Are flow trails actually a form of BMX? (not Mountain Biking?)

[Sirshredalot]

I rode with plenty of old men in Nelson those days and I never heard them bitch.

If only you had learned from them!

[tellybele]

If only you had learned from them!

Ha! No shit..! They brought themselves up as opposed to bringing the environment down...nawmean?

To me this is a sad direction but not surprising considering the popularity and direction these days. It is the camel's nose that will enable the removal of the skill it takes to traverse mountains by bike.

[TahoeJ]

If you need a smooth surface for flow, you are missing out on bringing yourself up to the challenge(pretty much missing the entire point of the MTB, IMHO).

This. I'm not a flow trail hater by any means, but they can get boring / repetitive, and I don't get nearly the same rush as I do when finding my flow on an un-manicured trail. So much more rewarding. To each his own, I guess.

[muted]

I like your rants tellybele but I disagree that it isn't mountain biking. It's fucking mountain biking, just like skiing groomers is skiing.

[PNWbrit]

What's the entire point of mountain biking in your opinion?

To make adults feel like small children again?

[Lindahl]

Good point there flow... However, when a new trail or re-route is proposed/built it most likely will end up flow. You know how some folks like to put ketchup on everything...

Yeah, they just recently destryed a rooty rutted rocky fall line trail with a windy switchba... Scuse me, bermy... flow sidewalk turd in Breck. Thanks for ruining Aspen Alley dirt roadies. Couldn't you build that shit somewhere else, rather than destoying a perfectly awesome existing one? On the other hand, I love the new B-Line (more freeride than flow tho). I swear this town has more XC weenies than the rest of the CO mountain towns combined. At least the enduro craze has the hope of changing that over time.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Anyone who has any time to complain about new trails (any type of new trail) must kinda suck at life.

Oh yeah, yeah, I do hate it when the gnarliest trail in town gets paved over in order to "grow the sport." Thing is, I can't think of one example of that actually happening in real life... But it sure does sound badass to bitch about it on the internet machine.

The term is TV with the clickity clack connected to the world pipe.

[kidwoo]

Unless it looks like this, which is the true mountain bike equivalent of bmx 'trails'.......

http://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/membe...9/dhgnar,18548

Then no.



And yeah I will pay 20 bucks to follow you down dirt merchant then a-line on a 20 inch.

I get to run you over/land on you though.


Fair point though, I do get what you're saying. I don't know (or care) if it's mountain biking but when done well it can be really fun. Hardly anyone does the concept well though. Like almost no one. Some of the least 'flowy' trails I've ever ridden were purpose built flow trails. It's kind of become a synonym for 'shitty routing into slightly more round switchbacks, and awkwardly shaped jumps that kill momentum'

[stuckathuntermtn]

Maybe you complainers are just too gnarly for mountain biking in general?

Have you guys considered speed flying in wing suits? No rules up there, brah. Even above Breck. Just be sure to fill your hydration packs with Mountain Dew. Gotta stay hydrated when pushing the limits...

D00d. 100% daily requirements of yellow 5!

[DasBlunt]

The correct answer here is MTB geometry and trend has become what BMXers want. Ibis rippey is a perfect example.

Back in the day, climbing was way more fun in a stretched out and balanced cockpit, but with travel for the way down. Now it is all geometry with weight on your ass.

[bad dancer]

Kirkford is the new climb trail !

[rip]

[subtle plague]

Unless it looks like this, which is the true mountain bike equivalent of bmx 'trails'.......

http://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/membe...9/dhgnar,18548'

Woah. But to be honest the fest lines are pro/lunatic only.

This on the other hand was built by local bikers, has 1500 vertical feet and is open for the public...... which is even more crazy. It would probably count to the "flowtrails" according to the complaints in this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWbfWC1es18


And I have to repeat my statement that biking in europe has not become super accesible and is well balanced.
I recommend this from 1:20 on he is not only navigating really really rocky terrain...he is flying.
I rode it this weekend and some of the stepdowns into rockgardens are downright absurd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l1uDPAzOgA

This is cosidered a medium run here. and behold it has been modified with north shores! it still looks fairly natural doesn't it? watch from 1:30.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb0kyZvIyOc

[muted]

Woah. But to be honest the fest lines are pro/lunatic only.

