It's not without reason that mountain bike media sometimes seem like the shop window to a circus tent. Manufacturers regularly proclaim the next evolutionary step, MTB influencers post more content than the Pope, pros break records and bones. There is always something to see, consume, learn and experience.
So how does a sociological thought experiment fit in between neon-coloured sunglasses and powerful e-bike software? Author Jan Timmermann became part of this never-ending spectacle as a career changer: "I often ask myself how the higher-faster-further motor drives the bike world. As a trained pedagogue, I find it difficult to take off my social science glasses."
On the subject. At the end of the 20th century, the sociologist Gerhard Schulze formulated his theoretical outline of the adventure society. Many social scientists assume that some of his theories have retained their relevance and that some aspects have even intensified.
For the mountain bike cosmos, the assumption of an adventure society seems more relevant than ever and provides explanatory approaches for the behaviour of suppliers and consumers on the bike market. So, fire up your grey brain cells and get thinking!
The experience at the centre of the mountain bike market
In 1992, Gerhard Schulze placed the concept of the "experience society" at the centre of his approach to contemporary cultural sociology. Since the 1960s, he had observed rising incomes and shorter working hours in West Germany, which led to an increase in individually customisable leisure time.
Schulze sees the experience society as a follow-up theory to the individualisation theory and post-materialism. Professional colleagues also spoke of a "multi-option society". The relatively improved living conditions in historical comparison made the idea of an interesting life a mass phenomenon.
The adventure society is based on the increased tension between risk and boredom. Experiencing has gone from being a side effect to a life task. The majority of products available on the market are not necessary for survival and are therefore judged less by their utility value than by their experience value.
Popular examples are: Off-road SUVs that are used exclusively in the city, or pressure-resistant luxury watches that are never taken on a dive. Can it be a coincidence? that the mountain bike boom swept across the world in the 90s of all times?
Of course, mountain bikes and accessories are also advertised almost exclusively via experiences these days: "With this much suspension travel, you can take on any descent! With a battery this big, you can ride up any mountain! With these bikepacking bags you're ready for any adventure!"
It's less about what the consumer will do with the product and more about what they could do with it. On social media, sponsored athletes show what that might be: the ten metre drop, the best time, the desert crossing.
Schulze assumes that traditional purposes of the body, such as reproduction, combat or work, have receded into the background in the adventure society and that it is instead instrumentalised as a medium of experience. G-forces on steep bends and burning muscles on marathon climbs are examples of suitable physical experiences from the world of MTB.
Generally speaking, the modern mountain bike can be described as an "adventure machine". In Germany, nobody usually buys a mountain bike because they need it to get over a dangerous pass to the nearest food source, for example.
It's more about hobby and leisure enjoyment. Mountain bikes promise experiences and fulfil this promise - even if only on the home circuit and not at the Red Bull Rampage.
Schulze sees risks of uncertainty and disappointment in the constant search for positive experiences. After all, experiences are highly individualised and can never be fully calculated. What if the 750 watt-hour battery is not enough to get the biker to the desired summit? What if your own body can't cope with the high-end bike with the high-end panniers? but can't move to the next desert and back?
However, people are finding it increasingly difficult to formulate clear needs anyway. Over time, those seeking experiences have become more and more indifferent and experienced. Even if most people probably remember their first proper MTB tour, not all bikers will remember the short home tour three weeks ago.
A mountain bike is ideal for integrating experiences with relatively high frequency into everyday life. The marketing of ever new experiences is particularly widespread in tourism and outdoor sportsSociologists agree on this. There is hardly any other place where experience is so strongly demarcated, devalued, accumulated, professionalised and commercialised.
The bike scene as an adventure community
As experiences are the new measure of a successful life, people try to influence their inner life through situation management, according to Schulze. However, the many modern possibilities present people with orientation problems.
Individuals would therefore come together in communities of experience in order to exchange ideas with people of a similar style. In the understanding of the experience society, social milieus are constituted less according to living conditions than according to patterns of thought and action.
Of course, mountain bikers also love chatting with like-minded people, discussing the latest technology and the latest gossip: "One more click of compression makes all the difference! The one trail in the Czech Republic is amazing! You can see a prototype brake in Fabio Wibmer's new video!"
It doesn't usually matter whether the other person comes from a working-class or academic household. When looking at the well-equipped bike rack, people nod to each other on the motorway and when choosing a holiday destination, the stunt density of the new bike park is weighed up. Those who define themselves as mountain bikers do so on the basis of experiences, speaks a corresponding language and will act accordingly.
Assessment
Only very few bikers will have questioned the sociological background to their leisure activities and corresponding purchasing decisions. The model of the adventure society is low-threshold enough to make some people think. Today, nothing is without socio-political relevance - not even cycling. However, the theory does not only criticise capitalism. People would do well to strive for and celebrate experiences on a mountain bike. They get even more out of their hobby if they take the time to reflect on individual experiences on the trail and in nature from time to time. - Jan Timmermann, BIKE editor, educational scientist (MA), social pedagogue (BA)
Disclaimer: In this article, the author makes no claim to scientific standards. Rather, the aim is to convey aspects of popular science to a broad target audience.
Jan Timmermann
Editor
