Which are the halcyon days of mtb'ing?

What's your opinion? Was it really better back in the day?

Has to be the early Nineties for me.. CNC, anodising, proto-suspension exotica, oversize experimentation, carbon and thermoplastics emergence.. Oh and MBUK was good

Boom time. Like it.

early nineties is when it all really kicked off and lots of development and new parts made. Everyone getting into the new thang. Non bikers asking why you need a mountain bike in Devon, cos there are no mountains :roll:

Has to be boom time with all it's CNC'ed fellas anodising their bits in the small shed at the bottom of the garden. Say no to bastardised cruisers, say no to 22" frames, no to moustaches, no to mass produced 'it all looks the same to me' modern stuff and yes to the true classic age of MTB!

Boom time rat, over here.

But my eclectic collection of bikes doesn't necessarily reflect that. I think I've got one from each of those eras, from "the sport goes worldwide" onwards!

i think the boom period is the one most folk will look on fondly - long post-gcse/a-level exam summers add to the happy memories i should imagine for a lot of folks on here as well as all the stuff mentioned up there about men anodising in sheds etc!
working part time jobs to scrounge the money to buy something blue/red/purple. jumpers for goal posts...

even if it rained you could watch your favourite MBUK vid for the 500th time....
"dirt dirt! its all the same.. here comes some its drivin me insane!" (or something like that )

I wish it was 1993 again

New mountain bikes don't feel special anymore. This is not just because i'm older and can afford to buy bikes in the price range i lusted over as a teenager. I've been hunting and hunting for an off the peg bike for a grand to buy through my company cycle to work scheme. Of course every bike in that price range is extremely competent but my god they're also so boring!

A part of me would rather these bikes were more of an unknown. I kinda want to be able to buy something and just not be sure if it's gonna break or not. Plus every other bike on the trail is built from the same groupo with the same forks :roll:

I've never bought a non-english bike before (the Kona doesn't count) and i'm really torn between a Specialized and a Genesis Altitude. I guess that's really because the Altitude is more like the sort of bike i wanted as a kid.

Difficult to say as I really enjoy riding now and am at the stage when I can afford a nice bike to ride and have some good mates to ride with.
I do look back fondly though to the mid-nineties when none of us could afford the bling bits, it was fred salmon handlebars or nowt. But we still rode like lunatics, rode all the big routes in the lakes on rigid bikes, got lost all the time, had no proper cycling kit apart from ron hill 'bikesters'. Now new riders seem to think they need to spend a grand or more on a full suspension bke to ride a fairly tame man made trail.

er...I just voted on the wrong era. Meant to do Boom Time, but accidentally clicked 85-89. :roll:

But then 87-89 hold fond mtb memories personally.

Gotta be early nineties really hasn't it? That's where the majority on here are still stuck.