Who is the GOAT of mountain biking?

For me is Gee, the man won in every discipline that he started. Got 2nd place two times at Rampage…plus many other events. I don’t care what people say, many haters out there and I don’t understand why…he is a machine!!! And Rachel…she’s the queen of downhill. 

Greatest British mountain biker probably.  Though peaty is def in the same conversation.  Both have had an immeasurable impact on the sport.

but my fav Brit will always be akrigg.

Because DH was way, way different in the oldschool era, when Nico Vouilloz was around. Racing was less ferocious back then and the competition wasn't even nearly as stiff as in the newschool era.

Both Aaron Gwin and Nico Vouilloz won the overall title in UCI DH 5 times - but Gwin did it under much harder competition. That's why I'd say Gwin had greater dominance over the sport in his prime.

All great riders, but for the poms Rachel is definitely the outright leader and Peaty has the greatest legacy for then men.

You industry vets in the vital forums- who is your GOAT in terms of influence, scale, and legacy in developing MTB? From organizing racing series, to bike design, to taking risks to promote new forms of mtb... originally joining the sport as a freeride guy Derek Westerlund of Freeride Entertainment & New World Disorder comes to my mind as an example.

Rachel Atherton might be my racing GOAT- hope to see her back taking wins this year. 

Like F1, the competitiveness of different eras will always result in controversy about this question. Has anyone analyzed the evolving competitiveness of WC downhill? I'd wager today's riders face wildly more competitive conditions than 10, 20, and 30 years ago so I am a bit biased towards the GOATs of the current generation. 

I’d break international dh competition into 3 eras.  The fad generation, the hard years, and the modern gen.  Fad generation was areguably as competitive as today simply most athletes in most sports were no where near as professional as today.  A lot of the best racers of the time were just guys who could make a better living on the bike than off thru sheer talent and a little bit of “training”.  But the fact of the matter is turnout to races was there and the best where every bit as impressive compared to a Joey as today.  One outlier is the equipment.  Nobody knows what missy giove could’ve done on great equipment (and she was on some of the best stuff available).  I think a big reason the alien and acc were so dominant here was their race craft and ability to ride the limit of the equipment consistently as opposed to being more skilled or fitter bike handler.

the hard years follow the 911 economic crash.  I’d say competition at the very top was still extremely high.  The bikes are starting to get decent and Sam Hill came in and completely shook up how the best of the best had to ride.  But the depth of the field definitely took a major hit in this time period.  A top 20 during this period isn’t the same as a top 20 today or in 98.

the modern era starts with gwin.  Riders had to become extremely professional in order to be competitive.  To the point where the only riders with a real advantage at this point is the ones who have resources and time to recover better than their competition.  You can’t out train/out work the competition anymore.  And the depth of the field and how close the racing is currently reflects how dedicated a lot of people are to dh racing.  bikes are starting to get great in this period which has made the sport more accessible then ever and greatly lessened the gap between a rider on the best stuff and a rider on the rest.  I still think you need to be on an absolutely dialed program to win, but I think a rider these days is only going to qualify by racing great on the day.  Not because he’s pretty talented and on equipment that isn’t literally falling apart like his competition might be.
 

i hope discovery/pandemic boom takes us to a new era with even greater heights.

Anne-Caroline

This feels much more like a "Who's your favorite rider" rather than a real GOAT discussion.

Based on the numbers, how could you really consider anyone other than Anne Caroline Chausson as the GOAT?
World Championships
10 x Elite

3 x Jr

2 x 4X

World Cup Wins

40 x DH

5 x 4X

EWS 

5x

You can argue all day about "who had stiffer competition?" or "who dominated a series better?" But the numbers don't lie (admittedly can be occasionally questioned with anomalies like Patrick McCaw in the NBA, look it up, three consecutive championships on three different teams while riding the bench), and they can give us an objective indication of who qualifies to be "the GOAT."

Oh yeah, ACC also won NINE races in a row...twice. I'm sure there are people that wanna say something like "her competition wasn't as stiff" and in so, insult a slew of racers of multiple generations. But, you could also say that the competition was good, but she was just that much better. 

I think you forgot that Nico won World Championship ten times and Gwin zero times. Nico was also dominating over a longer period of time than Gwin. So when it comes to dominance, I think it's hard to argue with those facts.

Impossible question.
1 - You can only decide who is the greatest of all time after all time has passed, or not?
2 - Landscape changes too much, what was competitively possible in the 90s, isn't now, and what is technically possible now, wasn't then.
3 - Each person asked will be a judge with a unique set of parameters.

Seeing as we have decended in wild fanboyisms here is more fuel for the fire:

Sam Hill: Troy Brosnan was on teams with both Sam and Aaron, yet in interviews, when he has a great run he always talks about channelling Sam Hill, never Gwin .

Nico Vouilloz: on strava Nico goes by the username NV10, 10 for the amount of world champs wins, pretty badass . Is there any other man on the list that has a statistic that is most likely never going to be beaten?

What a topic and love the variety of replies.

If we are just talking GOAT of MTB? its John Tomac, no questions asked and no argument. No other rider elevated TWO entirely different disciplines like Johnny (2x Silver Medal at DH worlds, an XC world champ.....and the fact Johnny retired from UCI XC to take on DH world cup when the era had drastically elevated, was incredible). His record breaking contracts, his product development, his own brand, he single handedly got so many people to move to Durango Colorado, to "be like Johnny"...I moved there to be like Tomac and to top it off he was cool as shit, limited head games, sharing lines, sharing diet info, training info....family man who brought his sons Greg and Eli to most every race. Tomac=GOAT. He changed everything. Oh and he slayed fools in XC with that ridiculous drop bar bike.....I'd suspect Nino could be in there too-but, Tomac defined an era and I guess Nino on wins, domination, etc is valid, but, in a sport/world with a lot of noise, a bit harder to make that goat call over Tomac.

Anne Caro for pure DH GOAT-and that is men or women, just GOAT of human gravity....

Sam Hill, Gwin, Greg all worthy names for sure, but, those 2 above are no arguments.

Surprised Kintner is on some lists but never winning a world cup DH race, never winning a world champ DH and I am pretty sure she has one world cup DH podium under her belt would keep one from being in this sacred air...but I guess if you stack her wins up in all her disciplines I can see it.

I'd definitely put Tomac up there.

I got tired, mentally and maybe physically too, just thinking when Tomac competed (and won many) XC, DH and Slalom every weekend. It was a rad era before pure specialization became the norm in each discipline. Legendary for sure and definitely worthy of the GOAT. JT and The Alien, two legends who came out swinging with their own bike brands. That VProcess looks so rad. 

Well said. Juli consistently stacks up among the best of the best and is so often overlooked.  Her post-race career was no less legendary, essentially creating a market segment out of whole cloth with the concept of female-specific components and chassis.

Anne Caroline, just check her tittles...many disciplines getting gold medals.

Vouilloz

Minaar

Hill