[Closed] Whos just had enough and reverted back to a simpler way of mtbing

Oh god...here we go-again.
Biscuits?

I've a pitch and a swift, adding a Cumba HX1 to that list shortly (apparently hope have run out of 1.5" lower headset bearings fo the next few weeks).

Both bikes are fun in different ways, I quite like going exploring on the Swift as it makes decents hard work (being fully rigid), so taking the pitch down the same runs later on feels easy as you've already picked out the lines!

Also a lot is unride-able by me which makes means pushing or carrying a lot more

FTFY

No, I've not, if I wanted to walk then I would, I go for a ride to ride, as long as you're enjoying yourself though then go nuts!

Cx bike is not mountainbiking, you've given up mountainbiking not reverted to a simpler way

Cx bike is not mountainbiking, you've given up mountainbiking not reverted to a simpler way

the cx bike has got me thinking about getting a HT again

O teh ironing njee

Gone back to a singlespeed hardtail and realised I don't need a full sus for the majority of the riding I do (Woburn and occasionally trail centres with the odd uplift day somewhere). It's much better to ride. Will probably 1x9 it at some point though.

Cx bike is not mountainbiking, you've given up mountainbiking not reverted to a simpler way

Should he start riding a cruiser?

Seriously, isn't mountain biking just riding a bike off road? Are 29ers mountain bikes?

Cx bike is not mountainbiking, you've given up mountainbiking not reverted to a simpler way

When I started mountain biking, my bike was rigid, geared and with canti brakes. And the tyres were not much bigger than 35mm to be honest. so if Flat bars and 26" rims define mountain biking then so be it, but my origins in mountain biking were strikingly close to Cyclocross bikes. Indeed, my first thoughts when riding CX for the first time were "wow this is just like the old days".

Yes, gone fully rigid on my 29er on account of suspension forks needing to be sent off to be fixed.

Fine for the vast majority of the riding I do, although I do feel a bit cagier on descents as going over the bars seems like a more ever-present threat.

Also takes me back to my first forays off-road, on the canti-braked, steel Marin San Rafael hybrid I used to commute round London on, with the road tyres swapped for chunkier ones for the odd day out in the Surrey Hills.

29ers are mountain bikes. CX bikes are road bikes which some oddballs think are a good idea to ride off-road.

Back to the subject though, I nipped out after work on Friday night on the singlespeed. No camelback or food etc. Just me and my bike. Was only out an hour but it was a hugely enjoyable ride. Going to try and do that a lot more often and if I get a mechanical, screw it, I'll have a walk.

When I ride my bmx or roadbike off-road I'm not "mountainbiking" am I?

Seriously. 🙄

Not really seeing 'all the tech' that is assailing us mountain bikers - an uppy-downy seatpost's about the only thing that's caught my eye as something new that might be worth having.

Anyhow, I'm riding two HTs atm and they're fine, but underline the fact that for me a short travel FS is the best bike for my riding in the UK.

It's refreshing to ride bikes at opposite ends of the spectrum. Each one seems pretty good in its own way until I ride the other one.

Empirical proof of the n + 1 formula.

having a light bike such as a cx bike enables you to shoulder,carry & push easier therefore opening up or combining more trails - I feel I can go almost anywhere on my cx bike (apart from steep tech descents or places I need brakes) 😆

I feel if I had a little more such as wider tyres, better brakes and a more confident positioning I'd be happy for 80% of my riding.

When I ride my bmx or roadbike off-road I'm not "mountainbiking" am I?

Depends whether you think it's riding any bike on a mountain, or riding a mountain bike on any path, that makes it mountain biking.
Is it the bike or the mountain that's important?

It's easy to make this very complicated.

I had a great ride last night, just me and the hardtail (the only bike I have) and messed about in the woods for a couple of hours, riding little bits of track over and over until I pushed it too far and fell off. Brilliant, reminded me of being 13 again.

Speak for yourself surfr - .my first mtb 20+ years back sounds similar only it's first ride was down v. steep technical chutes with drops and jumps with the saddle slammed, strikingly far from pedalling round deserted football pitches and parkland.

suppose it all depends what you want from mtbing.

its adventure,fitness, interest in bikes for me.

It's really very simple vinny

[b]"When I ride my bmx or roadbike off-road I'm not "mountainbiking" am I?"[/b]

Depends whether you think it's riding any bike on a mountain, or riding a mountain bike on any path, that makes it mountain biking.
Is it the bike or the mountain that's important?

