Bike Filth

Tim Portlock
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The raw ride through cycling’s wildest stories. BMX, MTB & madness.

  1. 3d ago

    Why Has Nobody Made THIS Mountain Bike Game?

    Mountain biking has riders, teams, sponsors, mechanics, contracts, race weekends, injuries and budgets... so why has nobody made a proper mountain bike management game?Well, I decided to try.https://play.unity.com/en/games/79ad9e8d-c91d-439f-84f0-26a83dcadda2/downhillmanagerwebbuildMTB Manager started as a very basic idea inspired by my love of mountain biking and games like Football Manager. I had no game development or coding experience, but after months of working on it, it's finally starting to resemble an actual computer game.In this video, I'll show you how far MTB Manager has come, take you through building and managing a downhill team, and explain where I want to take the game next.But I also need your help.I'm currently looking for people to test MTB Manager and give me genuine feedback. Windows testers are particularly needed at the moment, although Mac users are very welcome too.You don't need any game-testing experience. I want people to play it normally, try different things, find bugs, tell me what's confusing and, most importantly, tell me whether it's actually fun.I want MTB Manager to be shaped by people who genuinely understand and love mountain biking, so suggestions for features, riders, teams, sponsors, race weekends and the management side of the sport are all welcome.There's also a Crowdfunder running to help support the continued development of MTB Manager. Depending on the reward, supporters can even become part of the game, including having their name included as a rider.https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/mtbmangerYou absolutely don't need to contribute financially to help. Testing the game, reporting bugs, suggesting features and sharing the project are all hugely valuable.So have a go, try to break it, and let me know what you think.Could MTB Manager eventually become the mountain bike equivalent of Football Manager?There's only one way to find out.Stay Filthy.#MTBManager #MountainBiking #MTB #DownhillMTB #BikeFilth

  2. Sep 26

    Mountain Biking Before YouTube... You Had To Be There

    Mountain biking before YouTube was a completely different world.No Instagram. No Trailforks. No endless bike reviews. No race clips appearing seconds after the finish. If you wanted your mountain bike fix, you had magazines, VHS tapes, catalogues, bike shops and whatever information your mates could give you.In this episode of Bike Filth, we're going back to the days before mountain biking lived permanently in our pockets.We're talking MBUK and Dirt magazine, staring at bike catalogues until they fell apart, discovering trails through badly drawn maps, hanging around local bike shops, MTB posters covering bedroom walls and watching films like Sprung, Kranked and New World Disorder over and over again.We'll also look at how the arrival of forums, broadband, YouTube and eventually social media completely changed mountain bike culture.Modern MTB media is incredible. We can watch racing live, learn how to repair almost anything, discover trails, follow professional riders and see new bikes the moment they're announced.But when mountain bike content was harder to find, did it somehow mean more to us?Maybe mountain biking wasn't better before YouTube.Maybe it was just different.Let me know in the comments what you remember about mountain biking before the internet took over.What magazine did you buy?Which MTB film did you wear out?Which bike catalogue did you stare at knowing full well you couldn't afford anything in it?And if you could bring one thing back from pre-internet mountain biking, what would it be?Subscribe to Bike Filth for more mountain bike history, nostalgia, forgotten bikes, legendary brands and stories from MTB's past.Stay Filthy.You Can Watch Sprung  @SprungVid  and lots of other videos made by the legendary  @alexrankinfilms  on his own channel. He's also got loads of really awesome stuff for sale on his website https://alexrankinfilms.com#MountainBiking #MTB #RetroMTB #MTBHistory #BikeFilth

  3. Sep 19

    Mountain Bike Tech We Were Told Was The FUTURE… What Happened?

    Mountain bike technology is constantly changing. But what happens to all those innovations that were supposed to be the future... and then disappeared?In this episode of Bike Filth, we're heading back through mountain bike history to look at some of the weirdest, cleverest and most forgotten MTB technology ever created.From suspension stems and Girvin linkage forks to Shimano Rapid Rise, Dual Control, HammerSchmidt, Plus tyres and gearbox bikes, mountain biking has spent decades trying to reinvent itself.Some of these ideas were terrible.Some were genuinely brilliant.And some might simply have arrived too early.We'll look at the problems these technologies were trying to solve, why riders and manufacturers moved away from them, and whether any of these supposedly dead ideas actually deserve another chance.Featuring:Flexstem suspension stems Girvin Vector linkage forks Elastomer suspension Elevated chainstays Unified Rear Triangle suspension Shimano Rapid Rise Shimano Dual Control Truvativ HammerSchmidt Plus-size tyres Fat bikes The disappearance of the front derailleur Gearbox mountain bikesThe really interesting thing is that mountain bike technology doesn't always disappear because it was bad. Sometimes another technology solves the same problem better. Sometimes the market simply isn't ready for it. And sometimes an old idea comes back decades later with a new name.So now I want to hear from you:What forgotten mountain bike technology did you actually love?And which supposedly dead MTB technology deserves another chance?Let me know in the comments.Subscribe to Bike Filth for more mountain bike history, forgotten bikes, legendary brands, riders and stories from MTB's past.Stay Filthy.#MountainBiking #MTB #RetroMTB #BikeTech #BikeFilth

  4. Sep 12

    Mountain Biking Used to Be INSANE… What Happened to Freeride?

