New guide from Reframing MTB offers practical solutions to remove barriers within the mountain biking scene.
I'd say the vast majority are not even aware MTBing even exists.... Why would you know if you live in an inner city for example ? Or someone who's just grown up in a town and works as a mechanic and a hairdresser.
There are not 'barriers' to MTBing... just a lack of complete awareness of it.
They are barriers - it's a really interesting topic. A complete lack of awareness is a barrier, then I don't look like them is the next.
They are barriers - it's a really interesting topic. A complete lack of awareness is a barrier, then I don't look like them is the next.
This. Especially when outward bound centres have been slashed. A massive loss.
Also its expensive.
@matt_outandabout will explain it better i imagine.
mmm... well-meaning I'm sure; but the major answers are:
- I don't want to. Fundamentally an awful lot of people don't want to go out in the forest/ moors/ mud/ wind/ cold/ rain - which is understandable and their choice.
- I don't know why I'd want to
- I don't know how to (riding trails, but also the logistics of where to go, what to take, what kind of bike to use and so on)
Then we get into the barriers: I want to but I can't. A large part of this is perceived cost; but lifestyle factors account for a major aspect - things like "I don't have 5 hours to ditch the kids at the weekend" and so on.
Beyond *all* of those, we then get to "I'd like to try but I don't think I'd be welcome/ can't do it very well/ it's not people like me".
A more obvious barrier is location.
Using trail centers as a way to regenerate or gentrify rural areas by bringing in mountain bikers is all well and good. But it then means that mountain bikers are just cyclists with cars. The current funding model for trails that puts them in places like Peebles, Coed-y-Brenin or Afan works to grow the economy in those areas, but it doesn't grow 'mountainbiking', the most it can do is attract existing mountainbikers to drive around the country.
If you want more "mountain bikers", then a better place to focus would be on where can they come from. Build BMX tracks, pump tracks, skate parks, it's not a coincidence that the MTB boom in the 90's followed the BMX boom of the 80's. Even just growing cycling in general would be a good thing. Someone who rides to work every day in Manchester is far more likely to think "I wonder if I could ride in the Peak District" and then jump on a train to Edale than someone who doesn't normally ride at all.
I honestly don't know how anyone starts mountain biking. Any time I've been off the bike for a while and go out on my first ride back it's hard, uncomfortable, and the parts you enjoy only seem to last about three minutes out of every hour you're out there.
For me mountain biking was just an extension of playing on bikes with my friends. We put planks on bricks in the street to make ramps (no landings, obviously) and went into the woods to play and rode our bikes to get there. I started out just having fun on a bike and sort of got into 'proper' mountain biking when I was about 16 when I started going to the local mountain biking club (because none of my friends were interested in bikes anymore).
Kids just don't have that freedom to go out and play anymore which is a major loss. So now we're left with people taking up the 'sport' of mountain biking rather than it just being an extension of their childhood.
And like I said, starting out in mountain biking must be ****ing horrible. If you have a group where you feel welcomed that must make it 100 times easier. If you don't have a group that makes you feel welcome then I really don't see how anyone would be interested in the slightest.
Obviously ebikes make things easier but then that really puts up a major barrier to entry, where the introduction to the sport is on the most expensive equipment available.
I suspect there's a lot of "I tried it but it's too hard and I didn't like it".
You need to be reasonably fit before it's enjoyable and even then a lot of people don't like working hard and getting muddy.
But other people will be saying "why don't people go clubbing / go to the pub / go to the opera / go to football matches / go to escape rooms". Resources are limited and different things appeal to different people
For me mountain biking was just an extension of playing on bikes with my friends. We put planks on bricks in the street to make ramps (no landings, obviously) and went into the woods to play and rode our bikes to get there. I started out just having fun on a bike and sort of got into 'proper' mountain biking when I was about 16 when I started going to the local mountain biking club (because none of my friends were interested in bikes anymore).
