My Mistake History
Dorking Up MTB
Not to brag, but I’m pretty awesome at screwing things up. I’m the Donald Trump of mistakes. Wait… does that work? Maybe not, but my point is that my path to mountain biking mediocrity was a bumpy and circuitous one – largely because I’m a stubborn SOB.
There are a couple more here I didn’t even get to. Likely more. Feel free to identify them below. I won’t take it personally.
Stubbornness with more than a dash of arrogance are mostly to blame. I held on to the belief that the way I did things was was the best way. Because that’s the way I was doing it. Duh. As you can imagine this has often gone badly.
While I was often a pigheaded idiot, there are things I can’t really entirely be blamed for – because everyone was botching sh!t. Or there were no alternatives. Here’s the list of mistakes I can only take partial blame for – but mistakes are still mistakes when everyone is dorking it up.
Crappy Flat Pedals with Crappy Shoes. Suntour beartrap pedals were pretty much all there was back in the early 80s. And they were slippery as butter on a glass floor. Paired with crappy skate shoes, grip was just a rumour. And then we went to toe clips
These were even better in the wet.
Toe Clips. Once you got used to riding with toe clips it wasn’t so bad. Specialized made a touring shoe that had a flat area where your cleat would be for pedalling efficiency which was pretty good. But it was a tough balance between strapping down tight and staying in during a crash. Still it was better than the alternative.
Barends. As I mentioned – it’s still a mistake if everyone makes it.
Narrow bars. I have no idea what we were thinking, but there was a time when dead straight bars cut so short your brake levers almost touched were CORE!
This guy wasn’t very committed. Easily another 3/4″ on each side to come off.
Long stems. Pedalling efficiency for XC racing? I guess we thought they looked cool as well, but 150mm stems? WTF were we thinking? And these bikes didn’t have short top tubes.
I had one just like this - but in red. And I loved it.
Large bikes. I rode a 21” frame. I’m 6’ tall. I still have it actually. There is only ball clearance on a cold day. Eventually I overcompensated in the other direction. See below.
Lycra Alll The Time. Bad almost all the time. I used to ride to work when I was a school teacher. I’d walk proudly into the school with my junk on display without a second thought. Before changing for work that is; I wasn’t entirely clueless.
Even a Bell V1 Pro helmet can’t save these fashion felonies. Left to right: Carl Withler, Mike Wallace, Cam McRae and Doug Imrich in the tie dye shirt. Circa 1992? Photo – Bruce McRae
Clearly I wasn’t a free thinker. But I thought I was. If 150mm stems were cool I wanted a 160. Narrow bars? I’ll cut my grips down to make them even narrower. I’ll do stupid even stupider than you. Just watch me.
Eventually the dust began to settle and there were more people mountain biking and figuring everything out. And smarter people with more experience began to appear. And publications not unlike this one. This made it easier to identify those f@ckups – but often I didn’t listen.
Here are some highlights of my later boneheadedness.
Braking with the wrong fingers. Lots of people make this mistake even now. Their brake levers are mounted too far out so they have no choice but to brake with two fingers. In the age of disk brakes this is a huge error. I was on cantelvers but I still managed to find next level stupidity with a creative twist; I used my ring and middle fingers and hung on with my pointer and pinky. Once I finally listened to someone and went to one finger I became much less crappy on a bike.
I can’t tell you how I came to the conclusion this was good idea.
Fat grips. Like Donald Trump (insert joke here) I have small hands, but it always seemed like I got sore using thin grips. And then one day on a long hard descent I realized I was having trouble hanging on. It was one of those realizations that is retroactive; I realized I had always had trouble hanging on. I tried a few narrow grips and found some Giant-branded ones I could sink my fingers into and I was off to the races. Again – less crappy. Anybody need some fat grips?
Fulltime Saddle Up Riding. If you are new to riding you might be amazed that there was a time when some of us rode without ever dropping the saddle (I realize some XC riders continue this tradition but they can’t be helped). On the North Shore even. I finally relented on a trip to Rossland B.C. with Trevor Hansen. I looked down a particularly steep and heinous line and realized I didn’t have a chance with my Flite saddle poking a hole in my sternum. Once I got with the program I had a great day (complete with crazy lettuce) and I rued the unnecessary suffering I’d inflicted upon myself.
Dropper Posts. This was an error of judgement. I knew about the Hite Rite back in the day but never tried it (because I never lowered my saddle – see above). And when Gravity Dropper sent us a press release I thought it was stupid. Why not just stop and lower your saddle? Yep.
