There is no question that YouTube has fundamentally changed the fabric of mountain biking culture. Not only has it enabled mountain bikers around the world to discover and publicize new trails, but a whole new class of celebrities has arisen: the mountain biking personality. Neither racers nor industry-insiders, these average individuals have aided the community tremendously by finding the next big mountain bike hotspots, voicing the opinions of many riders, entertaining us, and finding the compelling stories of normal mountain bikers that remind us why we love riding so much.
While on a trip to the Southeast this summer, I had a chance to talk to Seth Alvo of Seth’s Bike Hacks, one of the most famous mountain biking personalities out there — if not the most famous. In our interview, he gave tremendous insight into what being a YouTube mountain biking personality is like and where he thinks the mountain biking community is heading into the future.
Not only is it entertaining to watch the life of a trail building project at Berm Peak, Seth’s new home, but his videos inspire many riders to become active with their local trail clubs.
For those who aren’t familiar with your channel, give us an idea of what you do.
I would say that the most accurate description of what I do is I entertain mountain bikers because that’s the main thing that I have in mind. Is this going to be entertaining to a mountain biking audience? I [also] have a lot of subscribers who don’t mountain bike. A lot of them are starting, I see in the comments all the time, “What should I get for my first mountain bike?” So I entertain and inspire mountain bikers.
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