That was an awesome read. While I love mountain biking gear, and always interested in trying new products, I personally haven't felt the need of the hot new thing in mountain biking for a while. I think mountain bikes have been on a steep development curve that has started to taper off. For the first time since I've been mountain biking I'm thoroughly happy with my two personal bikes I've had for 3-4 years. I always used to yearn for a longer bike, with better suspension kinematics, better suspension etc. It's been a while since I've ridden something and thought, yup, I NEED that. I feel like geometry, brakes, dampers, drivetrains etc have reached a point of development where gains are incremental at best. Many new products are a step backwards in the pursuit new features. Maybe I'm totally wrong and I'll look back at these bikes in 8 years time and laugh at how awful they were. But I feel like cars have gone through this before. I love cars. I feel like peak car was in the late 1990s to late 2000s. I've driven many new faster performance cars, but few manage to put a grin on my face like mid-2000s Japanese sports cars.
June 4, 2024, 1:29 p.m. - Tim Coleman
That was an awesome read. While I love mountain biking gear, and always interested in trying new products, I personally haven't felt the need of the hot new thing in mountain biking for a while. I think mountain bikes have been on a steep development curve that has started to taper off. For the first time since I've been mountain biking I'm thoroughly happy with my two personal bikes I've had for 3-4 years. I always used to yearn for a longer bike, with better suspension kinematics, better suspension etc. It's been a while since I've ridden something and thought, yup, I NEED that. I feel like geometry, brakes, dampers, drivetrains etc have reached a point of development where gains are incremental at best. Many new products are a step backwards in the pursuit new features. Maybe I'm totally wrong and I'll look back at these bikes in 8 years time and laugh at how awful they were. But I feel like cars have gone through this before. I love cars. I feel like peak car was in the late 1990s to late 2000s. I've driven many new faster performance cars, but few manage to put a grin on my face like mid-2000s Japanese sports cars.