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BITD a relative newbie could turn up on a cheap bike with cheap components and not be too disadvantaged. Nowadays the gap between entry level and full-on enduro e-sled is so great
I suppose - at the risk of reiterating some earlier posts - the gap has become so big that we've just renamed it.
In 1994, if you were hacking around the woods and dales on a rigid bike with 2inch tyres, occasionally stopping in a barn for a sandwich and a fig roll, you were an MTBer by default.
These days, a lot of those people would be called Gravel bikers, and not included in the census of MTB'ers. But they're still doing the same thing!
That makes sense in the older age bracket.
There's also the youngsters on cheaper rigid or short fork ht bikes, maybe also single speed too, but jump bikes/ BMX not gravel.
Still think it's the most accessible route in for youngsters.
There’s always the youngster that turns up on a cheap bike and totally smokes the over equipped old men. Still true today.
Just out of interest, when you say cheap bike in this context what type of bike would that be these days?
I'm curious because I haven't been along to any mountain bike clubs for quite a few years and I'm wondering what a kid turning up for a ride on a cheap bike would look like these days.
Old man salad dodger teletubbies look ridiculous in baggy shorts and tops. Clowns spring to mind! It would put a lot of youngsters off!