Drawers were once invented to bring order to people's everyday lives. Each drawer is assigned a specific content. And woe betide anyone who mixes them up! There are drawers in the bedroom for socks, in the living room for table decorations, in the office for insurance files or in the kitchen for silver cutlery. Drawers have become an integral part of everyday life for civilized homo sapiens. But there are also other drawers: the ones in our heads. We use them to bring order to our world view, because humans like to divide their world into sections and then put their fellow human beings into all kinds of drawers - including themselves. All people do this, especially mountain bikers. These drawers then look something like this:

The Swiss

The mountain biker of Swiss descent is usually easy to recognize: by his bike, which is barely more than a year old. The bike is always well maintained and cleaned as if it had never been used. As a rule, the Swiss rider believes that only the best and lightest is good enough. And his outfit matches: the colors from helmet to socks harmonize, after all, the single trail is also a kind of catwalk. But he would never admit this, after all, he lives the cultivated trail understatement. Just don't stand out at first glance, but then make a good impression.

The Lycra Italo

The Italians are one of the most fashion-conscious people in the world - until they put on sportswear. Then it's all about as many colors as possible. Ideally combined with as many logos as possible. Italian mountain bikers can usually be recognized from afar. The special thing about the Lycra-Italo is that the general development of mountain biking has bypassed it. He rides hardtails undeterred, but at least in a super-light carbon version. For him, mountain biking is not a way of life, but a form of training. The Race-Italo never gets in the saddle without a heart rate monitor. He doesn't understand the hype surrounding single trails. He'd rather ride up an alpine road and then down it again. Who goes mountain biking for the descents anyway?

The baggy Italo

In terms of style, the Baggy-Italo is no different from its Lycra counterpart. It has also fallen for the allure of as many colors as possible in combination with numerous logos. His focus is less on athletic training and more on descents - but only since the day when a competition was held in the Enduro discipline for the first time. As a matter of principle, the Italian does not do any sport without a competitive background, not even the Baggy-Italo. For him, the single trail is a race track - even if his riding technique does not always suggest this. With this in mind, it is easy to understand why he always wears a full-face helmet on the downhill.

The pensioner

The sport of mountain biking is also familiar with the "pensioner glut". Cycling seniors are becoming more and more numerous on the trails, and not because of the trendy e-mountain bikes. Rather, many of them prefer non-motorized biking - up to the age of at least 70, they are still too young for this support. They prefer to tackle tours on their twenty-year-old bikes, where the last service of the suspension fork coincides with the day of purchase. Trail seniors can also often be recognized by their slightly larger waistlines, which they like to cover with a body-hugging race jersey, which they received as a promotional gift at the 1992 Tour de Suisse.

The German transalper

The species of Alemannic Transalper is primarily found in the mountains during the summer months. For them, the mountain bike is the means to conquer the Alps, preferably with Lake Garda as their destination. They usually own a bike from Cube or Canyon - because of the good price-performance ratio. However, the German Transalper is easy to identify even without a bike: He wears Lycra clothing, quite often from Gonso, a Uvex helmet, Adidas goggles and a Deuter rucksack. Not because these are all local products, but because he was able to buy them at an attractive price during end-of-season sales. Another indication points to the German Transalper: the technical devices on his narrow handlebars. After all, collecting data is at least as important as collecting experiences.

The German enduro biker

The German enduro biker is a devout believer. His religion is mountain biking. Chain oil literally flows through his veins and he is correspondingly knowledgeable. There is no product or technology that he cannot provide expert information on. Which he is happy to do, often without being asked. Like most other types of mountain bikers, the German enduro biker is easy to identify visually. They usually ride a Liteville bike, wear Maloja or Ion clothing, and an Evoc backpack is always on their back. A special feature of the German enduro biker is his riding technique: he compensates for a lack of skill by turning the rear wheel cleanly. This cornering technique is a holy grail for him.

The female biker

All stereotypes of mountain bikers can always be divided into male and female. However, the female has a few special characteristics. Firstly, she wears Ion clothing unconditionally. And always the matching color combination including gloves and socks. Explicit behavioral patterns can also be seen in the decision to buy a mountain bike. While men flirt with the top model, women always choose a cheaper option. "That's enough for me!" The female biker also has clear characteristics when it comes to social behavior. She always fears being the slowest and weakest in the group and flirts with the idea of perhaps starting the tour alone. So that she can then ride around the ears of the men in the group.

The downhill punk

Bike parks have spawned a new species of mountain biker: the downhill punks. They would also make a good trap in the fan curves of football stadiums or in the front rows of a heavy metal concert. But they have chosen the sport of mountain biking. Anatomically, they are easily recognizable by their not entirely well-trained bodies and the cigarette butt in the corner of their mouths. At best also because of the beer can in their hand. Another peculiarity is their decibel-strong communication style. They have experienced pretty much everything you can imagine and are happy to share this with those around them. What is striking about the downhill punks is that they can primarily be seen at the bar at the valley station of the cable car. Their presence on the downhill runs is much less frequent.

The bike hipster

Mountain biking is more than just a sport. It is a lifestyle that needs to be celebrated just like other hip lifestyles. For example, with a barista-style coffee before setting off. Or with a vegan bratwurst after the ride - for a better world. Or with the coolest Instagram feed far and wide. However, bike hipsters are quite difficult to tell apart. Although they cultivate a pronounced individualism, they all look the same. At the moment, they are riding through the suburban forests in Mons Royal clothing on Santa Cruz bikes. The bike hipsters primarily appear in urban areas, in Switzerland almost exclusively in Zurich.

More blog posts by Thomas Giger

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