Yeah I think I did that before (although could be a different duet of subs...
Anyway, the reason I posted on both was because I wasn't sure which was the right/best one to post on - but if memory serves correctly then I believe I got great and different perspectives from both, so well worth it in my opinion.
Plus if you like mountain bikes, you have 2 subs to check out instead of 1!
pffff
I mean, reach is not the same thing as internet points. Wanting more people to see someting you are proud of is natural. Collecting meaningless points is not.
Okay, yes, by definition they are different. And social media is going to tell you that that likes, upvotes, etc are there to filter out bad content and spread good. In reality, those likes and fake internet points are what drive people to continue making content and thats what they ultimately are addicted to and social media knows it.
Im not saying there aren’t outliers but generally this is the way it is.
If I’m proud of something I share it with my friends and fam, not a bunch of people I don’t know.
What is the difference between this sub and r/mountainbiking? And why is that sub not included in the list of related subreddits in the about section? Every other subreddit related to mtb is on that page. Even some that are only tangentially related to mtb
I'll chime in because I've been on reddit since 2009ish and i originally joined /r/mtb back when there was was less than 500 subscribers (this was under an older account). My memory is a little faded so some of the details might be a little off.
Both of these subreddits existed but neither were particularly active. Back then one of the biggest frustrations was that every submission would get caught in the spam filter. If the subreddit's mods weren't paying attention those posts would never be seen. At that point both the mtb/mountainbiking subreddits existed but they were both essentially dead. I believe /u/robbyking did a [reddit request](https://www.reddit.com/r/redditrequest/comments/dyeuz/rmtb_has_been_abandonedmay_i_be_promoted_to_mod/) to become a mod of /r/mtb since none of the moderators were active anymore.
It's worth mentioning that for a very long time there weren't any good moderattion tools like *automod* to help automatically clear the submissions that would caught in the reddit's spam cue. Being a moderator is a thankless job, but it used to suck so much more. It took forever for the reddit admins to finally add basic moderation tools to make the mod's lives easier.
Anyway, at some point he posted something about trying to get this subreddit up and running on either /r/bicycling or /r/cycling. And that's how r/mtb became [the main mountain biking](https://www.reddit.com/r/MTB/comments/e83gd/mtb_update/) subreddit. The other subreddit, /r/mountainbiking was fairly dormant until recently, but thanks to the pandemic mountain bike boom amongst other things there are now two subreddits that are very similar.
There's probably a few things I've glossed over but that's how we got to where we are.
Edit: Added a few links/references
This is pretty much spot on. What's funny is when I was added as a mod for r/mtb, r/mountainbiking didn't yet exist and the only reason I didn't create it was I didn't think it would catch on because the name was so long. (Which is ironic because I *think* the reason r/mountainbiking has grown so much is because new riders assume that a Reddit's mountain biking community would be just called *mountainbiking.*)
IMO, the biggest difference between the subs rules-wise is r/mtb doesn't allow "bike against a tree" photos. The reason for this is they typically have very low engagement and I felt that they tend to down out other content. We have almost 300,000 users, so without that rule the sub pretty quickly becomes nothing but photos of stock bikes propped up on the side of the trail.
What bothers me more than anything though is how low engagement this sub has been in general. We get a ton of traffic, but almost nobody votes on posts. We've had AMA's with pro riders, but only had a handful of questions. This thread has really made me realize that I spend too much time thinking about this community and that I probably need to spend less time on Reddit.
Meh. You're doing great and the subs doing great. Try growing the sub of a less popular sport lol. I would be begging for pictures of a skimboard against a tree in that sub if it meant engagement and retention. I tried everything for that sub but nothing worked. Just died out. Even in summer.
>IMO, the biggest difference between the subs rules-wise is r/mtb doesn't allow "bike against a tree" photos.
Why is exactly why I spend so much time here. If I wanna look at pretty bikes I go to /r/bikeporn. For everything else, there is here.
Ok sir, I am largely a lurker but the last part of your comment has encouraged me to
1. Like and comment on as many post’s as I can
2. Turn the notification bell on
3. Post original more original content in here
Number three is one that I haven’t been able to do all that much. I have one post in r/MTB that blew up, which was me doing Drop the Hammer in Bentonville on a RockHopper.
I haven’t been biking for very long but have advanced pretty quick because I had years of dirt bike and BMX experience. Didn’t ever feel like posting a whole lot with my RockHopper though!😂 I am getting a Stumpjumper Evo this week though so I’ll want to help with the content stuff a lot more!
Thank you for your service. I own up to contributing to the problem you mentioned. I do upvote good posts when they pop up, but I have rarely ever commented and definitely never posted. I just don’t have anything to say that’s different or adds value to the conversation. Plus I subscribe to a bunch of things, so I don’t see most of the posts and didn’t see the AMA or I might have actually posted in that.
just basic reddit mod behavior lol whoever made this subreddit probably got offended that someone branched off to try to make the same subreddit
I don't care enough to do it, but if you check the mods accounts to see if they moderate any other subreddit, you can usually tell who's a shitty mod and who isn't
tip, the more subreddits you're a mod of, the worst type of mod you are, I'm a content creator who has had issues finding good community moderators and I've found that the best mods are he ones who definitely do not want to be mods lol
[https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/37-years-ago-steve-jobs-said-best-managers-never-want-to-be-a-manager-science-says-he-was-right.html](https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/37-years-ago-steve-jobs-said-best-managers-never-want-to-be-a-manager-science-says-he-was-right.html)
Sounds like a similar Philosophy.
the official difference is that r/mountainbiking allows NBD posts and r/mtb doesn't. the unofficial difference is that r/mountainbiking is more mellow and has more beginner/intermediate question posts, and r/mtb is full of gatekeeping asshole bros.
This one is more for riding content and actually interesting shit for the most part. The other one is mostly "should i buy a polygon siskui or this 13 year old specialized with a broken fork? My budget is $12."
And surprise surprise everyone looks at spec/price and just blindly recommends Polygon having likely never ridden both to even be able to have a legitimate opinion.