There was no mountain
There was no mountainbike
There was no BMX track

Did I go mountainbiking on a BMX? Or did it ever actualy happen?

Why do you need a rubbish bike to appreciate your surroundings?. Last night I climbed a hill and sat there for 10 mins to watch the sky then rode some fantastic singletrack down, repeated on other hills/ trails until getting dark in the trees and rode home on a footpath through a bright yellow rapeseed field with a pink sky background. All on a 150mm modern bike, reverb, uturn and tubeless etc. I then sat in the garden with a bottle of beer and watched the bats.

climbed a hill and sat there for 10 mins to watch the sky then rode some fantastic singletrack down, repeated on other hills/ trails until getting dark in the trees and rode home on a footpath through a bright yellow rapeseed field with a pink sky background

sounds like a copy of singletrack 😆 😉

no one said rubbish, I meant a simpler bike (mostly regarding suspension and I suppose)!

I do own a FS bike btw (Turner Flux)

If I go riding with my friends and they're on their mountain bikes and I'm on my CX does that mean that we're actually doing different activities?

I think you're over-thinking it Craig.
Ride whichever bike you think will be most fun.

We're riding from Abbey Village at 7 tonight. There will be hard-tails and probably a few full-suss.
Are you out? CX or MTB, either one welcome.

cheers Ian, its no biggie Just something I'm mulling over

cheers for the invite but I'm doing that clone mtb challenge (on my cx bike) 😆 on Saturday so I'm having a few days off!

Bourbon and a Jammy Dodger please.

I sort of get what Sefton is on about.

As a lad most of my biking would be looking at a big hill and thinking I'd like to ride/climb up that and then doing it.

That was made possible because bike designs were simple ie just a triangle and you could easily get it on your shoulder. My last 2 bikes have been full sussers which are quite impratical to carry on your shoulder, so I never consider riding/climbing up similar hills.

I'm a sucker for the gadgets

simple is as simple does..

I've gone really minimalist.. I'm now doing all my all terrain biking on foot.. with no bike at all.. I just find it all so gauche

purist, poorest or purest..?

.my first mtb 20+ years back sounds similar only it's first ride was down v. steep technical chutes with drops and jumps

This is different terrain to that I ride my CX bike on how exactly?

Dyfi Forest World Cup Descent
[img] [/img]

Bont Goch Ascent - Nant-yr-Arian trail centre
[img] [/img]

Hyddgen approach on Joe's back Garden
[img] [/img]

purist, poorest or purest..?

poooest

GW - member

I was born 20 years ago with an 8ft willy and I've waved it arround ever since and you lot are all rubish

Surfr - member

This is different to how I wave my 8ft willy how exactly?

Fixed that for the both of you

I thought something was weighing me down on the climbs recently.

I think mtbing in the early days or with a less capable bike requires a better knowledge of mountain craft?

Why so?

I can see the logic for a less capable bike requiring better bike skills, but mountain craft?

I've gone really minimalist.. I'm now doing all my all terrain biking on foot.. with no bike at all.

[i]Only with no bike and no mountain are you truly mountain biking. [/i]

You can just make shapes in a Surrey car park without having to buy an expensive bike, you know.

but mountain craft

OK maybe I was going to far with the mountain craft 😆

I have taken mountain biking even more minimalist. I don't actually have a bike or go outside, I just like to try to score points on a cycling forum by making other people look stupid.

It's funny. No idea if this is a troll or not, but when I was 8 I had a drop handlebar Raleigh Olympus. There was a little wood where we lived with a jump, but I could never ride it. I always wanted something like a Grifter so I could really play in these woods.

So yeah, CX biking, doesn't seem simpler to me. Maybe a basic bike with less gears and less to go wrong is simpler, and that's fine.

But CX biking, maybe that is more sophisticated and far more limiting! 😀

I thought something was weighing me down on the climbs recently.

Surely that's just the epic levels of stoke building up in your system from shredding so much GNARRRRRRRR 😛

[IMG] [/IMG]

this should do!

Im lucky to have a choice of bike, a fully rigid marin and full sus enduro.
Both nice well spec'd bikes. Im just happy to be riding either. Each to their own. Its a free country.
I think people can get bogged down in the latest this and that, I can understand that mentallity too, but it wont make you a better rider for it.
At least riding rigid forces you to focus on your line choice so potentially make you a smoother / faster rider as a result. Although its fun just to batter down a trail on the full sus too!

