Well i work out in the middle east, not my choice just the way things happen i guess. however one of my passions is mountain biking. so i try stay in touch with whats going on by joining forums joining in on chats, asking advice and giving it when i can. quite by accident i joined MTBR without thinking i asked advice on where i could get a custom spray job for a bike i am building ………  well i got a ton of advice, questions to where i am and some friendly banter al within in 12 hours of joining the forum.

i have been on this and other UK/EU based forums for a bit now and i havent had one single reply to any topic i have asked about.

i live in Chorley UK so a Lancashire lad you might say we are supposed to be a friendly bunch up north are we not …….

Sadly the places i ride people seem to carry a lot of bike snobbery, so if your not on the latest 650b carbon or 29er people look down their nose at you i find this very sad that thats the way the British mountain biking community is very sad indeen

Riding a 26er myself I find that people look down on me too, though that might be because 26er’s are lower to the ground than other wheel sizes.

I remember taking my 26 inch hardtail to Bike Park Wales and being made to take it up the back of the trailer, like Rosa Bikeparks. From that moment, I was woke.

Boom tish.

I think people are riding places are bike snobs.its all about bike you have.i am very happy with my old bikes.

i have been on this and other UK/EU based forums for a bit now and i havent had one single reply to any topic i have asked about.

On this thread at least, you’ve had five replies thus far including this one (at 3am) and you haven’t actually asked anything?

Also, if the places you ride are places where people look down on you because they think you’ve got the wrong sized wheels then you either need to a) stop worrying what judgemental tossers think or b) ride elsewhere.

I had a young guy say to me how can you ride that bike down here like that whilst at swinley babymaker smooth mini dh trail with berms and tabletops on a 26inch 4x hardtail. He had a big new FS enduro bike.actually made me laugh. I was polite to him and pleased he chatted to me.just shows though.i find people use a bike sometimes as a way to start a conversation. If your on a 26incher that changes things often.doesnt really bother me as I like to surprise people how well they go.

On this thread at least, you’ve had five replies thus far including this one (at 3am) and you haven’t actually asked anything?

Cougar – you are being unfair on the guy. He joined a week ago, opened one other thread asking a quite vague question about a very specific frame which he admits was not that popular… we owe it to him to stop everything else and find him an answer just as he has been contributing to the community on all the other threads… oh, hang on a minute…

I understood the debate I think.mtbr is very geeky and surely most of its users are US based and bike based. I don’t think thetes any general chat on it either.

you either need to a) stop worrying what judgemental tossers think or b) ride elsewhere.

Unironically and hilariously judgmental.

What a rubbish post.
(That was a joke)
It’s always friendly on the bus at BPW.
Maybe cos it’s awesome and people are happy.
On here can be grumpy but it’s the internet, and people aren’t riding so are sad.
I mostly don’t care and carry on writing drivel for my own amusement.
I’ve also had lots of kindness, and generosity and support, and technical help.

I find MTBR is better for technical discussions on Charger damper shim stacks, but this place is better for recommending the best pan for an omelette.

This is a bike forum? I thought it was a logburner / which family car / wifi extender / pizza oven / new puppy / political leader / what to do in a foreign city type forum.

But this forum is the home to a community of caring people. Just look at some of the mental health threads. Last year I posted when I was having a difficult time. Strangers sending DM and then following up a few days later was amazing. Please enjoy STW as the quirky corner of the internet that it is.

I’m very happy with my vintage 26, everything works, it rides well and the local bike mechanic implores me to keep it going. Needy souls who compete over their shopping items have been bent over, greased (if they’re lucky) and thoroughly drilled by the advertisers. Those with a deep sense of personal inadequacy are precisely the customers businesses want, they are the gift that keeps on giving. By the time I get round to buying any new bikes I’m sure the 26 will be then sold as a niche product much sought after by the cognoscenti.

Riding a 26er myself I find that people look down on me too

Lower axle height so what choice do they have….

I listened to an interview with the founder of mumsnet recently. What she described reminded me very much of here.

https://anchor.fm/do-lectures/episodes/DO-Podcast-with-Gav-Thompson–Trailblazer–Carrie-Longton-ekev8p

to take it up the back of the trailer

is that a euphemism? 🤔

OP – give it some time on here, both for replies and to start understanding how you can contribute here, and gain from here. It is a genuine community, with give and take.

As for snobs on bikes, I don’t really recognise that where I ride. I have jealousy about folk having very nice bikes, but that’s on me not them. I actually find mountain biking incredibly friendly, supportive and positive as a whole. 🤗

I think we do have an issue of a bunch of testosterone fulled ‘lads groups’ at trail centres, all foul mouths and bravado, but that’s few and far between. There are idiots an all areas of life.

The best retort for anyone who you feel looks down on you is to let you riding do the talking. There is a satisfaction in overtaking or keeping up with the latest enduro-weapon on my hardtail. 😎

You be the one having most fun, and spread the love and happiness. I’m forever encouraging kids and adults, always up for some positive banter and being friendly. The classic “be the change”. 👍

The OP’s profile shows he started one thread asking the question “Has anyone built up the same bike in a similar guise.” about one of these entry level bikes
https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15902071/diamondback-scree-10-mountain-bike-15902071

It’s very unlikely that anybody on here would choose an entry level frame like that as the basis for a custom build. Not because of snobbery, just because most people who custom build bikes use a much better frame than that as the basis.

