When did it start going rubbish?

[velomaniac]

All thats happened is the same for most on here. As you get older you get more set in your ways as brain cells die off and dont get replaced. Your ideas, points of veiw, behaviour etc. just become more hardwired into the system with less capacity for new ideas.

We're grumpy old men who dont like change.

The young buyers of today will be having this debate in another 10-20 years. "It all started to be rubbish when forcefield frame systems were available to the masses"

 

[Andy R]

However when full suspension became almost a prerequisite

Someone obviously forgot to tell me then

As opposed to steel frames, rigid forks and 29" front wheels, which are a prerequisite

 

[Defender]

We're grumpy old men who dont like change.

Guilty as charged, and proud of it!
Seriously though, there are some things more recent and 'trendy' that I do like, 29ers, hub gears, lock out on front forks to name a few.
I do love my space frame Moulton APB's, which are of course fully suspended, but I'm not sure which catagory that puts me into?
Excentric I guess :!:

 

[Defender]

However when full suspension became almost a prerequisite

Someone obviously forgot to tell me then

As opposed to steel frames, rigid forks and 29" front wheels, which are a prerequisite

Well I did say 'ALMOST', and I think you know what I mean?
I do like that Singular
Just been out shopping an saw a typical £99 catalog 'full susser' probably weighed a tonne and poggoed like a punk on acid :roll:
Changing the subject, I've been looking of a 29er to build up with an Alfine 8 set up I have lurking about, I'd love to go Titanium, but if not then I'll be steel!

 

[highlandsflyer]

However when full suspension became almost a prerequisite

Someone obviously forgot to tell me then

As opposed to steel frames, rigid forks and 29" front wheels, which are a prerequisite

Well I did say 'ALMOST', and I think you know what I mean?
I do like that Singular
Just been out shopping an saw a typical £99 catalog 'full susser' probably weighed a tonne and poggoed like a punk on acid :roll:
Changing the subject, I've been looking of a 29er to build up with an Alfine 8 set up I have lurking about, I'd love to go Titanium, but if not then I'll be steel!

I know what you meant, but don't agree.

Way back in the 70s and 80s there were also trends in non serious biking.

Hardtails rule the roost as far as I can tell in serious biking.

Full sussers with lock outs/pro pedal etc. are viable and sensible all round bikes. In terms of serious biking, they are not just a fad.

 

[legrandefromage]

What is 'serious' biking? Does that mean when I'm next out on the gated 38m epic on a fully rigid 22 year old bike, I'm not taking it seriously?

 

[utahdog2003]

When Kona got chunky.

Yes...but more generally stated as:

When all mountain bikes seemed to have been designed for flying over obstacles with a Red Bull in your hand and an Ipod in your shorts, rather than ridden around with a bit of tactful finess, with a water bottle cage on the frame and a paint job you wanted to care for.

Seriously, when DID mountain biking stop being simply about riding a bicycle in the woods and instead become more about building fake loading dock drops and teeter-totters and 'shredding' instead? I blame X-Games and dicks like Shaun Palmer and Travis Pastrana and their ilk, and the marketing machine that they represent.

Missy Giove team downhill bikes from the past could be confused with cross country bikes of the present. Whenever that became the standard, that moment, is when it all went bad for mountain bikes.

That and flat black paint on everything, even spokes. :roll:

 

[Andy R]

However when full suspension became almost a prerequisite

Someone obviously forgot to tell me then

As opposed to steel frames, rigid forks and 29" front wheels, which are a prerequisite

Well I did say 'ALMOST', and I think you know what I mean?
I do like that Singular
Just been out shopping an saw a typical £99 catalog 'full susser' probably weighed a tonne and poggoed like a punk on acid :roll:
Changing the subject, I've been looking of a 29er to build up with an Alfine 8 set up I have lurking about, I'd love to go Titanium, but if not then I'll be steel!

Yes, I know what you mean, and on a different subject - if it was me I'd be looking at the Salsa El Mariachi (with the matching rigid forks).
It looks a really sweeet bike and I like those "Black Cat" style dropouts.

 

[highlandsflyer]

What is 'serious' biking? Does that mean when I'm next out on the gated 38m epic on a fully rigid 22 year old bike, I'm not taking it seriously?

Serious biking is what is done between the laughter. The equipment may vary but the attitude is the same.

When the snow comes in and you are high on the hill, climbing changes from a hobby to a survival skill.

When you realise at current pace you are going to be ten minutes late for an important appointment that piece of steel between your legs ceases to be a whimsical purchase or a hobby item and becomes the means to amend the problem, judiciously using all the skills you have acquired to propel yourself efficiently at great speed using the best and most serious tool for the job you can be a winner.

Serious biking is all about intention.

 

[Agency_Scum]

Disc brakes. Replace a design concept that's been around since the Oxford safety bicycle that a blacksmith/gifted amateur/idiot could fix and replace it with something that weighs more, is irrelevant and overkill under 15mph and required specialist parts, care maintinance, wizards and chemists to fix.
Think I'll go have a lie down now.