Endurobro culture really ticks me off. We have serious issues with trail access, and the image of mountain biking being pushed by the industry is Red Bull swilling yahoos kicking up rooster tails as they drift through turns and morons hopped up on Mountain Dew doing huge jumps or drops without regard to the inevitable injuries that will leave them taking ibuprofen with their morning coffee as part of their regular routine as they get older. All those who fight to restrict mountain bike access need to do is point to the industry's own ads.

For what the OP describes (fire roads and dinking around) I'd nix the suspension fork also and go with 29+.

I agree with you all about the image and that the marketing messaging is irritating and not great, but i think you will find that those people are overrepresented in the advertising but not so prevalent in reality on-trail, EXCEPT in bike parks (like Whistler, Mammoth etc., where the parks themselves are specifically designed for that kind of thing so it's really NBD). Every other place i've gone, including areas well known for MTB with gnarly, chunky DH sections and flow (like Moab, for example), without fail, every person i've met on-trail has been friendly, kind, respectful, happy to chat and compare notes and just overall super stoked to be out there. Very, very few endurobros. And nb, this includes people on every single type of bike you can imagine, people who ride every feature and people who go cautiously. I personally stay away from the "slopestyle" type parks simply because it's not my scene.

And, i think we'd all agree that the best bike depends on what kind of terrain you gonna ride. the big travel (i.e. 150+ mm) are really really fun when you're doing fast riding on big chunky with 2+ foot drops but you really don't need it for anything else.

I've given up on trying to have just one bike, but that's because i like MTB so much. Other than my gravel grinder / CX bike, i don't own a road bike anymore. But, if you WERE to try to have only one and you're planning on riding real trails (not just fire roads) but not planning on going huge, I still believe short-travel trail or XC bikes, or alternatively a hardtail trail / xc that fits big tires, will be the most versatile and allow you to have fun in the most places.

Lots of modern XC bikes have become more trail like as race courses have become burlier, and the "trail" category now pedals pretty well and is not so squishy. As a result, you can find bikes that are pretty much right smack dab in the middle between XC rocket and long-travel trail bike that really can do it all decently well.

I'm partial to the longer travel version of the Cannondale Scalpel 29er; it rides kind of the same way a hardtail does but you get better traction and compliance over the rough stuff of course. But then again, I am from Bethel CT and a loyalist from way back, so take that with a grain of salt :)

I don't know where you guys live but we have been shuttling DH on the North Shore and surrounding area since the mid 90s at least. If anything, I think I have seen an increase in XC type riding out here lately.

I'm also honestly not really sure what's to be so upset about, unless these guys are actively being a$$holes. It's just a different but still impressive type of athleticism. Like, do you go to the track and be like, "what are all these idiot sprinters doing here, they should be running at least 10k at a time"??

^^This has been my experience. I've literally never seen someone out on the local trails in body armor or a full-face helmet. The terrain just doesn't warrant it. Bike parks and lift-access ski resorts sure, but not out on the trails.

I also don't see why it's such a bad thing for mountain biking. Like it or not, enduro, all mountain, downhill and dirt jumping are getting new people interested in riding, focusing media attention on the sport, and generally pushing the boundaries of what is possible on mountain bikes. XC not so much.

Please keep the endurobros off the motocross track.

So I've been looking to upgrade my MTB for years, and it seems that every year something new and fantastic comes out (what ever happened to that 'mono fork concept'). There are so many suggestions that it reminds me of the story about a surgeon trying to figure out what procedure to use on a patient. He consults an older doctor and asks about three procedures that are used about equally. The older doctor tells him,"Pick any one". If one was better than another, then that one would be the most used, since they're all used about the same, there must not be much difference.

Your coach wants you to improve your fitness on the bike, so you have to get out on the bike, so any bike is going to work. Actually get a heavy FS bike from WalMart, and work your butt off riding that thing up and down hills.

You’ve fallen off 3 times since May? I fell off 3 times just yesterday trying to clear some technical sections. I hate babyheads.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Yes, and if you don't come off the bike at least once and hour you're not trying hard enough.

What a great post!

I've been umming an erring about getting a mtb for a while. I started out racing XC Mountain Bikes in the early 90s.(My first Triathlon as a kid was on my mountain bike at school) And my last bike before I took up Tri more seriously in '10 was a 03 GT Zaskar Expert. (26") But was a bit confused by all the newer terms for different bikes. So your post has brought my knowledge back up to date.

WRT Technique.

A former work colleague of mine, is constantly out on his YT and uploading various GoPro7 videos. He does crash/fall off a lot more than even I used to back in the day. I do look back at some of my photos from those days and wonder what the hell I was thinking riding down some of the things I did!

Fearlessness of Youth I guess!

So a buddy talk me into going on a group ride last Tuesday. I have a 14 year old specialized hard rock comp. Lets just say that this thing doesn't shift good on climbs. This ride was 3-4 miles or sidewalks, then mile or two of greenways, then got to park with gravel/dirt trails. Went down a few trails that had a lot of climbing on it. This ride was from 6pm to 8pm with lights on bike and helmets. This was the most fun I probably ever had on a bike. Great workout, tough workout but it was a blast did 23 miles total. I can't wait to go back but now trying to find info on replacing my old 14 year old bike with 26 inch tires. Thanks for this thread.

Just swapped over my 14 y/o giant to a 1x9 setup, kind of a Frankenstein setup with integrated shift /brake levers but no FD, e thirteen 40t extender cog for a 10s drivetrain, and I had to cannibalize a sram 12-23 cassette for its 12 and 14 t cogs, which are mounted wuth the cassette carrierfrom an XT 11-34 cassette ( so 6 cogs from 17-34) and then the 40t on the end. On the workstand, Shifting from the 14 to the 17 is pretty balky, gotta shift up 2 gears then down one to get into the 17. Lastly, I Threw on an inexpensive 32t narrow-wide ring on the front, (tbd whether I reinstall the bash ring,) and a new chain.

Looks way cleaner and won’t pick up nearly as much crud. Mostly running this setup to confirm whether a 32/40 low gear is enough. In a few months I’m planning on converting to 1X11, and probably converting my wife’s bike to either 1X9 with a 30t ring or 2x9, but that’s more than I wanted to spend right now.

Before



After



Parts (with a sweet blue anodized big cog!)

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly