Flatland
Is flatland dying again
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Joined: A long time ago... Posts: 3527 Location: somewherenearcleveland |
Date: 2009-12-13 12:01:17 Direct Link: Is flatland dying again |
| Reply is flatland dying again like it did in the 90's? I've heard of a few people quitting recently..... what reasons did I get for as to why they are quitting? They just don't want to be associated with a sport full of people with the global-flat mentality.... too much mob lynching of the fellow riders over petty differences in opinion(old school vs new school, pumping vs scuffing, europe vs america, etc)... the death of freestyle, and the indtroduction of "if your tricks aren't part of the trends, you just suck" mentality.... to my understanding this rider wanted to quit cause the riding scene isn't what it used to be a few years ago.... from this dudes IM rant I gathered: contests are a joke, the parts are a joke, the pro riders promoting the garbage parts are a joke.... and basically came to the conclusion that flats never going to get the respect he felt it deserved.... the #1 quote of the conversation "flatlands so inspiring it makes me want to be a pro flatlander, so some day I can win contests and buy an expensive trailer" the sarcasm was layed on pretty thick if you didn't pick up on that.... Dude, to me, it sounds like your riding for the wrong reasons if your going to quit because of that shit.... ride because you like riding, not because you want flatland to be huge, or you want to be some kinda rock star from it.... none of thats ever going to happen... people like the guy Im talkin about above are the reason the sports in the shitter.... asshats thought the sport was growing, cause posers were buyin up all kindsa flat gear, which put out this false vibe the sport was actually goin some where... and when the posers get burnt out on the shit, and they come to the realization that a $2000 17lb bike isn't going to make them terry adams, they just get frustrated that they aren't learning any tricks and quit... if you ask me, flatland didn't grow at all since I started riding, it appears to have shrank.... the poser bubbles popped, and the populations droppin like flies... so that brings on the question at hand.... is flatland dying again, and what can we do to save it? if you ask me flatlands dying cause flatlanders weren't true to the game.... pro's faked the funk on bunk ass products, and it brought on the concept that other things about the sport could be fake too.... like our riding population... fake ass products attract fake ass people.... which is probly why we had the poser bubble to begin with... just my 2 cents... if your a real rider and got an idea as to why you think flaltands dying, or what anyone can do to save it.... im all ears... cause right now.... it would appear the posers are winning the war over control of the sport....
I'll support dans comp till bmx companies start selling direct to their customers... | |
Joined: 2009-11-14 Posts: 1 Location: |
Date: 2009-12-16 04:58:08 Direct Link: Re: Is flatland dying again |
| Reply I dont think it has everything to do with shit parts and bad attitudes. That might have a little play as for as people quiting but not the full reason why. I havent been riding super long but all I can say is that the learning curve is hard. Really hard. The skill level has gone way beyond the beginner basics. It's almost discouraging when you see some of these pro riders take the stage and completely murder the floor. When you have guys like Mattias and Hiro out doing combos for 1+ minutes and most people can barely pegwheelie for more then 10sec it truly makes you think that you suck. A lot of beginners think that flatland looks easy then after time come to understand that it's prob the hardest thing they'll ever do in their life. Even the people who started in the 80's and 90's cant seem to keep up with the current skill level of riding. I love riding and the social "face to face" aspect of the flatland scene, but as far as skill level required to post riding videos on the net, well thats another story. | |
Joined: A long time ago... Posts: 3527 Location: somewherenearcleveland |
Date: 2009-12-16 09:02:34 Direct Link: Re: Is flatland dying again |
| Reply Yeah, flatland probly has one of the steepest learning curves of any sport I've ever done.... but I don't think the difficulty of the sport is what brought tons of people to the sport just to up n quit.... when I started flat we didn't have a large mass of people flocking to the sport like we did in the past few years.... but that large flock of people, just fell off the map.... Something attracted those people that had to have been linked to the past few years.... and I think it had to be parts related.... they didn't flock here when we had 35lb bikes.... the only thing I can think of that attracted these people is the light bike ideology.... I think something about the idea that one could make a bike, that "in their eyes" was better than a pro's because they could make it lighter.... I think the idea that any asshole could build a bike that was lighter than a pro's, was what attracted these people.... and when the novelty of that wore off, and they came to the realization, that they still can't do any tricks, they just disapeared.... and as for what you call the current skill level.... I would prefer to call "current trend".... anyone thats ridden long enough and ridden with enough people can tell you that once you get to a certain level of tricks.... the difficulty is all personal.... one person might find rolling harder, while another might find scuffing harder.... I've met dudes who could spin x-foot hitch hikers, but couldn't for the life of them scuff a funky chicken... and vice versa, I met guys who could scuff almost any scuffing trick, but had a very hard time rolling a hang 5 or other rolling tricks... once your past the basics, every trick is going to be a completely different difficulty for every individual... and thats something totally impossible to account for in a contest.... so I wouldn't call whats winning contests now, the current "skill level".... just a trend in what wins... those winning contests right now, are typically the pumpers.... and it's pretty apparent to me, that pumping just came naturally to those people... but it doesn't make it harder or easier than stuff other pro's are doing... Hell, I've even met a few older pro's who for what ever reason, just don't do cross footed tricks.... just because I can do an x-foot hiker, and they can't/wont does not by any means make me a better rider.... riding is too personal of a sport for difficulty to be any bit acurately measured...
