Mountain Biking general thread

[dinny_g]

Yeah, everyone's got their "story" as to why helmet's have become mandatory but I'll be honest, I started wearing a bike helmet long before I started wearing one skiing. (Usual story - I'm not a Black Run and Off-Piste warrior, don't need one on European Blues and Reds etc)

Then the girl in the shop I get most of my gear from showed me the scar on her head where a snowboarded nearly scalped her and that was it- bought one that day.

I have a unusually large head so getting a good fit hasn't always been easy but I find Giro have the right sizes. Have both bike and skiing helmets from them. Back in the day, the Protec XXL was the only Kayaking lid I could get to fit...

[240PP]

I’ve never worn a helmet for cycling, but then I haven’t owned a bike for about 6 years. I use the e-scooters around town and do feel a little bit exposed in traffic without one but they’re never planned journeys so I’m not going to carry one around on the off chance.

The wife of a colleague works on a neurological unit in Nottingham. She said by far her biggest ‘customer base’ is cyclists not wearing helmets.

[Mito Man]

If everyone could predict risk there would be no accidents. So people must be really shit at predicting risk

[Rich B]

The last time i went snowboarding was 20 years ago and no one wore helmets at all, i don’t remember even seeing any anywhere. I’m going skiing in January and i’m more than happy to wear a helmet, especially as they are now the norm.

[dinny_g]

especially as they are now the norm.

And a legal requirement in many countries - most recently Italy

[KiwiDave]

my poo brown pedals:

Poo approved. Looks good.

[Jobbo]

I have bought myself a nicer helmet in the Black Friday sales - a Troy Lee Designs A3 for £99. It's forest green with bright yellow/green highlights. So I probably need to find some pedals which match the yellow/green now



To be honest the poo brown is a bit pooey anyway.

[Rich B]

Helmet approved.

As for pedals, imo pedals and grips should always be black - coloured items look crap after use.*

*i accept this isn’t the global mountain biking opinion.

[dinny_g]

Agreed - I have black DMR V12’s (your recommendation Rich IIRC) but silver pins to match the other silver accents on my black bike.

Looks Ace to me

[Rich B]

Agreed - I have black DMR V12’s (your recommendation Rich IIRC) but silver pins to match the other silver accents on my black bike.

Looks Ace to me

Silver pedals are also acceptable (scratches and worn pins being metal coloured too)

[Jobbo]

Reassuring to see an ex-professional XC rider saying that other than Downhill, all MTB riding is just MTB riding and the distinctions between XC, Enduro, Downcountry etc are made up. Nice little chat halfway through while they're sitting outside the shop in Redbrook (14m 53s in):



I enjoyed the whole video because I've done quite a lot of the same lanes and bridleways as they did and the Wye Valley is a particularly nice place to ride. Looking forward to getting down there again in 2026.

[Jobbo]

Interesting article about cycling in the UK here too: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/d ... eping-pace

I had no idea e-bike sales in the UK were so low compared to other European countries, seemingly about 10% on average of the sales in Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands. I guess where cycling infrastructure is more suitable for commuting (e.g. London, Oxford, Cambridge) there's no real need for an e-bike because they aren't particularly hilly and the distances aren't large. And I imagine most people don't want to lock their multi-thousand pound e-bike up to a public cycle rack. It's getting on for 5 years since I got my first EMTB and it still feels like a bit of a novelty to see one, or have someone ask about it, even this much later - bearing in mind I don't use bike parks so maybe they're full of EMTBs.

In terms of cycling being safe, I had an early trip to the tip on Saturday morning and drove back down an unclassified lane that is two cars wide, some parts open and some twisty, and along it came across a group of maybe 15-20 road bikers stopped on a bend, limited visibility both ways, some of them on the verge but some bikes just left on the road etc. They just seemed to be having a rest in a ridiculously stupid place. Hopefully my rather hard stop when they came into view was sufficient to make them aware of the risk they had caused themselves.

[Rich B]

Reassuring to see an ex-professional XC rider saying that other than Downhill, all MTB riding is just MTB riding and the distinctions between XC, Enduro, Downcountry etc are made up. Nice little chat halfway through while they're sitting outside the shop in Redbrook (14m 53s in):



I enjoyed the whole video because I've done quite a lot of the same lanes and bridleways as they did and the Wye Valley is a particularly nice place to ride. Looking forward to getting down there again in 2026.

