When did it lose it for you.....

[fearfactoryüberalles]

After 8 speed at the rear all seemed pointless and pure greedy for the sake of the stock holders. Who the fx#k needs more than 24 speeds, honestly?

M900/M739/Suntour XC Pro/Comp. Maybe V-brakes were worth it, if I'm in forgiving mode. End of story.

So until '96 or so and the attraction is gone.

 

[ultrazenith]

For me the period 92-94 was the most interesting: fluorescent paint jobs, barends, and everybody basically doing some variety of XC riding all together. I also recall an amazing and infectious spirit of adventure, going out and discovering routes on Dartmoor that were rideable on the MTBs of the time, or showing your friends the new trails you've found out, linking them all up into superb all-day routes, etc.

After 94 I started to feel the shadow of DH hanging over the MTB scene. before that, our group would go out on rides together and the routes had something for everyone: those who liked tough climbs, those who liked fast downhills, and those who preferred the roughest downhills, drops, etc. Once DH separated from MTB, XC rides became a bit lonely because the DH-oriented guys preferred to spend their Sundays building berms and doing jumps in the same patch of woods.

In 96 I left home and ended up spending the next 7 years in a region without any real hills and no wild areas to explore, and after a couple of years my interest waned, the bike got stored back home and forgotten. Fast forward to 2011 when I moved to Portugal from Mexico, and I was surprised to see people riding round the city on what looked like long travel DH bikes with 100mm forks, disc brakes, risers, etc. I still ride a 90s bike with PACE forks, because it makes me smile and it works for the gravelly trails we have over here. And I think if I coul reach back in time and pick out any bikes from any period, they would be Raleigh Dynatech MTBs from the 93 or 94 catalogues, which for me were the pinnacle.

 

[Roasted]

Never lost it for me, just got frustrating.

It's all the changes in standards and lack of support for old tech that annoys me, but it's not put me off yet. And most of the stuff that the bike media are raving about now has been done before and dismissed. Wide bars were dismissed for feeling too vague, slack head angles for giving handling like a wheel barrow, high pivot pulley for adding weight and complexity.

The thing that really does put me off is the price of new bikes and parts, definitely keeps me in the secondhand market.

 

[clubby]

Never lost it for me, just got frustrating.

It's all the changes in standards and lack of support for old tech that annoys me, but it's not put me off yet. And most of the stuff that the bike media are raving about now has been done before and dismissed. Wide bars were dismissed for feeling too vague, slack head angles for giving handling like a wheel barrow, high pivot pulley for adding weight and complexity.

I agree to an extent, but you can still get parts to fit the most common older standards. For example 7 & 8 speed, you can still easily get all the parts you need. What you won’t get is high end parts, but if you firmly believe that less cogs is better there are options out there.
There are companies who specialise in making adapters and brackets to make mismatched components work.

What I find unforgivable is big companies who just stop making service parts available. I’m looking at you Fox suspension. There’s just no reason to stop doing seal kits for forks and shocks. Can’t remember exactly how long, but I’m sure I read they stop doing them 5 years after the product line is updated. I’m sure there is stock is around longer than that for common parts but there are 7 year old Cannondales with bespoke Fox shocks that can’t be serviced anymore rendering the whole frame dead. That’s just immoral from a consumer and environmental point of view. Rock Shox manage, so why can’t Fox?
Also, a big up to Hope for keeping doing small parts for lots of their back catalogue. Have heard that some stuff is now out of production and won’t be remade but they are a lot better than most.

 

[Fatbrad]

MTB probably around 2013 when I got my first road bike and realised that I could ride to work and back. Plus living where I am without a car Mountain biking was a ball ache or really boring. Then when I finally learnt to drive 2 years ago I bought another MTB and that was it. I have a road bike, a Gravel bike and 2 MTB's and I love all of them. But the feeling of battering down Penhydd or Y Wall on an FS bike is just brilliant. Although not as much fun as Blue Scar on the Gravel bike.

 

[SFP]

As in brands,

I like to think the reason mountain bikes took a back seat for me was when I went into a 'relationship', spending time with loved ones and creating a 'home' was priority ...

Or was it?