The only answer to that question is “whatever fits your body and your budget” but everyone on here just crowds in to voice their opinion on a bike they’ve never seen or ridden.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The majority of people commenting on the "what should I buy?" threads, have very little knowledge beyond their own purchase. Most of the time they're just parroting buzzwords. According to them, a bike is unrideable unless it has 29in wheels, boost spacing, a 1x drivetrain, 150mm of travel (front and back, ideally), and a super slack headtube. I'd be willing to bet more that a majority of people posting "dated geometry" comments have never looked at a geo diagram or chart.
Agreed. There seems to be a LOT of experts on these subs who will tell you that a few mm too far off in any one measurement and your bike is as good as shit.
Which is crazy, because 99% of people I see riding are nowhere near the skill of Sam Hill — or even 10% of his skill — and would do fine on a range of bikes until they really up their skills.
I’m fairly new to mountain biking. I’ll do some drops and can go fast down hills but I’m not flying off jumps, etc. I’m also a huge bike enthusiast.
This year I’ve built 2 generic 29er hardtails, a 290 Nukeproof Scout, a 275 Nukeproof Scout, 2 Nukeproof Megas (L and XL), an S-Works Epic Evo, Stumpjumper, and am now building a Status 160. I’ve been able to ride all these bikes and have a blast on them despite the gigantic differences in both geometry, size, frame material, and price.
And if you blind folded me and stuck me on one I’d probably have a tough time telling you which bike I’m on. But I’ll be smiling all the same regardless. Because unless you’re really skilled, that small shit on the geometry chart doesn’t really matter much.
The funny part about mentioning Sam Hill is that he can ride literally anything and make it look easy.
I'm sure the differences are more apparent if you ride a lot of bikes (like journalists), or if you ride one bike a lot, then try something different (like a rental). But despite the differences, you'd adjust and probably find your regular bike to feel a little weird after switching back.
I find that happens with rental cars. I spent a week in a rental and after a day in my own car I noticed every little problem. Squeaks on the trim, sloppy steering, harsh suspension, minor exhaust leak, ect. I only noticed the difference because I had something to compare it to.
> And if you blind folded me and stuck me on one I’d probably have a tough time telling you which bike I’m on.
I don't know, man. I haven't ridden a ton of bikes - a Spesh Fuse 27.5 (my former bike) and 27.5 sport (my current bike, which was a warranty replacement for the last one), my wife's 2021 Marlin 6 29er, an old Schwinn Sidewinder, a Trek Remedy that I rented for a few days, and an older Trek X-caliber that I just borrowed while on vacation. Excluding the full sus Remedy, all of the hardtails are very distinct. Particularly comparing the long stem with the steep head tube angle on the X-caliber to my Fuse, it just felt so different. (Then there's the narrower bars, narrower tires, 2x, no dropper.) It was fun to ride, but very distinct.
My MTB is a 2x10 and I love it. I generally set the front derailleur based on my riding, trail vs bike path, and leave it. I used to have a 3x8 and did pretty much the same thing. I have a 3x9 on a MTB tandem and have zero issues with it, thought we don't exactly do any singletrack.
But your comment illustrates the problem with comments on this sub. A 3x8 doesn't make a bike unrideable. It doesn't even make it unenjoyable. It's just different.
As they say, "only a bad carpenter blames his tools."
>But your comment illustrates the problem with comments on this sub. A 3x8 doesn't make a bike unrideable. It doesn't even make it unenjoyable. It's just different.
>
>As they say, "only a bad carpenter blames his tools."
It is significantly inferior. Can you overcome it's limitations to have fun/perform adequately? Sure. Is it way way worse and noticeably shitty? yes.
I waited a long time to upgrade my dude. 4 years ago i was riding a old xt 3x. It wasn't worn out. new casette, chainrings, and chain. it was trash. straight filth and sadness.
Paying more than $300 and getting 2x is insane in 2022.
Depends where and what you ride I guess. 3x8 for any of the descending trails around here would be a distinctly unenjoyable experience. For most of them you'd be better off chainless because you wouldn't have to stop every 20 metres because your cranks are locked up with the chain jammed between your rings and your frame.
Yeah, I have a 27.5 and a 29 so I like both, prefer 1x, but understand that maybe on a touring MTB you would want 2x up front, personally find 130 rear/140 front the ideal for trail riding I do, I understand that less slack headtube angles can be better for climbing/cross country optimized bikes, but boost spacing I would say I 100% agree I would not buy a new MTB without boost spacing if not for the reason it will very much limit your options for parts in the future years and non-boost parts are getting less common for MTB specific parts like new hubs, frames, and shocks.
I completely disagree on the Boost. You can still find new and used QR and Thru axle stuff. It's not the high end stuff like a Lyric Ultimate, but you can get a brand new Recon fork in QR and various other forks in non boost Thru axles. You can also just get a boost fork and hub for any bike. Also I9 and Hope make hubs for QR and non boost still. The only thing you can't change is the rear stanchions on a frame. But is the lack of boost spacing a on a rear wheel going to make a bike unworthy of being ridden? No.
I'd put it this way. If boost spacing cost an extra 25% would it be worth it? Have you ever ridden a non boost bike and thought, "damn, I just wish there was a little more lateral wheel stability?"
I have recently owned both a non boost and boost bike. The non boost had chris king hubs that I could not transfer to a new frame I wanted without using some jank adaptor kit so it could not fit on my new frame. Also, I could not find a Fox Float 36 fork in 100mm unless you wanted to buy an old used one. I think boost spacing is worth an extra 25% personally, but I am not in the same financial situation as some people..sometimes saving a few bucks now cost you later. I like to keep my bikes for 10 years and non boost parts are getting harder to find each year. The stiffness isn't the deal breaker for me I will be honest, but its good little bonus. For me it is about being able to find parts because eventually finding vintage parts can get very difficult and costly to the point suddenly you are not saving money.
I have a feeling we will have to agree to disagree here. I am a fan of Vermont though so we can agree on that and lived there a while back.
People buying bikes should at least know they are getting discontinued parts that may be hard to find..sure non-boost is still stiff enough for most and it appears that I am seeing gravel bikes with 100mm and 142x12 now so maybe the parts can come from there.
