Things you're no longer allowed to like in mountain biking

I think you've captured the current MTB zeitgeist pretty accurately. It'll be interesting to do a follow up in a year or two to see what's changed.

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”
-Oscar Wilde

Triple chainsets
Bikes that last.
Indeed, bikes that go up mountains.
Environmental consideration
Exercise
Choice
Triple chainsets
Common sense

To be fair, 24 hour "racing" did suck 99% of the time.

(Pick a number) inch wheels.

Bar ends

> 67.5 degree head angles

Foam insert-less wheels.

Doorstep XC rides with climbing.

27.5” always sucked compared to 29” for anyone this side of 5’3” tall. This was clear to anyone who switched to 29ers back in 2007/8/9.

nickc
Full Member

To be fair, 24 hour “racing” did suck 99% of the time.

Only if you were sober.

Are fatbikes so long forgotten that they don’t even make a list of stuff we can’t like anymore?

Oh, and relatively short reach bikes.

non boost frames

Purple, the fastest components were always purple, it's been scientifically proven.

Skinsuits.

I think 'roosting berms' should be banned - it trashes trails and gives riders a bad reputation

Whatever tyre tread and compound you are currently riding.
A new, world-beating tyre has just been released, didn't you hear? The company also make car tyres and are bringing fresh thinking to the MTB market!!

Levers on axles.
What exactly is wrong with being able to take your wheel out without tools?

I actually remember that picture from the very early days of the magazine - possibly even Issue 1.

God I've been here a while!

You clearly ride in a different world to me. We were out with our group yesterday and had all 3 wheel sizes, bum bags and rucksacks and not a single CO2 cartridge was seen.

Lycra.

Are fatbikes so long forgotten that they don’t even make a list of stuff we can’t like anymore?

@tomhoward I think the thing with fat bikes is no one liked them in the first place.

Finger wagging

Triple chainsets

Chainsets. What do you mean, you're not running 1x47 with a cassette made by Gillette?

Bar ends

Plenty of those around here. Oh, wait, that wasn't an autocorrect?

pleased to see 'Being a [40yr old dad] making jumps in the woods' hasnt made the list! 8)

I feel quite rebellious riding with my rucksack these days.

Fashion sure is a funny thing.

To be fair, 24 hour “racing” did suck 99% of the time.

And you'd only ever remember the 1%, so a week later you'd be signing up to the next 24 hour event in the middle of nowhere, during winter, with gaurenteed rain and Somme-like mud.

Inner tubes.

> 67.5 degree head angles

Is that [i]from[/i] 67.5° or greater than? My Trance is 67.5 (on paper) and it's a brilliant trail bike, I don't want to have to change it!

And you’d only ever remember the 1%, so a week later you’d be signing up to the next 24 hour event in the middle of nowhere, during winter, with gaurenteed rain and Somme-like mud.

😆 See also: any other type of competitive event-

"That was awful, I'm never doing that again!"

...

(30 minutes, cup of tea + packet of shortbread biscuits later)

...

"Ooh, there's a <insert competitive event here> on in a fortnight, think I'll enter. Sounds like it could be fun!"

My Trance is 67.5 (on paper) and it’s a brilliant trail bike

I think you'll find your 'trail' bike has been downgraded to a downcountry bike.

Just the other day on here I was told I couldn't possibly be riding steep stuff because I ride a Trance (and a 27.5, at that).

no specific ban on XC racing? 😀

Non-Boost forks - I'm still not convinced though that the increased triangulation at the spokes increases front stiffness enough to offset the increased flex inherent with longer hub axles, crowns and fork braces. The cynic in me thinks it was all done just to sell us bikes that can run plus sized tyres. Which brings me onto my next point.

Plus sized tyres - According to bikes spec'd from a few years ago we should all be riding tyres that are 2.6" and upwards on our everyday bikes. We're not though because it only took one ride on those balloons for you to realise that there is a limit to the width of your tyres before they become heavy, un-damped springs that roll over in corners.