Same as me. I've always ridden bikes but back in the pre-internet days with 4 channels on the telly it was the only way to get out and see your mates and go off and do stuff. Now there's a blizzard of bullshit competing for everyone's attention 24/7.
I bought a copy of MBUK in 1996 because I wanted to plaster the free stickers all over my Raleigh Activator. That was my first look at mountain biking as a 'sport' that was participated in by grown ups. I was just getting into it as everyone else was aging out. When people got driving licences it was game over and my only riding mates then were 'enthusiasts' like myself.
I'd say general lack of awareness is a big barrier. MTB has almost zero mainstream visibility. People have no idea what it is. People in my family think I'm a cyclist and I just go out pedalling around. I work in a company with a much higher than average population of "underrepresented communities" and none of them give a shit about playing on bikes for fun. Why would they? There's plenty of other stuff to do.
As far as getting children into it I wouldn't know where to start. The wife is a teacher in a primary school where most of the kids have never left Sheffield.
Now that I'm a parent in a middle class burb I don't see kids playing in the street on bikes. I see them piling into SUV's, going to some scheduled activity at a certain premises then ferried home again and hidden away. When I do visit a skatepark or pump track the children are usually outnumbered by silver foxes like myself trying to stay rad.
The 3 main factors cited (affordability, access to trails and knowledge) are all cited by less than a quarter of respondents.
I wonder how these stats compare to other similar outdoor pursuits- I'm sure they are a lot higher than for (say) running or playing football or tennis but I'd be curious to know what they look like against comparator activities like canoeing, rock climbing or windsurfing or whatever.
Any activity that requires you to go into the hills to do it (even if they're relatively local) is going to immediately exclude a significant demographic of people on the basis its a big time-drain.
Perhaps the perception that you need to go into the hills to do it is a major non-starter for folks, this is why I've gravitated to road and gravel as both make more sense from the front door, but the reality is there's plenty of good trails I could be MTBing from the front door also, I've just got a mental blocker of having to cover bits of tarmac to get to them which is probably more of a chore on an enduro bike than it is on my Superfly with Mezcals.
Perhaps MTB has backed itself too far into a corner with the gnarly stuff?
On the flip side, pump-tracks seem like the gateway drug into MTB for some, we've got a new one in Auchterarder which seems like a huge success, really busy. I've since noticed a few wee dirt jumps and scratchy little trails appearing in the woods around the village which might be an extension of this?
Haters gonna hate, but "peak MTB" was while bikes were (mostly) divided into skinny-tyred road bikes or "Mountain Bikes". The more that folk have come to realise that gravel/hybrid bikes are more than adequate for their off-road thrills, the more of a niche MTBs have become. That these bikes can also be used to commute, to get back and forth between home and the countryside, that apparently don't demand the same skill level and are basically less expensive to buy and maintain are all bonuses. What's more, this is true across all demographics and doesn't need one to go looking for underrepresented groups.
Then we get into the barriers: I want to but I can't. A large part of this is perceived cost; but lifestyle factors account for a major aspect - things like "I don't have 5 hours to ditch the kids at the weekend" and so on.
I think that some of the success of Glentress might come from how someone who lives in/near Edinburgh could drive there, do a lap of the red and drive home in time for lunch at the weekend, which might be much a much easier sell to their partner than having to disappear for a day trip and a long ride.
A huge barrier probably is that our public transport basically does not take bikes. 1 or 2 bikes per 1000 people is not acceptable or really useful. I used to live in inner city, there was no need for me to have a car in town as everything was walk-able cycle-able from my door. But anything "interesting" to MTB is normally out of town!
Kids just don't have that freedom to go out and play anymore which is a major loss.
I've been sitting (in my home office) watching teenagers riding (often just on the back wheel) up and down the street, to the local woods, all week now the schools have broken up.
This is a northern, working class area and kids very much still can and do go and play out.