I think it was 1994 when I started to lose interest, everything just started to look pants and cost more, and style.... Style just disappeared, as did the era of bikes I could look at and think ..... Wow, that's nice.

So like....(for me)

Kona nailed it with splatter paint, even the following years had cool looking bikes.... Downtube decal change, disliked it!

GT also had some of the best paint jobs available, and I loved U-brakes..... U-brakes disappeared last GT I ever truly liked was the cosmic sunrise zaskar...

Marin, .... I lovedThe early years up until they got rid of the fluro colours... Maybe even liked the 93's a little

Shimano.... 95 was the last time i liked XT, getting rid of exage killed it for me.... Altus, alivio..... Urgh!

Suntour..... What a loss

V-brakes... Yeah, they work brilliant (better than disc (to me)) but they're not as .... Aesthetically pleasing on the eye.

Thumbshifters ..... Why oh why did they get rid.... Mumblegrumble

Muddy fox...... What the fox went wrong!@#!?

Saracen ..... So cool then 1992....losing it, and ....

These are just my thoughts/takes/feelings/rants.

What are yours?

As I comment on a three year old thread in 2025....

So for the record. I was born in April 1970. I am Gen X. I am an artist, love my punk/metal/opera/rock music. Studied at the Masters level twice. A father. A Geek. Currently single at 55. I love old Volvos, Squarebody pick-ups, 80's BMW/Audis, motorbikes/cafe racers. I have been spinning wrench since I was 5. Started working in bike shops at age 15. Owned my own pro bicycle shop at age 24. Love my vinyl records and vintage stereo EQ. I work professionally as a photographer these days. I just figure some context can't hurt for what follows.

I stopped racing early 1995, so technically 1994 was my last season.

Ibis was my first sponsor in 1990. My last was Diamond Back in 1994. Brodie, Specialized and Rocky Mountain were also sponsors during the early 1990s.

I came from BMX background, followed by cycle cross and bicycle trials and then got into XC. When I got sponsored as a privateer via the bike shop I worked in, I started training with roadies and learned so so much. Pedal in circles eh.

The end of Suntour XC Pro I still have not gotten over. Have hated Grip-shift sine day one. I didn't mind U-brakes. Custom lacing on wheels... aka 4 cross drive, 3 cross out (rear) (or 3 drive 2 outboard) and 2 cross on front makes sense to me. Alloy nipples look and weigh less but they weaken a wheel IMHO. Radial lace wheels are for road bikes at best. Snowflake lacing is a waste of weight and spokes. Only use DT or Ritchey spokes and nipples.

Someone please bring back Scott Mathauser brake pads.. pretty please.

The Mavic MA-40 rim IMHO is still the BEST rim-brake rim ever made.
I ran 48 to 52 on my big ring depending on the course.
I used to always build custom cassettes... two large on one and two and corn cob the rest of the way.

I screamed when they announced 24 gears and out and out said "F$*k That Shit" when they started the 1X9 stuff.
Once wheel size jumped past 26" I was completely done.
Hell I never liked full suspension but then I came from a XC/cycle cross back ground.
I still do not fully trust carbon fiber.

I liked and still like a Softride road bike.
A Bob Jackson 753 frame set is my dream road bike.
I think it is a shame True Temper no longer makes tubing for bicycles. The TT-Lite custom stuff they made for Diamond Back was amazing.
Reynolds is far superior to Tange when it comes to tubing - the exception is Ritchey Tubing. Myiata splined tubing was/is so so over looked.
Forged will always be stronger and better than CNC'ed (FYI I am a trained machinist who has studied metallurgy at the Masters level).

My heroes were/are:
Ned Overend
Hans Rey
Missy
Juli Futado
Tinker Juarez
John Tomac
Joe Murray

BMX heroes for the record:
Toby Henderson
Harry Larry
Tim Judge
R.L. Osbourne
The Condor (Hoffman)

Yeah, in the early 90's I loved racing dual slalom but I was coming at that from a BMX back ground. I could goes balls out and win against roadies and the MTB riders.... fellow BMXers, well, that's when things got real.

Downhill was never my thing. I had team mates and friends who were part of that 1990 to 1995 era... they were all technically crazy and hell they had to be to win.