Short chainstays are ace. If I hear or read one more review where someone says

"and now they are doing size specific chainstays, and thats good"

I ride large / XL hardtails mostly, and one of the main factors in my choice is how short the chainstays are. I hope some brands will keep them short.

Plus sized tyres – According to bikes spec’d from a few years ago we should all be riding tyres that are 2.6″ and upwards on our everyday bikes. We’re not though because it only took one ride on those balloons for you to realise that there is a limit to the width of your tyres before they become heavy, un-damped springs that roll over in corners.

I'm not sure that plus size is as bad as it's made out to be. I admit, it's pretty bad if you try to run it on 25-30mm rims which is what everyone tried to do at first. However, once you put them on 40 - 50mm rims then they become much much better.

The legacy is that people realised that running 2.25in tyres on 30-35mm instead of 19mm rims is actually pretty good so the conclusion was that 2.25 - 2.5 inch tyres were fine all along so why did we even bother with plus tyres (ignoring the fact that in the meantime there was a significant leap in rim width).

trail rides...like we used to do - if it doesn't involve gap jumps or riding down tracks you literally couldn't walk down then it seems that it just aint cool anymore.

I think you’ll find your ‘trail’ bike has been downgraded to a downcountry bike.

Just the other day on here I was told I couldn’t possibly be riding steep stuff because I ride a Trance (and a 27.5, at that).

Well, damnation and buggerance. Mine's a 2016 650B frame with 26" (gasp!) wheels in it. Do I win £5 or will it burst into (unfashionable) flames the next time I swing a leg over it? 🤣

I’m not sure that plus size is as bad as it’s made out to be.

Id say plus is pretty bad. We experimented with it but at around £20 a ride given how long a plus tyre lasted we gave up pretty fast. The adage "strong light cheap", pick two, is "strong, light, cheap, pick one" in Plus tyre land.

Well, damnation and buggerance. Mine’s a 2016 650B frame with 26″ (gasp!) wheels in it. Do I win £5 or will it burst into (unfashionable) flames the next time I swing a leg over it? 🤣

You'll be fine. Just remember that you're limited by the equipment you're using and stick to canal towpaths.

Id say plus is pretty bad. We experimented with it but at around £20 a ride given how long a plus tyre lasted we gave up pretty fast. The adage “strong light cheap”, pick two, is “strong, light, cheap, pick one” in Plus tyre land.

I think plus tyres are one of those things where you have to reduce the rim BSD to get the most out of them. Which is obviously absolute heresy.

My plus tyres are bombproof and weigh about the same as a typical 29er trail tyre. It's not that impressive when you consider the fact they are on 24" rims.

Short chainstays FTW! Recent trends to make everything longer and slacker are great for speed, and I most often ride a relatively modern geometry bike for the most part, but sometimes I take my DMR Sect out on the trails for a change of pace and it just makes everything so much fun to ride!

Can you add "obsession with lists of things".
It must be a slow news week or lack of freebies week at STW Towers 🙂

The strange thing is in the 90s we were riding the same bridleways on rigid 26 inch bikes and we didn't die. We also went places on our bikes and camped, we just didn't know we should wait for bike packing to be invented.
Cycling should be about fun ride what you want where you want, life to short to worry about trends

Post ride Beer or Coffee

Riding with dayglo or camo

Flats or SPD's

........................................................

I'm calling Dead Cat.
What are you trying to divert us from discussing? The lack of a LIKE button again?

🙂

Type 2 fun
We no longer prize anything involving any level of discomfort or element of suffering. It’s about the easy.

and I thought that was just me getting old and lazy?....on the other hand look at what people at the top of sport are achieving and the dedication, juggling jobs/sponsors, injury/pain and sacrifices that it takes to get to levels way beyond previous generations albeit travelling business class and staying in boutique condominiums

Rigid seatposts.

