# why do mtb'ers call street riding 'urban'???



## coma13 (Sep 3, 2005)

i've never quite understood this... i always just called it street...


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## hardrockcromo (Sep 19, 2005)

urban is a city environment.. so urban is riding in the city..plus when i think street i think more flatground style..when i hear urban i think rails, ledges, stairs etc.


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## nrdbomber (Aug 31, 2006)

*where u r ban*

hey, since i'm a...um...i guess...mtb'r i thought i'd put in my two cents.

those of us who have been on mountian bikes for so long, are used to riding in the woods, desert, rock etc...basically off-road.

so, when some 26" (and 24") mountian bikes branched out to be built more specifically for terrain found in cities (aka urban areas), the term "urban" was applied to those bikes and that style of riding.

i'm not a bmx'r, but i think the term "street" is a bmx term.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

Who cares? So long as you're having fun on two wheels it's all good in my book.


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## hardrockcromo (Sep 19, 2005)

snaky69 said:


> Who cares? So long as you're having fun on two wheels it's all good in my book.


i think labeling things is wrong, but sometimes its appropriate. yes we should all support each others riding style, but soemtimes it doesnt happen.


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## snaky69 (Mar 8, 2005)

Sure there are different types of riding, but whether you call it street, urban, jibbing or whatever, it is the same thing.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

yeah, Coma13, I've wondered the same, and brought up the point in the "Why huckers and jibbers..." thread...

I still use street, but I guess, like nrdbomber said, 'cuz I'm a bmx'er as well, although I've been mtb'in for a long time too...

Should we start referring to conventional mtb riding as "forrest"? hey, let's go shred some forest! or, what about "woods" - hey, you wanna go ride some wood?


when I hear the label "urban", I unconciously think about commuters or messengers tearing through traffic on their old chromo fixie bianchis and stuff... nothing to do with "street" riding, although all these terms may confuse the hell out of a non-biker....


and yeah, Snaky69, I agree as well, but comes down to another philosophy... No matter how much, or in which language (or even all languages!) we try to explain, discuss, or argue these points... biking still has absolutely nothing to do with any of it. 
Action is the only true sense of the form.


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## Cru Jones (Aug 10, 2006)

BikeSATORI said:


> yeah, Coma13, I've wondered the same, and brought up the point in the "Why huckers and jibbers..." thread...
> 
> I still use street, but I guess, like nrdbomber said, 'cuz I'm a bmx'er as well, although I've been mtb'in for a long time too...
> 
> ...


Haha... you can go ride some "wood." I think I'll take a pass...

Yeah, some of these labels are stupid. But, at the same time, if you call me a mountain biker... I'm gonna punch you in the face!! :nono: I'm a BMXer... it's just that my bike has 26" wheels and suspension.  Or, I suppose you could call me a dirt jumper.

And it's def "street" not "urban." Maybe they thought "street" was too close to "road." So, they thought they were doing us a favor... :idea:


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

because urban is considered city


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## Tracerboy (Oct 13, 2002)

because there is way too much labelling in "mountain biking." now partly because there are so many types of mountain biking even though now a days a lot of it isn't even done on mountains. i call it street riding but i dont care much if someone decides to say urban even though it sounds goofy. im sure i have used the term without thinking. to me riding a bike is riding a bike. i dont really consider it much different if you decide to ride a bike with bigger wheels and suspension or a little bike that is rigid...i just love riding.


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## Psycle151 (Dec 20, 2005)

Sorry Cru, you're definately a mountain biker. And "urban's" just as good a term as "street".


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## Cru Jones (Aug 10, 2006)

Psycle151 said:


> Sorry Cru, you're definately a mountain biker. And "urban's" just as good a term as "street".


:madman: :madman: Not true!! Not true!! I only ride my bike in the mountains cuz that's where the jumps are... :madmax:

Edit: Sorry, it's just that whenever I hear the term "mountain biker" I picture spandex and no skills. And, if somebody asks what I do and I say I'm a "mountain biker," well then they have no idea what I do on a bike... they're probably picturing me pedaling around with my seat up my a$$ enjoying the scenery.  I'm a BMXer (I do have a 20... been riding one since I was 5) or a dirt jumper.


