When did it lose it for you.....

[biggins]

It never lost it for me, had a time between 2001 and 2008 when I didn't ride as much as kids came along. I don't like the current winch and plummet nature of bikes, seems to be another move to short attention span sports (20:20 cricket, Sprint races in F1 etc).

But looking back nothing after 1995 holds much nostalgic interest to me, not even the bikes I had myself since then, maybe the Pace RC104 from 2010

 

[TOMAS]

Rode MTB from age 14-18 until I got fed up of breaking stuff all the time - mainly folding LOTS of Mavic 217 and even 121 back wheels, ripped a couple of headtubes off bikes, snapped some forks, bent bars, pedals etc by basically trying to ride a LOT of street on an MTB... gaps, wallrides, twists etc Jez Avery, Martyn Ashton, Hans Ray and the likes were HUGE influencers at the time... until I realized I needed a BMX haha!! MTB was also changing a lot then, seemed oddball stuff coming out, styling I found to be a bit strange too.

In 97-98 I started switching over to a heavy as f**k small wheels (Hoffman Deebo, this was also about the time Props Road Fools VHS was born) as a lip trick coping jockey and street rider, these were by far my best years riding - when I could manual for a LONG way and fakie out of pretty much anything at any speed... then came along girls, cars, vodka, parties and quite a few more good years lol... I re-entered the world of bikes (MTB) back in around 2011 and have been here ever since .

Quite which genre of cycling I sit in I'm not sure, I wouldn't actually say i've EVER been a full-blown offroader - I love a lot of variety, finding I make more and more use of the gravel bike but still do love to try and act 10 years younger on my modern full-bounce.

The Retro fleet does get use, mainly tarmac/light gravel, down by the river, along the canals, croozing kinda business but nothing more than that - anyone trying to say that modern bikes perform just as well as older ones is plain crackers, not to take anything away from my Retros - they are things of beauty, i've spent ages hunting down the parts, restoring them etc - I don't want to abuse them!

 

[sickpup]

For me the end started in 92 when I got my first motorbike.
I was still working in the trade seeing badly engineered bikes with badly engineered parts being sold to customers who inevitably had breakages and warranty claims. The expensive boutique parts were often low quality and didn't work very well.
Prices were rising fast, the Taiwanese factories were working at full speed so companies were looking elsewhere for cheap labour and quality was dropping.
By the time I got to 20 in 1994 I just couldn't be bothered anymore and walked away.

I still have my Cannondale and Ridgeback from back then and a replacement Trek 8000 and still ride them but for the prices of modern stuff I can get much more exciting Motorbikes that are considerably better engineered.

 

[24pouces]

I would say around 92, when XTR appeared. The end of thumbshifters and U brakes, the beginning of high technology. In comparison with cars, its like coming from squared Jeep Willis, really designed for rough grounds to confortable and highway fast modern 4x4. Modern bike are efficacy but boring and not fun

 

[2manyoranges]

I would say around 92, when XTR appeared. The end of thumbshifters and U brakes, the beginning of high technology. In comparison with cars, its like coming from squared Jeep Willis, really designed for rough grounds to confortable and highway fast modern 4x4. Modern bike are efficacy but boring and not fun

yep .. I was extremely bored following the Grom over the fearsome rock steps on the Climacx trail near Mach (yawn) at speeds my 1990s Marin would never ever be able to attain....and had no fun at all on the berms on the long downhill there, absolutely no grins on our faces as we exited onto the fire trail, and no excited 'end of day' chat in the car park. No way. Nope, We had a miserable time on our Transitions and Stantons. In fact extensive research has shown that it's completely impossible to enjoy yourself on a bike produced after 1998.

 

[Supratada]

I was a big roadie, going out almost every evening when I could ( I’m currently trying to source a nostalgia Raleigh Record Sprint) until I got into MTBin 1988. Then it was big weekend rides and tours away etc. That continued even when I moved from my parents, in with a girl who is now my wife. Round about 2000 I started to ride less hours as my partner started to complain about me going out all Sunday. When we moved up north, I gave up completely for nigh on 14 years and put on a lot of weight.

I kinda blamed my wife for stopping me enjoying a ride, but in the last 10 years I have a lot of rethinking about my childhood and teen years.
Over time I have changed from a human doormat to a much more confident, functioning human. I certainly enjoyed riding but now I realise that I was trying to spend less time in the company of my parents and older brother by going out on my bike. It was an emotionally toxic household. It wasn’t my wife’s fault at all that my riding reduced and then stopped. It was because I didn’t want to go out to escape things, I wanted to stay in and be with her.

That I’ve started again with e-bikes is not an indication of any unhappiness now.

 

[moonlite]

I was a big roadie, going out almost every evening when I could ( I’m currently trying to source a nostalgia Raleigh Record Sprint) until I got into MTBin 1988. Then it was big weekend rides and tours away etc. That continued even when I moved from my parents, in with a girl who is now my wife. Round about 2000 I started to ride less hours as my partner started to complain about me going out all Sunday. When we moved up north, I gave up completely for nigh on 14 years and put on a lot of weight.

I kinda blamed my wife for stopping me enjoying a ride, but in the last 10 years I have a lot of rethinking about my childhood and teen years.
Over time I have changed from a human doormat to a much more confident, functioning human. I certainly enjoyed riding but now I realise that I was trying to spend less time in the company of my parents and older brother by going out on my bike. It was an emotionally toxic household. It wasn’t my wife’s fault at all that my riding reduced and then stopped. It was because I didn’t want to go out to escape things, I wanted to stay in and be with her.

That I’ve started again with e-bikes is not an indication of any unhappiness now.

Great that you're back on a bike and for healthier reasons -- and of course, no matter the motivation, all those miles weren't wasted. Bet that muscle memory kicks back in very fast.

 

[Supratada]

No, it doesn’t. It really doesn’t. They say you never forget how to ride a bike but all those skills and finesse I had are gone. I can’t bunny hop, endo-turn. I can’t do drop-offs or step ups. It’s really weird. At first I blamed it on the extra weight of both me and the e-bike, but it’s technique I’ve forgotten.

 

[albash82]

Yeah I've never lost it. I don't have the whole "modern bikes are rubbish" thing.
I kinda get it, there's is something very raw about a rigid bike with a quill stem, thumbies, u-brakes, exage etc... But I couldn't go mountain biking on one these days.

 

[clubby]

No, it doesn’t. It really doesn’t. They say you never forget how to ride a bike but all those skills and finesse I had are gone. I can’t bunny hop, endo-turn. I can’t do drop-offs or step ups. It’s really weird. At first I blamed it on the extra weight of both me and the e-bike, but it’s technique I’ve forgotten.

Probably just as well. All the old techniques from BITD just don’t work with modern geometry. Modern bikes are a lot longer and more stable, but need bigger weight changes to get them to do what you want. That’s why people from here try a friends modern bike and just don’t like it, it takes time to adjust. Give it time and you’ll be flying in soon enough.