Reading maps or waiting for the designated navigator to unfold the paper OS map in the wind as you wait in anticipation for further instructions. Satnav all the way now - just grab a route that someone else has done and follow it blindly until you get to the bit that’s closed and then panic! I do love a map though. Yes I have heard of bike park and do indulge.

You're not allowed to ride all-day trail routes any more, the cool kids simply session the same - usually illegal - downward pointing track over and over again until it's worn through to the molten core of the earth. Then they dig another one and start again.

Yeah right Glad I still think the total opposite of the "Fashion Police"

Just Ride

+1 to what Bruce/BadlyWiredDog & others have said above

B

Skinny tyres that work in mud.

if it doesn’t involve gap jumps or riding down tracks you literally couldn’t walk down then it seems that it just aint cool anymore.

Ah, I too miss the days when a simple mistake didn't involve air ambulances, trashing four grand bikes and annoyinjg smarmy people doing the same tracks on a rigid gravel bike properly.

I feel like we should probably talk about the number of grumpy, entrenched old gits involved in MTBing.

They're an intrinsic part of MTBing culture now IMO, without complaining old bastards putting potential new participants off it just wouldn't be the same 😉

Someone needs to tell you if you've got too many or too few chainrings or the wrong size wheels...

Sports/pastimes/hobbies can only thrive if miserable sods do the hard work of keeping a lid on the fun, and picking holes in any new ideas.
Thus was it ever...

Sports/pastimes/hobbies can only thrive if miserable sods do the hard work of keeping a lid on the fun, and picking holes in any new ideas.
Thus was it ever…

Yep - MTBing now is where roadie-world was back in the 90's / 00's.
In Roadie-World, all the folk who had to get through the 60's - 80's with downtube shifters, tubular tyres, crappy brakes, 2 x 5 or 6sp, carrying headset spanners on every ride and navigating by unfolding a big paper map got proper grumpy at newfangled indexed gearing, brakes that worked, decent lightweight kit, carbon fibre etc so they felt compelled to begin every sentence with "in my day..." and turn into miserable sods.

Then they wondered why no-one joined roadie clubs and it was mostly cos they were grumpy old gits slagging off all the new stuff and trying to insist that winter club runs were still done on 68" fixed gear bikes. Also, everyone was off MTBing.

Now, in MTB-World, the people that were bouncing around the trails on crappy suspension, canti-brakes and 3 x 8sp gearing in the 90's / 00's are bitter that all the newcomers have e-bikes and 1 x 12 and suspension that doesn't behave like a nodding donkey so they too have turned into miserable old sods. Also, they spent thousands on stuff in its introductory days and are bitter that the "revolutionary" new thingy lasted all of 2 years before becoming obsolete.

😉

Ooof! I can't decide whether I'm on trend or an embarrassment? I have a 29er Ti HT so those are the right size wheels but it's from 2012 so has short chainstays and a 68° HA 😳
My Steel HT is from 2016 but is a 650B ! 😳and it's not LLS I also have a couple 26ers but am redeeming myself because I've got an Orbea H15 on the way so that trump's the previous failures doesn't it ? 🤔😁

You can't be serious! I wouldn't recognise a roosting berm if you buried me under it. Just go ride whatever you have to hand.

I think what a lot of people are moaning about is diversification. Mtb on bridleways still exists but trail centers and non row trails in the wood have become more prevalent and the majority for many. The bridleway bashing still exists and what people are moaning about is really that it's no longer the norm or majority of riding.

I will agree on the bike packing that it is nothing new.

I like the direction and more bikes of modern mtb. Still enjoy a bridleway but love the technical challenges of bike parks.

The bridleway bashing still exists and what people are moaning about is really that it’s no longer the norm or majority of riding.

Isn't the whole point of this thread to allow people to gripe in a light-hearted fashion without someone popping up to accuse them of 'moaning' - or is that not allowed any more? 😉

40psi. Front and rear.

I have been mtbing since the 90s. Its ( IMO) always been fashion led and still is today and that includes the grumpy old farts referred to above.

fortunately I don't give a hoot about the fashion so I get what works for me. the fashionistas make sure of a plentiful supply of last years parts that are hardly used at much cheapness

A sense of humour!
The ability to avoid (lack of) skill compensators.
Both sadly missing and the former here.

