When we received the e-mail from our subscriber Thomas Mayer with the subject "Another point of view", it was clear to us that we also wanted to give this other point of view a platform. We have therefore decided to publish the reader's opinion in full on our website. The content of this article reflects the personal opinion of Thomas Mayer. At the end of the article is our response, which we wrote to him.
A different perspective
"I am a biker and have been reading your magazine since 1989. I can no longer understand the actions of our society in most areas and unfortunately my lack of understanding has now also flooded the subject of biking. There was a time when I used to go on long tours with my friends, where a 30 kilometre asphalt ride was not a problem for anyone, but just fun in the slipstream. That has changed: Nowadays you can hardly persuade anyone to go on a tour with longer tarmac rides. It's simply too boring. With modern 14-kilo fullys with 2.35-inch wide tyres, it's no longer fun. The conclusion: most people now drive to the mountain by car and only then start biking. A friend of mine recently bought an e-bike because even riding uphill on his fully is too much effort for him. I have the feeling that modern bikes focus mainly on the downhill - maybe 15 minutes of a three-hour tour - and the rest doesn't seem to be relevant. A mountain bike was once a bike for every road and every trail, and riding technique determined the level of difficulty you could venture into. Nowadays, powerful suspension systems make technical riding refinements almost superfluous, but this comes at a high price: the heavy weight of the bikes makes 90 per cent of the rest of the tour far less fun. To make matters worse, e-bikes are also praised by you as an environmentally friendly alternative (editor's note: our publishing house also publishes the EMTB Magazine. We don't cover the topic of e-bikes in BIKE). If this refers to commuters who leave their car behind to travel by bike, I fully support this step (although bikes with lights and mudguards would then make sense, rather than fullys with wide knobbly tyres). In my home region of Tyrol, you are already an exceptional athlete with a muscle-powered bike. In my opinion, a tax should be levied on e-bikes used for sporting purposes, because this is an additional burden on our environment and in no way relieves it - great development part 1.
As an advocate of 2x drivetrains, I recently bought a 1x12 hardtail with Shimano SLX, as this is sold everywhere as the only true drivetrain technology. You take slicks, mount them on the bike and then compare them with the bike and the road bike. I'm extremely disappointed with this technology - the chainring runs extremely unevenly (thanks to the large teeth), the 10-speed sprocket is an absolute emergency gear (and feels like one) and the 51-speed sprocket runs at such a slant that I only use it as an emergency gear. Conclusion: It remains a 1x10 drivetrain with an extremely poorly running chain and coarse gearing. This also fits in with the development of the sport that cycling itself no longer seems to be the essential element. At this point, it would be interesting to test a 2x drivetrain with a 36/24 crankset and an 11-36 cassette in comparison to a single drivetrain with a 32t crankset and a 10-51t cassette (editor's note: https://www.bike-magazin.de/komponenten/schaltungen/test-2017-mountainbike-schaltungen). In addition to the poor pedalling feel, I'm sure that a few watts are lost. For cross-country and downhill riding, the single-gear technology is certainly great, but for everyone else I can't understand the advantage or the price of the poor chain run is clearly too high - great development part 2.
The conflict between hikers and bikers cannot be resolved in this way either. On the one hand, the forest is populated by hordes of e-bikers, most of whom would never get to where they ride using muscle power (in my opinion, nothing/no-one with a motor has any place in the forest as a leisure activity), while on the other hand, more and more bikers wearing protective masks are racing down into the valley, which don't harmonise with hikers simply because of their speed. There will be no other solution than to close the paths and nature trails to all bikers - great development part 3.
Biking as a racing sport - it's sad how dead bike racing is. There are only a handful of XCO races left and only insiders know about them. In my opinion, biking would be 'the cycling sport' for our children and adults. Fun, variety, physical training, community and yes, the best are racing. However, this would require arousing the interest of society and this doesn't seem to work in closed societies with ever steeper and more difficult cross-country courses, where even the pros (especially the women) have a hard time getting up and down (keyword 'sliding' in a damp rock garden). Why not develop a dynamic MTB race series that takes place where people live - nothing would be easier than 45-minute races in city centres, parks, on the beach & even on dedicated courses. I am convinced that this would revitalise the whole sport of cycling, but everything is becoming more and more specific and technical and elaborate and uninteresting for the masses - great development part 4.
Finally - don't get the impression that I'm stuck in the 80s. I also like to ride challenging trails often. There have been great developments - suspension forks, disc brakes, double instead of triple drivetrains, geometry improvements ... I wouldn't want to do without any of that either, but at some point, in my opinion, the development has turned into an involvement in more and more new things and consumption. Unfortunately, this trend is affecting society as a whole. I would really like to see you say goodbye to the shredding downhill pictures, see the bike as an all-round bike again, put the focus back on cycling (not riding downhill) and finally take a comprehensive look at the issue of sustainability (footprint of every new product - including transport, working conditions ...)."
Our response to the letter to the editor from Thomas Mayer
"Dear Thomas, thank you for your loyal readership and the lines in which you describe a feeling that is spreading in parts of the bike scene. We would like to give your views a broad platform and publish your letter to the editor on our website.
Incidentally, we are very interested in the topic of sustainability with our RIDE-GREEN campaign on it. We also addressed the topic of "acceptance on the trails" last year with our campaign LOVE TRAILS - RESPECT RULES and will continue to do so:
We wish you lots of fun on your bike. "
Your opinion is important to us! We receive many readers' opinions every week by e-mail or via social media. We will be publishing selected reader opinions here on the BIKE website in the coming months. Write to us at bikemag@bike-magazin.de
Reactions and answers
Benjamin Freiherr von Wolf-Zdekauer by e-mail:
"Dear Bike Magazine team,
Thank you for having the courage to give this reader's opinion space.
