MTB club rule says hardtail or full suspension only

[hookooekoo]

Has anyone else encountered this? As a fully rigid rider what should I do? They don't compete or anything like that, it's just social rides. And I'm only really interested in cross country, so I won't join them at any of the trail centres where some people with suspension like to really let rip.

Hypothetically, I could turn up on a Raleigh Activator and I'd be within the rules, and yet my lovely, high-spec, well-maintained, 1990s fully rigid bike is deemed not OK. Should I just turn up anyway, or would that be massively disrespectful to the organisers?

 

[longun]

If a club has rules like that........**** um

 

[BlackCat]

Re:

That sounds like the most nonsense rule ever. I mean, who exactly are they trying to exclude with that rule?

My attitude is if you really want to ride then go ride. They don’t own the hill.

That said, if it was me, I’d dig out an early ‘dale suspension bike. Rear suspension, rigid fork... Just for fun.

 

[d8mok]

Re:

Ask them?

Maybe they don’t even realise it’s excluding rigid mtb riders.

Maybe they just don’t want fatbikes turning up and was best way of wording it without actually saying it.

 

[longun]

Remind them of the equality act 2010 haha

 

[yakboy]

Re: Re:

Ask them?

Maybe they don’t even realise it’s excluding rigid mtb riders.

Maybe they just don’t want fatbikes turning up and was best way of wording it without actually saying it.

Yeah just turn up with a retro single speed rigid fatbike and watch their heads explode :shock:

 

[Frankenorange]

Re:

What a bizarre thing to say. If you have a rigid rear triangle then that is a 'hardtail' whether you have rigid forks or bouncers up front. All that is left as a combo is full sus so the 'rule' doesn't exclude any mtb's. Does exclude offroad unicycles and disabled offroaders with trikes, hand cycles etc.

Personally; i would tell them to get bent. Life is too short to waste time on people who come up with such dumb things.

 

[hookooekoo]

Re: Re:

What a bizarre thing to say. If you have a rigid rear triangle then that is a 'hardtail' whether you have rigid forks or bouncers up front. All that is left as a combo is full sus so the 'rule' doesn't exclude any mtb's. Does exclude offroad unicycles and disabled offroaders with trikes, hand cycles etc.

Personally; i would tell them to get bent. Life is too short to waste time on people who come up with such dumb things.

Maybe I've misunderstood the rule, or taken it out of context. Here's the full rule lifted verbatim from their webpage:

Rides are suitable for conventional & electric mountain bikes, hardtail or full suspension only

To me that sounds like 'no fully rigid bikes'.

 

[hookooekoo]

Re: Re:

Ask them?

Maybe they don’t even realise it’s excluding rigid mtb riders.

Maybe they just don’t want fatbikes turning up and was best way of wording it without actually saying it.

Yeah, asking them would probably be the best way to clear it up. Although if they just say 'no', then there's no opportunity to demonstrate that the ride is perfectly doable without suspension. Also, I don't really want to try and ask someone to justify a rule that, on the face of it, doesn't seem to make much sense. If it makes any difference, I've quoted the full rule in the post above.

Anyway, since creating the thread I've noticed that all their rides seem to booked up months in advance, possibly because they're expecting a government rule of six. There are also waiting lists, so it's unlikely I'll be able to sign up any time soon.

 

[legrandefromage]

Just ride your bicycle regardless

There are no 'rules'

*now I've had coffee, tell them to stuff their 'rules' and ride past them at every available opportunity shouting 'get out of my way, losers!'

or something like that

or not