This on the other hand was built by local bikers, has 1500 vertical feet and is open for the public...... which is even more crazy. It would probably count to the "flowtrails" according to the complaints in this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWbfWC1es18


And I have to repeat my statement that biking in europe has not become super accesible and is well balanced.
I recommend this from 1:20 on he is not only navigating really really rocky terrain...he is flying.
I rode it this weekend and some of the stepdowns into rockgardens are downright absurd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l1uDPAzOgA

This is cosidered a medium run here. and behold it has been modified with north shores! it still looks fairly natural doesn't it? watch from 1:30.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb0kyZvIyOc

Those first two videos are amazing. At 5:00 during the second video was unique, eh?

[Damian Sanders]

Woah. But to be honest the fest lines are pro/lunatic only.

This on the other hand was built by local bikers, has 1500 vertical feet and is open for the public...... which is even more crazy. It would probably count to the "flowtrails" according to the complaints in this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWbfWC1es18


And I have to repeat my statement that biking in europe has not become super accesible and is well balanced.
I recommend this from 1:20 on he is not only navigating really really rocky terrain...he is flying.
I rode it this weekend and some of the stepdowns into rockgardens are downright absurd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l1uDPAzOgA

This is cosidered a medium run here. and behold it has been modified with north shores! it still looks fairly natural doesn't it? watch from 1:30.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb0kyZvIyOc

Great videos. Nobody is going to call those "flow trails", at least by american standards. They are technical DH tracks with varing amounts of tech and freeride features.

https://www.imba.com/flow-country/trail-characteristics

[creaky fossil]

The term is TV with the clickity clack connected to the world pipe.

oh hey look! it's the fat turd who rides 1x/week for 45 mins/ride, and still thinks he's the dispenser of wisdom & excellence

KOOK KOOK KOOK KOOK! stuckie is CORE, broheem! CORE to the CORE!

Even though I am fat, un-fit, without bike handling skill, and have no mechanical aptitude, I'll gladly dispense EXPERT PRODUCT REVIEWS on the internet. I learned how to recognize woo-isms and regurgitate them myself.

Besides, someone has to fill rideit's shoes. rideit is too busy posting under 12 other handles.

astounding.

truly.

I like your rants tellybele but I disagree that it isn't mountain biking. It's fucking mountain biking, just like skiing groomers is skiing.

no. let me fix that for you, rudy the mute-y.

I like your rants tellybele and I agree that a "flow trail" doesn't involve mountain biking skills and doesn't require a mountain bike. It's more like using one of these things

click me now and ski like stuckathuntermtn

...but calling it "alpine skiing in hip-deep cotton candy" etc etc etc.

now you are making sense

in other chicanery, charade and caricature this week:

"flow trails" fans like to imagine themselves looking like this when they ride their local "flow trail"

but most "flow trail" boolshyte ends up like what is made by Stuckie's Heroes, a/k/a MTB Missoula, who like to build "berms" that are taller than they need to be, and end their support wall pretty much right at the apex of the corner. so you get the "railing the berms" claim rights for your tweet, instagram, vine, faisebuch, brag-a-thon-outlet but you still have no bike skills and no "flow trail" benefits of a supported berm that lets you carry more speed. MTB Missoula "berms" actually are slower than flat corners.

unless you're just like stuckie, in which case they're probably faster than flat corners because anything's faster than a flat corner when you can't corner.

