Mountain biking is a progressive sport (mainly) so it would be interesting to know what riders think they are good at and what they think they are not good at, across all ages and skill level!

We can conglomerate all the votes together at the end to see the leader board of sucks vs Amazeballs

I’ll start:

Suck at : Jumping (too old, too stiff too scared lol)

Amazeballs at: Squashing (mainly jumps at high speed so my wheels don’t leave the ground, see above ^^^ lol)

So, lets see your votes and we’ll put together the league table for STW 🙂

I suck at all of it but I’ve given up caring

Amazeballs at holding on, genuinely hit fairly big trees and carried on.

Suck at, just looking ahead and line choice

Think I just need to slow down it’s still fun a bit slower

Not great at ‘shaped’ jumps and fast, flat corners (these have always been, and still remain my bugbear). Steep left hand corners do my head in…

OK at drops (up to medium size).

Better at plugging away all day and winching, and twisty, tight singletrack.

Best at loose, rocky, tech stuff. Oh, and roots and mud (since that’s pretty much all we have round here locally so I get lots of practice).

Mountain biking is a progressive sport

It’s not a sport at all as far as I’m concerned. It’s an activity or a pastime.

I’m just good at doing my best. I’d say I’m pretty average at most MTB disciplines but try to go fast up and down through effort and not ability.

Don’t jump, wheelie or do anything else to earn any cred. Just ride and enjoy myself.

Oh, good at getting fit then fat then starting the cycle again.

I use to boast a basically competent pedalling action. But that seems to be deserting me

I suck but don’t care about getting better technically.

Just want to ride more and for *further*. That’s something I’m working on.

It’s about where the bike takes me in the countryside much more than how fast I can then ride through it.

Suck at: jumps. Anything bigger than a 1ft high table top, and my brain says ‘Nope!’

Very, very slightly suck less at: drops. I can force my body to overcome my brain on a 1-2ft drop after several run ups. Sometimes.

OK at: natural, rooty, loamy, and sometimes steep trails. I need to work on my flat corners and trusting tyre grip with the bike leant over.

I’m pretty good at on-sighting technical trails. I can generally go pretty fast first time.

I’m really good at incremental improvements on those same trails. I’ll go back and tweak my lines to get a pleasingly fast run.

I’ve become terrible at jumping. Used to be ok. Now I’m shite 😄 see also wheelies and manuals. Never learnt, and I’m too old now.

I am a leading light in the discipline of freemincing.

Amazeballs at talking it up.
I suck at getting out riding enough.

No good at all at jumping.
Average at holding on and not falling off.
Pretty good sprinting and climbing steep and short at a reasonable pace (I have oddly big thighs for my size).
Better at going long distances.

i’m terrible at it all. I ride a rigid 26inch singlespeed and it saves me from hurting my self by beating me into submission. In a racing setting i seem to be able to ride things i push down at any other time, i think i might be a follower…

except sand, i seem to bea able to ride up, down and along sand on a non fat bike without falling off. i suspect its because its the only time i’me not that scared.

Suck: Anything steep/loose/hard

Amazeballs: Enjoying the moment for what it is. Bird spotting.

Suck – getting over mental blocks over certain features. Takes ages sometimes, just dithering, but eventually I will sort it then wonder what the fuss was about.

Amazeballs – ummm, dunno.

I’m pretty good at technical climbs…seem to have a decent sense of balance and manage to hang on long after my riding mates have dabbed or fallen off. Other than that I’m extremely average, but have fun being so. Mange to cover ground quickly enough and just about manage to hang onto the coat tails of better riders than me, but it aint slick and it aint pretty!

Enjoy jumping, well if you can count it as jumping, but get phased by gaps. I think I over think stuff…know the theory from several skills courses, but chicken out putting it to practice…even if the coach had me doing it during the course, when I’m out there on my own I’ll usually bottle it.

Suck: anything slightly Gnar, have never got the rear wheel airborne intentionally.

Amazeballs: going up hills and going for miles.

I’m amazeballs at going round berms. I must be cos the lines everyone else seem to leave show that they ain’t got a bloody clue!
I suck at going up hills. This makes me sad, cos I used to be good (ish).

By trailcenter weekend warrior mincer standards Im amazeballs at jumps and drops.

But only if Ive got some speed, I can’t do the “rock garden” on Stickler or the drops on Seagull at Swinley. Neither is big but both are just the wrong sort of awkward.

I’m amazeballs at jumps, drops, super steep tech descents!

I suck at telling the truth…..

Hold on, is this thread the replacement for “racing”?

For it to feel authentic I’ll need to stand in a pretent queue for a smelly portaloo while replying.

What Scotroutes said….

