taletotell

Welcome to the normal world. I know we are a minority on this bike site, but for many of us the idea of dropping thousands on a bike ever, let alone every three years, is a ridiculous proposal. It makes more sense to buy a three year old bike and hold on to it for a decade. I've learned to pay attention to what standards seem to have taken and which did not, and use that as a guide when shopping used rigs. Then I can upgrade parts as makes sense, either for performance or replacement of broken stuff. I recently bought a 2022 Growler 40. I found it new from a LBS for a screaming good price ($800) and I'm psyched to be on it. I will replace the brakes soon. I may get some lighter tires. I will snag a better fork in a couple years. I will not be shopping for a new bike. What's more, I have kids who are hitting real shredding age. They are growing fast, but they need bikes that won't hold them back. So I picked up some descent frames (a julianna and a yeti) and I'm building their next rigs up. They are around 10 year old builds, but they are very nice. I don't think they will be anything to sniff at.

My friend rode an old trek with me the other day. They kept up pretty damn well, considering. They had a blast. Could they upgrade and have more fun? Probably, but that's not "getting started."

and put them in the British Museum?

I want the 06 Kona Coiler with a marzocchi 66 vs a modern Kona Process 153 with a modern Marz z1 coil. Both bikes need to be tuned so they actually use their suspension, and it should be a drop and jump heavy trail. The modern process will obviously be way better, but I think there is value in the comparison of such like designs. They may ostensibly use all the same engineering, but the iteration process has led to some amazing changes that make new bikes so much more capable. Honestly I'd take a 5" travel bike over the old long travel rigs on the same trail any day.

I am still weirded out by how hard people thirst for long travel. I don't live in a place with very gnarly trails anymore. Northern Utah trails can be as rough as you want, so seeing DH bikes there or the enduro-evo category of almost DH bikes was really common, but on the trails I'd see a lot of people on 6+" bikes who seemed to be a little over biked, and could have gotten more out of a 5" travel trail rig. And then I got to Boise. There are a few areas where you can find some gnar, but they are farther away or very short, and yet the number of SC Nomads on these mostly smooth flow trails is mind blowing. It's like having a big lifted truck and driving exclusively on city streets. Ego is a ridiculous reason to pick out a bike. I used to have a Rocky Mountain Altitude when I lived in Utah. It was awesome. Now I have a Growler. It is awesome, if a little much for most of the trails. I could see maybe getting a thunderbolt if I was riding in the higher trails where there are roots, or the select areas where there are rock gardens. Put simply, shorter travel bikes are so capable these days. There is no need to go huge. It's not a dong surrogate, and if you do go up into the real mountains once or twice a year to ride gnarly stuff you will find you have fun even on a shorter bike, even if you could have gone faster on that nomad or stumpy evo.

Harem Hobbler!

please someone make a gearbox that fits these motor mounts. Then I can get a gearbox bike just by getting an ebike with a dead battery and do a swap. . .

I hope to see them move away from metal chains. Carbon belts that are molded to be more like chains could last far longer with no need for lube while allowing for shifting. Hopefully we see some prototypes soonish.

I wonder who this influences editing choices. Do they double down on serving us millennials, do they pivot to try to draw younger audiences? I think magazines (online or otherwise) benefit from an insular audience that, while it is limited in size, is very loyal. It's like religions. A dozen weekly butts on pews in a church beats a 100 people who only show on holidays. How do I apply this to PB? Well, my teenage daughters like to ride, and my nephew is what we'd call hardcore. To my knowledge none of them even know about Pinkbike.com. They are less interested in journalism than just riding. Mtb has become so common that it is no longer a niche lifestyle activity, and more of a hobby. Even skilled riders aren't mountain bikers, they are just people who like to mountainbike. A similar idea would be the difference between people who go running and people who are "runners." I have enjoyed watching the sport grow and I honestly think it is healthy to move on to this next phase. Better gear at lower cost, more folks to ride with, and better trail access all come as results of the sport moving from niche to normal.