Welcome to the not-so-broad-as-we-thought-it-was church...
Back to the thread... :roll:
Still struggling to embrace all DH-specific machines through a personal concept that anything over 10 years back should get a welcome here. Having said that, I can look with wonder and disbelief at a whole bunch of early FS bikes that I wouldn't hanker after in my cellar - a Crosstrac Sonoma amongst others springs to mind here...!
I don't care for the concept of buying a new bike every couple of years, so anything pre-1996 made in good faith I will always be a sucker for - period. It continues to represent the best of times I had through cycling and extending that in a contemporary context is still valid (thanks in no small part to RB and eBay). The mechanics of Capitalism went and ruined pretty much everything cycling in the high street after 1996 (as per), so if we're talking modern manufacturers we have to look at the boutique and the hand made (not marketing-led exercises by the established names) or 'make-do' with the old school.
Within the site, 'signature builds' often make me yawn - Aqua Fades covered in Ringle blue is an obvious example; I have a love/hate relationhsip with the 'catalogue-build' concept, mainly because we Brits just didn't do that BiTD - what percentage of showroom bikes from '90 onwards were pushed out without some 'personalisation'??; high-end stuff can leave me cold too - generally the king's new clothes in performance terms IMHO (otherwise why not make millions of them at a good price point??) and I suspect more a marketeer's tool, so I view limited edition Ti frames with deep suspicion for example.
It also makes me smile inside to see several rare and unanimously desired bikes (read: made for the elitist owner profile) meet at an event or ride - therefore cancelling out their very reason for being...
More anon, no doubt... ;-)
Mr K