Plenty of those around here. Oh, wait, that wasn’t an autocorrect?

Respect

Id say plus is pretty bad. We experimented with it but at around £20 a ride given how long a plus tyre lasted we gave up pretty fast. The adage “strong light cheap”, pick two, is “strong, light, cheap, pick one” in Plus tyre land.

Plus tyres are ace. Early ones were absolutely shite but they’re great now. Running 2.6 on a HT front and rear and a Stooge with ridiculous sized tyres prior to that. Anything smaller just looks ill now.

I still carry a backpack on longer rides and would never wear a bum bag because I may be in my forties but I still have a sense of self worth.

Short chain stays and not all the reach is also good. Some of us like to chuck our bikes about a bit and not just blast down everything.

i like plus tyres, and short stays aswell.....its odd because 29ers and long stays im told are faster and yet on our group ride on sunday 2 out of 8 were on 27.5 plus and where faster up down and along than all the 29er riders were up down and along, and is the same week after week so have i proved 27.5 is the fasterest after all.... trail rides normally 30-40 miles 4000 - 6000 ft of climbing as a rule in the yorkshie dales, lakes, north pennines, north york moors, northumberland, if that makes any differance

but am i allowed to enjoy that is the big question

29 inch wheels look funny. As do 26.

Mudguards, particularly rear ones. Not so vital in summer, but wouldn’t be without one in the winter.

I thought I'd give my old 26" Boardman hardtail a ride today. Probably at leas 8 years since I last rode it. Felt really odd to start with but I loved it, so light and quick compared to my rigid 27.5 plus bike. It was set up as 1×9 and lowest gear was a bit too high so this evening it's gone back to 3x9. Just need to pick up a new chain tomorrow

Bikes. They ruin the ride. The end.

dander
Full Member
40psi. Front and rear.

Absolutely. If you need massively expensive and convoluted insert and tubless set-ups, what;s wrong with just upping the PSI a bit?

A lot of princess and the pea style behaviour.

I put more in my rear than my front on my hardtail and more front and back on my full sus. That's about it.

Absolutely. If you need massively expensive and convoluted insert and tubless set-ups, what;s wrong with just upping the PSI a bit?

increasing the pressure doesn’t do the same thing as an insert. they both reduce the chance of wheel and tyre damage, but one does it at the expense of grip and comfort. and you can ride on a punctured tyre with an insert.

There's a type of mentality about biking I try (and mostly fail) to cultivate.

I was in Åre a few years ago and was sharing one of the smaller gondolas with a young lad, probably about 12 years old.

I had just fitted a new tyre because I thought I had detected a slight rounding of some of the side nobs and I was worried that the tyre had lost a psi or two during my last run. I was also wondering if taking out the second compression damping circuit on my Domains was the right decision. Every so often I would give the brakes a squeeze and wonder if I should try to get the bite point closer to the bar.

Eventually I stopped looking at all the things that potentially weren't perfect with my bike and had a look at this young lad's bike. The centre of his tyres had no knobs. The side knobs were just about visible. A trickle of fluid ran down the side of the fork leg from the completely knackered seals. I resisted the temptation to try his brake levers but I suspect just finding the bite point would have been a best guess.

We get to the top and he barely lets the doors open before he's on the pedals and powering off down the nearest black run.

This kid obviously liked riding his bike and didn't like obsessing about his bike.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there as I wait for my new wide rims and CushCore inserts to arrive.

Singlespeeds

To be fair, if you're over 6' tall then short chainstays really do suck, they position the saddle much too far forward. I still don't understand why frame manufacturers insist on fitting the same length chainstays on every frame in their range from XS to XXL (assuming of course that they even deign to produce such a wide range of frame sizes).

Fatbikes. the one bike I regret selling was my Salsa Mukluk. So much so I am considering another.

