legrandefromage":1qb2burk said:
In 1998 I could buy a GT Tempest with STX-RC, RS Indy forks and all this for £499. An Orange Clockwork with RST forks came in at £579
Even with inflation, I would get a 'better' bike in 1998 for £400 than I would for the equivalent £708 in todays money.
At least it would have more gears!
Come on LGF, you're not even trying now..
Voodoo Hoodoo, £600. Decent geometry frame, air fork, Shimano Deore 1x10, Shimano discs, Maxxis tyres. Colleague bought one a couple of weeks ago and brought it in to work for me to set up for him. It's great tbh - if that was my budget for a bike then I'd be happy to have it. Dropper post and a decent set of tyres set up tubeless and you're still well under £800 (£499 from 1998 adjusted for inflation is about £850 now).
There's absolutely nothing wrong with questioning progress for progress' sake, and a lot of ideas have come and gone just because they were nonsense. URT anyone!? But the stuff that works, stays - because people buy it,and ignore the stuff that doesn't.
30 years ago, if you wanted to ride XC, you bought a mountain bike. DH? Mountain bike. Trials? Mountain bike. When the first proper DH bikes came on the scene, they were flexy wallowy beasts that were heavy, short, steep, and a pig to pedal anywhere. My main bike now would annihilate them on a DH course, yet weighs about the same as my first GT Timberline, can be pedalled all day, gets up hills fine, has a lifetime frame warranty, etc.
Sure, it cost me the equivalent of an £1800 bike back in 1993, but I'd say its probably stronger and more reliable than something of that price from back then.
The beauty of what we have now is the capability and choice - if you live in Norfolk and have flat XC, you can buy a steep-angled carbon race whippet that'll be insanely fast and efficient. If you live in the Lakes or Snowdonia, you can buy a winch-and-plummet Enduro bike that'll cope with anything this side of a WC DH track (and probably even those, just not at race speed!). Hell, if you want a fully rigid steel framed bike with bosses everywhere for rambling-by-bike, yup, they don't cost that much:
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBOOBZ29S ... ntain-bike
Ride what you want - it's all bikes, it's all pedalling, it's all good. If you're having fun, whatever you're on, you're doing it right.