I'll support dans comp till bmx companies start selling direct to their customers... | |
Joined: 2009-03-07 Posts: 428 Location: London Ont.  |
Date: 2009-12-17 17:49:56 Direct Link: Re: Is flatland dying again |
| Reply Flat is tough. I think Tanq. has a very valid point in saying guy's show up spend 2000 on the lightest trendiest thing that's out and give up soon after they realize the bike has little to do compared to effort.
I don't know if it's dying or not, but that seems to be a pretty common theme that I've been reading about for years, lol. I guess dying is a really long drawn out affair. Personally I dont know, I ride by myself and haven't been in contact with any riders in my city which is 400 000 strong. I wish I had some guy's to ride with regularly, because I think my riding would be at a whole different level. But as it is I ride to have fun and I will as long as I physically can.
As for the new stuff, its beyond me, its almost like a black art, lol. I really don't find it discouraging because most of these guys live on their bikes and have for many many many many many years. I applaud their commitment, but thats not me and thats not what I want from riding.
I dont like throwing the poser word around because its a pretty degrading word(especially when Tranq uses it,lol) but I agree with alot of what he says in this regard. Trendy bike builders and sell out pro's(think french) are responsible for the poor quality of parts and now people are starting to wake up to this and the Standard Thread on GF is proof of this. Thats another thing worth talking about Im shocked at the number of guy's posting there on that thread that really shouldn't be adding their 2 cents. I think when Rick says he wants to hear what riders are looking for, I dont think he meant the guys who are learning squeaker's to add their preferences.
Flatland is like everything else, it goes in cycles, when its high, sales are good and gimmicks come out to make a quick buck and when it starts to go low , just the real riders are left and they aren't buying the shit or over priced B.S. parts (40$ for a fucking tire,100 for 2 pegs). So I hope it hits a bit of a low so all the shit gets cleansed and only quality parts are available. JOIN THE REVOLUTION | |
Joined: A long time ago... Posts: 3527 Location: somewherenearcleveland |
Date: 2010-03-24 11:26:17 Direct Link: Re: Is flatland dying again |
| Reply Yeah, one other thing I noticed since I been called crazy and shunnned from the masses.... a nice chunk of the people who called me crazy and really had no inciteful information to debate with, are missing.... go on global and look at a lot of those names of people who said I was stupid, or nuts.... theres was like 2000+ posts in that thread.... half those people are gone and theres no word from any of them... seems to me, the shitty parts fucked them out of the sport just like I said they would.... LOL flatland's dyin alright.... I'll support dans comp till bmx companies start selling direct to their customers... | |
Joined: 2009-04-26 Posts: 13 Location: |
Date: 2010-03-25 22:28:49 Direct Link: Re: Is flatland dying again |
| Reply Nope, flatland isn't dying. Healthy contest/jam scene worldwide. Riders will always drop in and out. Three riders in my region just purchased bikes this past month after not riding for the past several years. Going to be some great sessions in my area. Stoked!
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Joined: A long time ago... Posts: 3527 Location: somewherenearcleveland |
Date: 2010-03-25 22:59:40 Direct Link: Re: Is flatland dying again |
| Reply well, its good to hear people are comin back, but I hope they still got their bikes from years back... cause its gonna be hard gettin something decent.... I'll support dans comp till bmx companies start selling direct to their customers... | |
Joined: 2009-04-26 Posts: 13 Location: |
Date: 2010-03-26 07:45:34 Direct Link: Re: Is flatland dying again |
| Reply Nah, just schooled them on what not to purchase. Found out today from GF another rider is in my area AND Jomopro is coming up! | |
Joined: A long time ago... Posts: 3527 Location: somewherenearcleveland |
Date: 2010-03-26 09:43:45 Direct Link: Re: Is flatland dying again |
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so you pretty much told them to get strowlers? I'll support dans comp till bmx companies start selling direct to their customers... | |
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