Who Is The Best All Round Mountain Biker Dirt Shed Show 569

On today's Dirt Shed Show, who or what makes the perfect mountain bike rider? We've got bike vaults and hacks and bodges plus more. Welcome back, everyone. It's nice to start another show with you, Rich. It's been a while. You've been away on a few trips? Richard Fulcher-I have. Yes, I have been a bit here, there, and everywhere. Just dotted around the UK at the moment. Got some cool stuff going for me. Ollie-I'm actually on different seats to what I'm used to. I feel like the host this week. Richard-I know. I don't really sit this side. It's a bit odd, but I quite like it. No, it's nice, but today's topic, it got me thinking because on Sunday, I watched Mathieu van der Poel ride to his eighth Cyclocross World Championship in Holsten, the Netherlands. The course was insane to start with, like the bike handling, power, and all-round ability that those riders have is crazy. Then it also got me thinking, Mathieu van der Poel's also won a World Cup mountain bike race. He's also won World Tour road races. There's this new golden era of all-round mountain bikers like Pidcock, similar to him, but then it got me thinking in mountain biking, we also have these amazing athletes who are capable of just about anything on two wheels. Then where do we rank all-round mountain bikers? Do you have to compete in multiple disciplines or is it just someone who's super talented at whatever they throw their hand to? Simon Robertson Yeah, I know. This throws up a whole host of questions. What is an all-round bike rider? How would we define it? Someone who's obviously got a certain level of fitness, can ride up, can ride down. Their technical abilities obviously got to be pretty high up there, especially if we're talking best in the world, right? Mark Threlfall Yes, because I think you've got a few different types. You've got athletes like Cade Edwards, who seemingly whatever bike he hops on, non-motorized, BMX, downhill, can do whatever he wants on a bike, it seems. Then if you put him in a cross-country race, he'd be totally pants. Simon Robertson Yes. Does that make him not the ultimate mountain biker, as it were, or those attributes that he's got not the ultimate mountain biker? He is obviously insanely good, right? Then if we go to the other end of the scale and we look at van der Poel, technically, you could say, in recent years, he's been slightly on a mountain bike anyway. He's been slightly off, right? Quite literally, actually, a few times. Mark Threlfall Yes. Ever since, I think, when he had that big crash in Tokyo Olympics, where he broke his back, he just doesn't seem to be. When he first came into World Cup mountain biking, he was this super exciting person. He looked like he was going to topple Nino. Recently, he just doesn't seem to have that form, right? Simon Robertson Toppled himself. Mark Threlfall Yes. Simon Robertson Just toppled himself a little bit, unfortunately. Then you say that, but he is technically still insanely good. Fitness, incredibly good. Yes, just maybe the top end of the technical scale, we'll say, is where he lacks. Look at Nino, greatest of all time cross-country rider. Mark Threlfall Yes, definitely. I think there's no arguing there. Simon Robertson He's only ever really raced XC, right? He's done the odd road race, but nothing like, we're not talking Grand Tour, World Tour type of stuff. Mark Threlfall No, yes. I think he's done a few World Tour level road races, but not to much success. Simon Robertson No, but there's no denying that he's got insane technical skills. Obviously, blooming good fitness to be competitive for as long as he was. Because he hasn't competed in lots of other events, if you throw him at a slope style or dirt jump, he can jump, but that's next level again, right? Then do we go, well, Nino maybe isn't an ultimate all-around rider. Mark Threlfall I guess we have the discipline in the middle of enduro athletes who are really good technically, often very fit as well. We were discussing this earlier, it's like people like Richie Rood are probably 90 kilos. Simon Robertson He's a strong guy. Mark Threlfall Unbelievable strength and fitness in an XC race. Do you have to compete in these multiple disciplines? Nino, I've seen a clip of him ages ago, he did a course preview with Claudio. Claudio, who's an ex-professional downhill, could barely keep up with him, but we've never actually put him to the sword, Nino, and been less timely down this descent. I remember Brendog rode with him in Tuscany as well, and I think was amazed by his speed. Simon Robertson He is blooming good. We don't see him in cross-disciplines much, but I have got a little list here. We'll