Was Mountain Biking Better 10 Years Ago The Dirt Shed Show 552

Welcome to the Dirt Shed Show. I'm back, lads. I'm back. What are you doing? Yes. Welcome. This week, we have got a great topic because I saw a video last week that has given me pause for thought. Was mountain biking better 10 years ago? Has it gone downhill? See what I did there. Oh, no. I like it. All coming up on the Dirt Shed Show. Right. Nice to be back, lads. Yeah. How did you get in? I thought you took your fob away. Me and Ferg have got a system. I can get in around the back. I can get in around the back. Let's get into it this week. Go on. James did a video the other day. I watched it. I was at home in my kitchen, and I watched him riding this beautiful Cannondale. Isn't it beautiful, that Cannondale? It is. Yes. Aren't Cannondales beautiful? I'm not sure about the bull bars on the side there, the horns. You don't know what you're talking about. It made me think, that bike, doesn't it look different? Very much so. For a start, it's a lefty. The bars are about as wide as that. What about the tires as well? Tires are that. Wheels are also tiny. The geometry, the silhouette of a mountain bike has absolutely transformed, doesn't it? Massively. Massively. It actually doesn't look like the same thing. I remember back then, obviously, it was better then for me for other reasons. Back then, ignoring my issues, I'm not sure if it's got better, has it? You think mountain biking was peaking 10 years ago? It was definitely simpler. I would say, back in the day, you just go out on your bike. I had a 26-inch Saracen Mist DH. It had 413 mil reach. It was tiny, but it was amazing. I knew nothing different. I pushed up a hill because enduro bikes had 10 to 36 tooth, so I was like, well, I might as well push a downhill bike up the hill. I used to hit four corners in Surrey Hills, and it was mint. It's true. You're right. Similar to your cell phone, I look back 10 years ago, I did my first EWS. I looked at the bike I was riding. It was a Lapierre Zesty AM527. Yes, there you go. Catchy name. Yes, I know. It rolls off the top of my head. Like Folk said, it had a 10-36. We used to run a 36-tooth up front, so it was like a one-to-one ratio. It was incredibly high, 27.5-inch wheels all around. It was great fun, and it was just simpler. I don't think it was as good as the bikes we ride now. Wait, wait. That was your first- That was my first EWS race. Because that's 27.5. I feel like we need to go back just a couple years more because the 26 is where it really starts to look different. It looks like the bike's all wrong with the 26 now. I remember back then, when someone said we were going to change the wheel size from 26 and go up, it sounded like absolute madness. Everyone thought anyone talking about a 29-inch wheel was just a total dork. You're like, what are you? A dork? A dork. You're like, what are you even thinking? Then we all got on one and had a go and went, that's different. 27.5. First thing I rode was a 29. I rode a charge. You jumped straight up. I went from a 26 to a charge 29 rigid, and it was amazing. It was amazing because it just rolled over stuff that you just usually would go through. It was so crazy good. The jump from 26 to 29, granted, is massive, but what I noticed, I dug through the archives and found the geometry of this Lapierre Zesty AM527. The head angle on it was 67 degrees. Some XC bikes nowadays are slacker than that. The seat tube angle is 74, which is really slack. It was tiny in the reach. I look back at this picture of me celebrating, finishing my first CWS, and the bike looks minuscule. That's a 27.5. That's basically the difference, isn't it? It's now that the head tube on your bike you've just said was this, and then a seat tube with that. Effectively, it's done this. It's such a weird change that you'd never have predicted. It makes complete sense. When you think about it now, when we talk about it, it makes more sense to be sat upright. You're putting more power through the pedals and things like that. I looked again, similar to you, my downhill bike was 63.5 degree head angle, which is the same as our bikes now, like our Enduro bikes, which is why I think that's what caused the birth of Enduro, because the bikes were so capable of doing the same descents that you previously did on your 26-inch downhill bike, but this time you could pedal up. That's huge. On that note, between 10 years ago and now, what would you say is the most important or your favorite innovation in the last 10 years, favorite thing that's been added? It's always the dropper. No, no, it's not. The dropper was already there. Because the dropper was already there. It was already there, yes. That had been around. For me, I think the, not necessarily 12-speed, but wider ratio cassettes, because like I said, I was riding a 36-36. Now you're running a 34 with