Ink Shack #5: MTB Moves

MOVES
Words: Jon Gregory

Through a lifetime of thumbing through MTB, BMX and skate magazines (or studying photos of any sport, really), I have always been fascinated by the shapes people manage to get into.

For my artwork this week I decided to pull away the bikes to reveal some of the shapes us mountain bikers manage to get ourselves into. During the process, I thunk some thoughts.

We are all different shapes and sizes: the ratios of leg length and torso-to-arm length and the way in which we bend and how flexible we are is all linked to the shapes we are able to put ourselves in on the bike.

Boiling it down, the shapes we make on the bike are a true expression of style, and what we have come to recognise as individual style. The shapes that people make define their riding style. I like to think of the differences as unique riding signatures.

Like anything, this can be learned and manipulated to some extent (by both rider and bike geometry), but a rider’s natural style will always shine through, from the tip of their pinky to the way their feet bend around the pedals and the way their hips swing out to the side.

– Jon