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## free rider (Nov 14, 2005)

well, ive always called it riding, i dont know about you guys but the standard phrase around here is "hey guys, wanna go ride"

standard reply "Fyck ya"

i dont care what you call it. if my bud comes up and says you wanna go fro a little urban session at <insert local spot here>, im always down, or you wanna go hit the street, sure why not.....im going to go out and ride my bike and if you wanna come with, give'er, and call it what you like

..............enough said, go ride


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

i call it "lobster poaching"......


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## pavement_hurts (May 13, 2006)

I've gotten a few responses from the general public along these lines:

person: what kind of biking do you do?
me: mountain... some XC, some freeride, street, urban, etc...
person: so you ride mountain and that stuff like lance armstrong?
me: huh? armstrong?
person: you said urban and street?
me: :madman: 

I usually just have to say I do bmx stuff on a mountain bike and they eventually get it. My favorite occurs when I ride the trials bike. They want to know where my seat went.


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## bitterrider (Sep 21, 2006)

smt called it jibbing! :madman: who the hell says that??????


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## ihatemybike (Nov 27, 2005)

Jibbing is the stupidest sounding word ever after Stoppies.


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## Dave Moore (Apr 15, 2004)

Labels are annoying but I suppose somewhat necessary due to all the types of riding available.

I ride a aluminum hardtail XC bike.
I ride a steel - soon to be single speed - still a xc bike.
I ride a 20" BMX bike
I ride a road bike

I drop the seat on the aluminum or steel XC bike and throw flat pedals on it and all of a sudden it becomes a makeshift *Trials* bike...my so called XC bikes are used for many types of riding.

After Christmas I plan to buy a 24" wheeled DK General Lee for dirt jumping...

Basically I just want to ride a bike. Call it what you want, I just ride.


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## GorillaTactics (Nov 12, 2006)

ihatemybike said:


> Jibbing is the stupidest sounding word ever after Stoppies.


"jibbing" is a snowboard term that basically refers to sliding or bonking or ollieing your board on or over some kind of object that is not snow. Could be a rail, tree stump, or whatever else. I don't much care for the word's application in reference to two wheels....but whatever.

You can call me a one eyed one horned flying purple people eater if you want, I'll just be riding.


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## ServeEm (Jun 15, 2005)

I don't give two sh!ts what people think about me or what I do. If they wanna picture me in spandex, well... that's their issues to deal with alone. When outsiders ask me what I do I tell em I ride bicycles. Reason I say bicycles is cuz I used to say I ride bikes and they'd come back at me. Oh you ride motos? That kinda bugged, trust me hella people think bikes are just dirtbikes. People that bike I'd specify since they know what I'm talking about. The term Urban I only heard from kats that ride mtn bikes. Like, "Urban Assualt" that's a dumb title. Why do you need to make it sound tough?


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## sittingduck (Apr 26, 2005)

free rider said:


> well, ive always called it riding, i dont know about you guys but the standard phrase around here is "hey guys, wanna go ride"
> 
> standard reply "Fyck ya"
> 
> ...


Amen, brother!!! Why get hung up on the language.... just RIDE! :thumbsup:
</insert>


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## JMH (Feb 23, 2005)

Heh. It seems that 90% of the annoying misunderstandings are when you try to talk to non-riders about riding. They just don't get it, and terms that we understand mean nothing to them.

I eventually just stopped talking to non-riders about bikes. I ride literally all kinds of bikes: road, xc, cyclocross, street, freeride, etc. and answering nothing but dorky questions about Lance Armstrong just wore me out.

People: "oh, so you're the professional bike racer! Wow! Do you wear those biker pants?My 5 year old son has a bike!"

Me: "Yeah."

JMH



ServeEm said:


> I don't give two sh!ts what people think about me or what I do. If they wanna picture me in spandex, well... that's their issues to deal with alone. When outsiders ask me what I do I tell em I ride bicycles. Reason I say bicycles is cuz I used to say I ride bikes and they'd come back at me. Oh you ride motos? That kinda bugged, trust me hella people think bikes are just dirtbikes. People that bike I'd specify since they know what I'm talking about. The term Urban I only heard from kats that ride mtn bikes. Like, "Urban Assualt" that's a dumb title. Why do you need to make it sound tough?


