Anyone else gone to the dark side? Confession: I’ve just bought a 29er..

[float]

Yeah, tbf that Alpine is a fair old jump from the older bikes but even so, will probably feel more comfortable for retro riders than the current stuff because the top tube is quite short, the bb is quiet high and for a hard core AM/DH type bike the angles are still pretty steep. That's where I've felt the biggest differences as I've changed my bikes as the older kit feels like you're perched on top of it rather than sat 'in' it, if that makes sense? Shock/fork technology makes a huge difference too as the current offerings are miles better than suspension from 2017, let alone 2010!

Yeah, I agree it's still definitely outdated for the DH/Enduro category today. It's quite amazing what seemingly minute geo changes can do to improve a bike. I can recall lots of video examples of riders taking modern 29" trail-oriented HT's on quite advanced trails. They might even be more confident to descend on than 2000s FS bikes are, due to geometry alone. I would probably be happy with it simply because it's more capable than the vintage bikes I own. But now that I own a new 29er, I guess that last part doesn't matter much. However for a strict retro rider who won't go beyond 26er, you could say that Orange and its contemporaries are like the holy grail of 26" AM bikes.

 

[madjh]

I still ride a 26 most of the time, I don´t like 29er but I like 27.5".

My 26 from 2007 is a 68º head angle, same as today and in that era the feeling was quite different fron the other manufacturers, it was a bit long, 68º etc And today is my main bicycle after 16 years. I like XC and fast narrow trails so wide handlebars are a nightmare, and big wheels too.