Originally Posted by
Brett A
For me, technical means a trail I know I can't clear 100% regardless of fitness. Pretty much every loop near me has sections that very few people have ever cleared. The measure of how you're doing is how many times you failed. And I've been riding these trails since the mid 80's
For me technical vs non technical isn't a measure of difficulty. I think of technical as tight and twisty with small features that require some bikehandling. Big drops and large features are the opposite.
Maybe my definition is carried over from my whitewater paddling days where big water and technical stuff are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Big pushy water with long trains of standing waves aren't technical. Tight twisty creeks where you are dodging boulders are.
The rider's ability is likely to come into play in applying the definition in any case.