Riding the wrong size. I’m a little over 6’ tall but for years I rode medium frames with the saddle jacked. There was a time when some bike sales people (myself included) advocated riding the smallest frame you could since a) smaller is lighter and b) smaller is stronger. And maybe even more lively. Sometimes though smaller is stupider.
Suspension too soft. I was once a sag addict. I was obsessed with a supple initial stroke and I often sacrificed ride quality for this ‘benefit’, and spent too much time riding deep into the travel and bottoming out. And missing out on the actual benefits of suspension.
I’m sure there are a few classics here. Racing mountain bikes among discarded hypodermic needles is one you can’t see in the photo. There was a 150mm stem on that 21″ frame and it's still there today. Photo – Bruce McRae
Not Taking a Lesson Sooner. As mentioned above, it’s still a mistake when everyone does it. Why do we think nothing of ski lessons, even at a high level, but rarely consider learning how to ride a bike properly? A half day lesson changed my riding dramatically and permanently (thanks Shaums!) and I’m probably due for another. Do it. You’ll thank me.
Not Re-learning to Jump. There was a time when I could jump. Not well. Not with style. But without being terrified. And then I had a nasty crash and some concussion issues and I never got my mojo back completely. Occasionally my wheels still leave the ground but rarely on purpose and not with the frequency, style or amplitude I’d like. Maybe that’s what my lesson should focus on. Because what’s more fun than flying?
This was a re-enactment of the Repack Downhill – on 25th anniversary reproduction Stumpjumpers. No mistakes here. Except the GoPro maybe. Photo – Forrest Arakawa.
I have some updated mistakes two years later. Of course. Surprisingly I've only got two to add.
Being lazy about maintenance. In the last year or so I've done a better job at staying on top of bike maintenance. We have a lot of tinkering to do and I like to do most of it myself. I used to leave a tube in a tire for a few weeks before fixing the tire, put up with a noisy derailleur and let my brake pads wear to metal. And I never cleaned my bikes, using the excuse that it was bad for bearings. Now I try to do my maintenance either right after a ride or at some other time well before my next outing. Running a tighter ship has been good for my bikes and my riding.
Not Being Fussy About Suspension Set up (also laziness related). A busy schedule and tight ride windows are great excuses to let things slide, and like maintenance there was a time when I didn't obsess about my tune. With some help from Arthur Gaillot I am getting better at the process and more meticulous as a result. I still have a long way to go but I try to have a shock pump with me at all times so I can tinker more frequently.
I could add riding 820mm bars for a time but that process bore fruit so I'll pretend it wasn't an accident.
Lately I’ve become less stubborn. At first I wasn’t impressed with 29ers, but I didn’t write them off - at least not completely – and now I’m riding one I really like. I gave up my heroic efforts to be the last flat pedal rider in my crew as well, and I’m loving clipping in right now.
All this change in mountain bikes has made open-mindedness a necessity - unless you want to become bitter keyboard warrior who wants to make mountain biking great again. And much of the change I have lamented… Boost for example, has has left a few positives and mountain bikes are more rad than they have ever been. I’ll likely never lose the grumpy skeptic that lurks within, but that old bastard isn’t quite as crusty as he used to be.
When you are done adding to my list please add a few of your own.
Comments
Jonas Dodd
7 years, 11 months ago
I have a friend who made aero bars by adding three pairs of bar ends mounted end to end inboard of the shifters.
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fartymarty
5 years, 6 months ago
I'm guilty of running Scott AT4 bars on my first mtb. They were cool tho and it was the early 90's.
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goose8
5 years, 6 months ago
Ran the AT-2 and AT-3s. So light. I'm not light. So lucky I never broke them.
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Merwinn
5 years, 6 months ago
Still have my 20+ YO Control Stix somewhere in my garage. Although I have no idea why.
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mevp
8 years ago
One word: drillium
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Nouseforaname
6 years, 3 months ago
Mountain biking is ALWAYS dorky.
It's in the nature of the beast. We sweat and strain and get mud splattered and think we're shredding hard only to be dumped on our face by an unseen root no more than an inch in diameter. We'll never be cool. Embrace it.
Being technology driven it's always going to leave a trail of "OMG remember how bad XXXXX was?" behind it.
You can't look back and judge past performance against todays benchmark. Pretty much all of your choices were perfectly acceptable BITD Cam, don't beat yourself up too much.
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Tim Coleman
6 years, 3 months ago
Disagree there bud. We're talking relative dorkiness here. And on that topic riding without a visor and with stanction protectors was always a faux pas. Also Gazzalodis were always rubbish, and 24" rear wheels were only useful to correct crappy geometry. But who am I to judge, I thought a 7" double crown fork on a hardtail was a good idea at one point in time.
