A number of people seem to be moving from an exclusive focus on retro machinery to building new things - quite a few 'here is my first 27.5 build' and 'I have just put together a 29er'. My own odyssey was around six years ago. Perfectly happy on bikes from my 30 year old stable, I decided to build a light XC bike for my then-10 year-old - and very soon began to understand the evolution which had occurred. I don't want to forget the history and all the accumulated memories of rides and builds - snow and sun and mud and dust. But I like the new developments, and have done some very satisfying (even if eye-wateringly expensive) builds - DH, endure, jump. Most things are improvements, although the shift from 'leave no trace' to digging up the countryside seems retrograde. But a lot of old dogs seem to be developing seriously new tricks.....
I dig both. I'm without a retro ride myself at the moment, but her indoors has a Rocky Mountain. I bought it for her on a whim and it's now part of the family as much as the dog. There have been temptations, such as when she encountered a specific 2021 Marin, but with gentle counselling and use of a safe space, she overcame the urge eventually.
The really lovely thing about the older bikes is that, to me at least, they are so much less fussy. Relatively easy to work on, you're without the stress of a plethora of options that goes along with a new bike. I dunno, maybe I'm confused, but I'm damned if I can work out who uses what axle sizes these days and why. Thats just one example. Then theres umpteen different options for purchasing a simple XT shifter. I SPEC, U SPEC, EVERYBODY SPEC B blah blah. Who the hell knows what all that means. It's nuts. Just an XT shifter please, thank you.
Build quality now isn't the same as it was. Get hold of some M900 and you've got a work of art in your hand. Modern XTR. Well, yeah it's OK compared to a lot of the dross, but I can't say it's got the same hold on me as it used to. Also, theres very little boutique stuff now it seems. I've got a Deity cockpit on my new ride, but whilst well made, it's nowhere near as exciting as a Ringle Zooka.
Perhaps I'm just an old romantic. Or just old. Maybe fat and decrepit too.
The saving grace is perhaps modern suspension. Compared to the old elastomer stuff, my fox 38's on the enduro are a galaxy apart but they also are not cheap, so theres that.
One day I will build my dream bike. My modern bike was very nearly a Merlin Newsboy, but shhh, it doesn't know.