No progress without change and some progress turns out not to be. Having though 29 and 1x wouldn’t catch on I wouldn’t be without either now. And yes I rode things 30 yEars ago on a rigid 26er with a triple chainset. I had mechanicals almost every ride and I was younger and more resilient.

To be brutally honest I’ve moved over to gravel riding more and I have barely ridden my MTB.
Gravel enables me to go a bit further and see some lovely countryside, and do a bit off-road (I rode in the 80s so full rigid is no issue!) if I want to.
I never really liked MTB on my own as it was always about having fun with other people out on bikes, as it was when I first started on my Emmelle bike when I was 12 - canti brakes and a 21” frame for a 5’6” lad. But it was fun trying stuff with friends and getting out in the countryside and just having a laugh.

I haven’t seen that side of it in a long time. It’s always about going further, or faster, or more exotic places, the latest kit, etc etc. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of the simple joy of just being out on a bike for 10 miles or something. It’s not looked down on as such it just (for me at least) seems to be missing and no longer valued.

The only time I really enjoy off-road riding is with people new to the sport especially the younger people, or even any wine getting out on a bike for the first time as an adult. There’s a joy in helping people enjoy riding and sharing their happiness really really floats my boat.

So if anyone in West Yorks feels the same way and is an overweight slowcoach who just want to have a laugh and enjoy the outdoors let me know!

I’ve ridden MTB now for pretty much 35 years now all over the UK up some of the biggest stuff and in the USA too but I’ve considered jacking it all in cos it just isn’t the same as it used to be.

Eventually I stopped looking at all the things that potentially weren’t perfect with my bike and had a look at this young lad’s bike. The centre of his tyres had no knobs. The side knobs were just about visible. A trickle of fluid ran down the side of the fork leg from the completely knackered seals. I resisted the temptation to try his brake levers but I suspect just finding the bite point would have been a best guess.

Love this!

I used to ride BMX street a lot and our group had twin lads in it that came from the poor area of town - they had bikes which were a complete joke and even back then I simply couldn’t ride their bikes as they were so knackered - we aren’t just talking head set a bit loose, they simply didn’t have bearings in them. It was rare when they had chains working or any tread on tyres and their cranks were always badly bent as were their bars and posts and wheels.
But oh my word their riding was off the charts. Mid nineties (and they were 16/17yo) they were doing big stair gaps, 360 barspin bunny hops off ledges, big jumps everywhere etc. If they had been given sponsorship they would have gone to the top but BMX was at a serious low point back then and Yootube wasn’t a thing to promote them.

tried to sort out a flat the other day with

Convoluted and over-optimistic CO2 ‘solutions’ only.

and ended up snapping the valve stem, borking my over-optimistic CO2 pump thing by getting the broken vave stem stuck in it, adding to global warming by venting a whole canister of CO2 directly into the atmosphere. Fortunately my riding partner had a mini pump that allowed me to inflate the old and now patched tube and continue on my way.
Looking for a decent mini-pump for the road bike now

Speaking of patching tubes, shouldn't those self-adhesive patches be on the list?

I found they worked when I first got them but last few times there's only a 50/50 chance of them actually fixing the leak. Maybe they've got a shelf life.

However, I found they make excellent frame protectors. They can also be used to fix holes in saddles. So I'm back to liking them again.

But oh my word their riding was off the charts. Mid nineties (and they were 16/17yo) they were doing big stair gaps, 360 barspin bunny hops off ledges, big jumps everywhere etc. If they had been given sponsorship they would have gone to the top but BMX was at a serious low point back then and Yootube wasn’t a thing to promote them.

I think when you start taking your gear too seriously it's always worth remembering that there are certain riders out there who could pull a BSO out of a skip and put your riding to shame 🙂

Where is GW?

I still don’t understand why frame manufacturers insist on fitting the same length chainstays on every frame in their range from XS to XXL

See also head tubes.
So many with same length HT...

hay i stll ride 26 i am happy with what i have,