A huge barrier probably is that our public transport basically does not take bikes.
Totally agree.
Haters gonna hate, but "peak MTB" was while bikes were (mostly) divided into skinny-tyred road bikes or "Mountain Bikes". The more that folk have come to realise that gravel/hybrid bikes are more than adequate for their off-road thrills, the more of a niche MTBs have become.
My sense is that total number of partcipants has grown, with gravel and eebs the fastest growing parts of the off-road cycling mix. Not convinced non-motorised MTB has shrunk, but perhaps eebs have taken a little chunk out of it in very recent years.
Happy to be corrected if there are reliable stats though.
Leeds urban bike park is a great model. It has the jumps and pump track but also a short, fun, xc route. Kids can try a bit of everything in the same location. It's one of the only places I've seen kids outnumber adults.
I had a short spell as a teacher and suggestions of MTB clubs were often met with panicked faces from head teachers and talk of insurance. Hummersnott Academy in Darlington has a road cycling club which seems popular with an ex member in Matty Brennan currently making waves in the world tour. They can ride straight from the school so it's much easier than organising an MTB club.
I have families coming into my Bradford barbershop and ask me where they can take their kids to ride and the answer is, apart from Leeds Urban Bike Park you are going to need to travel to start with.
We do have lots of great off-piste trails everywhere but these are not the places for a family to gain those skills, together to start with.
Its a big commitment to buy bikes, kit, cycle carriers or a van to go off to Sherwood, Dalby, LLandegla, etc.
Not convinced non-motorised MTB has shrunk, but perhaps eebs have taken a little chunk out of it in very recent years.
Considering I live in a fairly 'mtb popular' area and know quite a lot of mtb'ers - I'd estimate 75% of the ones that used to ride normal mtb's are now on eebs. A lot of them aren't unfit old biffers like me either
1) Affordability and knowledge
2) Perception of risk
3) Homogenous representation
There we go, 3 things that the industry can address but (generalisation coming up) it doesn't, not in any significant way. Most marketing is driven by and promoing perfomance/competition so we get to see the expolits of those already at a high level, i.e. those started out in MTB maybe 8 to 10 years ago. There's a lag.
And up there is a composite image from the report where of 4 images, one has a rider in a full face helmet, one is of digging jumps or trails. How about a consistent message that MTB doesn't need to be about about built trails (address part of point 1 - edit, does add broute knowledge as a barrier instead but I don't see that as a major one), doesn't need protective gear (point 2) and feature reiders not racers as part of points 2 and 3? Can we make the extreme aspect that most of us just don't do a niche or is the industry generally finding it too easy to grab attention with the extremes, despite what it's doing to the image?
FWIW on the extreme image point. I know the mainstream image ~1990 was all fluro and jumps and low-level extreme sports, then we hadd North Shore and Kranked, the attitude was always there and I liked it for a long time. My perspective changes but what I do see (or perceive, at least) is the gap between what most riders do and what a lot of the marketing shows growing, and the gap between what most riders ride and what brands say we should aspire to growing. Even if the equivalent of a top end 1990 MTB is £5k now and you'd get more capability for that money, if MTB is becoming e-MTB (as it is for many social riding groups) that £5k at RRP doesn't get you very much. So yeah, I blame e-bikes ; )
Not convinced non-motorised MTB has shrunk, but perhaps eebs have taken a little chunk out of it in very recent years.
A huge chunk based on what I see at natural trail lap spots and trail centres. The majority are E-bikes, between 50% and 90% depending where or what day.
Not convinced non-motorised MTB has shrunk, but perhaps eebs have taken a little chunk out of it in very recent years.
Considering I live in a fairly 'mtb popular' area and know quite a lot of mtb'ers - I'd estimate 75% of the ones that used to ride normal mtb's are now on eebs. A lot of them aren't unfit old biffers like me either
Same around here. Go to Wharny or Greno on a weekend and it's 80% e-bikes at a low estimate. If I go on my own during the week and see 5 or 6 other riders they're usually on e-bikes.
