When did it start going rubbish?

[Neil]

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.

I'm sure disc brakes are a marvelous thing if you are into chucking a 35lb bike down serious inclines but do most people really need them?

I fitted a set of XTR M960 V's a couple of weeks ago, set them up how I have always set up V's, went for a ride and had to back them off a bit when I got home as they were so sharp. I couldn't imagine needing discs, but then again I am a bit of a featherweight.

Will you feel the same in February, when your rims are iced up, and your brakes have been ground down to a stub by muddy grinding paste?
Of all the "improvements" in MTB design and componentry, discs are the only ones I could not now forego, particularly in winter.

Here's the thing, though - I'm sure everybody, here, objectively recognises that disc brakes are progress and superior.

The fact remains, though, I don't want a bike with them on - that's just my aesthetic. It's not something that's happened with age, I felt the same decades ago.

It just is. My preferences became conditioned in my own personal golden era of cycling, and that isn't about objective performance, it's about my personal "landscape" of what cycling and bikes should be (for me, at least...)

 

[Neil]

I'd rather bleed a caliper than setup a canti, replace a set of disk pads than a set of canti pads, replace a worn rotor instead of a rim. I like one finger braking, knowing that a buckled wheel isn't going to affect my brakes and brakes that work irregardless of conditions.

No real experience with Vs, but can you tell I hate cantis

Me I'm the reverse.

Precious little experience with Vs (although they don't need as much), loads of experience with cantis.

And although they're not exactly the easiest type of brake to setup, it's a skill and ability I don't want to lose over time.

Some of the other bits you said do make perfect sense - I'd much prefer to not have to consider wear on rim surfaces, and simply replace a rotor when it's thinner than spec - but I have my preferences, and am damned by 'em ;-)

 

[Neil]

The moment it all went bad for me was when it suddenly became about the equipment you had, and the brand names, rather than the cycling. If you didnt' ride an XT or XTR equipped latest model, or wear the right Oakleys, you somehow weren't a "proper" cyclist. Back in the day, I used to tour, and the enjoyment for me was being in tune with my bike, on an open road, and giving a wave to other like minded cyclists. Fast forward 15 years and I'm on a start line of a Masters XC race, and everyone's examining everyone else's bikes and judging the rider on the kit.
Personally, I couldn't care less if the bike you ride is 1 month, 1 year or 3 decades old- if it works for you, and makes you smile, it's all good. It's the freedom a bike gives which makes it special, not the manufacturer.
Phew!

Agree completely.

When I was mountain biking (late 80s and early 90s) nearly all of the people I cycled with, or saw, were blasting round on low-to-mid range fodder, having a blast. Sure, some, if not all would have liked better, more expensive kit, but the majority of people I saw mtb-ing, BITD, weren't on expensive exotica, or bikes tricked out with bling (only those poncing down the prom, or pootling 'round the park were), they were riding good solid bikes, with middle-of-the-road kit on, and were just peachy without having top-end bikes or top-end kit on them.

 

[brocklanders023]

I agree with an earlier poster that said it was when aluminium became the norm :evil: Steel seems to be making a come back though, which is a good thing.

Must admit I like disc brakes and modern forks though.

 

[Defender]

I agree with an earlier poster that said it was when aluminium became the norm :evil: Steel seems to be making a come back though, which is a good thing.
Must admit I like disc brakes and modern forks though.

I have to agree with this, disc brakes are great, as are suspension forks that work properly, why can't we have the best of both or even all worlds?
As for the resurgence of steel, ally and steel seem to have swapped places, the steel frames now seem to be mid to high end almost specialist items, with ally being the norm and covering almost everything?

 

[suburbanreuben]

I agree with an earlier poster that said it was when aluminium became the norm :evil: Steel seems to be making a come back though, which is a good thing.
Must admit I like disc brakes and modern forks though.

I have to agree with this, disc brakes are great, as are suspension forks that work properly, why can't we have the best of both or even all worlds?
As for the resurgence of steel, ally and steel seem to have swapped places, the steel frames now seem to be mid to high end almost specialist items, with ally being the norm and covering almost everything?

I've never understood "top end" ally frames. I suppose a Zaskar or Homegrown is about as far as you could go, but that's not saying much...

 

[makster]

The aluminium revolution was the begining of the end in my mind

What is this aluminium material that you talk of??

 

[velomaniac]

Disc Brakes are new fangled unneeded bike technology.

Not true, shimano had tandem drag brakes in the form of cable actuated discs in the 1970's and I remember seeing a mtb in the lakedistrict in the 80's with discs. They are thus not new, they are not technically advanced in comparison to other brake types and hydraulic discs are extremely reliable and easy to control your speed with.

All technology has its place in the eye of its beholder

 

[suburbanreuben]

The beginning of the end was Titanium!
There's more than a whiff of the "Emperor's New Clothes" about this "magic" metal.
Freed from the constraints of steel tubing various frame builders such as Moots and Merlin created horrendous looking jalopies, just because they could. :roll:
How these improved on the ride of Ritchey Logic is debatable, but if YOU couldn't feel it, you weren't a mountain biker....

 

[Benandemu]

It is all a mind set.

New bikes may not have the same level of inventiveness and 'first time' components, but that is because they are being fine tuned, just like the clunkers from Marin were being fine tuned.

The breed has progressed to a level that is almost beyond the speed I can ride now. True, modern bikes have less soul, but so did our 90's bikes compared with the original clunkers. But modern bikes are amazing to ride. They do make progress on the trails you ride, but that's the whole idea from day one - progression!

It didn't go wrong, it got tuned in.