Not funny, but perhaps food for thought, given the discussion threads elsewhere on the forum
I find it a bit annoying sometimes that some brands basically only seem to promote themselves through free ride, schralp kind of content, Norco is one I follow that seems to be pretty focused on this. They have a factory World Cup XC team but it feels like the majority of their promotional content is people on jump tracks and blowing out berms.
I feel like Atlantic MTB does a good job of promoting the exploring nature, getting outside with friends side of MTB.
Myself, I wanna see more content like this The Completely Redesigned Epic - YouTube
1 Like
Completely agree! PlusâŚin my opinion XC riders are the toughest in the world. Those races are ridiculous.
Instead Norco suggests their bikes cause earthquakes?
1 Like
Cross country doesnât sell bikes IMO itâs hard to make a captivating edit of XC racing, despite it being demanding. Trail, and Enduro dominate the market, so they are going to lean into it. Not super big on the MTB as adventure marketing either, I can see nature at 5 km/he with my dog with little to no investment vs mtb. Want to take in nature cool, but donât rattle the chains for the guys who want to blast party laps and enjoy riding fast and having fun! Fun sells, and sending it is just Thats
10 Likes
Its flat out marketing and look at all sports⌠does basketball sell by highlighting a clean pass or dribbling no they show off dunks.
Baseball via home runs and a double play where the short stop is moving away from the bag and throwing across his body to second
Football via a hail mary or a defender flying across the middle to lay a hit on a reciever in the air etcâŚ
3 Likes
Love marketing, itâs how I know whatâs cool.
Like, if it wasnât for John Tomac I wouldnât know what bar ends to buy.
2 Likes
Those of us in the marketing industry appreciate your support. 
4 Likes
Heres the opinion piece I pulled the original picture from. I think its an interesting read, even if I donât agree with all of it.
Does shralping an already built berm hurt the environment though? If thats the case we should all just buy road bikes.
Edit: roads harm the environment too. Lets just get rid of bikes.
4 Likes
depending on you definition of âschralpâ, it might hurt the Berm 
1 Like
Only got this far and then I threw up a bit in my mouth. Writing like this is why I donât have any connection to cycling other than actually riding bikes and ECMTB visits.
Mountain biking is currently in the throes of an identity crisis. This isnât exactly news, but has rather been an ongoing issue in our sport for many, many years. But I think that soon, very soon, this brewing issue is going to come to a head and will, unfortunately, boil over the top of the kettle.
9 Likes
Honestly, Singletracks is an absolute garbage MTB website. Iâve never visited it without regretting giving them a click. They donât know their ass from their elbow.
7 Likes
Ha ha, glad to hear that this isnât representative of most of the online sources.
2 Likes
Like most things thereâs no black and white, reality is usually somewhere in the middle but we often only see what weâre conditioned to look for, what the algorythms feed us, where our experiences lie or what the memes distill into easy-to-digest, flammable (and usually divisive) position statements.
A few thoughts (BTW interesting topic Drgonzo):
- brands like Red Bull and Mercedes do not pour BIG $$ into XC mtbâing because it doesnât deliver. Itâs a bit ludicrous to think they do it for shits and giggles. Go check out that environment in itâs biggest format (World Cup) and itâs obvious why these brands want to be there.
- many (most?) large (meaning non-microniche) mtb brands market to various types of riding. Sure most of it is intended to be aspirational (dâuh, itâs marketing) but different groups aspire to different products and experiences and these different groups will recognize their âpeopleâ in the various marketing campaigns that align with their goals, values, likes, etc.
- the most interesting- and generally the most accomplished, the fastest, the most experienced- cyclists I know are big fans of several different disciplines. They donât pigeon hole themselves into the term mtb, theyâre cyclists. They mtb, they commute, they gravel ride, they road ride, etc. Their criteria for fun is two wheels and two pedals.
12 Likes
Actually pressed accidentally before I was done (âTomlin, are you STILL going on?â I know right.)
I love blasting berms, getting air, big steeps, etc but I also love XC, I love bikepacking, I love road riding, etc, etc. and I love to see a mixture of marketing. Hereâs some mtb marketing that Iâve seen in the last year that isnât gonzo berm blasting that I think conveys a love of two wheels.
(disclaimer: Iâm sure MANY brands have this kind of marketing, Iâm simply familiar with the content of these brands)
9 Likes
That fox video is right up my alley.
This has been one of my favourites forever The Longest Day - YouTube
2 Likes
One of my favourites
2 Likes
Right? Like roosting a berm bad buying all the things good.
The new made in China everything, gotta have it, if you couldnât tell your rear tire pressure was 24 vs 23.5 how would you ever bike??
Want biking to be less bad for the environment? Donât buy carbon for sure. Donât buy bikes, or parts, or gear or drive to bike. The damage done via consumerism will always far outweigh anything else.
4 Likes
Single track is written by Russian bots change my mind.
3 Likes