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Jerry Willows
5 years, 6 months ago
and you used to like Nevegals...
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Tim P
8 years ago
We rode what was available at the time. Canti's, narrow soft alloy rims, elastomer forks and lycra. It wasn't just you, it was everybody. And there are still many who fit the bill 🙂
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David Mills
8 years ago
I rode with toeclips and straps for years, still have the scars to prove it. The key was to tighten the strap just enough so that you could twist out when need be. Very similar to the action required to get out of SPDs. Getting into the pedals was a high-consequence maneuver, as a miss would send the bottom of the pedal scraping along the shin. The MEC Light Hiker was the footwear of choice, due to its complete lack of grip, extreme flexiness, ability to absorb and retain water, and low price.
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litespeed74
7 years, 6 months ago
I got lucky. I won some straps, power grips or something like that, at a race. Went to get gas on the way home and someone took them from my front seat. I'd like to thank that thief.
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Jonathan Harris
8 years ago
No 3″ Gazzoloddi tires? (Ahead of their time?) I spy a 24″ wheel on the back of that Bighit… and the stanchion guards from Core Rat… how about fingerless gloves? Then there were the little neoprene sleeves to go on your brake levers to give more grip.
I think my biggest mistake/buffoonery was switching to 1.7″ "mud tires" for winter riding. They were way better "because they cut through the mud"… nope they were just fricken scary!
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Cr4w
8 years ago
The 24″ rear wheel was necessary for extra 'acceleration' on High & Dry (the trail pictured, I think). That was an awesome bike at the time.
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Pete Roggeman
8 years ago
And maneuverability. Don't forget that.
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Mammal
6 years, 3 months ago
It WAS an awesome bike. A 26" rear would have taken it to 11.
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sagalbot
8 years ago
Those Gazzoloddi's were the best. I rode them on my DJ/Skatepark hardtail, but I guess mostly because back in that day my dirt jumper was my also DH/Trail/Park bike.
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Cr4w
5 years, 6 months ago
Now that would be considered a daily driver fatbike.
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qduffy
8 years ago
Fun article, Cam. I think us oldish guys can look back at our mistakes with a point of pride. We made, propagated, maintained, and persisted in this stupid crap for a couple of decades so kids these days wouldn't have to make the same mistakes. We took one for the team. We beta-tested MtnBike 1.0.
You're welcome.
I know I was a product of my time. Everyone was searching for that sub 22lb xc bike. You'd rationalize all sorts of things - like you, I cut down my bars so the bike would be lighter and 'get through the trees better'.
But I think the biggest mistake I made was stopping. I moved to Vancouver in 98. Had a couple of years riding the endowment lands and stuff, but then had a few rides in Squamish and on the North Shore, broke my GT RTS3 and promptly stopped mtn riding. Gained 40lbs, took about a decade off, and then one day, riding with my kids along the Whistler Valley trails I took my commuter bike into one of the little skills parks and just as promptly as I had quit, I bought a new Rocky and started riding again for real. Lost 40lbs. Life is so circular.
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Cooper Quinn
8 years ago
It must be something with the Quinn name.
I quit for a while, too. That was dumb. I'm glad I figured that mistake out….
I consider the rest of it 'product testing', not 'stupidity'.
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Mammal
6 years, 3 months ago
I never stopped, but slowed WAY down for about 5 years while at the pinnacle of school busy-ness. I honestly didn't realize at the time why my life was completely imbalanced for that period, I just thought it was school.
As soon as I thrust myself back into the thick of it, balance (and focus) returned. It's just an absolute anchor point for my life.
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hankthespacecowboy
6 years, 3 months ago
I'd like to defend the pic of the Big Hit as "period correct."
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Jitensha Kun
6 years, 3 months ago
Forgive me if someone already said this, but I don't think any of these are mistakes. Rather, the list is just a timeline of being a mountain biker in the early 90s to today.
What people can forget is that we weren't so much developing mountain riding culture as we were transitioning from/overcoming a century or road bike culture.
I think that where we are with mountain biking after only 20 years of collective learning is pretty good compared to other riding tribes (road, city, bmx, etc.).
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Mike
8 years ago
it's funny - in spite of this recognition of past mistakes, we're still painfully resistant to changes ongoing right now. not you of course - just everybody else 😉
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Esteban
8 years ago
"they have no choice but to brake with two fingers. In the age of disk brakes this is a huge error" you meant "hydraulic disk brakes".