a 50 or 52, potentially, out back or something, and still a 10 or maybe a nine, depending on what you're running. I think that has opened up the type of riding that you can do and how you ride your bike. Just the access to the trails. You can just access peaks and things like that. You never would have been able to pedal up before. You ain't pushing up anymore because you can cruise on up nicely. I'll tell you what I think. It'd be amazing to hear what you guys think in the comments. Definitely, before I give my thoughts on it, just ever think what you're going to write in the comments because I'm going to be totally honest with you guys. I don't think it was better. You don't think biking was better? I think it's so good now. The bikes are so good, and we are really spoiled. If you're spending decent money on a mountain bike now, you are buying something absolutely incredible. Let's all be honest. I like that Cannondale, but would you want to ride it tomorrow with what's available? No, you wouldn't. I think James made that quite apparent in the video as well. I think there's something fun about how mechanical it would be. There would be something fun. You would never be able to go as fast or do as crazy as stuff, but it's the same concept of under-biking yourself down a downhill. It's the same concept. I think there'd be something so much fun about riding a 26-inch downhill bike, and I'd love to do it. You, right? How good you boys are on a bike. You'd have 10 minutes on that thing and be like, this thing's ****. He's not wrong either. He's not wrong at all. You'd be on your own later in 10 minutes. You would, and you'd think I'm bored, dude, but you'd be like, this thing is absolutely awful. Yes, I probably would be bored. I'm sure James got to the end of the video saying, keep the canyon. Yes, and it would be broken. That's what I think. Here's another thing that I think has changed the landscape of mountain biking just over the last 10 years and why it may be better earlier on is the presence, and we're part of this, of social media and cameras and the Instagram generation, if you like. We're guilty of it here. Yes, for sure. Not me. Oh, yes, I am. No, you 100% are. You got a great story from where you were riding just at the weekend of these kids, right? Yes. On Sunday, I went up to Pentris, which is a local riding spot, and it was amazing to see so many kids up there riding, ripping their bikes, but they were getting shuttles up. Back in the day, if I got lucky enough to get a shuttle day, I'd be like, right, I'm just going to do as many laps as I can, go as fast as I can, full runs, because that's the opportunity, but they were literally just lapping small sections of track, following this filmer around, being like, can I have clips? Have you got clips? And they're all getting clips of each other, which you're missing this whole point. You've got this shuttle up from your dad, use it to get the lift down instead of the dads just sat there waiting on the phone while they're all getting their clips up and down the thing. I just think there's a part of me that thinks, oh, you just need to be getting out, put the phone away, ride your bike, and there was something blissful about that escapism of just being able to get out on your bike and not have your phone with you, but equally, when you watch, I've seen so many really cool Instagram reels and things. It's an insane thing. Exactly. I mean, the access to inspiration is brilliant, but that is not as good. That's a shame that's from the moment. Yes, and I'm just picturing in that scenario, these kids, dad sat in the car looking at his phone, they're in front of him doing clips for their Instagram, and he's looking at the clips of the Instagram on his phone rather than looking out the windshield of his car where the kids are actually riding and doing the thing. That's painful to think about, and it's not really what mountain biking was. No, we never- But then it does inspire us. Only 10 years ago, you didn't go on every ride with a GoPro attached to you or a phone getting clips. Have you seen any of the clips they did on Instagram? I have, yes. I've watched it, and I've gone, oh, that's so cool. There's that thing of saying, yes, on one hand, obviously, you just think, oh, just get on your bike and ride it, but at the same time, they've gone, and there was a gap, and I tried it, and there is a clip of me casing it very badly, but they've gone up and tried that, and they know it's a gap because they've seen an Instagram video, and then they're inspired. They're like, I'm going to go and try that, but if they hadn't seen that clip, they wouldn't have thought that. It is a double-edged sword, isn't it? Yes, for sure. You know what we call this in trials, guys? Pointless, uninspiring, unattended, doesn't matter. Ancient history. Thank God for Rich Payne. We call