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

This is a rundown of all of the things that the Mountain Biking Illuminati has recently outlawed. Cancel culture MTB, if you will.

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By ben_haworth

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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 1×47 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 from 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 🙂