MTB will be a fully motorised sport soon enough. Holdouts like myself who want to keep riding for another 20 years will have to switch because everyone else has. I'm already feeling the loneliness of solo riding but my mates either do uplift days on regular bikes or big days out on e-bikes. No one wants to pedal anywhere.
Haters gonna hate, but "peak MTB" was while bikes were (mostly) divided into skinny-tyred road bikes or "Mountain Bikes". The more that folk have come to realise that gravel/hybrid bikes are more than adequate for their off-road thrills, the more of a niche MTBs have become. That these bikes can also be used to commute, to get back and forth between home and the countryside, that apparently don't demand the same skill level and are basically less expensive to buy and maintain are all bonuses. What's more, this is true across all demographics and doesn't need one to go looking for underrepresented groups.
100%. MTB in recent years seems to have lost the popular vote to drop bar hybrids and 1990 ATBs were probably the peak popularity point. It's funny how a rigid 29er is now seen as niche yet it's simply an updated version of a late 80s ATB.
I've been sitting (in my home office) watching teenagers riding (often just on the back wheel) up and down the street, to the local woods, all week now the schools have broken up.
That's good, but I was thinking more about kids from the age of 6 up to teenager. These days most of this age range are being driven to activities (the lucky ones) rather than just running out the door and coming home when they are knackered.
By the time I hit my teenage years I had already been messing about on bikes with my friends for most of my short life.
If anything my teenage years were the ones where I found fewer and fewer of my friends wanted to come out on bikes until I had to go and join a proper mountain bike club to have people to ride with. But the desire to ride bikes was formed from unsupervised play in my early years which just doesn't seem to happen with young kids now.
Saying all that, I love seeing groups of wheelie kids out and about even if everyone else seems to view them as more of a danger than drug addicts.
Happy to be corrected if there are reliable stats though.
No stats, but my (locally-skewed) perception is that I see lots more women on bikes now than I ever did. They'll be on gravel bikes, either singly, with a couple of others or in larger groups. And mixed-sex groups now tend towards 50:50 representation rather than one or two women amongst lots of men.
Considering I live in a fairly 'mtb popular' area and know quite a lot of mtb'ers - I'd estimate 75% of the ones that used to ride normal mtb's are now on eebs.
It's definitely less than that here, but while a good number of older (and some younger) riders are turning to eebs, there are a good number of new riders coming in as well. It doesn't feel like the total number of neebers has declined as eebers have increased.
Basically it seems there are more of everyone.
And mixed-sex groups now tend towards 50:50 representation rather than one or two women amongst lots of men.
We're not quite at that point, but the gravel chain gang I saw yesterday was probably 70/30.
If you want more "mountain bikers", then a better place to focus would be on where can they come from.
Our local council has invested millions in a local urban reserve to turn illegal trails into a community asset and tourism draw card. Local kids compete really well against other bigger regions and people of all ages that wouldn't be riding bikes are now regulars.
https://share.google/uQHMvPEqe7i8VbHNv
A huge chunk based on what I see at natural trail lap spots and trail centres. The majority are E-bikes, between 50% and 90% depending where or what day.
I don't disagree with the perception but I think the reason for that is if you set off on a loop of a black route you will only ever see the analogue MTB 100m ahead of you, and another 100m behind you. Your perception is that the place is deserted. Then you get back to the car park and it's heaving, so conclude that everyone must be staying within a few minutes of the car park (a criticism more often levied at "tourists" by "ramblers", but bare with me).
E-bikes upend that perception because whilst out riding they are literally the only thing you see because they overtake you. There could be 10 e-bikes on the entire trail, but because they will all overtake you at some point you perceive 10 e-bikes and just you and those couple of riders ahead/behind you so conclude you're outnumbered.