it balance. It's a balance. Let us know in the comments down below, is mountain biking better now than 10 years ago, or was it better 10 years ago than it is now? Do that whichever way you want, but let us know in the comments down below. We're going to continue arguing, and then we'll be back in a moat with the rest of the show. Welcome back. It's time for the news. We have new pedals from Crankbrothers. We have a new Mallet DH, but this is Lurk Bruni's new signature. As you guys would have seen before, he had a super Bruni pedal. He now has a new one, which is a bit of, it looks kind of gold, but it's not gold. It's bronze, but it looks very, very shiny. It's crucially the same pedal as the current Mallet DH, but it has eight adjustable pins for side grip, and it is ribbed for better traction when unclipped, so yes, pretty good. You can't say it. We're going to have to move on. Mark Threlfall Can't say it. Can't say it without thinking it. Keep going. What else has it got, buddy? Next up, it has a 57 mil Q-factor for stability at speed, four-sided entry for superior mud shedding, and it comes in at a price of £189.99. Ollie And not gold. Hank And not gold, bronze. Mark Bronze. Ollie Bronze. Lovely. Right. Crankworx has announced a new venue, adding to the Crankworx series. It seems to be forming Mont-Sainte-Anne, legendary World Cup venue in Canada. Mark Amazing. Ollie It's good that you've been there. Mark I've never actually been to Mont-Sainte-Anne. Ollie Oh, cool. I thought you had. Hank I've always wanted to ride there. Ollie Yeah, me too. The Rock Gardens. Mark Have none of us been? Ollie None of us have been. I thought you had. Mark No, I've never been there. Ollie Well, it is now on the calendar for 2026, going from the 3rd to the 7th of September next year. Obviously, multidisciplines that Crankworx is famous for, from slopestyle to dual slalom, to pump track, to downhill, everything in between. There'll be pro and amateur categories, and we'll host the finals of the King and Queen of Crankworx. Mark So, interestingly, Mont-Sainte-Anne has been announced, Crankworx. Whistler Crankworx hasn't watched this space. Mark Just saying. Ollie It's very exciting. On that note, obviously, Whistler getting a World Cup next year. We can move on to World Cup results from this weekend. Mark A segway? Ollie No. Mark A segway? Ollie We had Lake Placid, a new venue for this year, and the tracks were insane. Mark I liked that downhill. Ollie It looked unbelievable. Mark It's a cowdery. Ollie And rough. Mark So soft. and downhill. In the women's XCO, Jenny Rizveds absolutely smashed it, Evie Richards in second, and Samara Maxwell in third. The elite men's XCO, Christopher Blevins, won and also won the overall, so he secured the overall around- Ollie With a round to spare? Mark Yes, with a round to spare. Ollie Not bad. Mark Adrian Biochis, I'm probably- Ollie Bochy. Mark I'm probably, yes, I've absolutely ruined that one. Ollie I like the name, Biochis. Mark Yes, Mathis Azaro in third. Then moving on to the under-23 women's, Vida Lopez de San Roman. Ollie Yes, he's doing good. Mark I'm doing all right. Ollie This is like watching Blake do race things back in the day. Mark I don't do XC. Come on, give me a break. I'm trying hard here. Then the under-23 men's, Finn Trudler won, so close on that one. Ollie Yes, I like it. Mark Moving on to downhill, I'm slightly more comfortable. Valley Hole won the race and she, again, secured the women's overall around early. As she said in her post-race interview, she is the cheapest going four-time overall winner because she currently doesn't have any sponsors. Ollie What a scenario to be in. Ollie What a scenario. Ollie For her team literally to collapse around her and then win her first World Cup of the year, because she hasn't won a World Cup all year. Mark No, first one of the year and secure the overall, and then as she referred to it, this is her version of a holiday. She's going on the final round of the year for holidays. Ollie She seems like she's been struggling all season in terms of mentally struggling, but she is World Champion and World Cup Champion. Mark Can you blame her with everything that's clearly been going on behind the scenes? You can imagine when we hear about it, it's one thing, but that's clearly been going on behind the scenes where we haven't heard about it. Ollie I felt bad for Colb, who was new to the team as well. Mark I know, joins first year and then boom, gone. Ollie See you later. Ollie It's hard times. But they've all had amazing seasons, fortunately, and through their own hard work, they've got some really good results and I'm sure we'll see them on some fresh, exciting new teams next year. Anyway, moving on back to the results, we had Miriam Nicole getting second place and Sasha Ernest, which is amazing. She's a first-year elite, so for her to get