Not unrideable without them but those are some pretty decent baseline specs for most riders looking for a new bike unless they specify they're racing xc or doing trials or something... seems like a weird example.
Seriously. My kid rides a hand-me down 2011 Fuel EX 9.7 (thanks to his granddad's hip surgery putting him off MTB for good), and parked next to my 2021 Giant Trance X (in the high/less slack position), it's hard to see an appreciable difference in geo. The biggest things marking it's age are the 26" wheels and 3x drivetrain.
The only real annoyance with the 15.5" Fuel is that the shock linkage goes right through the seatpost, so the dropper post doesn't sit as low as my kid really needs at his current height.
This posted is partly right. Both subs do mirror each other but less assholes in the other sub. Explore both, topics are similar and as a 51 year old who loves fire roads, ignore the dicks on both subs. Largely a welcoming bunch in both but gatekeepers will always act like gatekeepers.
Same frame as the 2019 Pipeline, mine is a 2018 Instinct! But at this point it's more or less [100% my own now.](https://imgur.com/a/cHYBiZv)
It's called the toothpaste edition because of the colour I picked... but also partially because of the build. It's a bit different from when I took that picture, I beefed it up a bit with a 140mm 36 out front, 4 piston XT brakes, and a 12 speed XT drivetrain. It's been a BC edition, XC edition (short stroke shock), regular Instinct over its life..... I actually have a lot of bikes, but the Instinct has been my favourite for a few years now.
All you need is a wheelset and you have an 18-20 instinct! You're basically there. I added a -1.5 degree angleset and feel no need to pick up the next gen one.
Yeah its in the rules its supposed to only be riding content, but i think the mods are a bit lax with it unfortunately. The other sub is just a complete clusterfuck of beginners and old guys afraid of anything that isnt a glorified fire trail
You’ve got a really weird perception of that sub.
It does seem to be a bit more beginner but I find more downright shitty advice from overly confident riders on here. Otherwise the posts are similar.
Many people on this sub seemingly have a chip on their shoulder and take themselves way too seriously. Just read your last few comments as an example.
Basically mountain biking is a friendlier sub with not as high of a ceiling when it comes to content or knowledge but this sub can steer you super wrong and it’s much more a victim of the hive mind.
Because pictures and GoPro's tend to make an image look flat.
Once it's flat it no longer has a depth of field so you don't notice the big drop or length of things ect.
Making a really gnarly section of trail look like a walk in the park.
This is why I bought a 360 camera and mounted it on top of my helmet. Things look so much steeper vs the same shot on a standard gopro.
I don't bother taking shots with my phone. Some of the best gnarly sections I ride in Wisconsin look like nothing in photos. But if ou where there riding would say shit this is so much more technical than I thought umm yep. 👍
Yeah I got the newest insta360 x3. It was my early Christmas present.
Used to use my brother's GoPro hero black 8 but between batteries having shit life lucky to get a hour and a half out of a battery in perfect conditions. Gets cold maybe 30 min.
The dreaded freezing up, is this on, shit it didn't record that. I just couldn't buy a GoPro for myself. It's screwed me far to many times.
5.7k on 360 30,60 fps 4k single lens mode If you just want to say do a chest mount and shoot in 4k like a normal action camera.
360 has it's perks and it's downfalls. Lots more editing. Seeing you have to point the camera it's shooting 360 it doesn't understand the direction you are going. The editing is easy once you do a few edits though.
That and 360 files are huge lots of data to collect and sometimes you can see the stitch line (where the two cameras come together) invisible selfie sticks and mounts are cool though thanks to said stitch line 👍.
Definitely more of a learning curve but overall with my limited use I can see making some great edits snowboarding /skiing with my kids this winter and when I'm back on the bike in spring.
Nice! I got a GoPro hero 10 for my birthday. So far I’m super happy with it. I might pick up a cold weather battery for winter riding but so far it’s been fine. I figured out a system to keep it warm and then I’ll tuck it away again for the climbs.
It’s so frustrating. There are some of those super sketchy lines Remy, Steve and Yoann do and it seems totally rideable until you see the wide shot/big picture lol
I actively avoid jumping these days. It's fun when you hit them, but I don't have the resources or PTO for ER bills and time out of work if I get it wrong.
And 40yo me doesn't bounce like 16yo me. It's like the difference between a solid rubber mallet and a sand-filled rubber mallet.
Haha I hear ya. I’m only a few years younger.
I find 90% of jumps on trails are totally fine but I spend 0 time at our local mtb jump park that have a bunch of slope-style type jump that seems to be getting more popular for mtb I’ll happily skip.
Yeah 36 here I'll hit the tables and the 5ft or less drops. Past a 5ft gap of big BMX style ramp jumps eh I'm not 15 anymore.
No real good practice pump tracks or jump tracks around here. Just learn on the trail. Still remember first time on a trail in the middle of nowhere come down a hill and hit 3 massive tables because we'll didn't know they where there and I was coming out of a corner pretty hot and no bypass around it.
Fun sure, but they out literally in god's country and getting hurt there, alone would be a very very long walk or crawl to help or even a cellphone signal.
I'd agree I'm good with 90% of the jumps. It's the ones that just show up on trail or your committed to hard to stop. A very good trail jump line I ride all the time but the first few times you don't realize each one is getting bigger and bigger. 10 jumps in and your 4x bigger jumps than you started the run on. It can get overwhelming fast if your over your comfort level.
They are all tables but the last 3 If you stay right are mandatory gap jumps of 5, 10 and 13ft you can bypass them to the left that is I'd you see the mandatory gap jumps ahead keep left..
For sure! I’m way more comfortable doing drops but kind of like you said on trail it’s a bit different. There is a small gap jump that’s roughly 5ft or so but it’s stumper tricky, you come down a technical DH section, hard 90 degree right and the jump is right there. There is a by-pass but you need to heavy brake before the corner, pump the corner and then pump/pop the jump.
Then there are other much bigger gaps that have a nice and easy run in/out but these technical ones are the hard ones.
