Cycling myths

I’ll start with two

“Road bikes wear out faster than MTBs”

“Will seal holes up to 1/4 inch”

“Flat pedals are better for downhill mtbing”
“Carbon is the ultimate frame material”

carbon composite won’t make you faster but will make you poorer

Body armour can’t prevent injuries, it’ll only stop bruises and scrapes

Mythy Giove?

An aluminium frame will beat you to death.

Carbon frames are really delicate.

A titanium bike is a bike for life.

Riser bars and a flat stem perform better than an inclined stem and flat bars.

Most professional cyclists are clean.

*insert wheel size* is better than any other because……

fully boingy bikes are skill compensators

the STW forum demographic is mainly made up of balding, fat, IT geeks and nerds who wouldn’t know a berm if it danced through their room with a marching band, singing “la la la I’m a berm” and accompanying itself on a kazoo……oh hang on you said myth 😉

Singletrack magazine is full of quality journalism

SS ruins your knees

roadies never say hello

I dropped a roadie on my MTB

Roadies are grumpy

I don’t need any more bikes.

SS makes you fitter.
SS are slow.
More travel=more fun.
You can ‘buy’ yourself better.

chicks dig scars…they don’t, they just think you’re a clumsy tool

If you are not falling off, you are not trying hard enough.

that a bit of an elastic band, some sticky tape and the end of a felt tip pen, will somehow make a ghetto tubeless system and if it fails it means all tubeless systems are gash and don’t work

That tyres magically fly off stans rims when there were “just pumped up a bit”

Stuff breaks whilst “just riding along”.

SS makes you fitter.

but that’s true! I couldn’t push a bike uphill anywhere near as fast as I can now thanks to singlespeedering

If something breaks, just warranty it.

“Road bikes wear out faster than MTBs”

I’ve never heard that one

“You won’t look stoopid in those flash bibshorts – you’re not even overweight” (well, at least they were cheap 😳 )

tubeless tyres never puncture

Gyroscopic Torque

Rorschach – Member

Stuff breaks whilst “just riding along”.

My Hemlock totally did! Just rolling gently along an easy pentlands forest floor path. Course it’s entirely a coincidence that I took it Inexpert Downhilling at fort william shortly before.

Squeeze the lever, tighten the bolts, and the caliper will be perfectly aligned.

that a more expensive bike is always better than a cheaper one.

Swans are monogamous.

That everything superstar components sells is going to break and take a child’s face off

That everything ‘this year’ is better than previous years

High pressures make tyres roll better.

Benji speaks the truth…

(as heard at Mayhem this year)

“You need XT or better to make it round this course”

An aluminium frame will beat you to death.
Carbon frames are really delicate.
A titanium bike is a bike for life.

Ain’t dat da troof!! 🙂

There is a difference between the way steel, alu and carbon hardtail frames ride (other than weight/design differences) – steel is more compliant

“You need XT or better to make it round this course”

OMG! seriously?? Don’t know whether to be amused or despair!

“Red bikes are not the fastest”

OMG! seriously?? Don’t know whether to be amused or despair!

There was collective chuckling and smirking at Camp Bullheart after hearing that particular (midget) gem, let me tell you. And no, it wasn’t one of us who came out with it……

v-brakes are better than cantis

“Squealing brakes are caused by contaminated pads”

“A good fixie rider with no brakes can stop as well (or possibly even better), than a rider with brakes.”

Reading MBUK will make you go blind.

Wheelbuilding is difficult

Bikes are complicated

steel bikes are springy, alu ones stiff, Ti ones compliant, carbon ones stiff and compliant

bike mags know anything about material science/engineering

you ‘need’ gears/suspension/particular ratios/whatever to ride this trail or conversely that riding without the aforementioned is fine for everyone.

You have to spend lots to get good quality/longevity

A better bike will make you a better rider