a podium was awesome. Mark Miriam Nicole getting second in a World Cup still, it's unreal. Ollie Again, she was saying there was talk of her retiring, but next year is her 20th year racing and as LeJay was to finish it out, so she said she can't possibly retire. Mark You're an Nino, basically. Ollie Exactly. Mark You're an Nino. Ollie Into the elite men. Now, this was such an exciting race and it was wicked to see because you and I would have raced against him. Luke Myers-Smith winning his first ever downhill and it was an insane thing, so emotional for him and his little brother. Yeah, literally, and his little brother is also a factory racer running for Pivot. Straight there, got a fine, $200 fine for basically jumping into the paddock. Mark Really? Ollie Yes, and then wind masters and some guys have come through and said they're going to sort it out because it was ridiculous, but it's crazy to be getting a fine to go and celebrate your brother winning a race. It seems mad, but then you had Luke Shaw, again, local favorite, and he had a storm of run but just messed up that first split, so a bit of a shame on that one. Henry Kiefer having possibly the greatest first-year season of anyone. Mark Really good, yes. Ollie Yes, pretty insane. Mark It's a new bit up and coming, isn't it? Ollie Yes, so third for him. Moving on to the junior women, we had Alisa Olstengard, I believe that's probably wrong again, but she won the race with Mathilde Melton and Alina Holstenbosch in third, so yes, they were all flying and there's a lot of nervousness about all those coming into the elite category next time. Mark Well, times that would have put them not far off, top five. All of the juniors this year have just been- Mark Yes, they're just so quick these days. Ollie And then finally, junior men's, again, as we were saying, Max Auran winning, Asa Vermette second and Tyler Waite third and all of those guys. Mark Asa Vermette? Oh, brilliant. He's done well. Absolutely flying. That rounds out the race and I can't wait to see Mont-Sainte-Anne. Ollie Yes, and of course, we've got the Bruni-Jackson-Goulston showdown to come because those two are playing the roles, aren't they? Mark Max actually would have come second in elite men's. Ollie Insane. Mark That is nuts. That is nuts. Great racing and it's all starting again. Yes, well, they'll be practicing on Thursday. Ollie Yes, next week, this is the final week and Bruni is in a rush because he has a little one on the way. Mark He does. He's got it all going on. Just quick because that's still open and yet to be decided, who do you think is going to win, Bruni or Goulston? Ollie Bruni. Mark Who do you think is going to win? Ollie The Sultan of Bruni. Mark Yes, I sort of agree. Yes, what do you think? Let us know in the comments. Competition time. Right now, we're going to announce our Ergon competition winners. In a moment, we're going to tease you on that one but just to keep you interested, how about I announce a new competition? I love this one, Topeak competition where you can win one of their pro bottles, Z model. Ollie Yes, the Z cage. Mark The speedy one. Ollie The Z cage. Mark That's just a real fancy carbon bottle cage. Ollie It's really, really nice but this is a bundle. We've got three of these bundles available because the other part of the bundle, let me say it right, it is the TorqStik Pro 420 Newton meters. The name don't roll off but look at it. Look at this thing. Mark Beautiful. Ollie Who doesn't love these Topeak tools? Mark That's expensive as well. Ollie Yes, it's really nice. Mark Then you just love it when it clicks off as well. It's so satisfying about it. Ollie Look, I love it. I carry my Topeak tool ratchet set with me everywhere I go. This is like the best prize. Mark It's really good. Ollie If you want to enter and get one of those bundles, there's only three of them with a bottle cage and a lovely little ratchet set. You can enter the competition in the link down below. Did I do that right? Mark That's correct, guys. Got through it, but we've got the Ergon competition winners coming up. Hang in there, it might be you. Ollie Right, it is now time for Hacks and Bodges. Hacks and Bodges. Hacks and Bodges. Mark Yes, that's it. I'm glad to be back in this one. Ollie That was good. This first one is from Linda Williams. It's a bucket handle. Mark Yes, but hang on a second. Hang on a second. That's not just any old bucket handle. She's thought about the grip. She's thought about how it works with a bike and she's thickened that grip up and now it feels sick when she rides that bucket. Mark Bodge. Ollie Definitely a bodge. Mark Bodge. Ollie Definitely a bodge. Mark Bodge. Thank you though, Linda. Ollie Don't matter how you sell it, it was a bodge. Mark It's a bodge. Who have we got next? Ollie A urine sample. A urine sample. What's he doing with that? Simon Penfold