There are far too many silly made up genres and of course most of them are bullshit, but there are more than just downhill and XC. An xc bike or a DH bike would be equally shit on a proper enduro ride, so there clearly is something in the middle.

The reality is probably more like a sliding scale with suspension travel and geometry dictating how far DH or XC at either end with an “enduro” or “all mountain” in the middle.

[Mito Man]

Interesting article about cycling in the UK here too: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/d ... eping-pace

I had no idea e-bike sales in the UK were so low compared to other European countries, seemingly about 10% on average of the sales in Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands. I guess where cycling infrastructure is more suitable for commuting (e.g. London, Oxford, Cambridge) there's no real need for an e-bike because they aren't particularly hilly and the distances aren't large. And I imagine most people don't want to lock their multi-thousand pound e-bike up to a public cycle rack. It's getting on for 5 years since I got my first EMTB and it still feels like a bit of a novelty to see one, or have someone ask about it, even this much later - bearing in mind I don't use bike parks so maybe they're full of EMTBs.

In terms of cycling being safe, I had an early trip to the tip on Saturday morning and drove back down an unclassified lane that is two cars wide, some parts open and some twisty, and along it came across a group of maybe 15-20 road bikers stopped on a bend, limited visibility both ways, some of them on the verge but some bikes just left on the road etc. They just seemed to be having a rest in a ridiculously stupid place. Hopefully my rather hard stop when they came into view was sufficient to make them aware of the risk they had caused themselves.

Crime is the biggest factor as to why I’ve never bothered having my own bike in London. Unless you’re only cycling from secure lock up to secure lock up which would be very limiting, then owning a bike, especially a nice e bike becomes an exercise in managing anxiety until the inevitable happens. So the rental bikes will have to do.

[Rich B]

I use Lime bikes in london. they have them in paris too.

[John]

Lime bikes are coming to Sheffield soon.

The last hire bike operator pulled out after a few months due to the high theft and vandalism rates. A good proportion of the bikes seemed to end up in the River Don.

[Jobbo]

There are far too many silly made up genres and of course most of them are bullshit, but there are more than just downhill and XC. An xc bike or a DH bike would be equally shit on a proper enduro ride, so there clearly is something in the middle.

The reality is probably more like a sliding scale with suspension travel and geometry dictating how far DH or XC at either end with an “enduro” or “all mountain” in the middle.

Earlier in the same video they say they'd never have got up one particular lane on an XC bike so it's clearly a provocative statement. But I don't have a clue what a 'proper enduro ride' is - presumably you're thinking of the type of ride they did in the video?

[Rich B]

There are far too many silly made up genres and of course most of them are bullshit, but there are more than just downhill and XC. An xc bike or a DH bike would be equally shit on a proper enduro ride, so there clearly is something in the middle.

The reality is probably more like a sliding scale with suspension travel and geometry dictating how far DH or XC at either end with an “enduro” or “all mountain” in the middle.

Earlier in the same video they say they'd never have got up one particular lane on an XC bike so it's clearly a provocative statement. But I don't have a clue what a 'proper enduro ride' is - presumably you're thinking of the type of ride they did in the video?

Its pretty simple really, there’s as many genres of bike riding as there are types of bike.

You wouldn’t take a DH or xc bike to a day at a bike park like Rogate or riding the fun stuff at Peaslake/QECP, you’d take a 150-170 enduro bike or maybe a slope style bike.

the wrong sort of bike will be shit or will break you or the bike.

E-bikes have quite neatly spanned genres because you can have enduro levels of suspension with xc levels of climbing.

[Rich B]

Enduro/all mountain/trail have become pretty synonymous with bikes that can do everything. If you were to go for an enduro type ride, you would expect to be covering some distance (beyond what you’d want a dh bike for), but also doing dh/technical/steep/jumps/drops etc (beyond what you’d want to use an xc bike for).

It’s basically the “go for a ride” option, but that doesn’t mean other sorts of ride don’t exist.