I have long assumed that despite the obsessive nature of some on here we are all roughly riding the same mix of: road and off road, hard pack and mud, Smooth and rocky, tech and non tech. What differs is how we think about it and what is important to us.

Your average day in the Peek you will come across all sorts of big rigs with massive tyres, dropper posts and bash guards and on the same trail xc whippet hardtail riders all lycred up. I assume it’s the same everywhere.

I have one decent bike, an alloy hard tail with 100mm forks, 27 gears and everything that is not niche but it is high end and have had a similat set up for at least the last 8 years, although, just maybe 120/140mm on a carbon frame for the next bike.

PS I don’t wear lycra.

I've sold all my bikes except a fully rigid 29er. While it's great in most circumstances, I can feel another full-sus bike in my future.

Ah, the old buying another bike to make things simpler excuse me.

One bike = complicated
two or more bikes = simpler.

@thisisnotaspoon I have a Chumba hx1 ,brilliant bike, looking at getting a singlespeed too, something to chuck around and not worry about cleaning, faffing with etc...

I just like riding, any bike, any place, any time. everything else is just distraction 😀

Fatbike. It's the way forward.

It's sod all to do with the bike, simpler, bigger, smaller, more tech... It makes no difference, as long as you're out on the trails and having fun. I didn't have any issue riding with a couple of mates on their titanium ultra light weights while I was going round in a full sus, they didn't either. We rode the same terrain, had the same grins and all had a pint after. Why worry?

You like riding your CX bike, that's great but don't imagine you've had some kind of spiritual awakening and rediscovered a pure essential true way of mountain biking that's more virtuous than any other.

I've never considered myself to be 'keeping up with the latest tech' either btw.

Ride. A . Flipping. Bike.

It's all good.

@thisisnotaspoon I have a Chumba hx1 ,brilliant bike, looking at getting a singlespeed too, something to chuck around and not worry about cleaning, faffing with etc...

Another HX1 then? I bought it on the strength of having the geometry I was after, an EBB for the winter and local trails, and headtube cable guides (why doesn't everyone build bikes with these, they stop cable rub almost completely!).

Simple. I've never tried to keep up with anything in the first place. I always choose to follow along behind picking bikes up in the sales, building things up myself and just sticking with middle of the road stuff that actually works.

I think the following are good ideas:
-gears. Ideally I'd have 10, but 3 x 9 works quite well
-suspension. It allows thinner tyres to be used at higher pressure. I rode a hard tail for 10 years but my body told me that I should ease up a bit
-Aluminium. Good compromise between stiffness and weight. Steel isn't bad either.

😆 @ the naivety of a CX rider thinking there's anything resembling either v. Steep or technical at the trail centre or WC XC course

I understand what you mean. I had got so sick of all the crap that goes with riding. I pretty much gave up for a few years. Last year, I went single speed , steel ht. it was ok.
This spring , the bug came back. Now I ride a ragley blue pig x. A very nice long travel trailie hard tail .
Blasting around afan argoed this weekend was fun.
It's good to change things up a bit.

Fat Bi 'king ? Your heading down the dunes by the bents too often these days

Fancy a bum tomorrow night? I'm free from 6

It's like watching rats trapped in a maze with no exit.

i don't understand this idea. riding different bikes is fun, but modern bikes are more fun (in general) than old ones. what you want, if you can afford, is lots of different fancy modern bikes :p more knobs and twiddly bits the better as long as you don't have to twiddle with them all mid-ride.
if i wanted simple i'd hold a front wheel in my hands, stick a back wheel up my arse and throw myself down a hill.

I could be up for a bum, depends on how much cycling I do at work. Was ****ed after today!

And I'll be bringing the Pug.