with, yes, it looks a bit dodgy there, but he has said, all you need is an airtight bag and some silica gel packs. Mark That was it in the description. Ollie The other comment says, all you need is methamphetamine and a urine sample. What is in the bag? I want to know what's in the bag. Mark That was what was written. Ollie What? It's methamphetamine and urine. Mark No, you didn't write that part. Ollie It's mineral, isn't it? Some kind of brake fluid that they're keeping dry? Ollie Electrolytes? Mark A weird bottle like that, buddy. Is that how you do it? Ollie I mean, to say the standard is low this week. Mark It's a bodge. Ollie What I love about this, this is the best bit about Hacks and Bodges. It's what we should all celebrate. There's £50 worth of merch on the line here and we've had someone show us how to put a handle on a bucket and someone else how to transport illicit materials. Is that a thing? Mark Well, things are only going to get better as this beauty from Stuart Russell is an absolute mess of zip ties. Ollie Oh my God. Sometimes zip ties aren't the solution. Mark God, have you got this one? Ollie Yes. He said, as a parent of two groms who like to break bikes and struggle to fix their whips fast enough, this was the result of a rushed late-night chainring swap whilst apparently being a bit tired. I now realize I didn't tighten the chainring bolts properly and three out of the four worked their way out on the next ride. Ollie Wait, he zip-tied his chainring on? Mark Zip-tied the chainring on, his kid's chainring on. Mark Interesting, the chain guide's also up, like not doing much. It's got to be a bodge, isn't it? Ollie Yes, but it is a bodge. Mark Well, nice. He's hacked it. Ollie He's not even trimmed them down. Ollie I admire the fact that he brought the zip ties to fix it. Mark Yes, boxed it. Ollie That's a boxed it, but that is a bodge. He hasn't even cut them. Mark I think that's good. He's kept a chainring and a bike running with zip ties. Ollie Can you imagine the noise it makes as you pedal? Mark I'll tell you what, to win that prize of the value up to 50 quid, you're choosing this so I don't have to get involved. Mark Before you get, this is essentially, it would feel like you've got an O-chain on. It would stretch and think it's- Ollie I think it'd be like an overall one, wouldn't it? It would stretch around. Mark Stewart's the winner. Ollie Stewart, Stewart, Stewart. Mark Congratulations, Stewart. Don't forget, send us your details to claim your prize. As always, we do love to see your hacks and bodges. Ollie We do, we do. Mark Of course we do. Ollie It's real money on the line there. Send them in. We love seeing them and it doesn't matter how bad they are. They're all good, fun to look at. If Stewart's taught us anything, take your zip tie. Mark Anything can win. Ollie Or take your zip ties out on the trail. Mark And silica gel packs as well to dry out your merchandise. Ollie Yes, or whatever else that was. Anyway, send them in to the uploader. We would love to see them. Right, let's keep going with the show. Right, that brings us into things we like this week. Rich, I am going to kick you off with an absolute belter. This one is skiing on a bike from Flowrider. It is unbelievable. Look how fast he's going. I wish I could ride a bike that fast downhill, let alone ski. It's really rocky as well. There's added steeze points as well, just the way he's riding it. It's pretty good. It's flat out, isn't it? Yes. Fair play from Flowrider there. Very fast. Now, Mark, this one's a bit of you, isn't it? You have to say yes. I love this. I mean, I was just admiring the moment. This is fantastic. This is just an amazing story. Trek Bike basically purchased this bike for one of their employees who needs an adaptive bike. Look, Bowhead have put this amazing custom build together. It's something I really love because I'm hopefully going to be doing something similar to that in the 2026 timeframe because Rideable Now, which is what I've left GMBN to go and work on, which is my own little passion project. Basically, we're going to hopefully be helping people get out on the trails who need adaptive bikes, but also keeping them riding once they're out on adaptive bikes because it costs a fortune to move these things around. The cost level for an adaptive rider is slightly higher, can you believe, than a normal mountain bike does. We all know how- I was just looking for another plug for you to just keep plugging. Look, I mean, I've got to take this opportunity- Can we take the batteries out? ... while I can and just give plug. It's called Rideable Now. All you can do at the moment is sign up at the website, but if you want to do that, you can. We've got lots going on in the background and it does include some fantastic content that we're going to be putting on GMBN as well that these guys are involved