The real truth lies here.
Modern society is pretty much fucked. The world is made up of vacuous, self-centered morons brainwashed by the internet and mainstream media, who in turn are no more than puppets of .ooo1% of the population who own 99% of the wealth and pull the strings of every major government, bank, business and institution. 1984 is a reality, we just don’t realise and acknowledge it, because if it was made that obvious then we might just say “wait a minute, they’re fucking us!” We are made to believe we have freedom, whereas, in reality, all we actually have is the illusion of freedom.
Cycling may be the only real freedom we have, and even that is surreptitiously controlled for us, and is controlling us. We are told we need the latest carbon frame that looks like dog shit and rides not much better, while a 30 year old steel bike does exactly the same job, which is: to move us across the earth and put a smile on our face, yet we are convinced that we won’t be happy unless our new standard bottom brackets constantly creak and need fortnightly servicing. Mountain bikers are now being cajoled into believing that an extra 6mm of width on a rear hub will change our lives. It’s enough to make me go back to a hardtail. With a longer fork, slacker angles, wider bars, shorter stays, bigger wheels, fatter tyres, less gears, naturally.
Of course, advancements in technology do make a difference to our rides, especially for mountain biking. Road, I’m not as convinced. My Bosomworth, while heavier, with less gears and slower shifting than my Jaegher, is still a great bike to ride and would no doubt make me stronger if it was my only ride. Suspension and dropper posts for the MTB are pretty much essential and improve the experience, but if I lost the rear shock I’m sure I’d still be able to ride most of the terrain I do now, maybe with a bit more discomfort and a little less control, but wouldn’t that put the emphasis back on me to sharpen my skills and pick my lines a little more carefully? Thinking? No, we can’t have that.
Same can be said with the choices we think we make in our everyday lives: we aren’t making them, they are made for us. We don’t need all that shit they are selling us. We have the freedom to think for ourselves and make our own minds up, yet still just go along with the status quo, what the tv tells us to buy, what the corporations tell us to consume, what the 000.1% want us to do. Be good little happy consumers and shut the fuck up. Or go ride your bike, any bike, and use the time to think about what’s real and what we’re told is real. Don’t be afraid, set yourself free. It’s the only truth we can really believe.
Now head over to The Gear page and buy some shit.
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A masterpiece! Spot fucking on!!
Inverted Rule 6? Free your Legs and the Mind will follow?
thisisnotacompellingmasterpiece
I feel that many real cyclists, not just people that ride bikes, are seldom swayed by public opinion and the lies of the media. Most of the population doesn't understand our passion. They see us as a lycra clad road obstacles to be jeered at and run off the road. We are free spirits seeking find new places, create new experiences and make the most of our time on this Earth. We choose to be on the road or in the mountains lost in our thoughts and laughing at the sheep as they are left behind.
@brett this is the future of mountain bike geometry.
i am back on a hard tail and loving it
Exactly this. I've ranted on these hallowed pages before about why the bike is the best, but I'll say it again. Weather and light notwithstanding, I can ride when I want, where I want, for as long or as short as I want. No one tells me the course isn't open, the court booked or the class cancelled. I just got a fat bike. Why? Because I don't want winter to hinder my freedom to ride.
I've thought Brave new world was a closer approximation of the world than 1984 - sedated, affluent and ignorant. But that's just too depressing.
I wonder how long it's going to take for Bretto to see the irony of a mountain biker being sold a bunch of shit we don't need for the sake of change. 26" < 29" < Enduro < droppers < 1X < fat bikes < 650b < 29er Plus < boost < wide mtb rims < carbon hookless tubeless is an incomplete summary of the last 5 years. I can't wait till MTB needs aero like roadies need aero helmets.
@minion
True that.
Some of that stuff does make mountain biking better, but yeah, do we really need it? And the irony of being editor of a mountain bike magazine is not lost on me, in fact that is a catalyst for such musings. If 650b/27.5 was the original wheel size, there would never have been a need for 29ers. As for fat bikes...
@Bj
Man, I have really been Jonesing for an AM hardtail lately... so many hot looking ones out there, but the Ti Kona has to be one of the hottest... pity about the big wheels.