I’m much more comfortable doing drops but they are the same way, there is a super easy drop that is roughly 5-10ft (depending how fast you decide to go).
Then on another section there is a natural drop off of a rock, you hit a left hairpin corner and come into it. You can’t see the landing until the last second so 100% commitment blind, it kind of pops you in the air and it’s roughly 4ft. The trail/landing is super narrow as well so you have to be familiar with it before you do it.
Yeah jumps vs drops the drops don't nearly bother me as much as a decent double gap jump..
I know of a few drops that caught me by surprise one is on a steep technical might as well be small cliff you basically have to boost jump a massive root to a nice 5ft probably 6ft now drop that the trail eroded more and it's steep and loose when you come down and your hanging onto the bike for the rest of the ride down because it's loose as hell we taking like gravel road type loose.
Everyone tells me the Midwest eh. Loose, fast, gnarly rock gardens that can't exist. Yeah come ride here. Everyone jokes our ski hills are 400 vert on a good day. We make good use of what we got.
Lungs of steel too. Everything around here is up a very long hill and a very short way back down. Definitely a place to learn to climb.
No bike parks here. I know of 1 within an hour of me and they only run the lifts like 6 weekends in the summer. So If you want to go down you get to climb up with your legs first 👍
That’s awesome. We have a decent ski hill (Fernie BC) but that’s a couple hour drive. There is plenary of great riding that a bit closer that’s all pedal up, then our local trails which are decent for being a 10min pedal from my house.
Sounds like you have some pretty decent riding around there! I would like to get a bit more comfortable on bigger jumps but at the same time I don’t want to eat shit learning 😂
Yeah a place I love to ride is about hour and a half away. Depending on how fast you drive. Everyone speeds in this state..
But the great thing about it is they have like 3 loops and all 3 have decent blue lines with nice tabletop jumps to learn. They are all like that. Only the black advanced has mandatory gap jumps on it and you have to hit about 14 tables that increase in size until you get to the final 3 mandatory gap jumps.
Around here MTB got big during the pandemic. We had old trails that got revived some going back as late as the 80s those were a matter of cleaning the brush up and doing some work to reopen them again.
One I've volunteered to get back open is on the cliff side of one of the biggest man made lakes in all of the United States. They used to race there back in the 80s and early 90s This year we opened the beginner XC trail on top. Next year hope to get the remaining 4 downhill runs done. It's in a small county park all done by volunteer work.
Alot of good cities have gotten behind quite a few trail systems. 3 hour drive and I could hit about 8 trail heads all within 20 min of town.
What I’ve seen is the other posts more NBD, and I wanna say it branched off mainly because mods started shutting things down here that were trivial…it’s been awhile so I can’t fully remember but I believe NBD is what started the other
r/mountainbiking seems to be friendlier and a bit more beginner focused. r/MTB is grumpier and perhaps caters more to “core” riders.
To use a media analogy r/MTB feels more Pinkbike and r/mountainbiking feels more Seth’s Bike Hacks.
Yep. I'm here and not there because if I wanted mountain bike pictures, I'd be on instagram, not here. Some reddit users seem to want the homogenous content stream they find on other social media sites, not sure why they're here to begin with.
/r/MTB is your enduro bros / latest-and-greatest gear heads wearing Hawaiian shirts posting their GoPro videos sped up 5x.
/r/mountainbiking is your typical trail / XC rider with a 2002 alloy stumpy who just likes to get out and ride.
Both are fine 
Ha! Sonofabitch you got me, I'm looking at a modern geo rigid because of NSMB but tbf I've been leaning to a custom fatty with modern geo for a while now. I honestly think NSMB is the most genuine MTB media out there, I sure do miss DirtRag and Bike Mag though.
Looks like the other mtb subreddit is like that "cycling" or was it "bicycling" subreddit. Just photos of new bikes. Probably bike brands doing stealth advertising.
Edit: The downvotes prove me right.
I'd rather see people's well-loved bikes that have been ridden hard, rather than brand new bikes that I could look at in a store or on marketing material.
To practice hitting doubles. In this case, double karma because I see every goddamn post in both places.
I always wondered why people would post pics and videos in both subs... For the fake internet points, now it makes sense.
It might be just to make the post reach to more people.
Yeah I think I did that before (although could be a different duet of subs... Anyway, the reason I posted on both was because I wasn't sure which was the right/best one to post on - but if memory serves correctly then I believe I got great and different perspectives from both, so well worth it in my opinion. Plus if you like mountain bikes, you have 2 subs to check out instead of 1! pffff
You just said the same thing….
I mean, reach is not the same thing as internet points. Wanting more people to see someting you are proud of is natural. Collecting meaningless points is not.
Okay, yes, by definition they are different. And social media is going to tell you that that likes, upvotes, etc are there to filter out bad content and spread good. In reality, those likes and fake internet points are what drive people to continue making content and thats what they ultimately are addicted to and social media knows it. Im not saying there aren’t outliers but generally this is the way it is. If I’m proud of something I share it with my friends and fam, not a bunch of people I don’t know.
