Punctures still happen, frames still snap, chains still pop.
Nothing has changed
Social Media however, that is responsible for what you ride now
I couldn't tell you the last time I punctured, probably several years ago, and fixed in thirty seconds with a Dynaplug. Frames now stand a chance of making it past six months and out the warranty period before catastrophic failure, and chains last way longer because they're not flapping around as much as they used to thanks to clutches and n/w rings. Yes, things still fail, but the frequency of failures I would say is less than 10% of those early products. I used to break DH frames on average every six months. Since 2008 I haven't broken a frame in the first season (i.e before I sold it), and the last frame I retired was my old Nukeproof Mega after six years of racing and general abuse. Prior to that it was a complete lottery, and parts would regularly fail with very little effort. Sure stuff still breaks, but usually after significantly more abuse. You only had to look at most nineties stuff and bushes or seals would wear out and cracks would magically appear.
Lots has changed; what hasn't is that we're still grown adults sliding about in the woods having fun. Well, most of us are having fun, there are definitely some people you see who seem to be struggling with that element!
Maybe that's the collective 'you' that you're using there, but I can safely say that social media has zero impact on what I personally ride in trail terms; in fact the opposite, as I generally have little interest in the crap that passes for 'built' trails these days. I want steep tech and that's what I've enjoyed riding since I swung my leg over a bike, it's just what technology and my skills are capable of that's allowed me to do harder stuff. I push myself and have never been one to bow to peer pressure even when I was racing, and if I've built something it's because I've wanted to build it and ride it. Not everyone is being led. Some people cease to develop past a period in their life and that's fine. I get the love of old bikes, but let's not pretend they're incredible other than as a piece of history that brings back memories. And as to social media leading bike tech, I had a frame made with custom geo twelve years ago which had geo that is still my ideal; low BB, short back end, 64 deg head angle, 465 reach, 780 bars. At the time when I wrote an article about it on PB everyone said 'urgh, that's ridiculous', but guess what everyone's on now? If you don't get the benefits of modern bikes, that's fine, but modern bikes absolutely are better than anything we've ever had. Are they as bespoke or special? I'd say no, but what's wrong with off the shelf? The main issue with modern stuff is that people overbike themselves but, again, let's not assume that everyone on these big bikes is overbiked and not maximising what they're capable of.