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Cooper Quinn
8 years ago
Remember first gen cable disc brakes?
No one who ever rode them does… they're all dead.
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Esteban
8 years ago
Maybe in a fancy world where everyone can buy new components? Here in the third world you'd be surprised how many riders are still on V-Brakes.
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Pete Roggeman
8 years ago
V-brakes are better than those early mech discs - we just didn't know any better.
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Kos
6 years, 3 months ago
Crazy talk. Avid cable disc brakes worked SO much better than V-not-brakes.
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Merwinn
5 years, 6 months ago
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Chris Cogsdil
8 years ago
Yeah, I always thought V brakes were pretty legit. At least in my climate where it rarely rains. They're still widely used on BMX race bikes.
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Cooper Quinn
8 years ago
I'm with Rogge. I'd take a good set of V-Brakes over early mechanical discs any day of the week.
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Esteban
8 years ago
I see… I wouldn't know, I use mechs but not early ones… Biggest difference with decent V-Brakes I have noticed is they take longer to burn-in (?).
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Cam McRae
8 years ago
One problem with V-brakes on the North Shore was wearing through rims. That could happen in a few months. Another issue was that to get the stopping power needed for our terrain they had to be working perfectly. I used to use shifter cable and housing because it compressed less and provided more power and I had to do brake maintenance after every ride. So glad those days are over.
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Peter Leeds
6 years, 3 months ago
You obviously never "put out" to get 521 Ceramics, a rim to this day I still remember well. I got home after every ride to carefully inspect the rims to ensure no ceramic coating got chipped off. Going to disc (321s) mooted that point. And ensuring the rim was straight. Every ride.
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Alex D
5 years, 6 months ago
Oof. Terrific modulation with that housing, right up until it fails catastrophically. Glad you're still around.
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Merwinn
6 years, 3 months ago
Still have a set of '04 BB7's (connected to pre-'00 XT levers) on my '01 Stiffee/grocery bike. They still stop better than any chichi Euro CX canti's or last gen V-brakes ever could.
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Merwinn
5 years, 6 months ago
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Cam McRae
8 years ago
True. But there aren't enough fingers to make those awful early mech discs work properly.
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Cooper Quinn
8 years ago
I'm still convinced there was some sort of sorcery or black magic involved in those.
Brakes turn kinetic energy in to heat. That's how they slow you down.
Those early mechanical discs got hot as F*CK… yet somehow didn't slow the bike down. Wut?
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DJ
8 years ago
what are today's dork features on bikes? will we look back in 10 years and say, look at how redonkulously long that bike is how did they ever ride?!
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jason
8 years ago
1) Steep head angles. 2) Front derailleurs. 3) Avid Elixirs.
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Cr4w
5 years, 6 months ago
Let me preface this by saying I've been guilty of all these:
Super short chainstays on every size. Tiny people riding 29ers with 800mm bars and/or insanely stiff carbon wheels. Tall socks. Going back to fanny packs and strapping tons of stuff high up on your bike. Guys who wear $600 carbon helmets but no other protective gear in the bike park. Changing standards that make high end bikes nearly obsolete every two seasons.
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Jitensha Kun
5 years, 6 months ago
We have a local guy making custom frame bags for the fanny pack crowd. I do have to admit that I run a fanny pack in the winter.
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ashroadadam1 .
8 years ago
That top pic….looks like High & Dry in Squamish. Yes?
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DrewM
8 years ago
Too funny!
I seem to recall that infamous local wrench John Quayle had a MtB with a bar so narrow the brake levers had to be run at different angles because the barrel adjusters overlapped!
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Cr4w
8 years ago
Mrazek! Mrazek!
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DrewM
8 years ago
Who doesn't lust for the manly aesthetic of the "sabre" like silhouette of an upwardly curving top tube that reaches its thrusting pinnacle at exactly the point where stand over should be measured?
Besides… I never bought one and there is something unfair about getting called out by a guy who owned two Hannebrink forks so he could get six rides in (3x each) before having to do a complete tear down!
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Cr4w
8 years ago
I think we've all felt strongly about some weird stuff over time! I'll see if I can find a photo of me riding High&Dry on my hardtail w/ Hanebrinks.
