolution of trail centres/competitive nature of folk and will it continue to grow ?

I think essentially speaking that's it.

People enjoy going downhill, it's a human adrenaline thing... but they don't want massive gap jumps etc as their abilities don't allow it.

They also don't necessarily want the full on madness of XC racing for an hour....

So.... Enduro is bloody ideal for many !

not win at XC
not win at DH

I don't win at enduro either.

Tracey Moseley did alright though and Jared Graves wasn't bad at 4X.

😉

am bo - Member

not win at XC
not win at DH

Win at DH.

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Win at 4x. Win at BMX.
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Win at XC
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Tracey Moseley did alright though and Jared Graves wasn't bad at 4X

yeah but 4x was for people that couldn't win at BMX

It's for those that found DH too mental and XC too boring.

Is enduro riding not essentially timed red/black trail centre riding? Well the sort of trail centres where you winch yourself up a forest track to the top and plummet down something a bit more interesting rather than the ones where you go up and down constantly.

Enduro Racers raced DH or XC or both

Enduro riders minced around trail centres and rode XC badly on full sus bikes calling it AM

Is enduro riding not essentially timed red/black trail centre riding?

Not any I've done

There are no enduro riders. Enduro is racing.
It's like going for a F1 drive.

There are no enduro riders. Enduro is racing.
It's like going for a F1 drive.

GNAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!

so back to the question though, what did the Enduro Riders do before the organised events - I don't really mean the top notch world tour racers, more the loads of folks posting up about Innerleithen at the weekend etc ?

A lot of people involved in local Enduros were previously involved in what we called 'bike rally' events that had been running in one form or another since the early 00s. The riders at the pointy end of those new enduros, and often the rallies, do well at national, and in some cases international, DH and XC events too.

I just rode my bike up a hill, have some cake/chat, and blast back down again 😛

Most "Enduro" riders went out and rode their bikes for fun. Most still do, they just happen to enjoy the enduro race format. No-one I know classes themselves as an "Enduro rider" they just ride mountain bikes and take part in the races.

Is enduro riding not essentially timed red/black trail centre riding?

The Scottish series certainly is a good bit harder than that!

Is enduro riding not essentially timed red/black trail centre riding?

wrecker - Member

There are no enduro riders. Enduro is racing.
It's like going for a F1 drive.

Well if you're going for a drive in your F1 car....

Well if you're going for a drive in your F1 car....

Iain. it's a dumb question unless you intend asking each and every rider who's raced at an organised Enduro event.

You'll also find there are folk who have been riding and building the very trails Enduros are raced on years before mtb gravity Enduro was even thought up

There are no enduro riders. Enduro is racing.
It's like going for a F1 drive.

I like that

Just seems like a way of turning a normal mountain bike ride into a race to me.

mtbel - Member
Iain. it's a dumb question unless you intend asking each and every rider who's raced at an organised Enduro event.

You'll also find there are folk who have been riding and building the very trails Enduros are raced on years before mtb gravity Enduro was even thought up

I didn't think it was dumb, I was asking based on the rapid growth in popularity of it locally. Is it fulfilling a previously unfulfilled gap in what is available, or is it as you suggest an evolution for those who 'have been riding and building the very trails' ?

Nothing about Enduro is new.

There has been Enduro races in Europe for years, even here in the UK there was the "Kona Mash-Up" at Afan in 2007 / 2008 - the format was simple - you had to ride the whole course, but you only got timed on the fast / fun bits.

It's a race format of the type of riding lots of people have been doing since the dawn of MTBing - namely plodding up a great big hill chatting to your mates, then giving it some helmet on the way back down again.

There have also been 'big trail bikes' for many years.

The only New, new thing I've witnessed about the 'new' Enduro thing is wearing goggles with XC lids, odd one that - but mostly I think a lot of the hype is coming from the World Enduro Series.

Personally....
"Before" I did Enduro is quite a while ago, Avalanche Enduro in Kielder 2009 was my first, many on here have done earlier than that!
Prior to that I had 3 or 4 years with no competitive riding, I'd sold my DH bike due to cost and the limited amount of riding for the time spent on it, and I had no interest in XC racing. I really wanted some competitive riding but until the Avalanche guys came over here there was nothing that suited what I, or my wallet, was after.

Just seems like a way of turning a normal mountain bike ride into a race to me.

Is enduro riding not essentially timed red/black trail centre riding?

Well, the Innerleithen round at the weekend was definitely held near some red trail centre riding 🙄

I've been "enduroing" since 1990 - but back then we called it mountain biking, and we called 29ers Hybrids ...

If enduroing is riding with your mates and blasting the fun gravity sections does it matter what its called?