Spoken from the soul
Many of the "super developments" mentioned are close to the hearts and souls of many bikers. Sure, biking is still the greatest sport there is and bikes are the most technically fascinating sports equipment. But the spirit is clouded - identification is turning into irritation, polarisation and distancing. It starts with the drives and the weight, continues with electronic wireless components and ends with the e-bike. I disagree with Thomas Mayer on some topics, but I agree with him when he talks about a lack of understanding and dissatisfaction with developments and trends - especially the way they are marketed or pushed through and how bikers follow them uncritically.
Little knowledge - lots of opinion
What was bad yesterday will be hyped tomorrow and vice versa - rim widths, tubes albeit made of different material - to name but a few. I like to learn, but I don't like being lectured to. Mountain bikers who have been riding for years are told in words and pictures that they have done everything wrong with their bike setup and riding technique anyway, without really knowing how to ride, what the tours look like, what they enjoy and what their needs are. In terms of technique, this is still OK as long as there are alternatives, but views and behaviour seem to change just as arbitrarily. Any behaviour that has been achieved through civilisation can be safely put to one side if more is earned as a result. The current "push" is more of a move away than a move forwards.
Now "Love Trails - Respect Rules" and "Ride Green" come up. Seriously? No question - absolutely true, but the fact that this is not an integral part of our sport in nature and requires such an emphasis only shows how far the bike industry, and with it some of the bikers, have moved away from the original idea and how much they have missed out on in recent years.
Rethink
I chased after the ideal image myself: tours consisting only of flowing single trails, technical descents with berms, jumps or at least interludes of pump track laps. Because not everything was available on my doorstep, the tours became time-consuming, the wear and tear on equipment increased and with the cleaning, maintenance and preparation time - hardly feasible in everyday life. My tours became less frequent. As a result, my already low-level fitness went even further "downcountry". The tours became an ordeal. The joy was lost. Since I've been content with regular training on dirt tracks and forest trails again, the fun of touring has also returned, although I didn't want to go back to those MTB beginnings of undemanding "mile-munching" with clipless pedals: From all-mountain partly back to gravel CC biking. The many facets of mountain biking are the great thing. The ability to change is also an opportunity to improve if you reflect. That's what I wish for every biker and bike creator.
With this in mind, happy trails!
Bernd Hagen via Facebook:
"Well, apart from the fact that I'm quite happy with my 1×12 drivetrain, Thomas got to the heart of the matter with his letter to the editor. Ultimately, the sport of MTB is going through a parallel development that alpine skiing went through around 30 years ago and now consists largely of booze tourism."
Gerd Bayer via Facebook:
"I've also been riding MTBs for 30 years now and have been through all the developments. In the meantime, I've also ended up with an all-terrain 1x12 and I'm happy with it. For me, it's no longer about speed, but still about the experience of nature, the fun of biking, uphill and downhill! Bike parks for kids and downhillers are good, but not my world. E-bikes no longer have much to do with biking and have no place in off-road terrain, and unfortunately neither do some riders. However, a pedelec is definitely justified for leaving the car behind, e.g. on the way to and from work. Otherwise, if you show a little consideration for hikers, there are hardly any problems."
Dieter Nussher via Facebook:
"I agree with 95% of Thomas' statement! The only exception: I think 1x12 is brilliant: low maintenance, extremely durable (I only changed the cassette & chain on one of my bikes after over 7000 km, but it was only halfway through) and nothing jumps at all. And I also rode 2x for years..."
Marcus Holschuh via Facebook:
"I agree with Dieter! With the exception of the gears, I completely agree with Thomas! I often hear on my tours in the Odenwald: Look, that's one without an auxiliary motor! I'm not a friend of the e-bike boom and am only downhill orientated. Riding uphill is part of it! Unfortunately, the trend has become a reflection of society, just fun, then nothing for a long time. Riding uphill can also be fun and, above all, the great feeling of having done it yourself!"
Moritz Ehrenfried via Facebook:
"I don't really feel like travelling 30 km on tarmac and, above all, it easily takes an hour even on a CC bike. But many mountain bikers don't feel like travelling even 5 km and I don't think it's a good development to drive to all the spots by car. I like to use public transport. You can question the point of single gears, but you have to bear in mind that good 650B and 29er full-suspension bikes only became possible thanks to the space gained at the rear. Today, I ride much longer tours on a 29er enduro bike than I used to on a 26-inch all-mountain bike, because the bike simply runs better. I also find the fact that there are hardly any good tyres under one kilo really annoying."
Axel Theurer by e-mail:
"It's nice to read something so well-founded from someone who speaks so much from my soul. I've been a BIKE reader since 1990 and have also "evolved" since then. With interruptions in the nineties, when the material battle and exaggerated consumerism got on my nerves. The fact that I am looked at as an exotic in the forest on a Stumpjumper today also irritates me again and again: "No motor? How? That still exists?" I prefer to go on longer tours, for which I am prepared to accept a higher proportion of tarmac. I avoid travelling by car wherever possible. As a resident of the Swabian Forest, I have enough trails right outside the house, so that's fine too. Even if it's not legal, it makes you try all the harder to be polite and courteous to pedestrians you meet on the trails.
I still enjoy reading BIKE and am delighted with your "Love Trails - Respect Rules" commitment, which is stuck on my frame as a reminder to everyone."
