Shred, Send it & Insane Stunts! Is Mountain Biking marketed realistically?
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Does popular Mountain Bike Marketing distort expectations, decrease self-esteem & ruin trails? I certainly believe it does to some extent - especially for adult riders new to the sport. In this episode I share my doubts and my thoughts about what really matters for most mountain bikers, what truly makes an expert rider and I appeal to the marketing experts of the huge brands.
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Hi Roxy, I'm really glad I stumbled across your channel. What you said really resonates with me. After a long gap since bike riding in my younger years, I recently bought a full sus emtb. I bought this so it will be capable of whatever I want to do. The reality is I enjoy cruising and exploring, right now primarily forest roads, but probably single track at some point. But it is -not- about going at top speed or being a daredevil.
It's disheartening to see the majority of the YT videos that come across my feed, as they're either "wow, look at that epic crash", or "send it, go flying through the air, never riding anywhere without doing big jumps", and some of them are very technical "hop the bike around on rocks to climb or descend". I see some value in the last one, but only as one option for certain situations, not as "this is what mountain biking is".
What I see may not be marketing as much as the typical social media "do the most extreme thing possible to get clicks", and like you said, that seems to convey "you're not a real mountain biker if you don't do this". I live in the mountains (each of my recent rides was 20-30 miles with around 3,000' of elevation gain) so IMO if I ride my mountain bike here, I'm a mountain biker. The hard core people can do their thing, but don't tell me what I'm doing isn't "real".
Similarly, they (RUclipsrs and people in FB MTB groups) say (but can't convince me) that riding an eMTB "isn't good exercise", and they say emtb riders are "posers". Having to stop regularly to let my heart rate recover tells me all I need to know about whether this is exercise or not... I mostly ride at the low-mid PAS settings, not full-tilt turbo unless I really need it for a steep/rough grade.
Sorry for the rant, and thank you for what you do, and recognizing/supporting that while some enjoy hard core technical riding, there are many of us who just enjoy the places the bike enables us to go (seeing more than if we hike, which is also fun in a different/slower pace kind of way).
p.s. I saw that reel you mentioned, and when I read all the negativity about it I just rolled my eyes.
THANK you, Bill. It's not a rant, it's an important voice that needs to be heard. So thank you for having the courage to share your experience, for having the courage to own your ride and for being brave enough to take care of yourself and finding something that sets your soul on fire. Much much love, Roxy
Great points that you made. This is a huge issues in the US as well, with basically any adult cycling discipline there is implied pressure to embrace cycling only from an uber competitive standpoint. The big brands did this to themselves but now wonder why they struggle to sell bikes to everyday people. They blame the consumer for not wanting to invest in their higher quality bicycles when probably an equally significant factor is just completely failing to market to everyday people. Potential customers don’t see the bikes marketed in ways they reflect how THEY intended to use the bike. It’s so ridiculous.
Good day, I always enjoy your very insightful content
Oh yes, you wrote that so amazingly, thank you! It really seems like many brands are completely failing to market to everyday people - and I see the same with skills coaching, many pro riders think they're amazing coaches, but their audience is just not ready for the stunts they want to teach. And their background doesn't allow them to put themselves into their audience's shoes.
I exactly now what you are speaking about..... and, even not longer following the bicycle industry - I guess, I remember that clip (thankfully, not remembering which brand it was creating - even if i m interested now, again).
Bach in the days, as biker was still biker - we know each other, we fought and build our trails. We was family and our homes... was the forest and JESUS, on the local trail or the forester road, NOBODY would have thought about a SKID at all. Its shit for your back wheel tires, it shows everyone..... bikers did that and at the end, you and the adverb said it.... there are other ways to manage a corner ;-)
Nowadays. Every, seriously, every idiot is having (due to our political system) an more expansive E-bike in there barn and everyone of them is riding like "I M THE ONE AND ONLY...... and after me, I give a shit"!!!!
Greetings, same thing..... i grow up curious about everyone sitting on a bike, following, yelling and trying to get to know more about them.
Now, if you greet someone - you need to be careful about the back-kicking eye contact!!!
It changed, out there.
What need or could be done - I don´t know. Will teach my daughter, that´s what counts for me.
And, by the way, I already told her your story.
thank you Hinrich, we can make a difference by bringing love to the world - and I hope my podcast has an impact, at least it's my wish. Thank you for spreading love and teaching your daughter.
Roxy I think you 💯 percent correct
Thank you so much, glad you enjoy and agree.
Oh boy! This is a hot topic lately...at least here in "The States." The biggies (Trek, Specialized, etc.) truly shot themselves in the foot by really destroying mom-n-pop bike shops as they created their own stores and wrecked the "local community bike shops. They also were "stoopid" in not "reading the room." They created uber (my keyboard doesn't do umlauts...sorry) expensive backs with top of the line components. A "decent mtn bike" going for anywhere from $8000 to $10,000. GUESS WHAT? That only appeals to 1) rich folks who can buy anything no matter the cost and 2) professional bikers who need that extra 5 seconds of time racing or 200 grams less weight. Let's look at Trek. They crashed (as did all of the mountain bike industry across the globe). Now Trek just axed 40% of their lineup. Their #1 selling bike for the past 5 years has been their Marlin = a bike that costs $600-800 depending on the model. TREK didn't read the tea leaves now did they? Mountain Biking "was a trend" that has been saturated and now overbought. The market for that type of bike just isn't what is was 3-5 years ago. GRAVEL bikes are what everyone is into now. A gravel bike is a road bike really (OK cyclocross bike) with the ability to put larger tires on...that's it. MOST people want to simply ride a bike in their town and on trails...not serious mountain biking.