in even though they're being all coy about it now. It's a very good idea. That trek by purchase of that Bowhead RX was a great little reminder of what we could do if we all just pull together, people. Okay, it's my turn and motocross time. Of course, it is. Motocross of Nations, Des Nations was on at the weekend, Ironman in the US of A. Do you know who took the win? I'm going to guess. I don't know, but I'll guess because I know a lot about motorbikes. I'm going to guess it was the United States of America because they always win motocross donations. They're like Spain in the trials donations. They always win. It's always the same. Incorrect on so many levels. No, they didn't win. You are incorrect on so many levels. On all levels, apparently. All levels. No, it went to Australia. They had a great team, the Lawrence brothers carried it quite well. Kyle Webster, very good rider in itself. America was second with a very good team, although they had a few dropouts at last minute in Deegan. Where were Belgium? Because Belgium used to be the big team in the donations. I don't know, but France got third actually on joint points with Team America. It was really good racing, really good. Tomac was like Captain America. Masterclass from the Lawrences there. Not John Tomac, no. I love John Tomac. Yes, I know about John Tomac, yes. And that is some things we liked this week. All right. Now, Martin teased it earlier, the Ergon competition that we've been running has come to a close, but there are two bundles or were two bundles up for grabs, including a set of HE2s, some GDH Valley Hall Signature Edition grips, and an SM Downhill Valley Hall Signature Edition saddle. Nice pack. And I can confirm the winners are, drum roll please, Miriam Nett and Paul Clarkson. Congratulations. That was pretty good. You have won those bundles. Please get in touch and those will be winging their way to you. Absolutely. And don't forget the Topeak competition if you are still feeling like you could be a winner. Right, caption contest. The picture was this of Rich and James. Cheers. A croissant cheers. Nice, nice. So let's read some captions. First up, we have Jason True. When you finally make the top of a climb and find out this is all you have left. Yes. I mean, I'd take a croissant. The top of a climb, yes. Next one from Pure Filth. When you train all day for the ride, but the real competition is who packed the better snack. Yes, I think James did because he had a pain au chocolat. Everyone does do that contest a little bit, don't you? A little bit. Around the ride. A bit like, what have you got? What have you got? Remember when I brought them eggs? Eggs? Them boiled eggs, yes. Oh, they keep your hands warm, don't they? Well, these ones just made us feel sick. You're meant to boil an egg, keeps your hands warm for seven hours. They stay warm for seven hours, doesn't it? Or you just walk around with them. Cameraman trick once I saw. The cameraman had eggs in his pockets. Very bizarre. Anyway, I personally am a Haribo guy, but- For keeping your hands warm? No, for- Listen to him. Listen to him. Anyway. CameronSI23 says, James practices an ancient form of divination reading the baguette to determine which trail to take. I quite like that one. Yes, I like that one. I like that one because of the word divination. Divination. Have you ever tried it? No. It actually works. Do you know what I do to tap on? What? Honest to God, it works. Divination? Divination. What is divination? Basically, you hold over two loose sticks in an L-shape or two loose rods of brass and then you walk around and then when you get to water, they cross. It's freaky. Yes. It's freaky. I mean, have we not got just- Mains isn't that- Youngsters, honestly. Oh, hang on. Wait. Actually, I'm not even that old that they didn't have taps. Bloody hell. Old fresh running water. Yes. You have what? Right. We do need a winner for that prize of the baguette. Go on, Martin. You can choose. I'm giving it to divination just for the conversation. Yes, Cameron, you have won yourself unbelievably £50 worth. Up to the value. Up to the value of £50 worth from the GMBN merch store. That's a great prize. The good news is it comes in black and white so you can go back to the old times. His prize is they can be in black and white. It's perfect. Well, that makes no difference to Martin because that's all he sees. Martin's just going around in black and white. The abuse is unbelievable. Right. Let's give you a caption contest photo for next week. Here it is. What are you doing there, Berg? What are you doing there, buddy? Nice. Nice. Give us a caption for that in the comment section down below and up to £50 worth of merch could be yours next week. Get involved. It's time for the Bike Vault. Let's get into it straight away with this one from Hannes Eger. What's that? That is a Specialized Enduro. I