There's a signal that's going unnoticed, but those who truly experience this world are beginning to feel it strongly.
The smaller circuits are more difficult.
Local competitions are losing participation and attention.
Muscle mountain bikes are slowing down in sales.
Meanwhile, market strategies are increasingly pushing towards e-bikes.
So far, so logical.
But there's a problem:
This growth is not generating a real community.
He is not creating new myths.
It's not fueling that sense of belonging that has always kept the off-road world afloat.
And then the question becomes inevitable:
👉 we're really making off-road grow…
or are we just shifting the market, emptying what made it unique?
Without competition there is no imagination
MTB has never been just a product.
It has always been a cultural system based on a precise balance:
- races create the dream
- riders become models
- the public recognizes itself
Not everyone competes.
But everyone, in some way, has always identified with that world.
It's the same mechanism that made rallying with Lancia iconic in the 80s and 90s.
Almost no one has ever driven a Lancia Delta Integrale to the limit.
But that symbol also sold the simplest cars.
Because it stood for something.
The same in MotoGP with Valentino Rossi: that “46” on the scooters wasn’t technique, it was belonging.
What's happening today
Today this balance is cracking.
Not because e-bikes are wrong.
But why are they becoming central without being connected to an equally strong imagery?
E-bikes:
- they sell
- broaden the audience
- make off-road accessible
But, by themselves, they are not creating:
- myths
- professional status
- aspiration
And without these elements, the community weakens.
The critical point: strategies without identity
The market today favors the e-bike.
It's a logical choice.
But in doing so, often:
- investment in smaller circuits is reduced
- attention is lost on the races
- the story becomes more and more separated
And then something dangerous happens:
👉 the product that sells is disconnected from the system that creates value
Why we need to return to a single narrative
It's not nostalgia.
It's structure.
Only the race dimension is able to:
- create desire
- generate models
- building belonging
If this is missing, the entire movement weakens over time.
And here comes the key point:
👉 You don't have to choose between muscular and electric
👉 we need to put them back in the same story
A single hat: MTB
We need to return to a clear vision:
👉 one identity
👉 more ways to experience it
Where:
💪 The muscular one is the reference
- it's the bike of the race
- it is the symbol
- it is the aspirational object
⚡ The e-bike is the extension
- it is accessible
- it is inclusive
- it's daily
But both are part of the same world.
The central role of events
Events must return to being the heart.
Not only for those who compete, but for the entire system.
Because that's where they're born:
- emulation
- the dream
- the desire
A rider watches a race, sees an athlete like Loic Bruni win.
That bike becomes:
- a reference
- a symbol
- A goal
Then maybe he goes into the shop and chooses an e-bike.
But not because it's "something else."
Because it's his version of that world.
Changing the narrative to save the system
This also means rethinking communication.
Some signs are already coming: Commencal, for example, is starting to use the same name for muscular and electric models.
The choice is up to the rider.
But the identity remains unique.
You see the athlete running with the muscular V5.
And then you can choose the version that best suits you: muscular or electric.
This is the point:
- less separation
- more continuity
- more connection with the race
The race must also start selling e-bikes again.
Don't be something parallel.
Two roles, one identity
💪 Muscular = status, technique, aspiration
⚡ E-bike = access, experience, sharing
Two different roles.
One culture.
The real question
It's not whether e-bikes are right or wrong.
The question is:
👉 we want a market that works today
or
👉 a movement that will also exist tomorrow?
Because without dreams, without role models, without belonging…
the MTB risks becoming just a bicycle.
No longer a world.