Not me I've just spent £750 on some forks . 😉

That's why you av to av lots of bikes,I love my x bike,I love my fully rigid ss ,I love my Xc hard tail. I love my long travel hardtail,I love my 5 inch Susser and I love my 6 inch Susser and I love my 29er hardtail

I just love bikes and motorbikes and I want a lot more

@ the naivety of a CX rider thinking there's anything resembling either v. Steep or technical at the trail centre or WC XC course

hey, it doesn't take much to feel steep & techy when your riding whats practically a modified rd bike. 😉

The xc in Belgium the other week certainly looked very steep & very technical to me 😯 (bet a down hill course wasn't to dissimilar to that 15yrs ago!

simply put - I've been doing a lot of local (west pennine) routes on the cx bike recently. the other day I did it on my FS bike thinking this is going to be a blast. And it wasn't, tbh it numbed some of the trails. that got me thinking the cx bike is ace but if I could just have some wider tires, better brakes and a more upright position it would be perfect.

don't get me wrong if I'm off to the lakes for example I'd probably only ever think about taking the FS as I'd feel out of my depth on a fully ridged mtb

the naivety of a CX rider thinking there's anything resembling either v. Steep or technical at the trail centre or WC XC course

I always thought a CX rider was someone who carried a bike round a muddy field. I have seen people doing CX races on mountain bikes (26" with suspension, no less).

Also, when I was in Texas riding round the local trails on my CX bike with folk who were riding full sussers, what were they doing?

Think you need to stop characterising who's doing what according to what bike they're riding.

I ride a rigid bike with a Rohloff hub all winter and pretty much any other time it's wet and muddy. I wipe the chain occasionally and chuck on whatever oil is lying around and change the hub oil once a year. I ride it every day off road to work whatever the weather and never have to clean it. It just works and it's always just ready to go. If I had to have only one bike it would be that.

A month ago when the trails were dry I was loving my 29er hard-tail.
Now the trails are wet and sloppy I'm loving my rigid Surly with big fat tyres.
Next month I'm hoping for a couple of days in Glentress to love my full susser.
If the sun comes out in the summer I'll love riding my road bike down to the beach for a swim.

Not sure if all that proves anything, but I'm happy.

Sefton - WC xc tracks are finally starting to become more of a test of skill than in previous years but don't kid yourself that they are anything like WC DH tracks were even 15yrs ago.. that video has an embarassingly large mount of lame if those are meant to be the worlds best riders.

BruceWee - You can't go "mountainbiking" on a cyclocross bike same as you can't go "canoeing" in a raft. I'm not saying you can't go the same places, it's simply down to the correct use of the verb. 🙄

You can roll your eyes all you want but you still haven't answered the question. If I'm riding my CX on the trails then I'm not CXsing. CX bikes were made for CX racing and more recently people have started using them for general purposes.

So, what do you call trail riding on a CX?

So, what do you call trail riding on a CX?

not sure...make one up "it might stick" 😆

hat video has an embarassingly large mount of lame if those are meant to be the worlds best riders.

don't be so sure, a lot of those riders come from all kind of disciplines. I'm sure they could do one lap with finesse & style. However its a race with a ridiculously hard pace, these guys have just raced to the top before having to come down again. they are the world best racers not riders that's fact.

I believe cx bikes where out on the trails long before mtb's where put together?

not sure...make one up "it might stick"

Mountain biking a CX bike is now called 'Doing Yer Maw'

"Coming mountain biking at the weekend"

"Can't, I'm 'Doing Yer Maw'.

dont think it will catch on I'm afraid! 😆

So, what do you call trail riding on a CX?

RE: XC racing - Funny how some of them can ride the more technical terrain fine, you'd think to be bunched together like that they'd all have a similar level of fitness eh? 😕
I've always said XC racing needs to instigate rules against running and obstruction, that video proves my point pretty well.

er.. "trail riding" ! feel free to add "on a CX bike" if you want to come across as a knobber

I prefer Doing Yer Maw, tbh

Anyway, if I ride the trails on a cruiser can I call it mountain biking?

You honestly wouldn't 😉

You can call it whatever you want, but as I already explained in the last lesson you'd be wrong if you called it "mountainbiking" on anything other than a mountainbike, do keep up!

Ps. I've ridden "yer maw" many many times..

being chairlift accessed it'd be rude not to 😉

I know [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_mountain_bike_and_mountain_biking ]wikipedia[/url] isn't the be all and end all but it and I disagree with you.

My Maw's dead.

OK, she's not. She has a cold though.

CBA reading all that, quote whatever you deem wiki to be disagreeing with if you CBA.

I have no bikes

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bikes-stolen-in-crosshills-nr-skipton

Is that simple for you.

But on the other hand I will be getting my new Scott scale 20 soon, which is vey simple and light as **** 😀