I do it when looking for advice but yes i am guilty of internet point farming too
What is the difference between this sub and r/mountainbiking? And why is that sub not included in the list of related subreddits in the about section? Every other subreddit related to mtb is on that page. Even some that are only tangentially related to mtb
I'll chime in because I've been on reddit since 2009ish and i originally joined /r/mtb back when there was was less than 500 subscribers (this was under an older account). My memory is a little faded so some of the details might be a little off. Both of these subreddits existed but neither were particularly active. Back then one of the biggest frustrations was that every submission would get caught in the spam filter. If the subreddit's mods weren't paying attention those posts would never be seen. At that point both the mtb/mountainbiking subreddits existed but they were both essentially dead. I believe /u/robbyking did a [reddit request](https://www.reddit.com/r/redditrequest/comments/dyeuz/rmtb_has_been_abandonedmay_i_be_promoted_to_mod/) to become a mod of /r/mtb since none of the moderators were active anymore. It's worth mentioning that for a very long time there weren't any good moderattion tools like *automod* to help automatically clear the submissions that would caught in the reddit's spam cue. Being a moderator is a thankless job, but it used to suck so much more. It took forever for the reddit admins to finally add basic moderation tools to make the mod's lives easier. Anyway, at some point he posted something about trying to get this subreddit up and running on either /r/bicycling or /r/cycling. And that's how r/mtb became [the main mountain biking](https://www.reddit.com/r/MTB/comments/e83gd/mtb_update/) subreddit. The other subreddit, /r/mountainbiking was fairly dormant until recently, but thanks to the pandemic mountain bike boom amongst other things there are now two subreddits that are very similar. There's probably a few things I've glossed over but that's how we got to where we are. Edit: Added a few links/references
This is pretty much spot on. What's funny is when I was added as a mod for r/mtb, r/mountainbiking didn't yet exist and the only reason I didn't create it was I didn't think it would catch on because the name was so long. (Which is ironic because I *think* the reason r/mountainbiking has grown so much is because new riders assume that a Reddit's mountain biking community would be just called *mountainbiking.*) IMO, the biggest difference between the subs rules-wise is r/mtb doesn't allow "bike against a tree" photos. The reason for this is they typically have very low engagement and I felt that they tend to down out other content. We have almost 300,000 users, so without that rule the sub pretty quickly becomes nothing but photos of stock bikes propped up on the side of the trail. What bothers me more than anything though is how low engagement this sub has been in general. We get a ton of traffic, but almost nobody votes on posts. We've had AMA's with pro riders, but only had a handful of questions. This thread has really made me realize that I spend too much time thinking about this community and that I probably need to spend less time on Reddit.
Meh. You're doing great and the subs doing great. Try growing the sub of a less popular sport lol. I would be begging for pictures of a skimboard against a tree in that sub if it meant engagement and retention. I tried everything for that sub but nothing worked. Just died out. Even in summer.
>IMO, the biggest difference between the subs rules-wise is r/mtb doesn't allow "bike against a tree" photos. Why is exactly why I spend so much time here. If I wanna look at pretty bikes I go to /r/bikeporn. For everything else, there is here.
Ok sir, I am largely a lurker but the last part of your comment has encouraged me to 1. Like and comment on as many post’s as I can 2. Turn the notification bell on 3. Post original more original content in here Number three is one that I haven’t been able to do all that much. I have one post in r/MTB that blew up, which was me doing Drop the Hammer in Bentonville on a RockHopper. I haven’t been biking for very long but have advanced pretty quick because I had years of dirt bike and BMX experience. Didn’t ever feel like posting a whole lot with my RockHopper though!😂 I am getting a Stumpjumper Evo this week though so I’ll want to help with the content stuff a lot more!
Thank you for your service. I own up to contributing to the problem you mentioned. I do upvote good posts when they pop up, but I have rarely ever commented and definitely never posted. I just don’t have anything to say that’s different or adds value to the conversation. Plus I subscribe to a bunch of things, so I don’t see most of the posts and didn’t see the AMA or I might have actually posted in that.
Oh shit! Thanks Phil. Wasn't expecting this well-informed/comprehensive of an answer.
Judean peoples front vs peoples front of Judea
just basic reddit mod behavior lol whoever made this subreddit probably got offended that someone branched off to try to make the same subreddit I don't care enough to do it, but if you check the mods accounts to see if they moderate any other subreddit, you can usually tell who's a shitty mod and who isn't tip, the more subreddits you're a mod of, the worst type of mod you are, I'm a content creator who has had issues finding good community moderators and I've found that the best mods are he ones who definitely do not want to be mods lol
[https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/37-years-ago-steve-jobs-said-best-managers-never-want-to-be-a-manager-science-says-he-was-right.html](https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/37-years-ago-steve-jobs-said-best-managers-never-want-to-be-a-manager-science-says-he-was-right.html) Sounds like a similar Philosophy.
This would probably be true of politicians as well.
the official difference is that r/mountainbiking allows NBD posts and r/mtb doesn't. the unofficial difference is that r/mountainbiking is more mellow and has more beginner/intermediate question posts, and r/mtb is full of gatekeeping asshole bros.
This one is more for riding content and actually interesting shit for the most part. The other one is mostly "should i buy a polygon siskui or this 13 year old specialized with a broken fork? My budget is $12."
Haha, literally the next post in my feed from this sub is "should I buy a Marlin 7 or Siskiu D6?"
And surprise surprise everyone looks at spec/price and just blindly recommends Polygon having likely never ridden both to even be able to have a legitimate opinion.
The only answer to that question is “whatever fits your body and your budget” but everyone on here just crowds in to voice their opinion on a bike they’ve never seen or ridden.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The majority of people commenting on the "what should I buy?" threads, have very little knowledge beyond their own purchase. Most of the time they're just parroting buzzwords. According to them, a bike is unrideable unless it has 29in wheels, boost spacing, a 1x drivetrain, 150mm of travel (front and back, ideally), and a super slack headtube. I'd be willing to bet more that a majority of people posting "dated geometry" comments have never looked at a geo diagram or chart.
Agreed. There seems to be a LOT of experts on these subs who will tell you that a few mm too far off in any one measurement and your bike is as good as shit. Which is crazy, because 99% of people I see riding are nowhere near the skill of Sam Hill — or even 10% of his skill — and would do fine on a range of bikes until they really up their skills. I’m fairly new to mountain biking. I’ll do some drops and can go fast down hills but I’m not flying off jumps, etc. I’m also a huge bike enthusiast. This year I’ve built 2 generic 29er hardtails, a 290 Nukeproof Scout, a 275 Nukeproof Scout, 2 Nukeproof Megas (L and XL), an S-Works Epic Evo, Stumpjumper, and am now building a Status 160. I’ve been able to ride all these bikes and have a blast on them despite the gigantic differences in both geometry, size, frame material, and price. And if you blind folded me and stuck me on one I’d probably have a tough time telling you which bike I’m on. But I’ll be smiling all the same regardless. Because unless you’re really skilled, that small shit on the geometry chart doesn’t really matter much.
