Rose tinted...?

[bm0p700f]

Tea and cake is the whole point of a ride isn't it.

Mountian biking (I ride in thetford, where are the mountains) is far too fashion conscious like road biking. It's a shame really. One chap who stopped at BCP tea shop had a very chunky looking freeride steed. I wonder why in Thetford forest. All we have is single track, flat sometimes a bit rooty and occasionaly a bombhole all navigable on a rigid bike. In fact their where alot of full susers out on Sunday riden by folk who frequent the forest.

Also why 10 speed, single speed is perfect in Thetford forest. I really don't see the point in most new bike tech apart from bragging rights and to sell bikes to the fashion conscious. Although some new bikes are quite nice. They normally blend the old with the new.

 

[jax13]

And to visit your car analogy: I owned a '66 Beetle for a long while and no, it wasn't quite a fancy as the new stuff but I could fix anything I wanted on it (strip down the engine in a weekend) without having to restort to £400 serivce fees to change the sodding spark plugs.

New isn't necessarily better (although it might be, sometimes... )

i haven't driven a car that was as much fun as my old '72 bug - especially in the ice, no heaters so head out of the window, left foot braking to avoid dropping revs and the engine dying.............

almost as much fun as dragging an old '93 bodged together SS through the forest thinking about how lucky you are in comparison to everyone else on their off the peg homogeneous disc braked guff!

 

[petitpal]

The old stuff just has style. And yes, I used to spend every slightly frosty winter morning scraping the ice off the inside of the windscreen. BUT - everyone was interested - just like with the Zaskar, people want to know.

Just remembered actually: this month's MBUK they've ridden up snowdon and, obviously, had to do it on full suspension bikes... although I seem to remember MBUK riding up snowdon about 12 years ago(?) on about 2" of front wheel travel... hmmm...

 

[mikesnowdon]

The guys I ride with tend to leave me alone because I tend to be as quick as them on my supposedly inferior machine.......

 

[FMJ]

i haven't driven a car that was as much fun as my old '72 bug - especially in the ice, no heaters so head out of the window

The trick in the winter is to always have a passenger. While you drive, they operate this:

 

[VEGAS!]

I'm not sure i totally agree. I'm no doubt going to get flamed for this, but modern mountain bikes have improved in virtually every respect. I do love the older bikes; they are so much nicer to look at, they remind me of happier times, are in most cases better built and have heaps of soul, but I am under no allusion that a modern bike is a much more capable machine. Brakes and tyres have hugely improved, suspension that works, stems that are in the same county that allow the rider to take in the view and iliminate backache.

A do agree that for 80% of the time a vintage bike will suffice, and the places such as Thetford and Mayhem already mentioned, that an old bike will be as fast as anything else. Also i agree that the hills have not changed and it is quite possible to storm Lakeland passes on a 1930s Rudge, but why take a pen knife to a gun fight? In certain situations a modern bike with big brakes, advanced suspension and tyres will be far more fun to ride.
That said, it does not need to be full carbon, 30 gears and 9 inches of travel- a friend did Trans Provence on a hardtail running 1x9 a few years back. As one of the toughest events in Europe thats one in the eye for WhatMTB.

I guess the key is to keep an open mind and ride what suits your intended terrain.

Stevo

 

[Rumble]

^^^^ Agree with this, although in the case of racing, especially DH, i'd also say that the courses have evolved to keep pace with improved bikes and are tougher now than they've ever been.

 

[dbmtb]

For the new, untried rider wanting to try proper offroad stuff (not towpaths), modern bikes will on the whole be easier to get to grips with riding than an older one.

It took me a year or so before I was comfortable enough with my technique to venture onto more extreme terrain. Modern brakes and suspension make that transition easier.

Those of us who appreciate the buzz of, shall we say, "less predictable" handling, will always enjoy our old bikes, and may even find our old routes more "boring" on a modern bike as lines and brake-pump fatigue are less of an issue.

There is truth in both claims - which is why it is pretty pointless arguing the toss.

 

[mikee]

anyone remember the mint sauce cartoon
where mint meets a free ride dude at the start of a trail , as they progress
the freeriders on the northshore way above mints head , mints on the trail as ever ,then freeride bloke's trail ends at a big tree and mint just rides round it and off into the distance

kinda summed it up for me

theres a lot of big north shore /stunts /jumps in some woods on my hill
i sometimes go there and watch the loons riding /jumping this stuff
they have more baws and skill than i ever had , but if i was a teenager
again i think i'd be trying their stuff out

 

[petitpal]

After a night's quiet reflection (i.e. up all hours trying to meet project deadlines ) I think my view has to be that MTB, for me, has always been about pushing whatever you happen to be riding as much as you can on whatever you happen to be riding it. And if that's a modern full suspension going down the current Fort Bill course or my old 96 Zaskar over the local hills then that's fine - equal respect. Everything has to be seen in context, I guess, and if you're pushing your twenty year old frame to the limit then that's cool. Think I just got hugely annoyed by the attitude of the guy mentioned in the original post that anything old is crap - it's not, seriously.