Posted last night on the thread re Bikemag and a Niner hardtail……so went like this

Hardcore hardtails were great 10 years ago.

… and then they got better. [/quote]

Uk trails have changed massively on the last 10 years. What was good then is obviously no good now.

global warming been that devastating????

Last comment was mine and apologies to OP but have UK TRails in the last 20 years changed that much???

I am still riding the natural trail I was 29 years ago……yes erosion has happen…but no massive changes

Am I missing something with the geology of our land or with bike geometry?

Not much, no. Hardtails were crap 29 years ago and still are. HTH.

i think the type of terrain that would have been considered fairly radical in the 80s would be thought of as pretty tame now, bikes have evolved to cope with more severe terrain gradually.
try riding a trail centre like laggan on a 80s mtb, that would be pretty exciting* i would say, but on a ‘hardcore hardtail’ its less so (but still good)

*exciting means very little (relatively) brakes, no suspension, a fairly low front end, narrower tyres.

Or stick with an 80s MTB and make even the most boring trails a thrilling ride. 😀

Not really. I rode the (very busy) Surrey hills last weekend and most of it was the same as 10yrs ago.

Get a ‘cross bike.

They make your fillings come alive.

part of the reason why many people prefer hardtails perhaps?
EDIT: my comment was directed at roger the cat.

there’s certainly more trail centres than there was.

Trail centres indeed

BUT trails and I assuming natural are the same………….

Scotland open access may be different but England and Wales same?

Have a look at the south wales trail centres, rocks out berms in. IMO a bad thing, but others seem to like berms, jumps and boardwalks.

Natural trails, nothing much changes a bridleway is a bridleway. Maybe a few more ruts, maybe a few less.

There are sections that have been opened up with modern bikes, that I wouldn’t have even considered 10 years ago. The majority of a ride may be the same but some sections of it will be steeper, rougher and with some drops and small jumps that I just wouldn’t er able to do with older bikes.

I didn’t ride an awful lot 10 years ago but the trails then are almost exactly the same now, they’re just easier to ride faster and that brings it’s own challenge. Bigger, steeper, more technical natural trails are accessible due to the advances in technology, stuff that would of been nigh on impossible 10-20 years ago is going to be a hell of a lot easier on a 160mm carbon trail bike than it was on a steel hardtail with steep angles.

The thing that strikes me is how little erosion there is in busy areas like lakes and surrey hills. I walked part of the Trail Break route last week two days after the event. I am guessing 1-200 rides in shots conditions. Two days later hardly a trade. Ditto many of the SH singletrack is till pretty narrow etc despite constant overuse (when too wet etc)

Compare that to the horse damage on every BE and FP (!!!) at the moment. We are saints……

cannot think of any natural UK trails….not man made in terms of racen tracks or trail centres. :?…that good riders were not riding 20yrs ago (PEAT et al)

yes bikes allow weekend riders to go further faster and bounce further down the trail but the trails and routes are essential the same?

Around my way – Peak District – trails haven’t changed much since I slowly clattered down them on a fully rigid bike 25 years ago. A considerably better bike – by many measures – allows me to do it faster.

I do think that trail centre design is evolving though. Fast and swoopy and jumpy is the fashion. Personally I prefer that, since I’ve got plenty of rocky and technical “natural” stuff on my doorstep.

Well if you only follow the trails you know, then everything will still be the same to you. But if you’re the sort of person who might follow at a deer trail through some trees to see where it leads, look at some new descents and obstacles that you are not sure if it is part of a trail or not and go for it anyway, then a hell of a lot of riding has become more possible.

The top riders don’t count in the argument, we are not them and they are not us, they are just on another planet with what they can ride, although I bet they couldn’t race the courses they do now with their bikes from 15 years ago.

I think it’s more that modern bikes (and information sources) open things up that most riders wouldn’t have done 10 years ago. Looking back at my old bikes (further ago than 10 years mind) there’s no chance you’d get me trying to ride the ciaran path or the likes. But the trail is no harder or easier.

