Shore trail riding: now vs then?

Back to the orginal thread! ha…Lee has a point that it is apples and oranges to a point.

Having ridden Sex girl back in the day on a hardtail with canti's and now on a 10" DH rig with discs ect…it is now easier to get in over your head with the new big bikes. Many people do not learn fear until it is too late…with the old hardtails ect…you had to be on to ride allot of the trails or you got beat up quick!

As far as easier, some would be better with the loam ect on them (ie Ned's) but many people would still lock up the brakes and kill the trails all the same.

I have been thinking about oldschool vs now as far as trail damage. With the news of many secret trails out and the ease of access we seem to be getting better at destroying trails quicker than ever….more people, faster bikes? hard to say

Having ridden Sex girl back in the day on a hardtail with canti's and now on a 10" DH rig with discs ect…it is now easier to get in over your head with the new big bikes. Many people do not learn fear until it is too late…with the old hardtails ect…you had to be on to ride allot of the trails or you got beat up quick!

I have said this before,

Like skiing we had the problem in the past where our abilities exceeded the equipment. The problem now is that the equipment is exceeding our abilities.

Keep in mind the above is for 70-80% of the riding population.

not everyone sits at home and reads forums on mountain biking all day

you're right. most of us do it from work. :)

notice, I did say "we".

you're right. most of us do it from work. :)

notice, I did say "we".

It's quotes like that that make me wish I still worked at WPT, I bet you wouldn't be giving me crap about coming in late and leaving early now that you're a pro NBR surfer?

Back to the orginal thread! ha…Lee has a point that it is apples and oranges to a point.

Having ridden Sex girl back in the day on a hardtail with canti's and now on a 10" DH rig with discs ect…it is now easier to get in over your head with the new big bikes. Many people do not learn fear until it is too late…with the old hardtails ect…you had to be on to ride allot of the trails or you got beat up quick!

As far as easier, some would be better with the loam ect on them (ie Ned's) but many people would still lock up the brakes and kill the trails all the same.

I have been thinking about oldschool vs now as far as trail damage. With the news of many secret trails out and the ease of access we seem to be getting better at destroying trails quicker than ever….more people, faster bikes? hard to say

Good points. I guess the Neds situation sums up what I was thinking. I can think of new trails on the Shore that are loamy and smooth, and as such easy but fun, but give it 5 years and they'll just be like Neds.

…And thinking about it, and going back to Lee's point I guess the style of riding has totally changed from respecting the trail and picking a line down it like you do on a hardtail, to 'owning it' (or having the trail own you in big style!) on a DH bike. For example, I've ridden Empress several times, mainly on a full suspension bike, but the only time I've cleaned it is on my hardtail. On my big bike I'd always be over-confident and have to dab.

Good points. I guess the Neds situation sums up what I was thinking. I can think of new trails on the Shore that are loamy and smooth, and as such easy but fun, but give it 5 years and they'll just be like Neds.

…And thinking about it, and going back to Lee's point I guess the style of riding has totally changed from respecting the trail and picking a line down it like you do on a hardtail, to 'owning it' (or having the trail own you in big style!) on a DH bike. For example, I've ridden Empress several times, mainly on a full suspension bike, but the only time I've cleaned it is on my hardtail. On my big bike I'd always be over-confident and have to dab.

Agree big time about the duallie. Since I got rid of the duallie a few years ago and got back onto a hardtail in 2004 my riding albiet in ONteribble has improved.

I miss the days of roach vests, and giro switchblades.

I miss the days of roach vests, and giro switchblades.

Everything was better then.

I miss the days of roach vests, and giro switchblades.

who needs armour when you have a stem pad and top tube pad?

Were you guys with the large posse I saw up there on Sunday morning, passing by between Roach Clip/Hit? I was on the Rune with the tasteful and very blingy pink tassels…..

Nope that was me and a bunch of my friends. I was on the snot green Shore.

who needs armour when you have a stem pad and top tube pad?

This thread needed pic's..

I miss the days of roach vests, and giro switchblades.

Still have a Roach vest, the darn thing won't die. Now on it's 2nd zipper replacement.

Still have a Roach vest, the darn thing won't die. Now on it's 2nd zipper replacement.

Still have original Roach shorts, will not die. Best piece of MTB clothing ever.

Still have original Roach shorts, will not die. Best piece of MTB clothing ever.

Have those as well.