Mountain Biking - Mtbiking getting bigger?

Who here thinks the sport of moutnain biking, and freeriding is getting to be a bigger sport?

i think people are either getting more into it or just exploring something new or just doing one of those things they always wanted to do... Well i think that the sport is getting more riders in it... so you could say i think its getting bigger.

Well from raw stats visiting the whistler mountain area is up 50%. I am sure you will find the same result on the shore. At least up here I would say riding is booming.

What about the xgames?? who thinks mountain biking will be in the xgames soon?

MTB was in the winter X Games years ago. Most of the competitors crashed and burned, and did not want it to slow down there normal race season so they have opted to bail out of it.

I think you will also find that in the winter X they looked like jokes. The races weren't very good due to the winter conditions. In order to be taken seriously real technical xc races would have to be shown.

Either that or a red bull type of thing.

Originally posted by Maelstrom
Well from raw stats visiting the whistler mountain area is up 50%. I am sure you will find the same result on the shore. At least up here I would say riding is booming.


I don't know what to think about whether the sport is growing or not. It does seem like the trails are getting more crowded yet mountain bike sales are way down and lots of bike companies are in financial trouble.

What companies are those. As far as I have heard canadian bike companies are doing well. Most of the companies I have seen having problems made crappy bikes for real mountain riding anyways or were too small to make a marketable product. Bike building is too competitive to be creating small specialized expensive bikes.

Also biking happens in cycles (pun intended) one year there are lots of purchases with very little riding (people getting used to the bikes) a few years later they are out riding. Just because bike purchases are slow now doesn't mean the riding or popularity has slowed.

Also the states and canada have different riding situations.

Mountain biking is clearly on a downturn in the US, and has been for a couple of years, at least as far as NORBA membership is concerned. Also, there are 1/2 the number of MTB races than there were 5 years ago, and fewer races.

Some of this can be attributed to the "Lance" factor - you know, the yellow jersey wearer. He made riding skinny tires fashionable. . . again. Some of the decline is from NORBA mismanagement of the racing scene. Also, there hasn't been a dominant, or even competitive american male MTB racer in years in the XC arena. And some is from the changing nature of fickle human beings.

There may be growth in certain regional areas where there's a strong core and good race promoters. . . BC comes to mind.

Mountain biking will always be around and it may even turn around and start to grow again in the coming years.

People are just waking up to realise that BMX is crap and MTB owns!!!

I can see that woody. Having moved out here two years ago I just assumed it was huge...it is but west coast...

whats the point of riding a tiny little bike that kills your arms and wrisnts when you land, when you can ride a bike that actually fits you and has suspension! Oh and i do think mtb is getting bigger especially in canada and ontario.