had one of those. They had the little Y-cross. It looked like an X-Wing out of Star Wars. Yes, 2017, that as well. Lovely locations. I've got a script all about that bike that me and Doddy wrote, asking the question, is it the greatest mountain bike of all time? He was telling me it's the first real enduro bike. Agreed. For that very reason, Hannes. Super nice. Makes sense to me. Next up then, Noah Richards, a board. Just quickly ask yourself, guys, was it better 10 years ago? Ask yourself. That's a giant trance and that was my first mountain bike. It's a giant Yukon. Oh, okay. What was that? More or less travel. I don't know. I think that's less. That looks very similar to what I rode as my first mountain bike. It's pure yuck. That's what it is. It's pure yuck. I can't believe you're saying that. Let's call that. It's nice. It's nice. I like the blue grips. Mashed pedals. More? You want to go more? No, it's nice. Oh, look at that. This is a common-self car. Back to the future. Park bike. Freeride, yes. Oh, you get straight away. No doubt. Look at it. Oh, this is a bit of James, this next one. This next one is a bit of James. I mean, that's a nice-looking bike though, isn't it? It's a good silhouette. We forgot to say whose clash that was. Jeff Bundy's. Jeff. Super nice. Thank you. But yes, you're right. This is a bit of James from Craig and Redmond here, isn't it? It's a bit of you as well then. I wouldn't say no. That's a nice-looking. It's got scale, I believe. Two. I reckon they got some spindles on them. Look at the size of that chainring. That is a big chainring. Oh, he's got some Garrett cassette on it. That's fancy. Yes, that is very fancy. Shall I ring this bell? Yes. I'm out of my jetpack. Definitely ring it. Can I just read this little bit he's put on it? Yes. It says, what's the point of a gravel bike if we can have this? Exactly. He's not wrong. Exactly. Not wrong. What's next, mate? Oh, we have a Commencal Meta from Richard Voicin. I just say, guys, I really like this. Yes. I mean, look how chrome, the chrome, the reds. That is good. Yes. I mean, instantly a super nice. Surely. Go on, mate. Go on, mate. Yes. No, I like it. That's really nice. He's got it all right. 160 Lyric, 140 Super Deluxe. Absolute joy to ride. The only thing he says he'd upgrade it with is a DJI motor. That would be red hot, wouldn't it? Yes. Yes. Nice. Thank you for sending that in. Next one from Jeff Subtle. Oh, a bit of a hardtail. Subtle. Subtle. Subtle. Bit of a hardtail, actually. Yes. Tan walls. I'm liking this. What are the bull bars? Yes. Those inner bars. They're not. That's not for me, that. I'm giving that a super nice. I like a hardtail. Yes, but do you like riding like that? A little bit. A little bit. I've done some miles in my time. Over 10 or 15 miles one time. Big time gravel guy now. Oh, he loves it. All right, Jeff. Well, congratulations. That's a super nice. William Hoffner. You can't ring the bell as wicked a picture as this is because it's non-drive side. It's not allowed. It's not allowed to ring the bell. It looks amazing though. Exactly. That's the problem, William. It's non-drive side. I've got rules. He's got to have some rules, mate. You've got to live by something. All right. It is very nice. And then that is it. Oh, it's a great bike vault. It's a great bike vault. This is a good bike vault, isn't it? There are some really good bikes. Thank you very much for sending them in. As always, keep them coming. Link is in the description down below. What you got coming up on the channel this week, guys? I can't wait to watch. We have lots of new stuff. Firstly, we have James teaching us six ways to ride more like Tom Pidcock. I'll be interested to see that because surely just more power and maybe a few less cookies in the old belly. Yes, get insanely fitter, earn lots of money, go full factory, become more technically better. Tom Pidcock has proved though that you can earn too much money because it was so much money, no one could afford him anymore. He moved to Monaco though and that was perfect. I mean, he's doing okay. We don't need to worry about him and now you can learn to ride like him. Fantastic. Yes, it is. And we've also got, I'm just going to tease this one out, a story, a massive feature story, which has been months in the making. And I'm going to leave it at that actually. That's it, yes, surprise. Let's keep it as a surprise. It's taken a lot of work in GMBN Towers to bring this one to fruition and it's hopefully going to be with you on Sunday. So you're going to have to stay tuned to find out what that is. But that sadly is the end of the show. But just before we go, remember rideablenow.com, head over. Can we unplug him? Like where is it? Subscribe with your email. You can be part of the cause before it begins. Thank you very much for watching. Thank you for the support. See you later. Bye.