I like the part of the article that considers the wage range of names we use for our bikes. For example I've been partial to "full squish" in the past to describe a full suspension bike. Nowadays though I don't bother and simply assume most rides will be done on a full suspension bike unless one is going to be riding a hardtail in which they will say hardtail. I'll often use the term little bike and big bike to describe shorter travel vs larger travel or DH bikes. To me big bike and DH bike are interchangeable and little bike means a shorter travel bike like a trail or XC bike. Sometimes if the ride is more focused on a big climb I'll use the term cheater bike to describe the advantage an XC or lightweight bike has on the uphill and flats. I get the feeling that how people describe a bike depends a lot on what they plan to ride. So something like taking a trail bike down a challenging trail like Cooper and his element on 5th would easily qualify as taking out the little bike, but taking that same bike out on a more mellow ride would pretty much be expected and not needing of any proclamation. Context. Context always matters.
Hardtail = obvious
Big bike = full suspension, lots of travel
Little bike = full suspension, not a lot of travel, could be a hardtail
Cheater bike = xc type whippet for crushing the ups
What's happened in the past 5-7 yrs or so is that a lot of the lines have been blurred as bikes have become capable of covering a wide range of terrain. For example "down country" bikes or pedalable big bikes like an Arrival 170. Even there though, I'll here people say big or little bike depending what you're riding and what the trail is. Harder trail and small bike and people will say little bike. Easier trail and big bike and people will say big bike. Hard trail and a big bike and nobody will even notice. Horses for course.
Never acoustic though. Never analog. Just a bike cause that's what it is.
Jan. 28, 2025, 7:49 a.m. - Mark
I like the part of the article that considers the wage range of names we use for our bikes. For example I've been partial to "full squish" in the past to describe a full suspension bike. Nowadays though I don't bother and simply assume most rides will be done on a full suspension bike unless one is going to be riding a hardtail in which they will say hardtail. I'll often use the term little bike and big bike to describe shorter travel vs larger travel or DH bikes. To me big bike and DH bike are interchangeable and little bike means a shorter travel bike like a trail or XC bike. Sometimes if the ride is more focused on a big climb I'll use the term cheater bike to describe the advantage an XC or lightweight bike has on the uphill and flats. I get the feeling that how people describe a bike depends a lot on what they plan to ride. So something like taking a trail bike down a challenging trail like Cooper and his element on 5th would easily qualify as taking out the little bike, but taking that same bike out on a more mellow ride would pretty much be expected and not needing of any proclamation. Context. Context always matters. Hardtail = obvious Big bike = full suspension, lots of travel Little bike = full suspension, not a lot of travel, could be a hardtail Cheater bike = xc type whippet for crushing the ups What's happened in the past 5-7 yrs or so is that a lot of the lines have been blurred as bikes have become capable of covering a wide range of terrain. For example "down country" bikes or pedalable big bikes like an Arrival 170. Even there though, I'll here people say big or little bike depending what you're riding and what the trail is. Harder trail and small bike and people will say little bike. Easier trail and big bike and people will say big bike. Hard trail and a big bike and nobody will even notice. Horses for course. Never acoustic though. Never analog. Just a bike cause that's what it is.