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## Dave Moore (Apr 15, 2004)

ServeEm said:


> The term Urban I only heard from kats that ride mtn bikes. Like, "Urban Assualt" that's a dumb title. Why do you need to make it sound tough?


That made me laugh 

My guess is plain ol testosterone. Ya gotta sound mean, man 

The Lance thing and now questions about Landis and whether or not he doped, Ugh! :madman:


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## EscourtU (Aug 15, 2006)

The way I interpret it is as follows. Mountain biking- Riding through the woods and dirt trails, Street- is what it is, Urban- utilizing steps, drops, and all the other natural and unnatural obsticals, basically just riding over any and everything that looks tempting. I am not going to get into the others as we all know what they are. It doesn't matter what you ride, how you ride, as long as you ride.


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## xray (May 5, 2005)

I like to ride my bike.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

xray said:


> I like to ride my bike.


haha!

we should ALL just copy and paste this to any discussion we have on this forum... no matter the topic, just simply:

"I like to ride my bike."

or at least should just be the conclusion to every thread. :thumbsup:


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## free rider (Nov 14, 2005)

BikeSATORI said:


> haha!
> 
> we should ALL just copy and paste this to any discussion we have on this forum... no matter the topic, just simply:
> 
> ...


ha, done.....oh and consider this the conclusion

I like to ride my bike.

no sense arguing, or small gheto of mtbr dont need no stinking labels, we are bicycle riders, we can shred, rip, huck, ride, fall, balance, pedal, grind and whatever else.

go ride.

oh and fyck it was cold outside today, whats your guy's weather like, ours was -40 (celcius, well i guess F too) with the wind chill, aka 10 minutes and your ears have frostbite.....brutal


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## xray (May 5, 2005)

free rider said:


> ha, done.....oh and consider this the conclusion
> 
> I like to ride my bike.
> 
> no sense arguing, or small gheto of mtbr dont need no stinking labels, we are bicycle riders, we can shred, rip, huck, ride, fall, balance, pedal, grind and whatever else.


I'm glad I didn't have to explain my point :thumbsup: good riding.


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## kidwoo (Aug 11, 2004)

Because riding "street" came to bmx from street skating.

Riding urban came from the rich snowboarder kids who were also more likely to buy mtbs than 20 inchers who called riding ledges and rails off the mountain urban. Same with the word freeride coming from snowboarding.


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## sriracha (Jun 23, 2004)

back in the day, we used to call it "urban assult" - mainly becuase urban environments were foreign to mountain bikes, at the time. we would descend high, from the hills in a posse to assult the urban environment, rape and pillage. then return to our huts, high up in the mountains.


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## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

coma13 said:


> i've never quite understood this... i always just called it street...


Street riding = commuting.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

womble said:


> Street riding = commuting.


your interpretation = wrong


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## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

Actually, I wasn't trying to be argumentative- just pointing out that if you tell a non-cyclist that you ride on streets, they're probably going to assume that you're a commuter. After all, lots more commuters around than "urban assaulters" or whatever the term is.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

womble said:


> So you're saying commuters don't ride on streets?


hey, sorry for the bluntness...

but no, and I'm not saying mtb's don't ride on the streets either.... but as far as I've known it, and still today, "riding street" has always been shreddin' the gnar in the cityscape. :thumbsup: not just "commuting" I don't say to some friends, hey, let's ride street! then we go down the street from point A to point B specifically for that reason only for transportation...
bmx terminology... if someone doesn't know this, it becomes quite obvious where their roots came from I think.

maybe you are confused with the term "road" or "roadie"


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## =ChrisB= (Aug 8, 2006)

Were all mountain bikers, so why lable?


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## Cru Jones (Aug 10, 2006)

womble said:


> Street riding = commuting.


Ummm... are you a roadie??? I smell spandex.


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## pavement_hurts (May 13, 2006)

is this still being debated? i thought it went to the thread graveyard...