    **Mountain biking used to be absolutely INSANE… so what happened to freeride? 🤘🚵**Before perfectly sculpted bike parks, social media clips and modern enduro bikes, there was a generation of riders building terrifying wooden structures in Canadian forests, launching off cliffs and pushing mountain bikes far beyond what they were ever designed to do.This was **freeride**.In this episode of Bike Filth, we're heading back to the late 1990s and early 2000s to look at the rise of freeride mountain biking — from the legendary North Shore scene and the Rocky Mountain Froriders to Kranked, New World Disorder, Josh Bender, slopestyle and the birth of Red Bull Rampage.And then we're asking the big question:### **What happened to freeride?**Did it disappear?Did enduro and bike parks replace it?Or did freeride actually **win**, with its influence now built into almost every modern mountain bike?We'll look at:🌲 The birth of North Shore freeride 🤘 Wade Simmons, Richie Schley & Brett Tippie 📼 How MTB films helped spread freeride around the world 😳 The madness of Josh Bender 🚲 The monster freeride bikes of the 2000s 🏜️ The birth and evolution of Red Bull Rampage 🤸 The rise of slopestyle 📱 How YouTube and social media changed MTB films 🚵 How freeride influenced modern trail and enduro bikes 🔥 And why freeride might not actually be dead at all---### 📼 A LITTLE LOVE FOR THE CLASSICSThis video includes short clips from some of the legendary MTB films that helped inspire this episode, including:**Kranked** https://youtu.be/IGCEnlgzNNY?si=3DWWQw0UeC9pTpIj**New World Disorder 1** https://youtu.be/Rq5G2z4-CuA?si=qZvXcKIvKatNddKG**New World Disorder 10**https://youtu.be/d2NWxjcQ8WY?si=ZAiYLsyN3Fgzk2g3If you've never watched these films — or haven't seen them for years — they're well worth hunting down.Several of these classic MTB films can be found on YouTube, so please go and watch the originals and show some love to the riders, filmmakers and crews who documented an incredible period in mountain-bike history.Without films like **Kranked** and **New World Disorder**, freeride mountain biking simply wouldn't have reached so many of us.They deserve the views. 🤘---👇 **NOW I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU**What was the greatest era of freeride?**North Shore? Kranked? New World Disorder? Early Rampage? Or is modern freeride actually better?**And what is the **ultimate freeride bike**?Kona Stinky? Specialized BigHit? Norco Shore? Something else entirely?Get arguing below. 😂👇👍 Like the video if you enjoyed it 🔔 Subscribe for more mountain bike history, forgotten brands, legendary riders, nostalgia and general Bike Filth.**Stay Filthy. 🤘**#FreerideMTB #MountainBiking #MTB #RetroMTB #BikeFilth

  5. Sep 5

    26 Inch Ain't Dead… So Who Killed It?

    26 inch ruled mountain biking for decades… then it almost disappeared. So who killed it? 🚵‍♂️💀There was a time when you didn't choose your mountain bike wheel size. You bought a mountain bike… and it came with **26-inch wheels**.Cross-country? 26". Downhill? 26". Freeride? 26". That questionable bike you got for Christmas? Probably 26". 😂Then along came the 29er.Then 27.5.And suddenly the wheel size that had defined mountain biking for decades was apparently obsolete.But **why?**In this episode of Bike Filth, we're looking at the rise and fall of the 26-inch mountain bike wheel — from the early days of MTB, through the arrival of 29ers and the 27.5 revolution, to modern mullet bikes.We'll also tackle the slightly controversial question…Did bigger wheels genuinely kill 26", or did the bike industry simply convince us we needed something new?We'll look at:🚲 Why mountain bikes ended up with 26" wheels 🛞 The rise of the 29er 🤬 The great MTB wheel-size wars ⚡ Why 27.5 took over so quickly 📉 How 26" virtually disappeared from new high-end MTBs 🏁 Why racing helped bigger wheels take over 🤘 Why 26" still survives in dirt jump and slopestyle 💰 And whether the bike industry abandoned 26" too quicklyAnd perhaps the biggest question of all…### **Was there actually anything wrong with 26"?**👇 **YOUR TURN**You can only ride ONE wheel size for the rest of your life:**26" / 27.5" / 29"**Which are you choosing?Let battle commence in the comments. 😂👇👍 Like the video if you enjoyed it 🔔 Subscribe for more mountain bike history, legendary riders, forgotten brands and general Bike Filth. My t-shirt is from the brilliant https://www.stormstatic.com**26 AIN'T DEAD. 🤘**#MountainBiking #MTB #26AintDead #RetroMTB #BikeFilth

  6. Aug 29

    Mountain Bikes Were Better When They Were Simple… Weren’t They?

