OPINION
market reach and secure the future of mountain biking.
By Fi Spotswood and Claire Sharpe I
f you’re looking for growth in the mountain biking sector, you don’t need to look very far. Across the UK, women are quietly
organising themselves into a different, thriving version of mountain biking. Not a separate sport, but an alternative
culture. It’s a version built around collaboration, community and confidence. Around women introducing other women to riding, bypassing pre- existing cliques and outdated hierarchies. It’s where women ride together, support each other and progress. It’s a version fostered through grassroots organisations, local communities and woman-led businesses that have spotted an opportunity and are moving quickly to meet it. The growth is hard to miss if you look. Women’s rides fill up. Coaching sessions sell out. Female-
focused festivals, events and holidays continue to expand. Organisations such as Sisters in the Wild, Girls That Ride Bikes and AllTerre have built thriving communities of off-road riders who are women and marginalised genders (women+), while dozens of small local groups and women+ entrepreneurs are creating pathways into the sport for women+ and girls that simply didn’t exist a decade ago. Kath Goodey, mtb guide and coach at RideHigh MTB in North Wales, explains that “women make up over half my followers, and make up the majority of my customers on guided rides and weekend adventures. The women’s market is growing year on year”. But women have a different relationship with mountain biking than men. They face different challenges and value different aspects. Many discover mountain biking later in life. Societal gender norms still patterns what men and women do in their childhoods, work and leisure time. Heather, CEO of She Rides, which offers women-only coaching, holidays and social rides, emphasises that “Women don’t have the same histories in mountain biking as men, and don’t necessarily ride in the same way or for the same reasons. Their lives outside
12 | August 2026
mountain biking are different. They want products, services and media that are tailored to them.” Research from Project FIAS shows women hunt
around to find media stories and brands that help them connect with the sport, but that this can be a struggle. When women+ look at mountain biking’s marketplace, women+ don’t always see their experiences, bodies, or values reflected back. Too often, the dominant image of
mountain biking remains rooted in a culture that has historically been shaped by men and for men. Despite the clear efforts made by some brands, writers and publishers to create alternative, diverse narratives, often
the stories and images we see representing our sport are limiting and narrow. They reflect a sport dominated by highly experienced riders, technical expertise, performance, racing and increasingly extreme riding. “You have to be a white woman performing amazingly to be featured”, explained one of the FIAS research participants, Sammy. She went on to explain that mountain biking “marketing and media seems to be designed to make us women feel like we aren’t good enough because we don’t ride by men’s standards”. What is happening at grassroots level suggests that
mountain biking is evolving faster than many of the brands and media organisations that serve it. That’s not simply a representation issue. It’s a marketing
opportunity. Gearing Up!
Gearing Up! is an actionable framework for brands to understand the version of mountain biking that women+ are currently building for themselves and how they can authentically become a part of it. It is underpinned by research from Project FIAS – interviews with women+ and people of all genders working across the industry. It provides a pathway, via four ‘gears’, to adapt and seize the
www.bikebiz.com Gearing Up!: How to improve your
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