start with Giaffen. World champs, multiple world champs, in fact, in downhill. I think he won a four-cross. Nino, I remember that. Simon Robertson He's competed in Rampage, and he's done a few one-off freeride things back in the day. Nino, crazy video projects as well. Simon Robertson But again, that's a very well-rounded person. He's obviously very fit, very strong, very healthy, very bionic now, bless you, G. Nino, if you put him on an XC bike- Simon Robertson I think with athletes like G, you'd almost back them if they wanted to. If he put all his focus into XC for two years, it's almost like, yes, he's not done XC, and if he raced XC now, he wouldn't be very good. You'd back him if he went, right, I'm going to go 2028 Olympics. You'd probably say- Nino You've heard it here first, people. I'll drop you a message later, G Afford for 28 Olympics. Simon Robertson You'd probably say, with his focus, and with his athletic ability, he is an athletic beast. I don't think he's the right body type for it, but you wouldn't put it past him to be good at XC, would you? Nino No, he's the right body type for medical studies at the moment. Simon Robertson I think that's the one thing that you notice with all these guys on this list and girls. We've got people like Tom Pidcock, XC, road, cyclocross, whatever, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. Nino Got to be up there with one of the best, right? Simon Robertson Road, cyclocross, XC, one at all. They're all people, even if they haven't specialized in a certain discipline before, you would be like, well, if they wanted to, I'm sure they could because they're just that talented and they've got that. It's almost a mindset thing as well. Nino 100%. Simon Robertson Pauline's just like, I'm going to win Olympics and then I'm going to win the Women's Tour de France, and she just does it. Nino 100%. It's like that elite-driven mindset, isn't it? Like you said, it's that strive and drive to succeed and win at whatever they set their mind to. Simon Robertson Yes, and almost athletic flexibility they have. They're so talented at riding a bike, but also as athletes that they can change their body if they want to, to do well in that sport. Nino 100%. I think that is actually a huge point you make there because we do see it on this list. More recently, we'll say Martin Maes, incredible enduro rider, racer, decided maybe enduro is not the way he wants to keep going, has switched his focus to downhill. In fact, even when he was racing enduro, he nearly won and did win an Olympic actually. He did win. He nearly won World Champs though. He's just basically gone, right, I am going to do well at that. Simon Robertson He does well at it. It does make me think what are the disciplines that are easier to think, oh, I might just give that a go and I can be good at it, or are there some where it's just like, no matter how hard you, because it's like some people, like I am 60-odd kilos. I couldn't just be like, oh, you know what, I'm going to get to 90 kilos and be an absolute beast at track sprinting and cycling, for example. Maybe someone like Martin Maes couldn't be like, oh, I'm going to get down to 60 kilos. There is some disciplines where you just, I don't think you could specialize in, but some of these athletes, like you say, you can just almost focus on what they want and they can get good at it. Simon Robertson That's a case of being governed by body type and your physical makeup is actually there, right? That's something that's very hard to change or undo or alter. You can get bigger and stronger, but like you said- This is me, man. Simon Robertson But you ain't going to be like Richie Rude, are you, anytime soon, that's for sure. When I think about, we'll call it the mountain bike disciplines, downhill, enduro, XC, freeride, I mean, you've got trials in there and all sorts. If you're really fit, I think you will do very well at cross-country, short track, and you'll probably do pretty well at enduro because it is a fairly focused on fitness. I think then that you have a fitness end and you have a technical end. You've got downhill and trials even more so, but I don't want to say you don't need to be fit for trials. I think you need to be probably do and quite strong as well. Simon Robertson It's like how much the scales tip towards fitness and skill, isn't it? Simon Robertson Exactly, yes. If you had someone in the middle, I think, so a great case point for this, Jackson Goldstone. Now, to me, he's an incredibly talented rider, only really does downhill and a few of these one-off, not freeride events, but hardline. He's obviously incredibly skilled, incredibly fit, but his body type, and if he switches focus