    Mountain bikes used to be simple… didn’t they? 🚵‍♂️26-inch wheels, triple chainrings, narrow bars, questionable brakes and maybe a bit of suspension if you were feeling fancy.Fast-forward to today and we’ve got 29ers, 12-speed drivetrains, dropper posts, tubeless tyres, electronic shifting, adjustable everything… and mountain bikes that can cost more than a decent second-hand car.So, **what happened?**In this episode of Bike Filth, I take a nostalgic trip through the evolution of the mountain bike and look at how we went from relatively simple machines to the incredibly capable — and occasionally ridiculously complicated — bikes we ride today.We’ll talk about:🚲 The death (sort of) of the 26-inch wheel ⚙️ Triple chainrings → 1x12 drivetrains 🛠️ How suspension changed everything 📐 Longer, lower and slacker geometry 🛑 The rise of hydraulic disc brakes ⬆️ Why dropper posts might be one of MTB’s greatest inventions 🛞 Tubeless tyres 🔋 Electronic shifting and suspension 💰 And why modern mountain bikes have become so expensiveBut were the old bikes actually **better**?Probably not.Maybe what we really miss is how simple *mountain biking itself* used to feel.👇 **YOUR TURN:** If you could build your perfect MTB using technology from any era, what would you keep — and what piece of modern bike technology would you get rid of tomorrow?Let me know in the comments!👍 Like the video if you enjoyed it 🔔 Subscribe for more mountain bike history, forgotten brands, legendary riders and general Bike Filth.**Stay Filthy. 🤘**#MountainBiking #MTB #RetroMTB #BikeFilth #MountainBike

  7. Aug 22

    I Have ZERO Coding Experience… So I Made a Mountain Bike Game

    🏔️ **I MADE A MOUNTAIN BIKE MANAGEMENT GAME… despite having absolutely no idea how to code.**🎮 **PLAY THE RIDE EMPIRE ALPHA FREE:** 👉 https://play.unity.com/en/games/79ad9e8d-c91d-439f-84f0-26a83dcadda2/downhillmanagerwebbuildI've spent far too many hours of my life playing Football Manager, and at some point I started wondering…**Why isn't there a Football Manager for mountain biking?**So I decided to try and make one.It's called **Ride Empire** — a mountain bike team management game where you build and manage your own race team, sign riders, chase results and try to grow your little operation into a mountain bike empire.There's just one slight problem…**I've never made a game before. And I can't code. 😂**I've been building Ride Empire in Unity with the help of Codex and learning everything as I go.The game is currently in **ALPHA**, which means it's early, unfinished and there's still loads I want to add. But rather than build the whole thing in my little Bike Filth cave, I want mountain bikers to actually play it and help shape what it becomes.So that's where you come in.💻 **The Ride Empire Alpha is FREE to play on laptop or desktop.**Please give it a go and let me know:🚵 What do you like? 🔧 What's broken? 💩 What's rubbish? 💡 What features should I add? 🏆 What would make you keep playing for "just one more race"?Don't worry — Bike Filth isn't becoming a gaming channel. The bike history, forgotten brands, legendary riders and questionable old suspension designs aren't going anywhere.Ride Empire is just another result of my unhealthy obsession with bikes.If you enjoy the game, please share it with another mountain biker. And if you've got feedback, leave a comment below — I genuinely want you lot involved in making this thing better.**Stay Filthy. 🤘**#RideEmpire #MountainBiking #MTB #BikeFilth #IndieGame

  8. Aug 15

    Forbidden Bikes: How a Tiny Brand Built a Cult Following

    How did a small bike company from Vancouver Island become one of mountain biking’s most talked-about cult brands?In this episode of Bike Filth, we take a look at the story of Forbidden Bike Company — from the launch of the original Druid and its distinctive high-pivot suspension design to the Dreadnought, racing, idler pulleys and the loyal following that grew around the brand.Forbidden certainly didn't invent high-pivot suspension, but they helped put it firmly back into the MTB conversation — and proved that a relatively tiny company could make the giants of the bike industry take notice.So grab a brew, ignore that strange extra pulley on your drivetrain, and join me for the story of Forbidden Bikes.🚵 Have you ever ridden a Forbidden?⚙️ Are high-pivot bikes genuinely better, or is there a bit of hype involved?👇 Let me know in the comments.👍 Like the video if you enjoyed it🔔 Subscribe for more stories from mountain biking's past and present🤘 Join the Bike Filth Syndicate to support the channel and get videos earlyStay Filthy.#ForbiddenBikes #MountainBiking #MTB #BikeFilth #ForbiddenDruid

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About

The raw ride through cycling’s wildest stories. BMX, MTB & madness.

Information

  • Creator
    Tim Portlock
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    58
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Tim Portlock
  • Show Website
    Bike Filth