Think back to the early days of mountain biking. A bunch of friends, getting to the top of the hill any way they could, not needing to ride up at any great pace, saving themselves for the real buzz, the ride back down. It didn’t matter who got tot the top first, as long as everyone made it and then could share a chat, maybe a beer and a toke, before they pointed their rigs back downhill. The hair was as flowing as the conversation, and that was just the guys.
The weight of their bikes wasn’t a factor, just making it to the bottom with functioning brakes and their jeans not tangled in the chain was the most important thing. Most of the bikes and parts were derived from road-going machines, and most of the early wheels were either cut down and re-welded road hoops, or beach cruiser wheels which came in some strange diameter. Innovation and invention was strong from the start, with a bunch of them making their own frames and cobbling together parts. They shaped the development of this new sport, which in turn helped revive and push road bike technology too.
While racing down the hill was the way it all started, soon the predominant racing genre would become riding around in circles, up long climbs and then back down again. Even though the climbing was the major element, the races were dubbed cross country. Downhill was usually raced on the same day, on the same bike, on the same part of the XC course. Gradually downhill technology advanced with suspension at both ends getting longer, while the XC bikes (and riders) looked to go on diets that would make Jenny Craig envious. Somewhere in between, regular mountain bikers just rode their bikes on the trails, up and down, without a label of their own to identify with.
Sometime in the last few years, the bikes that most people ride on most trails most of the time took on an identity of their own. The marketers, in a moment of brilliant clarity, called them trail bikes. But what were these trail riders going to do if they wanted to compete every now and then? The bikes didn’t fit into the XC category (too heavy, too much travel), they were too under-gunned for proper downhill racing, and most of the riders just wanted to have a bit of fun more than set any PBs or have to wear lycra and shave their legs to be considered worthy of the ‘racer’ tag. What they needed (even if only the marketers knew it) was a new type of racing, where the fun bits, the singletrack and the descents, mattered more than the boring hard bits, the climbs. Enter enduro.
Just about every company at Interbike recently released something that had the word enduro attached to it. Bikes, components, shoes, helmets, clothing, there’s something for everyone to just go and ride with, just like we used to, but now only better. Enduro has maybe not saved mountain biking, but has given it a whole new lease of life by bringing back the core elements of why we ride a bike on trails. Whether that needed a tag or not, well that’s debatable, but I know that the bikes we ride now are some of the most dialled and most versatile that I’ve ridden in my 23 years of mountain biking. They have certainly brought the fun back to my riding, by allowing me to ride faster, with more control and more confidence.
Those hippies back in the 70s and 80s were way ahead of their time in many ways. That the preferred wheel size back then was 650b could have changed the way bikes developed a lot sooner, and the way we’ve arrived at this ‘new’ wheel size via a smaller and then a bigger one is maybe a blessing in disguise. Maybe we wouldn’t have three sizes (soon to be two) to choose from, and all bikes would have at least one component that was a true ‘standard’. The way things are heading though, most trail riders in the next three or four years will be on the medium hoops whether they like it or not; the 26″ wheel holdouts will have nothing left to complain about except the fact they can’t get any tyres any more, and that they secretly wished they’d switched to medium wheeled bikes sooner, because, shhh, don’t tell anyone, they’re actually better.
I get to ride a few bikes in my job, on a lot of varied trails all around the place, and it’s hard to find many bad bikes these days. Whether it’s down to frame design, angles, suspension technology or wheel size, I don’t know. Probably all of those, combined with other factors like wider bars/shorter stems, the banishment of the front derailleur, big fat tubeless tyres, and the best invention in mountain biking in the last ten years, the dropper seatpost. All these things are staples of the modern trail bike, and whether or not they have the word enduro attached to them doesn’t really matter. But I know this; mountain biking is looking healthier than it has since the halcyon days of the early nineties, and racing is becoming popular again because the fun is being put back into it. Heck, I’m even having a crack at one of these new races next weekend too, and I’m actually looking forward to it.
Thanks, enduro.
This is what a modern mountain bike looks like… my new Turner Burner.
