Building an open, rider-led standard for off-road & ADV skills
The Open ADV/Off-Road Riding Standard (OARS) sets out a clear, open progression path for off-road riders of all bikes — free to use, built by the community.
What We're Trying to Achieve
Brand-agnostic standards for rider skills and progression.
The initial Open ADV/Off-Road Riding Standard (OARS) defines levels, terrain grades, and logging so riders can see where they are, how to progress, and so schools/events share a common baseline.
- Rider-focused, free to adopt
- Skills + experience + progression
- Portable between schools/clubs/events
- Open licence (CC BY-SA)
OARS at a Glance
L0 — Discovery
First steps: standing, balance, bike pick-up.
L1 — Foundations
Easy trails (T0–T1), braking, hill starts, small obstacles.
L2 — Trail Rider
Moderate terrain (T1–T2), ruts, steeper hills, 20–25 cm steps.
L3 — Adventure Rider
Mixed rides (T2–T3), sand/mud, water crossings, loaded bikes.
L4 — Expedition Rider
Multi-day, self-sufficient; technical features (T3–T4).
L5 — Instructor
Coach/assessor pathway (optional).
Timeline
We're building OARS in the open. Here's the rough journey to v1.0:
Consultation to January 2026:
Share the draft, gather initial rider & coach feedback, refine core syllabus.
Closed Pilots (± July 2026):
Small groups test levels with schools, clubs and instructors and get feedback; collect data.
Open Pilots & Manual (January 2027):
Wider adoption, write the training manual, calibrate assessors.
v1.0 Release (July 2027):
Freeze the first stable version.
Join now to be part of the pilot stages — whether you're just starting out, running a school, or coaching advanced riders.
Any schools or instructors providing input will be listed in the contributors section with a link back to them.
How You Can Help
Advanced Riders & Coaches
Give line-item feedback on drills and metrics; help calibrate the standard.
Offer to ReviewFAQ
Is this a licence?
No—an open standard you can adopt freely.
Do I pay?
No we don't have any cost for the standards and plan to make the manual freely available. Contributing instructors and schools will be included in the contributors.
Who runs this?
The OpenADV community. OARS is published by OpenADV.
Where's the detail?
In the Google Doc (linked above).