Young Mountain Bikers Extinct?

When I started riding in the mid 90's, there were way more riders in their teens and early 20's. It seems like all of a sudden the mountain biker population just ends at mid twenties and up. Most of the bikers I see are in their 30's.

Where are the next generation mountain bikers?

Most people I saw out this past weekend on the trail were definitively mid 20s and up, I believe... maybe it was the area, or maybe it's just that it's expensive, or maybe it's just not cool anymore.
You might see more teens nowadays freeriding on the streets... at least 'round these parts.

i am in my early 20's...im too poor to mtn bike AND do road biking. I mean i hardly get by money wise to road bike!

I think it's the money-parts just go too fast.

I feel that its because in the mid ninties you didnt need a full suspension, ultra light mtn bike to get out there and enjoy yourself. Fat knobby tires and you were good to go. You still dont, but with everything thats out there, most people either feel theyve been priced out, or are taking up another less expensive hobby. Hell you cant get a decent bike for under a grand these days.

You can get a pretty decent hard tail for under a grand... You don't need FS to go out and enjoy yourself.

I agree though, the cost of everything probably keeps a lot of people out of it. I can barely afford my HT.

It may have to do with where you live, etc. When I was able to hop on my bike and had woods in my backyard, I used to mountain bike all of the time. As a renter now, I don't have that privledge, so my bike collects dust.

I'll also add that crashes are not nearly as forgiving to a person's body as they usually are on snow. It seems the more you ride, the faster you ride. The faster you ride, the harder you crash. And its not a matter of if you're going over the handle bars, it's just when and how often.

The industry really has priced out most of the population. A suggestion would be to buy a Schwinn mountain bike from Walmart and upgrade parts as they break. There are also some fantastic used chro-moly hard tails from the mid 90's that are practically give aways, but still amazing bikes.

I started off by riding an old 40-pound Murray mountain bike while riding with friends on Cannondales and Mongooses. Once I road that bike into the ground, I upgraded to a fully rigid hard-tail GT Tequesta. They really don't make a quality light weight bike in that price range anymore. I still ride a hard tail (GT Zaskar with an old Marzzochi fork and a Cane Creek Thudbuster suspension seatpost). It's super lightweight and since I've been riding the same bike for like ten years, I can still ride the difficult technical terrain with the best of them.

You can still get a pretty fricken nice hard tail for under a grand. If the youth were of the enterprising and creative type like my group of friends were, you could put yourself together a nice bike with used parts from MTBR, eBay, etc. for less than $600, very easily. You can have a durable hard tail that will stand up with good maintenance for less than $400 if you try.

I just don't think anyone is trying anymore. The sport has become too established. When it was emerging in the late 80's and 90's, it was a creative, throw together (equipment wise) mentality. Now it is a buy everything off the shelf, have to have certain equipment. I suppose it means the marketing is working.

I built myself a basically top of the line FS XC bike with all XT and XTR components two years ago for about a grand. You just have to have the common sense to know the important places to spend your money. (Hint: it's not on stems, grips, handlebars, seat posts, etc...)

I found out a long time ago that what makes a great mountain bike are the wheels. If you throw a hot pair of wheels on a bike made of bamboo, it'll cook. The next best thing is a suspension fork, and you don't need anything more than a 3 inch xc fork, but be sure it'll take a wreck. Often times the Walmart brands use low quality forks that bend when wrecked.

If I were a young buck looking to get into the sport, I would buy a really old chromoly bike for under $150 and then get myself a super wheelset (on sale) for about $200 and just be sure I have a suspension fork ($150). This kind of bike for about $500 will give you the kind of ride a $1200 bike would give. - Or just by a Walmart bike and throw a hot pair of wheels on that for $400 total.