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10 Brutal Truths Nobody Wants to Admit About Mountain Biking

Jared Hoff

353,094 views

After years of riding and reviewing mountain bikes, I've learned some BRUTAL TRUTHS the hard way. Today, I'm sharing 10 of them with you to hopefully help you avoid making the same mistakes. If you're new to mountain biking, or a seasoned rider... PLEASE WATCH THIS!

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20 Comments

@JaredHoff Creator 9 months ago Pinned

Thanks for watching! Get ready, because the sequel to this video, '10 BRUTAL Truths About Buying a Mountain Bike,' is dropping on Friday 12/12/2025! Hit the bell so you don't miss it!

@rock_machine01 1 year ago

You forgot the best point of mountain bikes once you get your kids into them they’ll never have money for drugs.

@ddbear8786 1 year ago

The biggest brutal truth that I learned is not even on this list: if you get into the sport intensely, it is a very dangerous sport. For this reason I’m keeping my riding casual, mostly very tame easy trails at slower speeds. I don’t want the injuries that come with it. This is what I consider the most “brutal” truth.

@patrickheavey9090 1 year ago

It's not what you ride. It's that you ride that s important.

@EvansMTBSaga 1 year ago

Brutal Truth #11 - The industry isn't failing, don't listen to rage bait channels and go enjoy the bike you have!

@guambra2001 1 year ago

Probably one of the biggest brutal truths is that no one cares what bike you’re riding. So you might as well ride something that you like. For me I’m fortunate to ride many different styles of bikes, and the thing I notice at my local trails is that no one really cares. Maybe e-bikes sometimes because of the local laws either for it or against it but overall no one cares.

@anthonyvizzo1456 1 year ago

The other side of #3 is sometimes pro riders are completely ignorant of gear. They were born to shred and they just run what the sponsors give them.

@andrewtruffin4781 1 year ago

Let's not forget about the $10,000 price tag opposed to the $1,200 price tag. Most people don't want to refinance their freaking house to buy a bicycle.

@mvntis_tv 1 year ago

My only rebuttal to the upgrade addiction is that I saw a YouTuber explaining how making your bike look the way you want it helps keep your motivation to take care of it and ride it more. For some reason that stuck out to me. Coming from the car scene that resonated with me a lot.

@markthompson7817 1 year ago

Don’t ride to get fit. Ride to have fun, fitness is the bye product.

@543whitey 1 year ago

#6. When I started 25 years ago in the northwest, the biggest features were logs we'd have to get over, maybe some rock gardens. Mtn biking was not yet what I call 'BMXified'.: gap jumps, tail whips, etc... These past few years I was riding with some younger colleagues (Millenials), and started thinking that I need to do all that stuff. Finally shook my head and remembered why I started biking in the first place, much happier now.

@Pigsandpies1984 1 year ago

Regarding #10. If you’re over 50 years old, being airborne is thrilling, but highly consequential. Being fit enough to do XC mountain biking takes some dedication when you’re older. An injury, even minor can sideline an older person for a season. Risk to reward is highly personal. I try to keep my tires in the dirt as much as I can stand.

@BoxCarBoy12 1 year ago

As an XC bro, I just want to correct you on one thing: XC is arguably just as mental as enduro. Physical fitness is the bare minimum, you need mental fortitude to be able to grind out long hours or to push past your limits in the pain cave to eke out more speed/miles. A different kind of mental challenge than sending technical features for sure, but a mental challenge nonetheless

@Fernando-gq5uh 1 year ago

Weight matters… but I found that lifting weights and working out for endurance helped me drop more weight I ever could on my bike and my on bike performance increased significantly.

@REYisKING 1 year ago (edited)

In 2019 I hit some roots at terminal velocity and hit the Earth pretty hard. After a fractured elbow and 3 ribs, I sold my Trek Remedy 8 and bought a 2021 YT Capra Al. I wanted a bike that was stable and WAS over biked. It's a perfect bike for the hills in Santa Cruz. I made upgrades here and there to smooth out the trail. Im 50 and just want to get down the trail unscathed.

@ManWithNoFear 1 year ago

1:00 good thing i don't have money for a full squish, yet sendin it on a hardtail

@bashar5792 1 year ago

Bro your video made me realize how much the internet takes my joy because of my envy that i dont have bikes like most of the people i see on tiktok instagram etc. I liked your clip so much bro and its good that there’s still people on the internet which arent scared to tell the truth. +1 subscriber bro i hope you make it

@AvgJoeMTB 1 year ago

I get the "over-biked" comment a lot as I ride home from the trails. I'm not sure why folks think they need to comment on my choices. I enjoying using all the travel on big features, and I also enjoy pedaling home on paved paths. It's none of their business.

@TimberWight 1 year ago

Thankyou for putting out a video that has some sober thought behind it. Im definitely guilty of a few of the truths you made. One big problem i was having for a while, was falling into that bougie/prestige mindset where i wanted all the latest bikes and parts. But i took a step back and decided instead to do a full teardown and rebuild of my 2014 trek remedy and fell in love all over again. Sure its 11years old now but that doesnt make it less of a bike.
This is a prime example of great mtb content and ill be subscribing now that ive come across your channel. Cheers brother 🤙

@markymarknj 1 year ago (edited)

Even though I'm 63 and retired, I struggle with the mental part of riding, even though I'm not a hardcore MTBer. I've watched tutorial videos about how to do bunny hops and other tricks that'll help any rider, anywhere, any place, and at any time. Bunny hops are good for going over curbs, like I have to do to pick up a section of trail by my house. The mental part is a biggie for me for sure!