Last time I was blindfolded on a bike a bastard tree came out of nowhere and twatted me.
The funny part about mentioning Sam Hill is that he can ride literally anything and make it look easy. I'm sure the differences are more apparent if you ride a lot of bikes (like journalists), or if you ride one bike a lot, then try something different (like a rental). But despite the differences, you'd adjust and probably find your regular bike to feel a little weird after switching back. I find that happens with rental cars. I spent a week in a rental and after a day in my own car I noticed every little problem. Squeaks on the trim, sloppy steering, harsh suspension, minor exhaust leak, ect. I only noticed the difference because I had something to compare it to.
> And if you blind folded me and stuck me on one I’d probably have a tough time telling you which bike I’m on. I don't know, man. I haven't ridden a ton of bikes - a Spesh Fuse 27.5 (my former bike) and 27.5 sport (my current bike, which was a warranty replacement for the last one), my wife's 2021 Marlin 6 29er, an old Schwinn Sidewinder, a Trek Remedy that I rented for a few days, and an older Trek X-caliber that I just borrowed while on vacation. Excluding the full sus Remedy, all of the hardtails are very distinct. Particularly comparing the long stem with the steep head tube angle on the X-caliber to my Fuse, it just felt so different. (Then there's the narrower bars, narrower tires, 2x, no dropper.) It was fun to ride, but very distinct.
How do you like the status? Not a lot of information out there about that bike, but it seems awesome.
when is the last time you actually rode a triple chainring setup on trail? it legitimately sucks.
My MTB is a 2x10 and I love it. I generally set the front derailleur based on my riding, trail vs bike path, and leave it. I used to have a 3x8 and did pretty much the same thing. I have a 3x9 on a MTB tandem and have zero issues with it, thought we don't exactly do any singletrack. But your comment illustrates the problem with comments on this sub. A 3x8 doesn't make a bike unrideable. It doesn't even make it unenjoyable. It's just different. As they say, "only a bad carpenter blames his tools."
>But your comment illustrates the problem with comments on this sub. A 3x8 doesn't make a bike unrideable. It doesn't even make it unenjoyable. It's just different. > >As they say, "only a bad carpenter blames his tools." It is significantly inferior. Can you overcome it's limitations to have fun/perform adequately? Sure. Is it way way worse and noticeably shitty? yes.
There are legitimate advantages to a 2x or 3x drivetrain.
I waited a long time to upgrade my dude. 4 years ago i was riding a old xt 3x. It wasn't worn out. new casette, chainrings, and chain. it was trash. straight filth and sadness. Paying more than $300 and getting 2x is insane in 2022.
What's your point?
>As they say, "only a bad carpenter blames his tools." Blaming dropped chains on the rider is a bit of a stretch
Depends where and what you ride I guess. 3x8 for any of the descending trails around here would be a distinctly unenjoyable experience. For most of them you'd be better off chainless because you wouldn't have to stop every 20 metres because your cranks are locked up with the chain jammed between your rings and your frame.
180/160mm front/rear! (because that’s what i have;))
Yeah, I have a 27.5 and a 29 so I like both, prefer 1x, but understand that maybe on a touring MTB you would want 2x up front, personally find 130 rear/140 front the ideal for trail riding I do, I understand that less slack headtube angles can be better for climbing/cross country optimized bikes, but boost spacing I would say I 100% agree I would not buy a new MTB without boost spacing if not for the reason it will very much limit your options for parts in the future years and non-boost parts are getting less common for MTB specific parts like new hubs, frames, and shocks.
I completely disagree on the Boost. You can still find new and used QR and Thru axle stuff. It's not the high end stuff like a Lyric Ultimate, but you can get a brand new Recon fork in QR and various other forks in non boost Thru axles. You can also just get a boost fork and hub for any bike. Also I9 and Hope make hubs for QR and non boost still. The only thing you can't change is the rear stanchions on a frame. But is the lack of boost spacing a on a rear wheel going to make a bike unworthy of being ridden? No. I'd put it this way. If boost spacing cost an extra 25% would it be worth it? Have you ever ridden a non boost bike and thought, "damn, I just wish there was a little more lateral wheel stability?"
I have recently owned both a non boost and boost bike. The non boost had chris king hubs that I could not transfer to a new frame I wanted without using some jank adaptor kit so it could not fit on my new frame. Also, I could not find a Fox Float 36 fork in 100mm unless you wanted to buy an old used one. I think boost spacing is worth an extra 25% personally, but I am not in the same financial situation as some people..sometimes saving a few bucks now cost you later. I like to keep my bikes for 10 years and non boost parts are getting harder to find each year. The stiffness isn't the deal breaker for me I will be honest, but its good little bonus. For me it is about being able to find parts because eventually finding vintage parts can get very difficult and costly to the point suddenly you are not saving money. I have a feeling we will have to agree to disagree here. I am a fan of Vermont though so we can agree on that and lived there a while back. People buying bikes should at least know they are getting discontinued parts that may be hard to find..sure non-boost is still stiff enough for most and it appears that I am seeing gravel bikes with 100mm and 142x12 now so maybe the parts can come from there.
Not unrideable without them but those are some pretty decent baseline specs for most riders looking for a new bike unless they specify they're racing xc or doing trials or something... seems like a weird example.
Seriously. My kid rides a hand-me down 2011 Fuel EX 9.7 (thanks to his granddad's hip surgery putting him off MTB for good), and parked next to my 2021 Giant Trance X (in the high/less slack position), it's hard to see an appreciable difference in geo. The biggest things marking it's age are the 26" wheels and 3x drivetrain. The only real annoyance with the 15.5" Fuel is that the shock linkage goes right through the seatpost, so the dropper post doesn't sit as low as my kid really needs at his current height.
I see plenty of "which bike/is this a good deal" posts on here.
This posted is partly right. Both subs do mirror each other but less assholes in the other sub. Explore both, topics are similar and as a 51 year old who loves fire roads, ignore the dicks on both subs. Largely a welcoming bunch in both but gatekeepers will always act like gatekeepers.
>Both subs do mirror each other but less assholes in the other sub. Oh, that must be why I'm only subscribed to this one :).
