In a famous poll, the most widely read aviation magazine asked its pilots to weigh in on their skills. Reportedly, 96 percent stated that they possessed above average piloting skills. While it could be possible that only expert pilots bothered to take the poll, the most likely explanation is that average pilots think they can fly much better than they actually do.
Reading the comment sections on PB shows that there is a significant rivalry among nations over where the best bike handlers come from and who they may be. The legendary riding in the Pacific Northwest has certainly spawned a lot of talent, but British Columbia's mythical loam is not so mythical and the Northwest claims no patent on slippery logs and roots. In fact, UK riders seem to be the proudest muck riders in the world - at least the most vocal. And, there are the Alpine riders, who probably laugh at the ten-meter sections of greasy roots and rock that are the keystone footage of so many North American videos, when places like Morzine, France, feature precipitous headwalls of exposed roots that extend over a kilometer.
And what about big mountain riders? Rampage competitors certainly can claim the seeds to rate at the top - no question there. Skidding down scree slopes, however is a narrow skillset, I'd put the top Alpine descenders above the entire crop of scree-slope specialists who are claiming video footage these days. After all, an Alpine descent requires riding all aspects of the terrain, vert, rock, trails and free-form - and riding styles from trials moves to full-on DH action.
Tricks are good. I imagine that if Greg Minnaar can do back-flips and Superman seat grabs on his V-10, no rider who has less than three tricks available can be counted among the top ten percent. All tricks, however, will not buy you a seat at the top. If you've never approached the national speed limit on a dirt trail, If you've never learned what a front brake is for, and if the largest knob you've ever needed on a tire is smaller than the pimples on your parts, tuck your butt cheeks back into your spandex jeans and don't bother us with your double flip-whips.
Fitness cannot be understated either. Top gravity pros are cross-country-race fit. Add the weight room to their road miles, and the baseline for strength and cardio conditioning becomes a determining factor with which to ferret out the best from the rest. All good riders need to be fit. A chair lift or a buddy with a Ford F150 can make up for a lot of hamburgers and missed training days. Skills alone do not a great rider make.
Natural or flow trails? Much weight is given to riders who can go huge on manufactured flow-trail stunts. I'd give equal points to flow trail senders as I would to masters of natural terrain who may never get their wheels higher than their heads. Trails as wide as equestrian paths, bristling with carefully sculpted hips and lips are by nature, predictable creations. Natural trails, however, demand greater judgement and assessment abilities, knowledge of equipment and a much wider range of riding skills.
So, rate your skills on the first not-so scientific poll. Next, add up your points from the first poll and then then click the box in the second poll that corresponds with your overall score to see how you rate as a world class rider.
-I come down with a smile every time!
-I'm always the fastest when I ride alone.
-I'm never the first up hill but I am never the last coming down.
-My jumps always look smaller on vid, sad.
-I'm 42 and only been riding for 5 years but I feel like I'm 25 on my bike (only fatter, slower and not as crazy).
-I never go to fast as not to say hi, sup, or give a chin wave to any animals that I happen to pass by.
-My super awesome wife encourages my to ride because she see how much it makes me happy and when you're that happy, you come back and make your wife quite happy, quite happy!
-I find myself riding, even though I'm not on a bkie, that's how good I am!
the best riders would be the ones that have found their talent, very early living on an area that feeds their talent ridin the proper stuff and having the right master... riding a lot and working hard, you have so many diffrent possibilities in riding that telling whos the best is very hard, but as a freerider i probably choose for a freerider because of the nationalism of the freeride]] lol
but for me its just having good times and wanting to fly high and fly far without being out for 3 monthe because that suckes just having fun on a bike and seeing my mates flow on the trail ive just ridden adn life is more for me then just riding my bike because life is more then just riding a bike even when you ride a bike
I'll add this: My 3 year old loves to ride her bike, my 1 year old loves riding on my bike, my wife and I got married and rode away on bikes, and that makes me an expert and loving bicycles.......in my mind, which is where it counts to me!
Priceless.
#1 is being a female
#2 having a nice ass
#3 good enough to be at the front of the group ride
Well, my jumps don't even get air on vid.
Last I saw there were more Lamborghinis than Mercedes and BMW combined.
I'm average on a good day… and I'm Ok with that because i don't give two sh!ts about where I compare to others, unless I roll off the trail last and there's no beer left in the cooler.
Shocks, pegs.......... LUCKY!
Can you do any sweet jumps?
Vote for Pedro!
Anyway its pretty obvious that Pink Bike attracts only the best riders out there anyway, thats gonna skew the results. As I told a ride buddy the other day, you can't take yourself seriously as a mt biker until you've posted your bike online.
My girlfriend asked why I buy a case of beer after everytime I go out riding?
Bikers like beer babe!
[x] yes [ ] no
I'm 37, it's game over for me
/Sarcasm
Ride? I don't even HAVE to ride.
Fast Clotting Blood ...
Do you have a go pro of anyone you know doin that ?
I'm just saying , It seems a little overboard , "steep trails - at pace - for more than an hour WITHOUT PAUSING ". Lol.
There's way to many world class atheletes on here nowadays.
Then again maybe my idea of steep is different from yours.
"I crush ride arounds"
2. I scored a seven and am not a "leader of the pack." I would rate myself as average. Some of the questions about geography, and experience with different terrain may speak to skill but are definitely not directly correlated. Also, people are answering this from their own frame of reference. What does a dry trail mean to someone who lives in the pacific Northwest vs. someone from Vegas? What is a slippery root section to someone from Florida vs. someone from the Shore. There will be challenges to every survey, but this one may have some serious validity and reliability issues to contend with. My favourite is when people are asked what type of trails they ride: "technical."
If what I see on the average trails is the same every where then about 50 percent of people are below average , about 30 percent are average , 18 percent are ' good ' and 2 percent are ' world class/national level ' .
Yay PB Community
I have built many kilometers of advanced to expert trail for others to enjoy.
OR
I enjoy building trail for others as much or more then riding.
Then i might have made the ratings ;-)
What does that make me?
A mountain biker.
I will never be a leader for pinkbike.
That poll is perfect for freerider
Some rules says less than a meter.
Where I leave dh tracks are just more aerial than enduro track. But as technical.
You see enduro as a race format but in Europe it's a what it's more a perfect mix between AM and dh.
In france, we all dh track when there is big jump, all moutain when there is small technical difficulty. And between them there is enduro : small jump, mostly natural track,....
Yes it is mountain biking but we all have a different way of seeing the moutain. Some prefer jumping other climbing,........
What links us is the moutain in it self.
ps :Maybe we are all speaking in the same way but I didn't the every thing in the english language because it's not my mother tongue.
We are all mountain biking but some are downhillers, XCriders, dirters,.........
Because we create sub genre to define our style to other riders ?
If yes, we are just speaking about the same thing. Just our words aren't the same.
If no, i'm sorry i don't understand what you want to tell me.
• faster
• stronger
• ballsier
I was