When do you think we reached "peak" mtb?

[synchronicity]

Some people believe that newer isn't always better.
And yet the oldest isn't always that great either.
Which means that somewhere along the line, the industry has reached a peak.

When was it, do you think?
(and why)

 

[jimo746]

"Better" how? Visually I think the 90's mtbs were "peak".
Performance wise then who knows what the future holds? But current beats older, hands down, and it keeps getting better each year.

 

[tintin40]

the newer materials and manufacturing technology have given designers the opportunity to make better bikes. But the retail side seems to sell to the youth who want to ride like a BMX. Getting 'air' and all that style of riding. That's not MTB riding. Well not to me. They are making them heavier than ever. No wonder nobody like going up hill. So I've picked 1995

 

[synchronicity]

"Better" how? Visually I think the 90's mtbs were "peak".
Performance wise then who knows what the future holds? But current beats older, hands down, and it keeps getting better each year.

Well it depends on whether you prioritise aesthetics over functionality. Just pick a year.
I want to see like a great big bell curve happening.

 

[sminchnz]

I’m also interested to see when people think was “nadir” mtb. There seems to have been a terrible dip when 29er appeared, geometry was balls, and suspension sucked.

 

[GTLoz]

I voted 2004 which also happens to be the last time I bought a brand new mtb. I remember at the time there was a choice for pretty much every discipline. I decided on a marin rock springs, I could do everything I wanted to on that bike, way more than on my 97 gt timberline. To me, mtbs have moved on since then but I just don't have the same interest in the newer stuff. Maybe nostalgia now overrules the need for the latest tech in my head.

 

[markoc]

I've gone '96. Seemed for me that this was when innovation really started to explode (well, the kind of 95-98 window really). Lots of trick kit being created by small companies, and some of the bigger players really learning from MX in terms of suspension design and technology. Frame angles starting to change, and the rise of Dual Slalom and DH to new levels where there started to be a drive for kit that was functional to the task in hand.

 

[Mod-Master]

For me it was 1996, most of the most beautiful bikes were made around that time.

The older bikes were just built better, they shifted more reliably, and they were lighter too, the anniversary yeti arc weighs in at around 25lb. Even thought it’s made of carbon, the older one weighs in at around 22lb even though it’s made of steel

Right around the 2000s was when the “copy craze” (just my word for it) kicked off. All the smaller bike manufacturers just went nuts and started making some terrible bikes e.g. Apollo, muddy fox and Saracen.

However there where some unforgettable dh monsters made around that time like mountain cycles, and sintesi’s

But I’m the 90’s nearly every bike was handmade, brazed/welded by the creators hand. And you just didn’t really get that kinda soul in the bikes that you can buy today. It’s all machine welded and it just doesn’t feel right.

The bikes made now are more easy to race(in my humble opinion) you know, you’ve got boost, bigger suspension, wider bars. When In the 80s/90s the rider was actually connected to the ground.

Anyway that’s my verdict

 

[synchronicity]

I voted 2004 which also happens to be the last time I bought a brand new mtb. I remember at the time there was a choice for pretty much every discipline. I decided on a marin rock springs, I could do everything I wanted to on that bike, way more than on my 97 gt timberline. To me, mtbs have moved on since then but I just don't have the same interest in the newer stuff. Maybe nostalgia now overrules the need for the latest tech in my head.

Yes, some of it is definitely nostalgia. Many of the modern frames all look the same to me.
But yet look at the mid- to late-90s. You had totally weird, vastly different frame designs.
That was certainly a peak of creativity in design as far as I'm concerned.

If any of you are wondering about myself, I picked the year 2007 as that is around the year I bought my last bikes/frames.
Having said that, I put a fork from 2017 on one, and now last years' cheapest shock (monarch). Rides like a totally different bike. I feel like it's the best of both worlds that way. I think we're going to see more of that; people putting new shocks on old bikes in order to transform them [somewhat].

 

[synchronicity]

Three votes for 1996 so far!