Was sat down earlier pondering (for some reason) what the biggest advances to MTBing in general (and to the way I ride myself) were in the last 10 years. It was about 10 years ago I first found this very forum, and started actually riding "properly" you might say.
First I thought it must be suspension travel. Then I realised back in 2002 I was riding around on a 5" travel Specialized Enduro that wouldn't look out of place now really. And there were many longish travel full sus bikes out there that could still be ridden all day too, and a number of hardtails were already being designed for 5" travel forks too. Whilst shock technology has moved on, I think suspension on the whole had its biggest improvement from about 98-03, since then it's been evolution not revolution IMO.
Next I thought about disc brakes... Well in 2002 I was riding around on Shimano 4 pot XT discs. To this day, a well setup set of 4 pot XT's with decent pads will embarrass many current offerings. Disc brakes may have got lighter, but on the whole again it's minor evolution not revolution.
So what about gears? Well I was on 9spd XT/XTR back in 2001 even, I only switched to 10spd (which again is minor evolution) last year and whilst it's an improvement, it's only very marginal. Having an 11-36 cassette does help for single ring use though.
What about components (bars, seatposts, stems etc.)? Well, bars have got wider (though most people still run sensible width), stems have got a bit shorter on the whole, but even back in 2002 I considered 90mm the longest I'd run even on an XC bike and that's not changed. Are components any lighter/stronger now? Maybe, but again it's marginal.
So what's the biggest advance in the last decade IMO?
Tyres... 10 years ago you either bought light, skinny, flimsy and fairly hard compound XC tyres, or you accepted a weight penalty for the extra grip and fitted chunkier DH tyres. There was no middle ground as such. These days we expect lightweight, soft compound, fast yet grippy tyres in anything from 2.1-2.5" flavours to suit our riding, whereas back in 2002 these tyres simply weren't available (even though many frames already had the clearance for them). Tubeless has helped a lot too, as has the ability to run non UST tyres in a tubeless setup with Stans (et al) solutions and rims. But I think the sheer quantity of bigger, grippier, yet still fast and light tyres has made the biggest difference personally for me, as I always used to suffer the weight and slowness of DH tyres even on an XC bike cos I wanted the grip back then.
Oh, and saddles with a groove, and decent cycling shorts. Though these both already existed back then, I had just yet to discover them!
Fatbikes.
Truely a step-change in true All Terrain Biking.
CX bikes the best invention in the last 10 years imo.
they bridge the gap between road and XC brilliantly, allowing road bikes off road or XC bikes to keep up on the road.
as above - tyres
also a true understanding of geometry and general all round speccing of bike components
CX bikes? 10 years? I'm going with trail centres, like them or loathe them, they have to be the most significant step forward (or possibly backwards) for making mountain biking more accesable.
29ers. No, wait, 650b, no wait....
😉
for me, it would be weight reduction. Technology and materials have advanced so well that we can now make stronger bikes lighter. Etc.
A £59 mud guard
I think you'll find that CX bikes have been round a LOT longer than 10 years !CX bikes the best invention in the last 10 years imo.
no one mentioned gravity droppers yet, or is that like the naughty word on QI?
for me: man-size handlebars.
if i had a time-machine, and i could take 1 thing back 10 years, to give to my younger, thinner self, i'd take a low-rise 760 handlebar.
Uppy downy posts - mine has made the biggest difference to my riding.
Way more than anything else has.
This
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Tubeless tyres.
For you mboy it was sharing a bed with K and a few other lads before being led out into the deep dark woods... 😯 😆
+ 1 Uppy Downy
Uppy downy posts.
And I'm predicting that the next few years will bring us lever adjustable tyre pressure - 40psi to get you up the fire road, back down to 25 for the rooty, slippy bits. It's GENIUS. And patented
Skill courses.
Tyres and tubeless. That and XC race bikes - no longer road bikes with flat bars.
GB
Carbon fibre?
Like it or hate it; it's changed what manufacturers thought they were capable of.
Trail Centres?
Definately made MTBing more accessible to the masses, which is a massive positive.
Suspension design/weight loss?
160mm travel bikes which are as pedal friendly as the 50mm travel bikes of yesteryear.
Aaron Gwinn?
He's ginger and he's fast as f*** 😀
Fatbikes.
Have had a quick go, intriguing... Would like to have a longer go, but that would probably involve having to buy one! Sadly...
CX bikes the best invention in the last 10 years imo.
Errr... Pretty sure CX has been around a whole lot longer than 10 years! 😕
also a true understanding of geometry and general all round speccing of bike components
I'm almost certain there's as many bike manufacturers cocking up geometry and componentry now as there was back then. Every time I go into a bike shop and look at new bikes, there's always some glaring errors on pre-built bikes IMO in either or both geometry and specification.