Stop at a cafe on the other hand it's usual back to normal because everyone stops. Even in the stockbroker belt of Surrey, normal bikes still hugely outnumber the motored variety if you look at the car park or in Peaslake.
Another thought - while I am out uncharacteristically mountain biking - rather like societal wealth, the gap between the top and the bottom has got wider. While there's a case that you can't buy skill, you can certainly buy capability. As components have improved, those groups of more experienced/wealthy MTBers now appear even more unapproachable to those setting out with lower-end kit. The start-up cost just seems too high and folk don't want to be shown up or struggle riding in a group. E-bikes have just exacerbated that trend.
Lots of good /interesting posts above.
But
an awful lot of people don't want to go out in the forest/ moors/ mud/ wind/ cold/ rain - which is understandable
No it's not understandable ...
well not to me at least 😜
Saying all that, I love seeing groups of wheelie kids out and about even if everyone else seems to view them as more of a danger than drug addicts.
I just can't get my (non-cyclist) wife to accept that wheelies are definitely cool :/
MTB in recent years seems to have lost the popular vote to drop bar hybrids
I think this is true. They're cheaper, more versatile, easier to maintain, and don't come with the implication that you're going to go full gnar rad dude. You can go for a potter along some bridleways and not feel like you're letting the side down. And then commute to work the next day on it!
When I got into MTB I was using the same bike that I also used to cycle to school and do my paper round. And so did all my mates. That bike would quite likely now be a gravel.
I think this is true. They're cheaper, more versatile, easier to maintain, and don't come with the implication that you're going to go full gnar rad dude. You can go for a potter along some bridleways and not feel like you're letting the side down. And then commute to work the next day on it!
When I got into MTB I was using the same bike that I also used to cycle to school and do my paper round. And so did all my mates. That bike would definitely now be a gravel.
I will always remember Richard Cunnigham saying the 90's mtb boom was because you had a bike with brakes that worked, tires that still had the right amount of air in from when you last rode it, and gears an amateur could actually use and it could go up and down kerbs and such relatively easily.
A small percentage of owners started taking things to extremes from which we get our fairly diverse spectrum of modern mountain bikes.
I don't disagree with the perception but I think the reason for that is if you set off on a loop of a black route you will only ever see the analogue MTB 100m ahead of you, and another 100m behind you. Your perception is that the place is deserted. Then you get back to the car park and it's heaving, so conclude that everyone must be staying within a few minutes of the car park (a criticism more often levied at "tourists" by "ramblers", but bare with me).
E-bikes upend that perception because whilst out riding they are literally the only thing you see because they overtake you. There could be 10 e-bikes on the entire trail, but because they will all overtake you at some point you perceive 10 e-bikes and just you and those couple of riders ahead/behind you so conclude you're outnumbered.
All of these places are where riders gather in spots too, so I know what you mean but I don't think that explains it. On local trails I see riders going the other way, I/we overtake groups and others overtake me/us, etc. You get a good impression of the % split over time. I remember being at Cwmcarn early last year and it was hard to spot a non-electric bike there that day, on the trail or at the carpark. I was on a rigid SS so in many places there was about as much disparity in climbing and descending speeds as you could get, plenty of stops and overlap and overtake both ways all day.
an awful lot of people don't want to go out in the forest/ moors/ mud/ wind/ cold/ rain
I live in the Tweed Valley, so ideal spot for it. My friends all ride but I'd say most locals don't.
I know some people who don't ride, mainly through work, most of my friends do, and that quote above is pretty much it. It's too hard/cold/muddy/don't want to ride up a hill/leave their telly whatever.
But there is also a smaller group who definitely could ride, say people in my running club (definitely fit enough, quite happy being being cold wet and muddy, and for the most part could afford a very nice bike if they chose to) who don't because they fear getting injured (me showing up with a broken doesn't help, but that's rare, and they've all got dodgy knees) How do we get them into it?