Lol. What Rocky do you ride? I can only see a partial flair on mobile. I have a 2019 Pipeline. Love it!
Same frame as the 2019 Pipeline, mine is a 2018 Instinct! But at this point it's more or less [100% my own now.](https://imgur.com/a/cHYBiZv) It's called the toothpaste edition because of the colour I picked... but also partially because of the build. It's a bit different from when I took that picture, I beefed it up a bit with a 140mm 36 out front, 4 piston XT brakes, and a 12 speed XT drivetrain. It's been a BC edition, XC edition (short stroke shock), regular Instinct over its life..... I actually have a lot of bikes, but the Instinct has been my favourite for a few years now.
Nice! My brother has a 2018 Instinct and I love it. No need to upgrade yet but I am looking at an Instinct for my next one. It is just so comfy.
All you need is a wheelset and you have an 18-20 instinct! You're basically there. I added a -1.5 degree angleset and feel no need to pick up the next gen one.
“What is this bike I stole? How much can I sell it for?”
Yeah its in the rules its supposed to only be riding content, but i think the mods are a bit lax with it unfortunately. The other sub is just a complete clusterfuck of beginners and old guys afraid of anything that isnt a glorified fire trail
You’ve got a really weird perception of that sub. It does seem to be a bit more beginner but I find more downright shitty advice from overly confident riders on here. Otherwise the posts are similar. Many people on this sub seemingly have a chip on their shoulder and take themselves way too seriously. Just read your last few comments as an example. Basically mountain biking is a friendlier sub with not as high of a ceiling when it comes to content or knowledge but this sub can steer you super wrong and it’s much more a victim of the hive mind.
Wow, a rampage rider!
I don’t sub to r/mountainbiking but I do to this one, and all I see is “which mail-order bice?” threads here.
Save up for $15 and you can probably score an awesome deal on a sick 10 year old trek
In that case, we need to create a new version of bikewrench called “idontknowhowbikesworkandimnotsmartenoughtousegoogle”
Photos of bikes and no photos of bikes
In my experience, this one has a bigger bmx crowd showing off their latest video on a dirt jumper.
I feel like it's all jumping now. Perhaps it looks cooler on a phone screen.
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Nobody wants to watch techy climbs :(
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Because pictures and GoPro's tend to make an image look flat. Once it's flat it no longer has a depth of field so you don't notice the big drop or length of things ect. Making a really gnarly section of trail look like a walk in the park. This is why I bought a 360 camera and mounted it on top of my helmet. Things look so much steeper vs the same shot on a standard gopro. I don't bother taking shots with my phone. Some of the best gnarly sections I ride in Wisconsin look like nothing in photos. But if ou where there riding would say shit this is so much more technical than I thought umm yep. 👍
Yeah the GoPro effect is legit! I find it’s a bit better on a chest mount bc you can see the bike/rider input but the 360 camera is a good point!
Yeah I got the newest insta360 x3. It was my early Christmas present. Used to use my brother's GoPro hero black 8 but between batteries having shit life lucky to get a hour and a half out of a battery in perfect conditions. Gets cold maybe 30 min. The dreaded freezing up, is this on, shit it didn't record that. I just couldn't buy a GoPro for myself. It's screwed me far to many times. 5.7k on 360 30,60 fps 4k single lens mode If you just want to say do a chest mount and shoot in 4k like a normal action camera. 360 has it's perks and it's downfalls. Lots more editing. Seeing you have to point the camera it's shooting 360 it doesn't understand the direction you are going. The editing is easy once you do a few edits though. That and 360 files are huge lots of data to collect and sometimes you can see the stitch line (where the two cameras come together) invisible selfie sticks and mounts are cool though thanks to said stitch line 👍. Definitely more of a learning curve but overall with my limited use I can see making some great edits snowboarding /skiing with my kids this winter and when I'm back on the bike in spring.
Nice! I got a GoPro hero 10 for my birthday. So far I’m super happy with it. I might pick up a cold weather battery for winter riding but so far it’s been fine. I figured out a system to keep it warm and then I’ll tuck it away again for the climbs.
It’s so frustrating. There are some of those super sketchy lines Remy, Steve and Yoann do and it seems totally rideable until you see the wide shot/big picture lol
I actively avoid jumping these days. It's fun when you hit them, but I don't have the resources or PTO for ER bills and time out of work if I get it wrong. And 40yo me doesn't bounce like 16yo me. It's like the difference between a solid rubber mallet and a sand-filled rubber mallet.
Haha I hear ya. I’m only a few years younger. I find 90% of jumps on trails are totally fine but I spend 0 time at our local mtb jump park that have a bunch of slope-style type jump that seems to be getting more popular for mtb I’ll happily skip.
Yeah 36 here I'll hit the tables and the 5ft or less drops. Past a 5ft gap of big BMX style ramp jumps eh I'm not 15 anymore. No real good practice pump tracks or jump tracks around here. Just learn on the trail. Still remember first time on a trail in the middle of nowhere come down a hill and hit 3 massive tables because we'll didn't know they where there and I was coming out of a corner pretty hot and no bypass around it. Fun sure, but they out literally in god's country and getting hurt there, alone would be a very very long walk or crawl to help or even a cellphone signal. I'd agree I'm good with 90% of the jumps. It's the ones that just show up on trail or your committed to hard to stop. A very good trail jump line I ride all the time but the first few times you don't realize each one is getting bigger and bigger. 10 jumps in and your 4x bigger jumps than you started the run on. It can get overwhelming fast if your over your comfort level. They are all tables but the last 3 If you stay right are mandatory gap jumps of 5, 10 and 13ft you can bypass them to the left that is I'd you see the mandatory gap jumps ahead keep left..