I'm going with trail centres
They have made a difference yes. Good/bad/indifferent, but they have had an impact. Though I was more on about the bikes themselves than where we ride.
29ers. No, wait, 650b, no wait....
29ers were on the market 10 years ago, and it has taken almost 10 years to get any kind of market share. I'm not saying they're bad, I owned one, I liked it. But I think for most people, most of the time, 26" wheels still make the most sense on a mountain bike.
no one mentioned gravity droppers yet, or is that like the naughty word on QI?
They've been around a long time now, and there's still not a remotely reliable offering on the market! And they're still ridiculously expensive. How can it be the likes of Fox and Rockshox can make a suspension fork go up and down all day long and not fail, yet a glorified office chair lasts about a week before it fails! And yes, I bought one, a KS i900. Worked for about 6 rides, then it failed... The only one that seems to remotely work is the RS Reverb, but then it is £300 and it still has its faults.
+1 for tyres, or at least a mainstream acceptance of the 2.35 High roller as being a trail tyres, not a light DH tyre, as strictly speeking it was probably arround 10 years ago.
Gravity droppers are probably the only 'new' part in the last 10 years, and have taken about 10 years of development (remember those horrible heavy titec double posts?).
CFRP frames? Been arround 20 years now, but only in the last few years they've been affordable as an option against aluminium.
29ers? Not revolutionary, but the only 'big' development (i.e. they made your old 26" kit redundant) whereas everything else was a re-hash of an existing thing.
Carbon Fibre frames - they are now common place now..
For you mboy it was sharing a bed with K and a few other lads before being led out into the deep dark woods...
Ironically psling, you could be right! Until that point I'd not really done much proper riding. You showing us some proper trails in the UK really got me into it, then next year I rode everywhere and even went to the Alps!
Another +1 for uppy downy seatposts
They've been around a long time now, and there's still not a remotely reliable offering on the market! And they're still ridiculously expensive. How can it be the likes of Fox and Rockshox can make a suspension fork go up and down all day long and not fail, yet a glorified office chair lasts about a week before it fails! And yes, I bought one, a KS i900. Worked for about 6 rides, then it failed... The only one that seems to remotely work is the RS Reverb, but then it is £300 and it still has its faults.
Hate to pee on your chips but, you bought something imported by superstar and it broke. I bought my reverb for £180 new off CRC, it still works. If anyones paying £300 for a reverb they're a fool, theyre £200 on CRC.
Carbon Fibre frames - they are now common place now..
Not really. They're readily available, but you still don't see that many out on the trails IMO. They were readily available 10 years ago too if you had the money, which some people I know did...
Well clearly, it's the new "waisted" headstem on the Orange 5.
I sold my reverb.
Hopefully and excitedly pressing the remote only to be met with crushing disappointment when EFF ALL HAPPENED!!! AGAIN!!!
+1 Reverb uppy downy.
Nothing else has so enhanced the riding experience, oh and the now defunct Trail guru replaced by Strava App, they're a fun accessory, oh and finding this place, at times it can provide lots of useful hints and tips, but it can be a bit Muller Rice..
mboy - MemberThey've been around a long time now, and there's still not a remotely reliable offering on the market! And they're still ridiculously expensive. How can it be the likes of Fox and Rockshox can make a suspension fork go up and down all day long and not fail, yet a glorified office chair lasts about a week before it fails! And yes, I bought one, a KS i900. Worked for about 6 rides, then it failed... The only one that seems to remotely work is the RS Reverb, but then it is £300 and it still has its faults.
My i900 has been flawless, apart from me replacing the cable after about a year and a half becasue it got a bit gritty.
Those forks that go up and down all day cost four or five times the price of a seatpost (which isn't £300 quid either, unless you're pissing money away).
Maxle and its variants?
Hate to pee on your chips but, you bought something imported by superstar and it broke.
Slightly abrupt point, but I suppose well made... I did get a little carried away as at the time (2008) the i900 was reported as being the best uppy-downy post out there, and I had cash in my pocket, and it was at Mountain Mayhem.
Maxle and its variants?
I was using a 20mm axled fork 10 years ago anyway cos I'd already discovered the benefits, but yeah the Maxle has made things a lot quicker and easier for sure. 20mm stifness, QR ease of use.
The only one that seems to remotely work is the RS Reverb,
apart from the gravity dropper!
I'd have to disagree about fatbikes, too much of a niche thing to really appeal to most riders. Although I am fat curious.
I think possibly platform damping in rear shocks has come a long way in the last 10 years and is pretty common on most full sussers now. It certainly improved my 2004 Enduro's climbing ability without compromising its downhill performance.
Got to be lighting. (lights and batteries)
10 years ago lights were either weedy little things for riding home on the road, or the few decent output units had batteries the size of Belgium.