NOW both Specialized and Trek (as of this last week) sell directly to the public. Talk about killing local bike shops that had to have contracts to only carry specific brands like Trek. How does a local bike shop compete with these big companies selling directly to the public? ANOTHER issue is they generally only have each bike model in a few sizes. They'll have extra small or extra large...but NO mediums.
Well, I recently bought a "new bike to me." It is a used bike. I had to upgrade a couple of components (the brakes were SRAM Levels with suck big time...and the handlebar was flat...so I replace these things). I have the bike I want but bought a used one after I was unable to find a new bike in my size. It took lots of looking, but I finally found one I was looking for.
There will still be a lot of fall-out from the boneheadedness of these companies. They really should have LOOKED AT THE SALES over the past years and delivered what people wanted NOT try to force folks into bikes they really don't want. People will buy a mountain bike if it costs $2000 t0 $3000 dollars. They will buy a gravel bike if it costs $800 to $1200. Road biking is also dying across the globe (has been for the last decade to be honest). Road bikes are also way, way too expensive for "normal people." These companies need to make bikes...in all sizes...that people want to buy.
Thank you so much for sharing, John. Such an important voice and by sharing it we can create awareness.
I have never learned to bunnyhop, manual or pivot turn, and have felt guilty about this. I have also never needed to perform any of these skills as they are simply not needed on my local trails, which are entirely XC with the occasional small (rollable) drop or skinny feature. Once I realized this, I stopped feeling guilty about that. If I am ever in the opportunity to learn them I will, as I do see how it could enrich my riding, but I am leaning more and more towards not comparing my riding with anyone's except my own. Also prioritizing Smiles per hour rather than Miles per hour. Lastly, being a dad and wanting to come home to my son (and maybe teach him how to ride as well) helps with not blindly sending things that are outside my comfort zone 🙂
As for the marketing - I have mostly mid-range equipment and regularly see people with entry level bikes do stuff I wish I had the skill for. Likewise, I have outperformed people on far more flashy and capable bikes than my own. The person on the bike is far more important than the bike itself... so just get what you can afford and familiarize yourself with it.
Thanks for putting this out there; good to see there are more down to earth people around. 💚
Thank you for sharing. This truly means a lot to me ❤
It's promoted, cause it sells. It's just about money....Look at the early beginning of mountainbiking, there were freaks, hippies, not thinking about money or buisness but havin' lots of fun. Today it's about selling, bein' sick...there no relation to the past. I started ridin in 1989 and even today i'm just learning new technics. But most of all, it's still the fun ridin thru the forrest and listen to the sound of nature. Ridin dangerous to me means, I might fail and the season is over.
Thank you for sharing. I agree so much. But I’m grateful that it’s not like that for everyone 😍
There has been discussion in the trials community too - moto trials and bicycle trials - about how do you attract people to participate in the sport when what they see and think is trials is riding like Toni Bou or Jack Carthy, or that MacAskill guy. But put a group of novice riders on a novice section and they’ll have a great time. Btw. You do want some minimal skills. Who really wants to walk your bike when you can ride up that root part of the trail. Thanks Roxy for the how to videos. They’ve made basic rides on my local trails so much more enjoyable and safer.
Thank you Jeff, happy to hear and agree so much - skills make the ride more enjoyable and allow us to enjoy nature more. Which is one big reason why I do what I do - I want to bring into the world that mountain biking (even at a VERY advanced level) does not need to be dangerous - and want to invite riders to find what sparks their inner-kid-joy.
That sport would be so boring without all the risk and adrenaline, that I'd never fall in love with it. And yes I am almost 50 so I am a perfect target for that kind of marketing and it indeed resonates with me - I'm not interested in cruising down the safe trails and enjoying the views at all.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Bravo! Well said.
One of the most beautiful mountain-biking videos I ever saw was about a group of middle-aged riders out enjoying the trails, the forest, the scenery, the exercise, and each other. One of the songs played during the video was so beautiful that I added it to my play list of favorite music. I ride just to enjoy the trails and the outdoors. I own a cross-country mountain bike that can do the non-steep trails I love to ride. I don't huck or shred. I might roll off something once in a while, but that's it. My XC bike is light and climbs easily, which is helpful to me because I usually hate going uphill. Its downhill capabilities are perfect for the type of downhills I ride. I don't do steep drops or highly technical terrain. I just go out and explore the countryside on it. I started seeing all the rear wheel skidding on some RUclips videos, and wondered why they would want to tear up the trails that people worked so hard to build. The other thing I see are videos of people trying things that are way beyond their capabilities, and often end in a spectacular crash. I suppose the crash has some viral value, but it also seems to promote a negligent way of riding. I also see far too many helmet-cam videos showing someone careening down a single-track trail with blind corners at high speed, with no bike bell to warn whoever might be up ahead. That seems selfish and irresponsible. Anyway, back to the subject of all of us 90-percenters (everyday mountain bikers who don't ride at a pro level). I think lots of us would enjoy videos highlighting our type of riding - like the one I mentioned earlier. Videos that point out the scenic features, as well as the pros and cons, of the trail they chose.
Thank you. Agree so much. Often when we film nature-centered clips (sometimes I share them with my Patrons), and also when I recorded this episode, there was a small inner voice in me saying: "are you brave enough to post this? People will all think you're super lame and boring."
But then the louder voice in me says: NO, you're authentic, you're publishing this to share love with the world and appreciation with nature and even though this may not be considered "cool" it's exactly what the world needs more of right now. And the more people OWN their ride and say no to being pseudo-cool, the more this type of riding will be accepted.
I'm with you on this. ⭐
thank you for commenting!
Привет Рокси!!! с реки Волги! Саратов ❤
Thank you Igor, sending my love to Russia!
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