I don't necessarily see a need for a 98+ BotM, as 98+ has no real soul or meaningful raison d'etre - it was only created to house material that might spoil the main section. I can see a point in a pre-97 BotM, as ideally you might have an entry of a rare old bike that's been lovingly and tastefully restored to a very desirable state and that would be a deserving winner. But what is the equivalent with modern bikes, where there is a plentiful supply? The winning entrant with the most desirable bike could just be the one with the most money to slap on the counter at his LBS. So what? But anyway, in reality it seems that most months the 98+ BotM is won a by a 1998 bike, which seems a bit lame really.
I'm building a 2003 Rocky Mountain Vertex Team Scandium, but it wouldn't occur to me to enter it into 98+ BotM. I'm building it with mainly 2003 parts, but not to original spec as I can't afford full XTR, I don't like Spinergy wheels etc. Historically it'll be fairly period-correct, but I'm doing it just for myself and my own interest - to build a good bike for not much money. I wouldn't expect anybody on here to be interested as it isn't retro, but it isn't modern either. I doubt whether I'd show it anywhere on Retrobike, just possibly in 'Show us your RMs' in the main forum, but not in 98+ BotM.
I'm building a 2003 Rocky Mountain Vertex Team Scandium, but it wouldn't occur to me to enter it into 98+ BotM. I'm building it with mainly 2003 parts, but not to original spec as I can't afford full XTR, I don't like Spinergy wheels etc. Historically it'll be fairly period-correct, but I'm doing it just for myself and my own interest - to build a good bike for not much money. I wouldn't expect anybody on here to be interested as it isn't retro, but it isn't modern either. I doubt whether I'd show it anywhere on Retrobike, just possibly in 'Show us your RMs' in the main forum, but not in 98+ BotM.