You don’t need to shout at motorists because they do something silly – also applies when you are driving.

Rapha is quite good value for money

1x works well on a road bike

If you spend even the briefest moment caring about how how others will judge your clothing choice* or policing what others wear then you are wasting your precious few moments on earth.

*although I do get that there are many reasons why folk might feel uncomfortable in lycra – I just wish that there weren’t.

https://twitter.com/theeyecollector/status/1201088069820133376

Some good ones in this thread ^

Steel frames and forks are safer and better-looking than anything made in carbon fibre.
(edit, the Colnago C40 is the exception)

Noisy hubs are the work of the devil.
Coloured Hope components looks shit in any and every colour.
We all look like idiots to people who don’t ride bikes – doesn’t matter if its lycra or a full face helmet and storm trooper padding.
We don’t need half the crap bike journalists tell us we do. Most of the niches they tell us about can be covered by “going for a ride on a bike”. I may be 0.3 seconds slower than if I was on the ideal bike but it really doesn’t matter as I am not in a competition.
There is no such thing as a pain cave or similar, it is your garage and you are riding several hundred quids worth of kit in your garage because it is too cold to go outside.

I like the cut of your jib

Sometimes it is just too wet and too cold to go cycling “for fun”. It is OK to look out of the window and say “ah, **** that”

Pro cycling was more exciting during the epo years.

Most mountain bikers you meet out on the hills are over competitive wannabes with small genitalia who constantly brag about their fitness and skilzzz whilst mentally comparing your bike to theirs.

Most people you meet at trail centres at the weekend are overweight van drivers on enduro bikes. The type of big watch wearing moron you would normally avoid at any other time.

You can have too many bikes

Sometimes it is just too wet and too cold to go cycling “for fun”. It is OK to go out anyway and appear bad ass

It’s only water.

I may regret this when trying to change the BB30 on my CAADX after misjudging the increaced depths of a couple of fords yesterday.

The vast majority of cycling writing is simply a string of cliches

You only need 1 bike!

Fat bikes are actually, quite ace
Trail centres are boring
I miss getting properly lost now we have GPS / digi mapping
Mudguards are for the weak
Ditto for using a turbo trainer
Stems that are angled up make any bike look totally ****
That Steve Jones fella does my head in
Anodising is still totally cool (but with a certain amount of discretion)
Land access or rather lack of it is just wrong – we need an uprising

And deffo agrees on bar-ends – esp those Cane Creek ones

Only unicyclists understand cycling geometry…

Steel is real
Wool is real

So steel wool underpants are ultra real.

Steel isn’t even in the Top 3 materials to build a frame out of.

Whereas I believe it is the best!

That hand gesture with raised little finger and raised index finger….just cringeworthy beyond belief. Don’t do it.

Ooooh, thought of another one

XC racing IS fun.

Only discovered this at the age of 51, after 15 yrs of mountain biking in denial.

1×12 with dinner plate sprockets is ridiculous. Nowt wrong with a front mech.
Dropper posts are just a fad.
29″ wheels don’t need 150mm forks.
Full sus doesn’t help you go faster, the pedal bob slows you down.
My Mk1 Cotic Soul has great geometry and it can get down any gnarly trail with more fun to be had than on a “Skill Compensator”

Then last month I bought a Giant Trance 29er and I wish to retract all the above.

Gravel is about as exciting as dominoes.

Drop bars give loads of hand positions because none of them are actually any good.

Most MTBers wouldn’t be able to feel the difference between a coil or an air shock if it bit them on the arse.

Building trails is as much fun as riding them.

The ciaran path is pish.

Ditto the Burma road.

Front mechs are dead.

29ers don’t make you faster.

Froome was right, anyone over 8st does look like a nob in lycra.

Enduro is just an excuse to get everyone overbiked.

I inexplicably don’t like ebikes, I have never been bitten or attacked by one but my prejudice remains.

On that train I always avoid sitting next to any aging pony tail and fixie types.

You look like a c**t on a Brompton. But I want one.

It is a pain in the hole being stuck behind a bike.

The reason cyclists come across as entitled is because we literally are entitled, it’s a free country dick heads.

