If you are a mountain biker you must have noticed people losing interest in cycling and mountain biking is top of the list people are quitting mountain biking and the reasons are astonishing.
The overall trend for mountain biking has long been declining over the years and the only reason for its survival can be seen in advertisements, not from the companies but the people.
Mountain biking is a really fun sport there is a lot of action involved and many people are attracted to the sport every year the number increases but all of that is on the surface.
If you look at the data that number said to be booming every year is in fact on the decline and that’s really sad, it’s a really cool sport and people love it very much. but more and more people are giving up mountain biking every year.
So is mountain biking coming to end? yes, sadly if things stand as they are mountain biking may shrink to the extent that it may become nonexistent. of course, there is a chance this might never happen but if things stay like then the worst possible might happen.
So let’s discuss how things turned out this way and why is this happening.
Money and technology :
By now you may have noticed mountain biking is expensive average prices of mountain biking expenses tools, transportation, labor, maintenance, and other expenses count in big trips, and everyday snacks count all in and you are looking at a very high cost.
So hows is technology taking a part in it? in the past few years, technology has been taking off too quickly to keep up if you bought a bike yesterday the very next day you find out things have changed and that is hurting the average mountain biker in many ways as well you might have noticed it as well.
Companies race :
It’s not just people that are affected by it, companies are also struggling on their end as well, at first glance you might think that most big brands are monopolizing production and other things to their advantage that is true to some extent but they are struggling as well here’s how.
Remember how you wanted a mountain bike and it always runs out of stock? well, there is a good reason for it mountain bikes are produced in stocks some models sell well and others not so well but companies don’t stop production they keep releasing new stuff because if they produced the model that did well it would cause them to go 6 months behind but they have to produce newer and better models to keep up with the competition and at the same time provide diversity in their products to keep their overall gross margin as well.
So who’s benefiting from it all and where is all the money going? so you might think now if bike producers are not gaining much then where is all the money going? There’s a lot happening here money is not going to anyone particularly but its spread to many small fractions (which i will explain below) and when these fraction come together it all takes a toll on the regular mountain biker, first lets take a look at all the factors.
Accessories market :
There are alot of bike manufactyrers and new bikes with new and better geomatries but somethings stay the same. Accessories and maintanance tools the bike manufacturers mainly work on the frames geomatery and other aspects but the accessories and tools remain the same for almost all the bikes and without you knowing in a year alone you are spending almost the equal amount of a standard bikes money on your accessories and tools.
Today Accessories market are making more or the same amount of money that any big mountain bike manufacturer, so what do you think happens when there is so much flexibility? yeah they expand and new designs same fuctions, one idea 10 products and so on so fourth.
Trip costs, park fees accomudations and other expenses : You bought a mountain bike for the sake of fun like everybody else so you will probably want to do all the things others are doing that means big trips visiting parks but all of those involve other things like tools tents accomudations snacks food expenses and other expenses count those in the cost expenses.
Losing interest because of time limitations : Now that you know how and why people lose interest in mountain biking due to to its expensive nature The other most effecting cause is the time.
mountain biking is time consuming and you have to travel to a nearby park or a trail to strat and you go on from there and most of the mountain bikers are young people ranging from 16 to 30 years is the average number you see on trails and as they age the responsibilities start to increase and they get over burdened.
They have to work to keep to keep their families fed that means doing a job or a buiseness that can consume almost your whole day but even if they manage to pull sometime off you need to spend some time with the family as well taking them on trips or just having dinner outside some day and other household chores that leaves you with very little time and that time goes to friends and if you are left with a little more you are exhausted and call it a day.
Over time even if they manage to get time for mountain biking they already have lost enough time to keep up the interest slowly the interest starts dying and people leaving the sport for good.
Tracks and private parks closing down : You might not think
that parks or trails closing can effect the mountain bikers since you can always find woods near you to mountain bike but in reallity this is the reason some mountain bikers quit mountain biking as well the trails that are old and only good area in that vicinity people are barely managing to spend time on those trails and if for some reason they get close that place once brimming with people looses half of its audiance they were already on the brink of triyng to lose the sport it gives them another push over the fenceand they end up quitting the sport.
Is mountain biking going to disappear soon :
No mountain biking is not going to disappear so soon but there are chances it may very well be gone in near future goverments and local authorities are closing down trails and parks in different regions in different countries in the name of forest protection or trying to give excuses like those grounds will be used for different projects that nearly never happen.
And witht the climate change and the conservation of the native animals habitate we might see more of this in the up coming years. but private parks will stay open and here’s what will happen.
Once again the people will take advantage of the situation and private parks will demand huge sums of money in the name of renevations and trails optimizations at this point only a handfull of people will be able to enjoy the sport as a luxury.
So whats the main cause thats driving people to quite mountain biking : its money if you do mountain biking and at some time you will want to go for the professional races as well only to lose big sums of money and gaining nothing in the end, unlike other sports in mountain biking only a few people make it and that involves alot of dedication and time.
back to the topic money shaves of about 50% of the peoples interest in mountain biking and then there’s time management that could take out 30% because alot of mountain bikers are young who have already started families or just going to start one soon the other thirty percent goes in to the trails closing and other various reasons.
Is there a way to fix it all :
Sadly there isnt with the excessive advertising is keeping the sport a float and at the same time the main cause of it killing the sport at the same time, so we can just hope for the best possible outcome but at the moment that doesnt seem realistic.
Why are companies not doing something about it : sadly this world is all about each to its own instead of the process slowing down it will increase more because people will try to squeez out as much profit as they can from it even if it hurts the spirit of the sport or the sportsman.
Conclusion :
Lets hope that all my and other peoples speculations turn out wrong and the sport makes a come back but at the moment that seems thats a very unlikely but we have seen the same pattren happen with other sports and somehow they kep a float to the point that it takes off to its glory days again.
Let me know what you think about all of this : let me know what you guys think about all this ordeal or if i am completely wrong here, and what are the points that i may have missed.