to XC, he actually probably could do really well if he wanted to. Mark Threlfall Yes, definitely. I think two people who I have to include that we haven't, and I think it'd be unfair to not include them, would be Hattie and Tracy Mosley. Two people, both from the, not the Mendips, the Malverns, literally done cyclocross, XC, enduro, downhill, and just can do them all. I guess they're not, they don't look a particular way. You wouldn't say, oh, they look like a downhill athlete, they look like an XC athlete, and they just, whatever they turn their hand to, they can do. Simon Robertson Can I add a third to that? Mark Threlfall Go on. Simon Robertson Anne-Caroline Chasson, French legend, quite literally cross-discipline queen. Literally Olympic BMX, enduro, downhill, probably did XC just because she was a bit bored or something. Absolute OG of being amazing. On that note then, what do you think makes the ultimate cyclist, the ultimate mountain biker? What kind of attributes, what kind of skills? Do you think it's more the downhill end? Do you think it's more the XC end? Do let us know in the comments down below. It is now time for, are we singing? Go on. Hacks and bodges. Hacks and bodges. Hacks and bodges. Yes, it is that time where you send in your weird and wonderful hacks and bodges. Don't forget, the winner can win a prize up to the value of £50 from the GMBN shop. Mark Threlfall We've got some good ones. Simon Robertson Oh God, okay. Kicking things off is Jesse and Levi Ray. I didn't want to spend 150 for some magpads, so me and my dad made some and he sent in this little video. Let's have a look. Mark Threlfall If you listen with sound, you can hear Bugs Bunny. I mean, they've made their own pedals. Mark Threlfall I mean, I don't know. Simon Robertson Are the magpads those ones that use a magnet? Mark Threlfall How do you figure that out? Simon Robertson What was wrong with the original SPD or Crankbrothers cleat design that we needed to switch to magnets? I haven't really looked into that. Mark Threlfall I guess it's just innovation, you're trying something new. I mean, hey, you've made your own. You saved £150 and you spent some time with your old man, so that's pretty cool. Simon Robertson I think that's a hack, isn't it? Mark Threlfall It is a hack. That's a hack. Next up, Adam Skinner. Sorry, Adam Skinner. Need some things to hold my muck off cleaner. Had a cheap dish drying rack from the kitchen and an unwanted gift for the wife. Oh, wow. That's a brave gift. Simon Robertson Happy wife, happy life, eh? Mark Threlfall Yes. Simon Robertson I mean, that looks smart. Mine are normally sat outside in the rain. Mark Threlfall Yes, mine are all on the patio. Simon Robertson That doesn't keep wives happy, I can imagine. Mark Threlfall Hey, it's kind of organized. I quite like it. That's a good hack. Simon Robertson That's a hack as well, isn't it? Last up, we've got from David Gutierrez, or probably David with that pronunciation. Ladies and gentlemen, two hacks or bodgers, we'll decide, in one submission. First one, my goggles broke, so I used my snowboarding goggles. The fit was so annoying that midway through the ride, I tried wearing them upside down and the result was spectacular in comparison. Second one, I secured the nightlight holder to the full-face helmet of zip ties, since that holder is meant for the half-face helmet, which has vent holes. Two for one, guys and girls, you're welcome. David or David. Mark Threlfall I don't know what to say. We've got a winner, sure. That's a bodge, not a hack. Simon Robertson No, that's a bodge. Mark Threlfall That's a bodge. Simon Robertson Like wearing your goggles upside down. Mark Threlfall That's pretty bodgy, yes. Simon Robertson I don't think your nose is meant to sit inside the goggles. Mark Threlfall Every time you breathe, it just steams up. Simon Robertson You need to go home and have a long hard look at yourself, David. Mark Threlfall Upside down. Simon Robertson Congratulations though, you are today's winner. Don't forget, we love to see your hacks and bodges. Please, please do better than David and send them into the uploader linked in the description down below. James, it is now time for the things that we liked this week. You've got a good one for us to begin with. Mark Threlfall Yes, a post from Dennis Ennison, always a BMX specialist for me. There's a few just crazy things in here. First off, the first one is just Dennis getting towed into this massive FMX style ramp. Simon Robertson A big quarter pipe, isn't it? It's huge. Mark Threlfall Then the next one is from Andrew Topper. This is part of the same post. Going into the FMX ramp, trying to do a transfer, massive 540, just misses the