Ugly modern bikes

[legrandefromage]

<stamps foot> but I dont wanna look a douche on some 700c clown bike! I dont wanna!!

 

[MikeD]

Custom it is, then

 

[Yog Sothoth]

I turned 50 last year and although I rattled my way down lots of steep trails in the Peak on a hardtail, I eventually got fed up with pains in my wrists and back, and chipped teeth, decided mountain biking should not be about suffering, and bought a Norco off ebay with 6" of suspension front and back. I can now go down the likes of 'The Beast' (Hope Cross) and actually have fun, rather than timidly lowering my way down it on a rattling hardtail and arriving home feeling I'd been kicked by a horse.
Being somewhat strapped for cash means the Norco is used as a do it all bike, and its suspension is overkill for a lot of trails, but it's all about fun, and I get plenty of that when I ride it.
I have two early 90s steel-framed, fully rigid bikes. I love them both, but one is a commuter pure and simple, and the other is for pootling round on nice days. I wouldn't dream of taking it on a hardcore rocky descent.
To me, suspension on bikes is similar to the introduction of chalk and then sticky rubber in climbing; yes, it makes it 'easier' but it also makes it more fun by eliminating the problems that led to its introduction in the first place. I remember the negative reaction to chalk (John Allen free climbs Great Wall...but uses chalk!), but everyone uses it now, and as one who climbed before chalk, and before harnesses, in fact, I can see the benefits. Same with suspension on bikes.
Oh, and I love my Norco's looks, giant golden tractor thaough it may be to some.

This isn't about function though, nor innovations, and each bike is suited to its purpose.
It's about aesthetics.
Modern mountaineering boots look crap, brightly coloured plastic horrid stuff, huge graphics and frankly Nasssssty - sure they keep your feet warm and dry, but compare to an old skool leather Norwegian welted felt lined Mountaineering boot such as worn by The Great Hermann Buhl when he solo'd Nanga Parbat...
Modern boots don't have to look horrible, advanced, yes, but why horrid??
Modern climbing rubbers are needlessly gaudy and horrid in colour too, and this has naught to do with the sticky rubber.

Modern bikes are needlessly designed to look crap. And they don't have to!

OK I concede on that. The Norco looks impressively industrial, like a piece of earth-moving machinery. I like diggers, so that's just fine. It's crap on the road, like it's asleep or something, but brilliant on really rocky trails.

My Saracen, which I built on a shoestring budget, was put together with as much attention to colour as to function. Result: a lightweight, rigid, purple and yellow bike that's great to ride on the road or on hardpack, and which has kids jumping up and down yelling "I want one Mummy! I want a bike like that old man is riding!"

So yes, I agree. Aesthetically, it's like old cars vs new. There will never be another E-type.

 

[legrandefromage]

<gets soap box at the ready>

The magazines say 'you need suspension!' very very loudly, all of the time. Manufacturers pump out suspension models because the people that buy the magazines see that suspension is all the rage and thats what I must have and hassle the shops/ internet to buy said suspension models.

The image of off-road cycling is now motocross without the motor - as I mentioned before, this gives out the wrong impression and doesnt really promote cycling in a positive way - full face helmets, pads etc - thats what is 'ugly'. It is damaging the image long term.

For the timid it can feel like you're being bullied off the trails. For me that is the ugly side of 'modern'

 

[ibbz]

Is it physically possible to buy a non 'suspension corrected' frame and rigid forks anymore? Or has everyone been so brain washed?

Apart from those hulking 29er beasts, I've the same question and I hope it may be answered?

Are there any 26" wheeled normal mTB's?

 

[MikeD]

Are there any 26" wheeled normal mTB's?

Yes, it's just that "normal" has changed

 

[gradeAfailure]

Boardman Urban Team - just change the tyres.

Inbred Steel 26er - just swap the fork for the OnOne steel rigid fork.

 

[legrandefromage]

The boardman reminds me of:

And personally my relationship with my On-One Inbred was not good....

 

[MikeD]

They're not what LGF and ibbz are after, though -- they're modern-geometry frames. The Boardman has a long fork, the On-One rigid fork is also long. A few years ago I had a long chat with the Genesis designer (not the current one) about this, suggesting that there might be a (small) market for a rigid-specific 26in frame designed around a ~400mm fork. He wasn't totally convinced, I reckon that Fortitude is as close as you'll get.

 

[shogun]

The image of off-road cycling is now motocross without the motor - as I mentioned before, this gives out the wrong impression and doesnt really promote cycling in a positive way - full face helmets, pads etc - thats what is 'ugly'. It is damaging the image long term.

Either the UK is 10 years behind the rest of the world or you're out of touch, LGF.

By far the biggest segment in mountain bikes here, aside from the MTBSOs, is enduro XC and multisport, closely followed by XC trail riding. Things like XC lycra, deep coverage 'All Mountain' helmets and all manner of drab semi-baggy trail attire are the image here. The image of a mountain biker at this end of the world is someone more likely to be sipping from one of those anodised water bottle than a Monster Energy can. What you're saying was true enough in maybe 1999-2005. I think 45 year olds with H.R. Gieger inspired skinsuits and 29ers on their SUV are probably doing greater damage because once the event promoters flake and the mid-lifers move on the sport will tank, sprint XC is dead and junior ranks are thinning. To an extent I agree that kids getting into DH, dirtjumping, BMX park etc then bugging out when they discover chicks and party drugs is a contributor too but I think the sport chasing yuppie bucks is the worst influence.