Not really experienced bike snobbery but I do miss lots of social signs. Don’t take it too serious.

i have been on this and other UK/EU based forums for a bit now and i havent had one single reply to any topic i have asked about.

its a two way street perhaps – you’ve only started two topics, with this being one of them. But you haven’t contributed to any others. A forum is a shared resource and what you put in is as important as what you get out.

Whether you get a prompt reply on forums depends a bit of the volume of traffic – on a busy forum if you start a thread on a popular topic it will quickly start a conversation. If you ask something quite specific, niche or vague you have to wait until the one or two people who have something useful to say actually see it. On a busy forum that can mean your post falls off the front page before anyone who could contribute sees it. In terms of your other thread – as you say yourself very few people bought that bike, people aren’t going to reply to the thread to tell you they’ve never owned or ridden on so can’t comment. Lots of people will have resprayed a bike though – of any make or model – if you’d asked that question here you’d have got a couple of pages of replies, an argument and a photo of a guy trying to inflate a tubeless penguin.

Maybe its cos your from chorley. Need to get over the border mate😂

Hi from Horwich

Generally friendly down here in the SW*

I had two guys on enduro gnarpoons stop me and ask loads of questions about my Stooge MK4. They loved it 😎

*Unless you’re on an ebike. Then we bum your dug, burn your bike, and hammer sausages into the flaming wreckage.

I ride an old Turner Flux, 26″ wheeled, 120mm sus at front. I don’t care what others think.

It’s all about getting out and having a smile and getting the stress levels down on the trails.

Some of these (look at me in my latest mtb fashions, on my latest full specced, bling bike) people aren’t always friendly, but I wouldn’t want to ride with them anyway. But these riders are few and far between. In my own riding area, most are great and friendly and just want to ride.

Can anyone recommend a good pizza oven for Artisan pizzas ?

26” pizzas?

Asking one question that has pretty much no relevance to anyone and surprised that people are not jumping over themselves to answer. You need to look at the questions you are asking and then think about what responses they could get and maybe ask a different question…

This guy has had more replies in one topic than I’ve had in ten years, bloomin’ scandal it is.

I don’t think anyone cares what bike you ride on here, mention a car though and it’s a whole different ball game. You’ll get slated for being insensitive as some can’t afford a car, you’ll get slated if it’s a diesel and slated for even at the very thought of using car. I’ll not even mention electric cars.

Use a topic title that’ll get help, if it’s too specialised in the title people will flick on by and they soon get buried under what shoe’s posts.

Sadly the places i ride people seem to carry a lot of bike snobbery, so if your not on the latest 650b carbon or 29er people look down their nose at you i find this very sad that thats the way the British mountain biking community is very sad indeed

Maybe reading people wrong? I find it the other way.

I’ll not even mention electric cars.

That’ll be a refreshing change 😉

😂

Yes if you start a thread with a very specific question that no-one knows the answer to, you won’t get replies. I’ve been there. Would you rather everyone relied saying “I don’t know?” It’s a valid question because at least people aren’t feeling ignored. Sometimes I reply to that effect for that reason.

Sadly the places i ride people seem to carry a lot of bike snobbery, so if your not on the latest 650b carbon or 29er people look down their nose at you i find this very sad that thats the way the British mountain biking community is very sad indeen

If you want to see the other side of the coin on here check out the 35/39k car thread. Sweet Jesus!

The only bike snobbery I’ve come across is from owners of a certain American brand. They all go on rides together and hang around on tops of hills with tissues to wipe off their excitement of all having such fabulous bikes 😂
No seriously this brand, which rhymes with ‘want a snooze?’ seems to have more than usual amounts of ****.
I passed a load once, going the other way and being the bold arsey **** I am I said ‘awright’ to every single one. When confronted with ‘awright’ you can generally respond either with a similar greeting or to completely blank the ‘awright’er. The number of blanks was higher than the number of greetings.
But anyway hohum, I’ll get pulled to bits now in that one anecdotal episode cannot be representative of an entire group of bike riders, just an observation 😉

Hey now, I ride an example of the aforementioned American brand and I’m always happy to stop and chat (berate for their poor choice of conveyance) with riders of obviously inferior brands 🤪😉

To be fair bought because it’s a pretty colour and was reduced substantially being a previous years model.

A lot of contributors on here love old bikes, steel bikes, aluminium bikes, small wheeled bikes… whatever… definitely not a new expensive 29er carbon only ghetto… far from it.

I keep trying to buy bikes that aren’t made from steel. I’m not doing very well at it as I’ve just bought another one!

In the 20 or so years I’ve been mountain biking I’ve ridden, and seen people riding, all sorts of different bikes. Haven’t noticed a single bit of snobbery.

Unless of course people are laughing behind my back.