Carbon components don’t break if you look at them wrong.

It’s upsetting that road cycling is only pleasant in nice weather, as it requires less cleaning than MTBing

Oh and the Ciaran path being no good thing is definitely the opinion du jour, but it’s a great ride.

“Stealth looking” bikes are boring.

People who rave about 29 inch (or any other) sized wheels, couldn’t tell the difference between sizes in a blind test.

A blind test whilst riding is a bad idea.

Race team logo emblazoned riding gear, whether lycra or baggies makes you look a right spunktrumpet.

There are only enough articles in the whole universe to fill 4 or 5 editions of any mountain biking periodical. These are then mildly tweaked and recycled adinfinitum.

Riding in the mud and rain is nowhere near as much fun as everyone would have you believe.

I miss Geex

Most modern full suspension trail bikes aren’t actually that nice to ride on anything other than downhill, they pedal badly and have poor ride feel compared to nice all-round bikes from the past.

In my opinion (which may be weird, as I am weird) is that modern bikes outside of fully fledged XC bikes have not taken great leaps forward in actual proper pedalling ride quality – you know the actual type of riding where going uphill, covering distance are a big part of the ride.

Modern shocks are too good at sucking the bike to the ground for descent orientated riding and seem to absorb pedalling energy. Bikes are bloated in weight to handle ‘youtube’ riding- and this kills the climbing ability…which if you ride in the mountains is a big part of any ride.

Manufacturers seem to have forgotten that OldSkool thing of pedalling ride quality being an aim…..and is why we logically end up with e-bikes to negate all that.

It’s only water.

see, this what I’m talking about, I know it’s only water; still doesn’t make it any more pleasant to ride in does it? If you’re going to pay me to ride; sure, hand me a rain cape. If you’re doing it for funz though, I’ll find something more constructive to do with my time thanks.

Manufacturers seem to have forgotten that OldSkool thing of pedalling ride quality being an aim…..and is why we logically end up with e-bikes to negate all that.

There is wrong, and so far off into the distance of wrongness that you simply can’t be seen anymore. Manufacturers haven’t forgotten it, they just (along with the rest of us) realised there’s more to mountain biking than being just off-road road bikes.

People who use the word “Funz” obviously

“I reduced the air volume in my forks so I can run lower pressure for better small bump compliance”.
Stupidest statement ever. No way can reducing the volume and increasing the spring rate give better small bump compliance.

Everyone who cycles on the road should have some sort of training.

There’s some right bollocks spouted on this thread!

The rise in popularity of gravel bikes is because for some people a hardtail is the right answer, but most modern hardtails have such extremely slack head angles a gravel bike is more like a traditional 2013 hardtail before angles went too far.

What I’m trying to say (badly) is that gravel bikes are filling a gap in the market which used to be occupied by hardtails.

Fat bikes – sorry but everyone I’ve ever seen riding one looks cartoon daft.

Gravel Bikes – slower heavier less efficient / aero than a road racer , less than half the off road capability of a mtb – pure marketing bollox

Bikepacking – like touring in a caravan & bringing all your junk along but not having the comfort of room service , sleeping in cow dung under a plastic sheet with your SAS survival kit. Lunacy in the UK’s climate

Basic road cycling skills / proficiency element should be compulsory to getting a UK driving licence.

Club  / group road riding sounds about as much fun as dental surgery

Pro cycling was more exciting during the epo years.

God yeah. And even before

Hydro is not an acceptable abbreviation for hydraulic when talking about hydraulic brakes (or hydro breaks)! I don’t think that’s even controversial, but it never seems to be challenged.

The new Specialized Enduro is the worst looking bike of the decade.

Blackflag

Member

Most mountain bikers you meet out on the hills are over competitive wannabes with small genitalia who constantly brag about their fitness and skilzzz whilst mentally comparing your bike to theirs.

Most people you meet at trail centres at the weekend are overweight van drivers on enduro bikes. The type of big watch wearing moron you would normally avoid at any other time.

That’s not really controversial, that’s more contradiction and being a tit.

“Stealth looking” bikes are boring.

And they aren’t very stealthy…

Supinated grip gives superior handling on gnarly trails.