Growing up and living in Northants I'm still not sure how I got into MTB since there's nothing local and getting to any decent trails requires at least a half hour drive. I always rode BMX as teenager then all my friends quit. Decided it was time to "grow up" as well and got a Trailstar. Got the bug for MTB after visiting Woburn, Chicksands etc, but it's not really something that I saw anyone doing locally. I'm still not sure I'm really into what many here probably consider mountain biking to be (long pedally rides out in the hills etc) - DH and jump trails are still what I ride most.
We have a couple of local "bike parks" now and you do see a lot of kids there though so that's positive. And they're all better riders than me 🙂 Again that's more jumps/park style riding though than xc.
Like others say I reckon a gravel bike is probably better for "classic xc" style riding and the local bridleways etc. Even my hardtail feels like a bit of a slog and not really worth it around here.
Why aren't people mountain biking?
Because for half of the year, or more, you are likely to get cold, wet and muddy.
Most of the population would rather do something that doesn't involve getting cold, wet and muddy.
Why do we need these kind of reports?
Why do we need these kind of reports?
The "industry" likes them because they hope they'll point out how to increase participation, which means more money for bikes, parts, courses and all of the associated organisations - and that includes government funding.
I reckon the next time somebody wants a similar check on the state of MTB in Britain they should chuck @mark a few bob and he could just collate the responses on here. Of course, that probably doesn't tick all of the "inclusivity" boxes but if you can't hold onto/grow what was once your core demographic then the game's already a bogey.
I think it could possibly be because mountain biking isn’t a “new” thing. When mountain biking bikes first came out they were completely different to anything you could buy on the market, big tyres, chunky frames, different brakes. That got me thinking I could ride the slightly rougher paths-just gravel tracks around reservoirs etc. in a bit more comfort. From there it was a natural progression to more challenging natural trails encouraged by the many good magazines which spawned from the new trend. That was 35 odd years ago but I still enjoy off-road riding especially with like minded companions. Any development of mountain biking has probably only mostly been followed by people who started in the early years and grew with the sport.
I had actually typed “other than to sell more bikes”, but removed it before pressing post.
But there is also a smaller group who definitely could ride, say people in my running club (definitely fit enough, quite happy being being cold wet and muddy, and for the most part could afford a very nice bike if they chose to) who don't because they fear getting injured (me showing up with a broken doesn't help, but that's rare, and they've all got dodgy knees) How do we get them into it?
Take them for a ride somewhere like Scotroutes' pic above! A great day out, easily rideable on basically any bike, nice scenery, throw in a cake stop. No need to risk life and limb, no injuries, no competition. No major adrenaline, but i can't imagine anyone (who, as you say, is reasonably sporty and doesn't mind getting muddy) not enjoying it. It's a nice route in.
Most of the population would rather do something that doesn't involve getting cold, wet and muddy.
If that was the case, football and rugby would be amongst the least popular sports - clearly not the case.
There are loads of kids around here who ride MTB - from racing to digging/building in the local woods. The local MTB groups are also oversubscribed and the school bike clubs have healthy numbers - so I don't think it's about being cool either. I asked my eldest (12 yo, end yr 7) if he thought mountain biking was cool and he said "yes, everyone at school thinks I'm cool". But these are for the most part children from wealthy enough backgrounds to afford not only the initial cost of a mountain bike, but also the cost of maintaining it, buying suitable gear, travelling to and from places to ride etc. I asked him why he thought more people in his school didn't ride themselves and the first thing he said was "cost".
I would bet that many on here are either from backgrounds that could afford a top-spec bike in their formative years, or were able to cobble something together from the parts available, combined with fewer standards that made everything much cheaper and a bit more accessible than it is now. I fall into the latter, but I'm glad I'll never have to faff with a cotter pin again in my life. 🙂 I was also fortunate to live somewhere (Dales) with interesting riding on the doorstep.
