I've come to this late and and am therefore resurrecting the thread!
I've got to say there is some absolute guff being spouted about ugly modern bikes and OTT decals / colour schemes (meant in a joking / friendly none derogatory tone).
There were some hideously loud paint jobs...some Yo Eddy's for example, splatter jobs, neon bits etc. Modern bikes are going through a colour resurrection at the moment. It wasn't that long ago when stealth was the order of the day.
There have been some awful looking old bikes...early Orange full sus bikes were grim as were some of the early 'Dale versions. There have also been some lovely ones...just as there are some lovely looking modern bikes as well as some ugly ones.
The thing that really got me was 'modern' companies being about making money. I think that's always been the case. I'm sure when the first Spesh MTB was issued it wasn't for fun or out of he goodness of their heart but to exploit a niche that they spotted. Same as Pace, Kona etc.
As for the way things work, modern things do do certain things better. I have an early nineties Beast of the East which is a good looking bike but the angles mean that it is twitchy, the bars are too narrow, the canti and original Hope disc brake suck as do the RC35's. However I still love it for sentimental reasons but my more modern bikes do do modern riding much better. I also think that they're good looking in their own right.
As for mechanicals, I have far less breakages than I used to but then again I started riding in '96 which was when DH, jumping and mucking about started to boom and the kit at the time just wasn't suitable. Trails have changed, they are rougher so bikes have changed. I couldn't imagine riding some of the tracks in Wharncliffe on my old 'Dale.
The other thing is who cares if someone has a nice car and a expensive bike? It's their money, they can spend it on what they want. Not only that, it's a good thing for those of us who buy a lot of stuff second hand! That attitude is just as judgemental as those who look down on people riding older bikes.
There's room for both, and I get that this is retro bike but it does seem that people have blanked out some of the god awful bikes that were produced....and the mental paint jobs and purple anodising!
Anyway, enough from me. Just enjoy riding bikes.