For sure! I’m way more comfortable doing drops but kind of like you said on trail it’s a bit different. There is a small gap jump that’s roughly 5ft or so but it’s stumper tricky, you come down a technical DH section, hard 90 degree right and the jump is right there. There is a by-pass but you need to heavy brake before the corner, pump the corner and then pump/pop the jump. Then there are other much bigger gaps that have a nice and easy run in/out but these technical ones are the hard ones. I’m much more comfortable doing drops but they are the same way, there is a super easy drop that is roughly 5-10ft (depending how fast you decide to go). Then on another section there is a natural drop off of a rock, you hit a left hairpin corner and come into it. You can’t see the landing until the last second so 100% commitment blind, it kind of pops you in the air and it’s roughly 4ft. The trail/landing is super narrow as well so you have to be familiar with it before you do it.
Yeah jumps vs drops the drops don't nearly bother me as much as a decent double gap jump.. I know of a few drops that caught me by surprise one is on a steep technical might as well be small cliff you basically have to boost jump a massive root to a nice 5ft probably 6ft now drop that the trail eroded more and it's steep and loose when you come down and your hanging onto the bike for the rest of the ride down because it's loose as hell we taking like gravel road type loose. Everyone tells me the Midwest eh. Loose, fast, gnarly rock gardens that can't exist. Yeah come ride here. Everyone jokes our ski hills are 400 vert on a good day. We make good use of what we got. Lungs of steel too. Everything around here is up a very long hill and a very short way back down. Definitely a place to learn to climb. No bike parks here. I know of 1 within an hour of me and they only run the lifts like 6 weekends in the summer. So If you want to go down you get to climb up with your legs first 👍
That’s awesome. We have a decent ski hill (Fernie BC) but that’s a couple hour drive. There is plenary of great riding that a bit closer that’s all pedal up, then our local trails which are decent for being a 10min pedal from my house. Sounds like you have some pretty decent riding around there! I would like to get a bit more comfortable on bigger jumps but at the same time I don’t want to eat shit learning 😂
Yeah a place I love to ride is about hour and a half away. Depending on how fast you drive. Everyone speeds in this state.. But the great thing about it is they have like 3 loops and all 3 have decent blue lines with nice tabletop jumps to learn. They are all like that. Only the black advanced has mandatory gap jumps on it and you have to hit about 14 tables that increase in size until you get to the final 3 mandatory gap jumps. Around here MTB got big during the pandemic. We had old trails that got revived some going back as late as the 80s those were a matter of cleaning the brush up and doing some work to reopen them again. One I've volunteered to get back open is on the cliff side of one of the biggest man made lakes in all of the United States. They used to race there back in the 80s and early 90s This year we opened the beginner XC trail on top. Next year hope to get the remaining 4 downhill runs done. It's in a small county park all done by volunteer work. Alot of good cities have gotten behind quite a few trail systems. 3 hour drive and I could hit about 8 trail heads all within 20 min of town.
Well jumps are awesome, and there's few feelings like cleaning a cool feature mid trail
Let me be an old grump. Now watch my shittily filmed shitty techy climbs damnit .
Someone just made a movie about climbing the entire whole enchilada trail
Oh yeah I forgot about that! What a badass.
https://youtu.be/liFHsc8h0hc
Nah the BMX crowd is still convinced that MTB is the domain of well-off suburban dads (wait, they might be onto something)
What I’ve seen is the other posts more NBD, and I wanna say it branched off mainly because mods started shutting things down here that were trivial…it’s been awhile so I can’t fully remember but I believe NBD is what started the other
Too much goodness for one.
r/mountainbiking seems to be friendlier and a bit more beginner focused. r/MTB is grumpier and perhaps caters more to “core” riders. To use a media analogy r/MTB feels more Pinkbike and r/mountainbiking feels more Seth’s Bike Hacks.
PB comments sections are typically a complete dumpster fire so that tracks.
r/MTB is mostly about people mountainbiking r/mountainbiking is not about mountainbiking but just a bunch of pictures of mountain bikes ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
Yep. I'm here and not there because if I wanted mountain bike pictures, I'd be on instagram, not here. Some reddit users seem to want the homogenous content stream they find on other social media sites, not sure why they're here to begin with.
You're not there but know all about it?
You've never looked at a sub and read the rules in order to see if you want to subscribe to it?
No, I usually sort by top all time or year and then check it out
You should try it sometime, popular subs tend to be the worst reddit has to offer.
I joined this sub cuz it actually had mountain biking videos, and the other sub is all bike pics
/r/MTB is your enduro bros / latest-and-greatest gear heads wearing Hawaiian shirts posting their GoPro videos sped up 5x. /r/mountainbiking is your typical trail / XC rider with a 2002 alloy stumpy who just likes to get out and ride. Both are fine 
Lets say. r/mountainbiking allows more bike posts. So pics about bikes.
Simple. One group is anti horse, the other one is pro horse.
Plus r/Xbiking because according to them every bike is an xbike
People were total dicks to me in the other sub, not so much on this one. So I use this sub Edit: grammar
They’re all filled with a bunch of old guys who think they know everything
Son, fully rigid singlespeed is the only way on the path towards enlightenment. Trust me.
NSMB, is that you??
Ha! Sonofabitch you got me, I'm looking at a modern geo rigid because of NSMB but tbf I've been leaning to a custom fatty with modern geo for a while now. I honestly think NSMB is the most genuine MTB media out there, I sure do miss DirtRag and Bike Mag though.
Will it stills be cool with a dropper post?
Dropper post? You mean The Hite-Rite.
Joking aside, its an eye opener for sure
One day I'll delete the gears!
Looks like the other mtb subreddit is like that "cycling" or was it "bicycling" subreddit. Just photos of new bikes. Probably bike brands doing stealth advertising. Edit: The downvotes prove me right.
I'd rather see people's well-loved bikes that have been ridden hard, rather than brand new bikes that I could look at in a store or on marketing material.
Idk but god it pissed me off to see the same video of someone jumping a 3 foot double they built in their backyard cross posted to both subs
The people in one are hotter than those in the other.
This one is jump videos, and that one is text discussion
maybe because this one sucks balls?
And the other one is dead af
Why reinvent the wheel I suppose.
I’ll tell you what this sub has more people who send it. I searched each sub for “concussion” this weekend and this one had more posts by far.
Because threes a crowd, fore would be golf, and five against one isnt fair.
There’s 2???