Not really. I rode the (very busy) Surrey hills last weekend and most of it was the same as 10yrs ago.

Well you’re not riding the trails that weren’t there 10 years ago then.

Bike suspension, geo, tyres, etc have transformed mountain biking for me. If I had to go back to riding a poxy hardtail with a big fork I’d probably give up.

Are modern bikes that much better than 10 years ago? my Bullit and Cindercone from the last millenia seemed pretty good until I broke them both a few months ago. Not tried a new bike but the 2002ish Turner RFX I’ve borrowed also seems pretty competent if heavy.

Trail centres do seem to be turning into giant BMX tracks though, good fun but a bit samey. If pushed I would say I prefer rocks and drops to berms and the now fasionable jumps.

Off piste in the Tweed Valley has changed a lot, most of the new trails have got steeper and more challenging, there are also new trails that are a bit easier but generally the new stuff is nails. Still ridable on a good long travel hardtail, but would be hell on a 10 or 15 yo one.
It’s easier for trails to evolve up here I guess with right to roam and a FC that pretty much turns a blind eye to unofficial trails as long as you don’t start building wooden jumps etc.

I have been a long time trail centre advocate as that’s where I first learned to ride but they do get a bit samey, unavoidable given the constraints they have to operate under I suppose but perhaps need freshening up a bit. GT certainly does.
Still good for learners and when the weather is totally awfull mind.

Spaceman – Member

Still good for learners

And Crawfy, apparently 😉

French trails seem to have changed quite a bit:

German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line. Cyclists passing through the ruined village of Brie, March 1917.

The Malvern’s have not changed since I started riding them 25 years ago. A better bike has just opened up a few of the ones that seems a little too gnar, back in the day.. 🙄

I have been a long time trail centre advocate as that’s where I first learned to ride but they do get a bit samey, unavoidable given the constraints they have to operate under I suppose but perhaps need freshening up a bit. GT certainly does.
Still good for learners and when the weather is totally awfull mind.

Glentress black is one of my favourite trails anywhere, but if you opened a trail centre today with that as the black route people wouldn’t be impressed. Doesn’t really align with current thinking of what challenging mountain biking is (in as much as you can expect challenging riding at a trail centre), and it’s not what Joe MTBer is looking for.

Jesus Christ. The original comment was my (very) tongue in cheek response to this:

Hardcore hardtails were great 10 years ago.

May I spell it out for you?

I WAS TAKING THE PISS.

Someone lock this garbage.

Ironically though a half decent thread’s come out of it

Actually, I have to admit, I just read through it and thought the same myself. 🙁

Ok, no-one needs to lock this garbage. Crack on!

I also think that modern bikes need a lot less in the way of critical maintance after battering down the trails. My abiding memory, for example, of late 1990’s MTBing was fixing punctures. ALL THE BLEEDING TIME. Now, i actually struggle to remember the last time i got a flat 😉

(almost certainly the kiss of death saying that mind……)

Well I think that one of the great things about MTBing is that natural trails change all the time – erosion by running water and to a lesser extent hooves, wheels and feet. Gradients don’t change massively but the actual surface changes a lot, often in the space of a few months or even a heavy storm. This is more of an issue in less rocky areas and is more relevant to smaller travel bikes but it is definitely the case.

The idea that the Surrey Hills haven’t changed in the last 10 years is laughable. Paths exist now that didn’t then, most of those that did are much wider now, roots have become exposed and so on.

Pah. Most trails haven’t changed in the 20 years ivebeen riding mtbs. If anything, the Sorrelisation of the nation has made them smoother and more predictable. The current Swinley trails are just as rideable, and maybe only a minute or so slower when ridden on my 1992 Klein instead of my modern 5′ full sus.
Some stuff may have got more extreme since bike tech has made it easier to get away with making mistakes but generally it’s all the same as it ever has been, possibly with less bridle ways for a majority of way marked only, trailcentre dwelling riders of latter years.

Locally , the FoD, things have changed. The tracks of buggered through over use. Yes there may be more but that won’t last for ever.