THE 2000s
The scene was rapidly on the up and began pushing the limits to scary new heights
Mountain biking was now thriving in the UK. The magazine reached an all-time high in terms of circulation and there was plenty of British success to shout about during what was to become a highly progressive decade. But first there was a bout of foot-and-mouth to contend with that temporarily halted riding across the UK. We responded by offering more alternative places to ride and continued with more outrageous ideas of what to do with mountain bikes and mountain bikers. Team MBUK rider Helen Mortimer rode underwater in the Red Sea, Kona Clump pro John Cowan helped us build a mad wooden loop-the-loop to ride and we pitted Steve Peat and Rob Warner against the Marines, all interspersed with annual lake jumping events.
Peaty began to dominate the UK race scene and had several near misses at the World Championships but did become the first Brit to take the World Cup series title in 2002, while Greg Minnaar showed huge promise at a young age, taking the World Champs win in 2003. The first Fort William World Cup was held in 2002 and we sent MBUK team captain Will Longden to check it out, with Stu Thomson (now the filmmaker behind Danny MacAskill’s Imaginate and The Ridge), among others. Its popularity proved infectious and the iconic venue was awarded the World Champs in 2007 as well as the World Cup for the following 16 years and counting.
Our talent spotters got plucky teenagers Rachel and Gee Atherton involved in a whole host of MBUK features before they made regular appearances off the back of their successful race careers. That hit a high point when they both won at the Val di Sole World Champs in 2008.
The freeride scene was massive and it became fascinating, if a little scary, to watch its progression throughout the decade. Red Bull Rampage made its first appearance in 2001, won by Wade Simmons, and as the Crankworx festival at Whistler in Canada grew, we headed out there for a first-hand experience of the world’s most famous bike park – and never wanted to leave.
Big bike movies like the New World Disorder series created a buzz back when you had to wait for a video to arrive through the post, rather than watching it on your phone! Danny MacAskill showed how far we’d come by bursting onto the scene in 2009 with his Inspired Bicycles video via YouTube and then came and wowed the crowds at our very own BikeRadar Live festival.
The downhill scene continued to boom, with bikes like the Intense M1, Orange 222, Giant DH Team, GT DHi and Iron Horse Sunday on the ‘highly desirable’ list. Brakes and suspension got better in a very short amount of time, while geometry slowly began to move in the right direction. Even though Specialized had had their fullsuspension ‘Enduro’ bike since 1999, it wasn’t until the early ’00s that bikes like this really started working their way into the mainstream. Slowly, as these early trail bikes improved, it seemed like a new market was emerging. By the end of the decade, we essentially had early versions of many of the trail bikes we’re riding now, though with much steeper and shorter geometry, less sophisticated damping and more chainrings.