landing completely. Walked away luckily. Then just Morgan Wade also doing some really crazy stuff. On an FMX ramp. Simon Robertson Morgan Wade's been around for a while. He's like OG BMX. Mark Threlfall I'm surprised he's not had new knees or anything as well, maybe. Simon Robertson He's had his nails in. It's cool though. I like it. I like it a lot. I've picked out this from Sam Hill. Flat pedal funder from Down Under. It is, of course, hard line out in Tasmania, and he's got these new wrapped Mondrakers, which I just thought with the retro graphics are pretty cool, right? Mark Threlfall Yes, they look sick. Simon Robertson You got the downhill bike. There's the e-bike in there as well. I just thought, oh, they look pretty sweet. Mark Threlfall I'd love to see Sam Hill show a downhill bike. Simon Robertson He has some of the coolest custom-sprayed EWS bikes you'd ever be able to see. Gravedigger I always really liked. Finally, I've added this one in from Charlie Hatton getting rowdy from hard line. Hell of a stack this one. Mark Threlfall I would not be walking away from that crash. Simon Robertson I mean, he is coming in with some pace really fast. Look at that. Mark Threlfall Yes, that is an absolutely mental crash. I'm glad he's all right. Simon Robertson Yes, he just says, pretty sore after this one. See how we go in the next couple of days. Charlie, we hope you're all right, mate. Mark Threlfall It's now time to announce the winner of the FSA competition. Now, one lucky person has won the KFX SIC full carbon integrated cockpit, and the winner is Helder Ribeiro. Helder, please slide into our DMs on Facebook or Instagram or send us over an email. Well done. The details are in the description down below. Now, for your chance to win the Topeak prep station team issue toolset, or to win one of two prep stand team issues, well, you just need to enter by following the link down below, and one of those could be winging its way to you. Winners will be announced in the Dirt Shed Show from Tuesday, 17th of February, so get them in soon. It is now time for caption competition, and we got a corker of a photo this week. Some AI-generated looking photo of Owen. I'm not quite sure why his head looks as small, but it's fine. Is he a contortionist? Yes. I think he needs to see some chiropractor or something. His arm's longer than his legs. Yes. His head's not in the middle, which is slightly concerning. Yes. I think this is like when you take a photo on an iPhone on 0.5. It makes everything look really weird. First up, your captions, though. We've got one from Cameron S523. When a mate asked for a complete overhaul for his bike, Owen thought he said, overall. Good one. It's a good play on words. Yes, not bad, not bad. GW8855, Owen's impersonation of the Michelin Man. It's good. Far off. It's good. And last up from Falafelur76, when you're dressed for the descent but built for lift-off. Owen's always built for lift-off. Yes, that's why he's always got his parachute on his back. We need to pick a winner, though, because they're good ones. They're pretty solid ones this week. Can I give my opinion? You can see if you agree or not. Yes, go on. I'm going to say Cameron S523. When a mate asked for a complete overhaul for his bike, Owen thought he said, overall. Yes, that's a good one. That's a good one. Cameron, congratulations. You've won a prize up to the value of £50 from the GMBN shop. Do slide into our messages, into our DMs to claim that. As always, keep those captions coming for this week's picture. Yes, captions in the comments down below. It is now time for Bike Vault. Yes, the section of the show where we check out your bikes you've sent in. I'm kicking things off. Wraggly Mbop. Is that how you say it? Mbop? Enduro built? David from Greater Manchester here. Wraggly Mbop. I customize for rider enduro and gnarly trails. 27.5 build, RockShox Zeb Ultimate, race-face cranks. Those are bits and bobs. Picture taking in the Peak District of the middle of a dried-up reservoir. That's quite cool. I think that's a solid deal. I know where that is. Yes, being there. Peak District guy on island. That's super nice, actually. Congratulations, David. Thank you very much. I don't think that reservoir will be dried up right now, but that is a good photo. Next up is Eddie with this. Eddie, what have you sent us? A Giant Trance X 29. Relatively new bike, stood against a tree at my local and favorite trails in Derbyshire. Do you know a fun fact about this as well? Go on. I also know where this is, and these are my old local trails. Are you a stalker? Yes, these guys are stalking me, maybe. Eddie, they're really good trails, aren't they? Rode them quite often. It's very stealthy, this bike. I think it's a nice. Yes, I think- Honestly, a bit of color on that. Yes, it's my local trail, so I want to give it to you. Go on. Super nice. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Sorry, I won't be Selenium from now on. Okay. Well, it's a cool bike. Yes, it is. Oh, it's a metal one as well. This is Duncan Roche. Roche? Nice name. I think it's Duncan Roche. Yes. This is a Scott Spark 950, picturing a local promised forest from this summer with my new Scott Spark. Aluframe hit 130, Pike Select 120 shock. It's pretty cool that. I like the idea of that in metal. Yes, I think bikes like that, 130, 120, are always really good fun to ride, aren't they? I always like the Scotts, how sleek they look as well. Yes, they look really- I've not seen one of them in metal before. No, that's what I mean. I think that's super nice. Yes, go on. You ring it. Thank you, Duncan, for sending that one in. Next one we have in from Mike Maycock. He has sent in his Trek Roscoe 8, some minor upgrades, but he said his biggest upgrade is in his fitness. Oh, that's cool. Well, that is the best upgrade you can make. I'm just going to have to do the slide. Yes, I was going to say, didn't need to raise it. I mean, the tan walls, the red grips, it's pretty cool. Yes, I think the photo could be a little bit better. Yes, I agree, but I like that, Mike, you've improved your fitness, so that's really nice. That's a cool bike. I've gone in the middle there, really nice. Thank you for sending that one in, Mike. Wow, look at this, an Emerald. Oh, my days. Look at the tires. This guy is James Salazar. I've pronounced that wrong, Salazar. Salazar. He says- Brilliant reading. Yes, sorry. Probably need Steve's reading glasses. Yes, maybe. He says, I'm Colombian, but I've been in the USA for more than 10 years. I build my bike's frames. I'm from reputable Chinese companies and parts are branded Chinese. I love Shigura. Is that when you have Shimano? Shimano, Magura combos, yes. That's a classic mix. That's cool, isn't it? Bentley style. I do all the paint stickers and custom parts. I think that's cool. Do you know what? There's a heck of a description he sent in with this. It's blinged out, isn't it? Yes, it really is. Would you run them blue tires, Rich? I do like the color. I don't know. A versus they're made by. Jon, I think they're super nice though because I like the fact that he's obviously really passionate about bikes. He obviously loves doing the decals, paints, picking the parts, building it. I think people like that are super nice. It's awesome to have someone send in something who's from Colombia as well. Yes, exactly. Jamie Salazar, as you say. Thank you very much for sending that one in. Last but not least, I should say, what have we got, Rich? We've got Harry Bilbao and this is a Trek Rosca. No, it's a Farley. I apologize. A Farley. Back and neck problems. I stopped biking over 12 years ago, but about three years ago, started again on an e-bike. 2016 Farley he bought just for tinkering, making it mine. Loads of upgrades on there. Local trails are very sandy in the summer, which is no problem for the fat tires, he says, over in the Netherlands. Yes, it's really cool. That's quite a cool picture as well. I can tell he's got a bad or had back issues because he's got very high-rise bars. Yes, you're not far off that. I don't feel like it sometimes. What are you saying? I think that's super nice because again- Well done for getting back out there, Harry. Yes, exactly. As always, we love to see your bikes. The uploader is in the description down below, so please keep them coming in. It's nearly time for the end of the show, but before we go, we're just going to announce what is coming up on the channel this week. First up on Thursday, Ferg's got a video coming out on this component changes everything, and it's him talking about different stem lengths. I never get it much thought, you. No, I'm just the sort of person who runs what comes stock on a bike, really. I'll be honest. I am too, so I'll be intrigued to see his thoughts on that. Then on Sunday, it's been about a year since I underwent some pretty big back surgery for some real severe problems I was having. It was quite a journey, and I hadn't been quite right on a bike for a fair while, so this video coming up is my, I'm going to call it a comeback. Redemption arc. Sort of, yes, in a way. It's basically going through what happened and why, and then tackling a really big ride as I love to, but a proper good one, triple digits, and just getting back on the horse, really. It should be good fun. Stay tuned to the channel for bangers and more. Thank you very much for watching, everyone. We'll see you later. Ciao.