Not sure what tone you are using in your reply there Doug. But to quantify my post, I should have said, 'seems like a way of turning my normal sort of mountain bike rides into a race to me'

I was going to go on and say that's why enduro racing appeals to me as I have a big competitive streak and can ride the sort of climbs/descents I normally do, in a race format.

Nothing about Enduro is new.

But bikes have been improving, IMO it is the improvement in bikes that has opened up the possibility of the race format, and increased the related back country challenging riding. Of course it is fashionable to criticise the popular and claim you can ride it all on a rigid tricycle.

I don't see the link to trail centres, they are largely a british thing, for me it is opening up alpine trails. I am doing the trans-provence guided tour this year, and have plans to do the trans savoie, mont blanc tour. some back country riding in Finale etc over the next year or so.

the group of blokes I used to ride with (sweary northerners) have always ridden what I think is near to a enduro format.
nice pootle uphill talking boolax then race each other down the hill, the rougher the route down the better.
I reckon most grouips of riders have always done this.
I see enduro as a bit of a money making thing, but also, from what I am told, to have a chilled weekends riding pitting yourself against other blokes. all good fun.

Spot on. it's a massive money making thing Ton. As was the image of freeride and AM etc. when they were conceived.

Similar story with the Road Sportive phenomenon.

yes.

Raced DH, didn't have a mortgage, wasn't self employed.

To be honest I do see it a bit as DH-lite as I need to try to be a bit more sensible these days.

As above #enduro is a fun race format, nothing more… unless you buy into the marketing.

To be a really good Enduro racer you need DH skilz and the engine of a XC rider(Having ridden with EWC/trans race top pro, I know!). Thats me out!

All decent DH racers have very good fitness these days anyway

All decent DH racers have very good fitness [s]these days anyway[/s]

Not sure what tone you are using in your reply there Doug.

mtbel - Member

All decent DH racers have very good fitness these days anyway

You know better than that gwel! 5min fitness doesn't necessarily mean smash out several runs over 50km fitness

I don't think its a massively new phenomenon, it just gets a bit more coverage now.

I [s]raced[/s] took part in the Avalanche Series at AE five years ago. Nico Vouilliz won it, it got about this >< much coverage in the MTB press at the time. That race had 300 entries

It was just a fun format, a way of pushing yourself a bit on trails you were used to riding. Nothing was overly technical it really was trail centre red / black.

It has definitely evolved courses have got longer and the timed sections more technical. I'd be completely out of my depth at the EWS stuff (I've minced down most of the stuff based at Glentress at one time or another but there is no way I could race it.

So before Enduro riders did Enduro you just didn't here about it

wrecker - Member

There are no enduro riders. Enduro is racing.
It's like going for a F1 drive.

I like that. But it doesn't quite fit any more, since along came the industry and started using it as a tag for bikes, hats, yellow shorts etc.

OP- do you mean top enduro riders, or all us knobbers as well? I was really lucky, the UK enduro thing kicked off at just a time when I was ready for it- so wasn't really that much before, just your standard trailcentre/xc stuff, one (orrible) 10 Under the Ben...

Innerleithen MTB Racing put on a 3-race series, a mini-dh, this mysterious "enduro" thing that nobody understood (*), and the alistair lees timetrial, I signed up for the mini-dh and the timetrial, but it was the enduro that I loved. Pure shiteing it all day mind 😆

(* Alister told us "it's like the kona mashup if the kona mashup wasn't shit")

But bikes have been improving, IMO it is the improvement in bikes that has opened up the possibility of the race format

yes bikes have been improving but no they haven't suddenly become enduro proof/certified

I think you either have some sort of competitive urge in you or you don't. If you don't, then enduro racing may be alien to you.

I'm not skilled (or mentally unhinged) enough to race DH. I'm not fit enough to race XC. What I am is competitive enough to want to race and enduro racing offers that. I have always plodded up to the top and rode down as fast as I can; that's what I "get" from riding. I have used Strava for sometime now and enjoy trying to better my times.

That said, I did 3 enduro races last year:

Caersws
Eastridge
Penmachno

The first two used stages which were previously DH tracks and the Penmachno enduro had stages which were 5-9 mins long, one with an average gradient of 0% (IIRC). There are plenty of enduro racers who raced both XC and DH before their enduro careers kicked off and there are enough series open that whatever your background, you can find a venue which suits your skillset.

Enduro is what they used to call freeride.

Freeride is what they used to call all mountain

All mountain is what they used to call trail riding.

Trail riding is what we used to call mountain biking.

I'm sure there are some here who US d to just call it riding bikes. That's all it ever is.