The Rise of Enduro – Teaser from Tom Teller on Vimeo.
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Thanks for this Brett. Mountain bike XC is where I started many years ago with my steel Marin Bear Valley SE. I still have that frame in the garage. One day it may be restored If I can get the BB out. I've resisted the 29er as they look unwieldy and so out of proportion but this 650b size does have some appeal. Maybe it's time I upgraded, the current hardtail doesn't get out much, even less since the CX arrived this year.
I have to agree Frank, road can sometimes be riding with a required grimace through the pain but for me the mtb is all about fun and pushing the limits of bike handling and tyre adhesion. After a long session of road, the first time the knobblies slide a bit to find grip can be a bit unnerving.
A visit to the LBS is on the cards.
@brett
So what is it with the 29er and 650b thing? The first move was to 29er and everyone seemed to agree that was the way to go, but now it seems like 29ers are considered to be a bit too big? Not responsive enough maybe? Is 650b just a middle ground between the two?
As for the single ring, top marks on the approach, although I'll have to learn more about why you want a 12T on the front. I remember Tinker used to ride only in the big ring and when I'm CX'ing I never - ever -use the 38T. I just grind it out in the big ring and chain cross as much as I need to. Big gears on technical climbs is a massive advantage because if the wheel slips at 50 rpm then its just a quarter turn, whereas if you're spinning at 90 or 100 rpm a slip with send you buzz-sawing. (I exaggerate, but you get my drift.)
That said, I'm still riding my 50T on the front because of the Heck of the North I'm riding this weekend, and I'll be grateful for the 44T on those steep, rooted climbs when the race is over. Long way of saying, if this was a dedicated CX rig, I'd go single front for sure.
@the Engine
If you get diagnosed with a terminal illness and/or convicted of a crime and sentenced to life, take it on a technical descent. Problem solved.
Posted this in another article a few weeks ago. There are some ski trails that get fairly hard packed in the spring. 20 psi in the tires and you can get around alright.
It has certainly made me a better CXer having a large mountain background.
Some mtb riders have cable obsession too...graceful arc, long enough to clear the head tube but not too long ....
@GordG
Wondered when someone might pick that up! My Reverb hose and rear brake hose need shortening, but hey, that bike was shot straight after building...
@frank
Mountain biking and CX/Gravel are worlds apart, unless you ride a mountain bike exclusively on gravel fire roads. The 1x11/1x10 systems now favoured use fairly similar front ring set-ups, Pros tend to use 34 or 36t depending on the terrain, schlebs like me use 32 or 30... high end doesn't suffer at all unless I'm riding on the road to the trail. Talking to SRAM head engineer Chris Hilton the other night, he said more and more riders, both Pro and rec, are going to smaller front rings, 30t and even 28t.
@Weldertron
I run 20-23psi in my tyres for most trail riding. Traction galore, never burped a tyre. I don't understand why some riders run 30psi or more.
@frank
29ers still have a lot of merit for sure, I rode one for 3 years and it was a great bike, but when I rode some 650b bikes (Rocky Mountain Altitude, Cube Stereo and Lapierre Zesty, which I'm still testing) they really changed my riding... the playfullness of a 26er came back, I can rail corners faster and harder than on a 29, they are way more stable than a 26, and they just beg to be jumped and popped of every trail feature. The marketing guys will tell you it's a best of both worlds, and I'd have to agree that the wheels take some of the traits from both other sizes for sure.
I think the mtb market will look like this: hardtails, short travel XC race bikes and some short travel trail bikes, 29.
Trail/enduro/AM bikes 120-160mm, some hardtails, 650b. (Though there are a few companies developing 650 DH bikes now too.)
DH, long travel freeride, dept store hardtails, 26.
Trail bikes being the biggest part of the market, 650b will be the dominant wheel size.
@brett The wise editor of an obscure MTB journal in NZ once wrote that riders shouldn't fuss over whether their wheels are small, medium, or large, but should just get out and ride.
I give you the same advice.
@G'rilla
And I still subscribe to that view fully. But I pick the best wheel size and style of bike for my style of riding.