[wendigo]

^^^^only rides flow trails

[steff]

...Fair point though, I do get what you're saying. I don't know (or care) if it's mountain biking but when done well it can be really fun. Hardly anyone does the concept well though. Like almost no one. Some of the least 'flowy' trails I've ever ridden were purpose built flow trails. It's kind of become a synonym for 'shitty routing into slightly more round switchbacks, and awkwardly shaped jumps that kill momentum'

That's exactly what's going on. Seems most places hire a guy with a mini-excavator and someone who "knows bikes" to help guide him shaping the dirt, with no idea or care of the physics involved. It's like riding a gravel road with weird speed bumps and jump-like features making the rider wonder what will happen. Full speed strait sections into a vertical table jump, an off-camber hairpin turn or some type of abrupt, bike bucking maneuver.

The most fun "flow" trails I've ridden are full of roots/rocks/drops. Find the lines, make the moves, keep it smooth, stay alert. But I'm an old skool east coast rider. The kids these days can have the gravel road downhill bmx dirt jump track. Flowing downhill to me is riding a rough trail with the least amount of braking and pedaling.

[creaky fossil]

^^^^only rides flow trails

and only "rides" on the internet. FACT: can't even balance a bike for 2 full cranks of the pedals. FACT: plays the expert since he'll never be one himself. FACT: knows that interwebz experts trump realworld experts every time. FACT: doesn't like your handle's crude appropriation of native murken haunter.

[muted]

I still don't understand what you are trying to say about stucky, creaky. Can you elaborate a bit?

[grskier]

Yeah, they just recently destryed a rooty rutted rocky fall line trail with a windy switchba... Scuse me, bermy... flow sidewalk turd in Breck. Thanks for ruining Aspen Alley dirt roadies. Couldn't you build that shit somewhere else, rather than destoying a perfectly awesome existing one? On the other hand, I love the new B-Line (more freeride than flow tho). I swear this town has more XC weenies than the rest of the CO mountain towns combined. At least the enduro craze has the hope of changing that over time.

Complaining about mountain biking options in Breckenridge is like complaining about coffee options in a Starbucks with a Pete's next door.

Aspen Alley is fun, but I never rode the old version... I saw all the freeridey stuff on the way up the hill... the top (something tank trail) and the options are great for the lycra crowd....

[NW_SKIER]

To make adults feel like small children again?

Is that why they keep making them bigger?

[east or bust]

like this

I got a kick out of that. You KNOW people would be riding that with full on DH rigs today.

[creaky fossil]

I still don't understand what you are trying to say about stucky, creaky. Can you elaborate a bit?

I don't know what you're talking about. I was speaking of myself when I said all that about can't balance for two pedal cranks, etc.

But as to Real Experts and TGR personalities? I say this, and no more.

[kidwoo]

That's exactly what's going on. Seems most places hire a guy with a mini-excavator and someone who "knows bikes" to help guide him shaping the dirt, with no idea or care of the physics involved. It's like riding a gravel road with weird speed bumps and jump-like features making the rider wonder what will happen. Full speed strait sections into a vertical table jump, an off-camber hairpin turn or some type of abrupt, bike bucking maneuver.

The most fun "flow" trails I've ridden are full of roots/rocks/drops. Find the lines, make the moves, keep it smooth, stay alert. But I'm an old skool east coast rider. The kids these days can have the gravel road downhill bmx dirt jump track. Flowing downhill to me is riding a rough trail with the least amount of braking and pedaling.

Heh....."bike bucking maneuver" Oh yes. A million times yes. Too much planning. That's the problem. No one goes back, admits that something sucks and fixes/reroutes things. Because most of these things are going in somewhere with years of planning, approval, permits, and then routes are written in stone. It's kind of nuts. Even the forest service gives you 100ft of an existing trail for reroutes. That's huge.

And to make highwaydamianstarsaunders happy..........they tend to be built with this idea that every trail, everywhere needs to be for 'teaching beginners'. The OG flow trail on this continent, A-line wasn't built that way. That's why for the most part, it doesn't suck. But even now they're (ahem.....hi nickel!) dumbing it down because mountain biking has stopped being a sport and become some personal emotional growth bullshit.

Anyway.....go trespass and build shit in the woods. Then get people excited about it, who defend it and jump the hoops when it's threatened. It's seriously the american way. Very few purpose built bike park trails that go through the whole 'process' don't just suck horribly.