Is it becoming uncool to ride up hills?

"17 year olds … riding trek remedies"

Who did they rob? 😯

No problems with downhillers and no doubt a full day of it will batter your muscles as much as an average xc ride (all be it in a different way), but I do love uphill! More or a challenge!

Rode the Brecon Beast in Sept and it does the Gap road backwards, and I was very surprised to see that 95% of people that I saw on that section pushed the whole way, didn't even attempt it, and only one other person that attempted to ride the whole thing! Granted, I felt like I was going to die at the top, and there was still 40km to go, but it's the achievement… or is it just me? Fair enough if you've got a massive DH monster, but that wasn't the case there.

The Gap backwards is a rubbly climb, but I'd give it a go 😀

it's the achievement… or is it just me?

I'm with you there – carried over from a few road years I think; beating a climb, technical or grinding or both, is as satisfying as a quick, incident-free descent (combine the two for maximum buzz)

i'm starting up an alpine mountain bike holiday company.

it's called 'endless grind'.

we'll shuttle you to the bottom of thousands of metres of mind/ar53 numbing climbing, all you've got to do is pedal!

once you reach the summit, we'll pick you up, and quickly return you to the bottom of yet another climb.

riding uphill with mates is a mini willy waving comp

IME on alot of xc riders I've ridden with over the years use their riding uphill fast as their way of covering over their poor descending. A good xc rider can do both. It's amusing how it is common place to make fun of people riding uphill slowly and disappear into the distance leaving slower riders behind, but doing the same to slow descenders is usually a taboo subject. I find dh riders are actually alot less competitive with their mouths and just get on with riding with respect for each others abilities much more.

My two young nephews have been getting into this MTB lark this year (and probably have a better idea of "cool" than any of you old farts! 😉

To them (and me in fact!) Sam Pilgrim doing a back flip or Gee Atherton flying off a drop looks way "cooler" in a mag than some old fart in lycra plodding up a hill. Having said that anything to do with bikes is "cool" at the moment with them (that puts a smile on my face despite the constant fixing of bikes!).

Anyway they are quite capable of pedalling up hills but prefer the jumpy / DH days we have much more. Not because it's "cool" I don't think? Just cuz there's nowt more fun than getting some air!

It's amusing how it is common place to make fun of people riding uphill slowly and disappear into the distance leaving slower riders behind, but doing the same to slow descenders is usually a taboo subject

I see your point re climber-nazis S, it's unsporting & demoralising. But be-littling slower descenders a taboo subject…. I don't hang around DH runs or well known descents much, but almost every time I've been down spooky wood there's a pack of hardcore DH-rig riding robo-cops just itching to intimidate the next anxious rider. They've probably never heard of Innerleithen.