Well a lot of the reason I am not into modern bikes has nothing to do with performance. It's cost.
It's unobtainable for me to buy a complete bike off the shelf.
Besides, I already have too much invested (literally) in my older bikes.
I have put a modern fork and shock on one. Don't need more than that really.
Compared to the forks that first came out, they are leaps and bounds better, true.
But with the plethora of BB standards that were released (and axles) it is just getting silly.
Especially with this new 20mm x 110mm boost standard.
We already had a 20mm x 110mm axle standard, but you cannot put the new boost 20mm x 110mm wheels on the old non-boost 20mm x 110mm forks.
Apart from that,
I used to own and operate
tenerife-training.net, a rental bike company.
I knew things were getting silly with the invention of the integrated seatposts.
How are you meant to rent one of those out I wonder? When the seatpost can't go up and down!
And so I think the 'new' 27.5" and 29" mtb wheel sizes were the nail in the coffin so to speak, the final straw for me.
For one thing they made sizing a nightmare. The size of the wheels is supposed to be proportional to the size of the rider.
Not fitting everyone onto 29er bikes!
How companies like Juliana manage to sell a 29-inched mtb to smaller 5'0" female riders is beyond my comprehension.
Anyway, when customers [okay admittedly only a few, but even that was enough] started turning their noses up at $2000+ 26"-wheeled dual-suspension rental bikes, I knew it was time to get out...
I can remember I showed up one time with at least 4 grand worth of kit, here's me thinking it was all good, totally rideable, and yet it still wasn't good enough for some of these people (somehow). WTF?
I think people these days are getting too spoilt. some of my best most memorable rides (overseas for example) have been on very cheapy bikes.
I'm glad I did get out now honestly. I can just see it. People would be requesting 29ers, or 27.5ers. Or now mullets is going to be the new in thing in mountainbiking for 2023 apparently. Or carbon duallies because all of a sudden alloy frames are not good enough any longer. Or dropper posts that everyone keeps harping on about! Road bikes with disc brakes, e-bikes, electronic shifting, et cetera. Or whatever else is new!
Basically forgetting what it means to be a cyclist.
I must have spent well over €100,000 on bike kit over the years. At the end of the day it was my own personal money that I had to invest in bikes.
And so I'm practically over it.
These days I just buy the odd component (that still fits my now 15-year old frames) or the odd accessory here and there.
I'm happy with what I have, don't need more.