I LOVE a good technical climb. I love the old school XC Norba races. I liked and still miss the old school XC races.
And do not even get me started on modern BMX racing.... tracks, bikes, etc... ack!

So in short yeah, by 1995 I was pretty much done.

But that era from 1985 to 1995 was pure magic and I am so so grateful to have been part of it.

Living in the land of where Free Ride was born (Victoria BC - moved here in January 1996) I am the oddball.

I just have never gotten into the modern or in my case, west coast scene.

All my local friends who ride are on 29" wheel dual suspension with six to eight inches of travel front and rear.... to me those bikes ride like a damn lazy boy going through the forest and they all have to walk their rides up a hill. As I am known to say about Harleys VS sportbikes... a Harley rides/drives/handles like a 1970s for F-250.... I wanna carve, hence I like sportbikes.

I still use toe clips (never could get used to clipless). I prefer for off road a 2.1/2.3 (red Z-max please) tire in the front and a 1.9/1.75 in the rear (Gods how I miss the 1.9 kevlar smoke).

I love steel. Yes I also love Ti. Have owned beautiful AL bikes including M2 but I always come to steel. I still use above bar thumb shifters on all my rides so at max I am running 8 speeds in the rear. I believe the Joe Murray Impact headset was the best bang for buck headset ever made. I love double butted spokes. I do like good disc brakes. I liked and miss elevated chainstay bikes.

I remember playing floor hockey while smoking doobies in the Kona warehouse in Van back in the early 90's.

I felt bad when I had to call Paul and tell him I snapped the Sovereign frame at the head tube (second race of the season) and that I was going back to racing Rockies.

I remember nights after the bike convention in Vegas when Keith would say "**** Trek, Giant, Specialized and most of all Cannondale.. they are what is wrong with this business and they are ruining it for all of us"

... and then he sold out to Trek.

Thank the gods for Tom Ritchey, Joe Breeze & Grayson Bain.


And thank the gods for this website/forum for allowing me to connect with liked minded passionate people around the globe on a topic that means the world to me.

Cheers folks.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I remember playing floor hockey while smoking doobies in the Kona warehouse in Van back in the early 90's

Yup, your Canadian credentials check out. But I gotta ask: how well do you remember it?

 

[Mkane]

Looks mean nothing these days. We use bicycles as a tool to keep our old bones flexible.
Ride on.

 

[7Speed]

For me the things that started to feel difficult and made me spend more time on the road:
1. Too much focus on downhill vs XC. So few DH trails and opportunities where I grew up.
2. Suspension becoming a standard when in reality we didn’t need it much (until bike parks came along).
3. The move to shorter circuits and races and less performance focus.
So mid-90s. Definitely finding my second wind now my kids are getting into it.

 

[SFP]

But I gotta ask: how well do you remember it?

Some of it very well....

Other times I woke up back in Edmonton with zero memory of leaving Vancouver. Ode to being young & dumb.

But honestly... the hang out/chat sessions with Dewy (Kona), Paul (Brodie), Paul (Norco), the Rocky crowd are my fav memories.... it really was a magical time looking back on it. Just bike people from frame builders to master wheelsmiths to engineers to guys who raced/rode.... There was a comradery that was authentic and magical.

No judgment for differences in opinions. People who you could agree to disagree with but still be buds with. Sharing our passion for a sport/lifestyle we all loved. You could ask questions and get real answers - zero elitism. From joking about tires choices to helping a friend with a pre-mature birth of a child.

I tell people about when a best buddy and I founded Crunch Racing Products (out of Edmonton) in 1993 and we realized we were in way over heads. A long time fellow mechanice from the scene who was also good friend, he knew Tom Ritchey had him call me to help us out, he in turn hooked us up with Keith Bontrager. Then Paul B and Grayson found out about it and they were super supportive. We never went anywhere.. a dozen pair of hubs, dozen bar ends and a few prototypes... 17 months into it my partner had a brain aneurysm and died while walking across our machine shop floor and that was the end of CRP - but the help and support two 20 something year old kids with dreams of being the next Syncros was unreal. Tom & Keith were unreal in their support. During start up, during prototyping, business development, testing and after Dean died - I can't say enough good things about those two.

As they say, You don't know what you got until it was gone.

Yes, I count myself blessed and am so so so grateful to have been of all that.