bigkeeko
Dirt Disciple
Like a lot of people on here I`ve seen most stuff come and go but recently, ie; the last year or so there have been less new mountain biking `enthusiasts` being noticed.
When I was riding rigid steel bikes in 1992 there wasn`t the en mass MTB community there is now. It was done mostly for the fun and to be a bit different with little emphasis on ensuring you had the best kit available. Every 2nd middle aged bloke I know in the last 2 or 3 years, either guys I know locally or husbands of female work colleagues were splashing big bucks on their first MTB (usually a full susser) that they had no idea of it`s heritage, background or even how to use it properly. A manual wheelie or terms like butting or geometry mean absolutely zip to these people. Now, this isn`t all bad as it`s keeps business going and keeps interest up so I`m not knocking them.
I don`t care if some unfit slightly fat guy nearing 50 buys a £3000 bike and all the gear, to ride to work and maybe through the odd puddle in the park, good on him but it seems to be kinda on the wane. It has, as we all know been a bit of a fashion thing for a lot of people for a few years and mountain biking is changing that fast now and getting more expensive maybe its burning itself out? Is this putting people off? I mean £6k and £7k bikes?
Cheap = No good
Expensive = Fun and trendy .
The above isn`t obviously the case but is sometimes seen as so.
Maybe somebody from the trade can comment in regards to what is actually shifting?
When I was riding rigid steel bikes in 1992 there wasn`t the en mass MTB community there is now. It was done mostly for the fun and to be a bit different with little emphasis on ensuring you had the best kit available. Every 2nd middle aged bloke I know in the last 2 or 3 years, either guys I know locally or husbands of female work colleagues were splashing big bucks on their first MTB (usually a full susser) that they had no idea of it`s heritage, background or even how to use it properly. A manual wheelie or terms like butting or geometry mean absolutely zip to these people. Now, this isn`t all bad as it`s keeps business going and keeps interest up so I`m not knocking them.
I don`t care if some unfit slightly fat guy nearing 50 buys a £3000 bike and all the gear, to ride to work and maybe through the odd puddle in the park, good on him but it seems to be kinda on the wane. It has, as we all know been a bit of a fashion thing for a lot of people for a few years and mountain biking is changing that fast now and getting more expensive maybe its burning itself out? Is this putting people off? I mean £6k and £7k bikes?
Cheap = No good
Expensive = Fun and trendy .
The above isn`t obviously the case but is sometimes seen as so.
Maybe somebody from the trade can comment in regards to what is actually shifting?