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## Psycle151 (Dec 20, 2005)

This thread is ABOUT labels for labels sake. Obviously we all agree that they're irrelevant. So the next "core" person who chimes in with something along the lines of "why are you talking about this, you should just go ride" should probably stay out of it. If you'll excuse me I'm gonna go jib-assault the urban streetscape.


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## dirtyharry (Jun 27, 2006)

I think the thin line between street riding and urban riding is the size of wherever you're riding. Big city or outdoor complex (think Canadian province, LA, or Houston) = urban, 4 stair and a ledge in a 25 x 25' area in a small town (think Chapel Hill (my town), or some wharf town in Massachussetts) = street

???

Just a thought.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

dirtyharry said:


> I think the thin line between street riding and urban riding is the size of wherever you're riding. Big city or outdoor complex (think Canadian province, LA, or Houston) = urban, 4 stair and a ledge in a 25 x 25' area in a small town (think Chapel Hill (my town), or some wharf town in Massachussetts) = street
> 
> ???
> 
> Just a thought.


oh boy.....

Cru, Coma13.... I think we've lost them all....

I really could care less what they are all called, as it has been pointed out plenty of times (and yes we know), they are ONLY WORDS, but that is what this discussion is about, "words" and the meanings attached.
but I've only been trying to explain to some people who never seemed to quite grasp it.
Street and urban are not a size denomination either. :madman:

Oh man, I could never even guess how hard it would be to attempt to explain to some typical mtb'ers that even the term "riding trails" actually means riding dj's....

I sometimes feel like I'm just repeating myself to co-workers what a granny gear is, or what "taco'ing a rim" actually means, among other things.... :madman:


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## NotQuiteJdm (Jan 19, 2004)

Nobody I know calls street 'urban" so get over it and why worry about it in the first place.


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## dirtyharry (Jun 27, 2006)

yeah, I agree it doesn't matter, but there is probably some small reason (mine was just a slight possibility) that the terms street and urban were coined in the first place. It would be interesting if someone could find out the actual reason why these two different names for the same thing were made.


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## batvette (Dec 10, 2006)

Because it certainly isn't ROAD and hints that you are probably dodging alot of hostile things.


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## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

BikeSATORI said:


> maybe you are confused with the term "road" or "roadie"


Nah, roadies = long distances on road bikes. Usually wearing brightly coloured lycra and wrap around sunglasses . Quite different from commuting, which is about getting from A-B for work, dodging pedestrians and avoiding being hit by cars.

Using lables, at various stages I've transitioned from cross country mountain biking, to touring to commuting. I'm just making a transition back into mountain biking, and _possibly _even into this "urban" thing (if I could figure out what it is). At least, I live surrounded by 30 story skyscrapers and have started bumbling around on staircases and very modest concrete drops. It's fun, and I haven't managed to hurt myself too badly (yet).

People shouldn't get too hung up on this thread- none of these labels are serious, and have different meanings for different people. For instance, I find the term "urban assault" completely cringe-worthy, where others find it quite normal. And I'm still trying to figure out if I think All Mountain is really anything more than a useful marketing term.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

womble said:


> *It's fun*....


excellent, you've attained enlightenment!
may you reach satori on each and every one of your rides. :thumbsup:

"urban assault" is only used around here sarcastically, don't get confused. please never say it, ever.
well, unless you go on a serial killing spree within your city, mowing down people and structures all alike.


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## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

BikeSATORI said:


> excellent, you've attained enlightenment!
> may you reach satori on each and every one of your rides. :thumbsup:


Hah- at least until I hurt myself


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## pavement_hurts (May 13, 2006)

I will finish this debate once and for all.
A=mountain biking
B=urban
C=street

B=C
B and C = A but only when applied to 24" or 26" wheels
B and C are subsets of A but only when applied to the above stipulation
20" wheels may fall into B and C but never A:thumbsup:


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## womble (Sep 8, 2006)

We need a Venn diagram


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## dirtyharry (Jun 27, 2006)

you're making my brain hurt . .. :cryin: 

not really. If you want to make your brain hurt, try doing an essay about time travel. That's some heavy shi+!


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## JBsoxB (May 18, 2004)

.WestCoastHucker. said:


> i call it "lobster poaching"......


me too...


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## free rider (Nov 14, 2005)

wow.....its same ****

nuff said


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