As a level 2 MTB coach and Mountain Bike Leader I am a lot better at helping others than perfecting my own abilities 😜

I’ve always been a consummate low level intermediate at most things I’ve done.

No different at riding.  Pretty average at most aspects. But happy nonetheless.

I am almost amazeballs at wheelies as long as they’re up gentle hills! My brake feathering is crap,  so on flat ground I pick up too much speed.

Just ride; happy if I don’t fall off.

Amazeballs – sliding across the ground on my face

Suck – wheelies

I can manual a bike length which is the absolute maximum needed, so I must be super amazeballs at that?

Not too bad at techy stuff…apart from going down…super steep right hand hairpins, and going up…still super steep right hand hairpins…for some reason they just don’t work in my head. I can do left hand hairpins all bloody day long, it’s bloody annoying when there’s a left followed by a right haha

Rock Gardens, especially when the rocks are loose. I know it’d. Be better if I went faster, but I just get slower as I dab brakes and lump up against obstacles eventually coming to a halt. Hopeless.

Awesome at: Buying parts and building bikes out of said parts…

Suck at: Actually finding time to ride the bikes I have built.

I like to think doing it since 1998 pretty consistently means I‘m quite good. (I know, I know now I feel really arrogant and and gonna have a bike crash)

What I’m good at:
– Top 10 in masters in both southern enduro races I’ve entered, so going dh reasonably fast, on pretty much any terrain.
– Taught myself to jump a bit over the last year so what would have been a suck at is now a perfectly acceptable at for my needs (have hit some of the biggest Surrey hills jumps)
– Fitness is as high as it’s ever been so I’m fast uphill and can cope just fine with technical climbing. (Eg 175k gravel ride in 9 hrs a couple of weeks ago on a whim)
– crossing disciplines, currently have road, gravel and Mtb’s. Current mtb being a nice trek remedy. Have had xc race bikes and 36lbs coil bikes in the past. All bikes are great 😁

What I still suck at:
– wheelies and manuals, have practiced a bit over lockdown and it’s coming but never nailed these which feels like a missed opportunity given how much of my life I spend on bikes.

It’s nice to reflect and of course there are far better riders than me but I’m happy with where my riding is right now. Just need to find someone to ride with who can push me on further! Progression is so rewarding 👌

I suck at creating new threads but am highly skilled in missing the point of other peoples’ posts.

I’d say I’m above average but have the advantage of having raced MX and Enduro from the age of 5 until my mid 20’s at a pretty high standard. I even represented Britain at world level a couple of times (ISDE).
I do really struggle with big doubles though. Anything with more than a 10′ gap and I have to watch other people ride it first then try and trick myself into doing it.
Much prefer steep tech to bikepark stuff.
Hoping to push my riding on further as we’re moving to be close to the Tweed Valley trails soon.

When around crap riders I am average to slightly good. When around good riders I am useless.

Amazing at enthusiasm and encouragement for others
Suck at actually doing the riding myself – I can do it, but after 30+ years of doing it, I’d have thought I’d be pretty good at it, I reckon. I’m mediocre at best…however, that doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm for it.

I’d say I’m above average but have the advantage of having raced MX and Enduro from the age of 5 until my mid 20’s at a pretty high standard

I think this is really useful. I am actually ok (at best) on slow technical stuff from riding BMX but am just not accustomed to the speed on a MTB jump or cornering. People who have ridden Mx or even motor bike generally seem a lot more comfortable with the speed.

Thoroughly average, excel at nothing, not particularly shite at anything MTB wise. One thing I really wish I was better at is riding trails blind, I pretty much always have to have a look at big drops and doubles before doing them.

It’s one of the reasons I loved and did alright at Ard rock, kinda knew the course had nothing beyond me in it, so could let go.

By alright, I mean mid pack obscurity, as ever. It’s my measure of success. 🙂

Suck at wheelies.

Amazeballs at keeping going long after all the sensible people have called it quits.

Suck at Wheelies, Manuals, Jumping, turning right

Amazeballs at Casing, Soaking up jumps instead of popping

Ok at Drops (It’s just falling but with style), Riding trails blind because I can never remember them even if I’ve ridden them before 🙂

Good* at:
Climbing, tech, maintaining speed/finding flow, berms, riding tech blind, navigation, drops

Bad at:
Jumps where the takeoff is steep. My brain refuses to let me do it.
Holding the balance point of wheelie/manual. I can get it up to clear the front wheel, no chance of holding it.

*seemingly above average compared to the weekend enthusiast, but this translates into bottom 10% in 19-29 Enduro, and midpack Sport XC.

This is all pretty meaningless without a proper measure.

Anyone replying to this thread needs to ride a lap of Whites and then the Wall at Afan, followed by on of the FoD DH runs with the rest of us judging them for style. Like a STW come dancing judging pannel.