Why GMBN Became My Go-To YouTube Channel
I stumbled onto GMBN videos maybe three years ago when I was trying to figure out why my rear brake was squealing. One video turned into five which turned into me subscribed and watching regularly. Classic YouTube rabbit hole situation.
Global Mountain Bike Network – that’s what GMBN stands for – does pretty much everything mountain biking related. Tutorials, maintenance how-tos, trail videos, gear comparisons. The presenters are former pro riders which adds credibility but they don’t come across as snobby about it.
What Actually Makes It Good
Neil Donoghue explains technique in a way that clicks. I’d read about body position on descents in articles and forums but watching him demonstrate it finally made sense. Same with cornering – understood the theory but couldn’t execute until I saw their video breakdown.
Blake Samson brings ridiculous energy to everything. Makes even boring maintenance stuff watchable which is saying something because I generally hate working on my bike. Martyn Ashton’s story – paralyzed in a crash but still riding adaptive bikes and contributing content – puts my whining about minor discomforts in perspective.
Stuff I’ve Learned From Them
Changed my first brake pads because of their video. Set up tubeless tires after failing twice and finally getting it right with their walkthrough. Learned I was setting my suspension completely wrong which explained why my bike felt weird on rough trails.
Pro tip: watch maintenance videos all the way through before starting. Made that mistake once. Had my bike half apart when they mentioned a tool I didn’t have. Had to put everything back together and try again later.
Not Everything is Perfect
Some of their stuff is clearly sponsored content disguised as advice. You learn to spot it. “This amazing new product from our partners” and so on. The actual tutorials are more reliable than the gear hype.
They also sometimes assume you know more than you do. Throw around terms like headset preload or sag percentage without explaining them. Gets better after you’ve watched enough videos to pick up the vocabulary though.
Worth Subscribing?
If you ride mountain bikes or want to, yeah. Free education that would cost hundreds in bike shop fees. Plus decent entertainment value on rest days when you can’t ride but still want to think about riding.
The comment section is surprisingly helpful too which is rare for YouTube. People actually answer questions instead of just trolling. Small detail but it matters when you’re confused about something.