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Eurosquirrel
6 years, 3 months ago
Excellent article, Cam. I consider myself fortunate enough to witness the MTB evolution right from the start. And just like you (and many others, I suppose), this blessing is also connected to curses. While I'm being guilty of most of the mistakes you described so precisely (shoes, pedals, stems, 3" Nokia tires, etc), I also added a few of my own. FOr example, buying the first Formula hydraulic disc brakes (on my Rocky Mountain 2XS), and making breaking with the rear, due to constant brake fluid on my disc obsolete, thinking a White Bros. DC110 double crown fork make me invincible, buying a Proflex (the girvin fork was cool, though), and of course, the absurd idea that you dress on the bike the same way you would go surfing (what was I thinking?). But, hey, as qduffy mentioned so correctly, without us being ready and willing to test any absurdity the industry thought up, these young kids wouldn't get all these bikes that won't break for a price that won't break the bank, either. We were crash test dummies and pioneers alike. Think about it, when I was the first to put 'moto style' riserbars on my bikes, everyone thought I was insane. My Gravity dropper post was the talk of Finale Ligure for an entire summer, lol. Evolution certainly is great, isn't it? But so is having the luxury to look back and living a part of our history. Happy trails.
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Kos
6 years, 3 months ago
Some good stuff, but I'm going to call hooey on two things:
1. Thick(er) grips rock. Skinny, hard as rocks, lock-on grips don't benefit anybody except bike shops (easy on and off). Wolftooth Fat Paws FTW!
2. The vast majority of riders I run into run their sus far too stiff. Most post-ride o-rings I see at trailheads are maybe two-thirds of the way to using full travel. Or maybe they're just too busy effing around with their dropper posts to ride fast?!
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Cam McRae
6 years, 3 months ago
No disagreement there. The thicker grips are just wrong for me and my Trumpish hands - clearly not for everyone.
Too stiff is a mistake just like too soft is a mistake - but too stiff is probably more redeemable in a high performance situation.
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hankthespacecowboy
6 years, 3 months ago
Mmmm.... Ti hardtail, Z1 fork, XTR - still sounds sexy to me!
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Boomshakalaka
6 years, 3 months ago
I second that !!!!!
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sleep
8 years ago
I remember putting 42 teeth chainrings from road bikes to our race bmx. 42-16 was the speed that time around `87, guess it was progress.
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OldManBike
8 years ago
Surely this is the most charming defense of Boost I've ever read.
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AndrewR
8 years ago
Hilarious, my Wednesday morning laugh taken care of before 0730!! Thanks.
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Jonas Dodd
8 years ago
Behold the supreme beauty of the 425mm syncros propost.
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Pete Roggeman
8 years ago
He used every mm, didn't he?
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ZigaK
8 years ago
So witch finger is the right one? I use the middle one.
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Neil Carnegie
8 years ago
You're still talking about brake levers right?
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whatyouthink
8 years ago
😉
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Cam McRae
8 years ago
Opposite the left one?
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pedalhound
6 years, 3 months ago
It's just mountain biking, super dorky sport...it's not you, it's all of us!
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Peter Leeds
6 years, 3 months ago
I read this list, and am guilty of more than one atrocity. For a long time, the shit bike to own was a Ti hardtail with a Z1 Fork, King hubs, XTR V brakes and Sunburst Rims (the ones that had multi colours on them.....Rasta Mannn). Lacing patterns mattered, and whom built your wheels, too (I recall with fondness that to have a set of DanSed Wheels was a big deal). But when you are on the cutting edge, things change fast. But those bear claw pedals on unarmored shins...you only learned that lesson once.
From the photos: nice to see Core Rat armour (wish I still had some) and the Core Rat Stanchion protectors (there was a time when this mattered). Or Roach Top tube protectors (superfluous as you never intended to have kids) or even more, the Roach Stem protector, to keep the stem nice and shinny.
How many remember break off derailleur bolts?
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AlanB
5 years, 6 months ago
Flexible stanchion shields? Those were for slackers. Real men had rigid plastic stanchion shields 'cause we crashed... a lot!
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materials-guy
6 years, 3 months ago
I still have my 2000 Kona Sore Ti hard tail, but it no longer has a 24" rear wheel and a 7" DC Sherman Slider on the front.
It also no longer weights >35lbs!
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dtimms
6 years, 3 months ago
We can make fun of all the old stuff and ask what were we thinking. But a picture popped up on my facebook feed of me in lycra on my rigid SS in Moab. Rocking a Twinkies jersey and a huge mustache. I laughed at how silly I was. But then I remembered that rigid Karate Monkey took me on more adventures/miles/smiles/fun and awesomeness than any bike I have owned since. We can ask why we didn't upgrade or what we were thinking, but don't ever forget how much fun we had back then!!!
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Cam McRae
6 years, 3 months ago
Excellent point!
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AlanB
5 years, 6 months ago
This comment has been removed.
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