STEF GARLICKI : Even Gravity can change

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WHO KNEW GRAVITY COULD CHANGE? irstly the bikes have changed so much, when I started everyone was on 26” wheels except for the odd 29” xc bike. We have now seen the industry go first to 27.5” and now 29” for pretty much all forms of riding. 26” is basically dead unless it’s for a kid’s bike. In the gravity scene flat pedals were on a lot of bikes back then and now almost nobody is running flats which is a shame really, for myself included. We were also running 9-speed shifting back then and I started mountain biking 10 years ago now, which seems crazy but yes, 10 years! Boy how things have changed since then …

Fnow we have moved to 12-speed for xc and 7-speed for downhill. One by chain rings are another thing which has come along, back then all xc bikes were running a double chain ring in the front and now just a single with a narrow wide ring.

Another huge change is the fact that now we have enduro bikes which is growing massively. In 2010 it was either xc or dh which now has changed completely. Dropper posts are a big change too, I mean that was a game changer! Companies are going electronic with shifting and now even wireless which is just crazy. The carbon era has come along too with most bikes now being in carbon and even the whole dh scene has gone carbon. Wheel technology has changed, there are so many carbon wheel options now and rim width has tripled. There are now tyre inserts to help protect rims from damage and everyone is on tubeless basically. Next up, E-BIKES have popped up and man, have they taken over! That is the future in my option although normal bikes will always be around. I think that is the biggest development and definitely has given the sport a whole new feel attracting a new audience.

Bikes have grown massively in size in all disciplines. I mean my first dh bike is about 60mm shorter in reach than my current bike and my height has not changed. Handlebar width has grown too, especially in the xc racing side; now it’s almost on par with the downhill bikes. Geometry has evolved hugely, my first downhill bike had a 65.5 deg head angle and now that’s steeper than my current enduro bike! Suspension has really made huge gains and the adjustability nowadays is just insane, plus almost everything is air-sprung instead of coil. This means the weight of bikes is now way less, particularly on the gravity side of things. My dh bike now weighs under 16kg and back then it was about 19kg which is significant. WHO KNEW GRAVITY COULD CHANGE?