If I commuted back then I had to run my Cateye ABS lights on the low wattage setting for most of the ride to make sure I had enough for the commute in and back home. definately needed charging every night
Today, my LED lights give me plenty of light and would (at a push) run 3-4 days worth of commuting without a charge
Fat blokes. Never used to see any fat blokes cycling fifteen years ago but now I see them everywhere 🙂
I'll go with good lights at sensible prices. I wouldn't have been night riding 10 years ago, let alone night racing, simple as that.
Also a fan of gravity droppers but they're an enhancer rather than a game changer. But on that subject...
mboy - MemberThey've been around a long time now, and there's still not a remotely reliable offering on the market!
Ironically, there is and it's the original one. Very nearly 10 years since the original Gravity Dropper came out, and it's only lately that any of the copyists have even come close- but people still buy them because they're not ugly then complain that they don't work. KS are pretty good once they've been fixed once. Reverb might be as good now that all those folks have paid their £200 to be beta testers...
My gravity dropper's been more reliable than a standard seatpost 😉
Gotta be the DFender. Any mudguard which costs £60 has [i]got[/i] to be revolutionary. I've heard it actually clears your tyres as they spin AND prevent all punctures.
Whilst I think they have come on I used tubeless in 2002 and there were the beginnings of nobbly Lightweight MTB tyres, Conti Explorer Supersonics and what not.
Still think its probably one the bigger areas of improvements, but the technology was there 10 years ago.
OK, how about GPS, and smart 'phone GPS at that. Never get lost, and if you're in a new area, just download a .gpx and it's like having a local to show you the trails.
APF
No solely restricted to bikes but has made a big impact - hydroforming.
GPS is a good one. gravity droppers seem nice but I don't think they'd be as useful as a GPS for riding new trails without a local guide.
no one mentioned gravity droppers yet, or is that like the naughty word on QI?
Uppy downy posts - mine has made the biggest difference to my riding.
Way more than anything else has.
+ 1 Uppy Downy
Uppy downy posts.
Another +1 for uppy downy seatposts
+1 Reverb uppy downy.Nothing else has so enhanced the riding experience,
Really? Outside of trail centres my rides tend to go along for a while, up for a while, or down for a while. In various orders, but rarely have I felt the need to adjust my seat height every 10 seconds.
They're useful, yes, and easier than using a qr, but surely to say they've revolutionised riding is a bit steep.
Tyres, imo- Tyres that work in specific circumstances, tyres that work in all situations, light tyres, heavy duty tyres, tubeless, fat, we've got them all now.
Don't forget the fat bike thing is totally driven by tyres.
If you could magically transport a bike and rider from 10 years ago to join in a forum ride today, most of the things mentioned so far wouldn't make all that much difference, they'd still keep up and ride the same stuff.
Apart from all the puncture stops and not being able to see where they're going at night.
Tubeless and modern LED lights and batteries are the biggest advances.
MTG - you're looking at it the wrong way round.
You can take a FLOATilla of Fatbikes into places a 10-year old bike would never reach. That's a true advance.
the internet
enabled non-club group rides, changed the way of bike shopping, on-line event/race entry, promoted endless, er, discussion
Yeah, I see your point druidh, fatbikes will do stuff that couldn't be done 10 years ago, but very few people want to do it (or want to do it enough to buy a bike for it).
Not getting punctures and being able to ride at night appeals to everyone.
I have very few punctures, so I don't see tubeless as much of an advance.
Lights - good call. That's certainly opened up a new type of riding for those that want to do it.
[b]The internet[/b] more specifically web 2.0 (even though I hate that term) to make discussions like this and the many other threads possible.
To be able to discuss/ask questions/obtain information/share experiences globally is pretty amazing no?
On a personal level; me getting a FS bike after having a rigid with v brakes only 2 years ago! 😀
[b]
EDIT[/b] -JoB just said it!
Oh OK, the internet wins the thread in all honesty- very good call.
druidh - MemberYou can take a FLOATilla of Fatbikes into places a 10-year old bike would never reach.
And generally the only reason to do so is that you've bought a fat bike 😉
Maybe bikepacking kit. That really does make new riding options that make me happy / motivated / excited more possible.
Affordable Hydro Disc brakes and Air Forks.
Not getting punctures and being able to ride at night appeals to everyone.
Oddly enough not everyone Graham! Though I'm completely with you on both counts... Tubeless was available back in 2002 though, albeit only UST, and a very limited choice of tyres. I was riding at night too back then, probably more than now ironically, but with a cobbled together homebrew style light that wasn't much better than a maglite, certainly nothing like what even just £50 will get you these days.
I'm gobsmacked at how many people are saying about uppy-downy posts being their biggest advance in cycling in the last 10 years! I like to drop my post once in a while, but really they're not that much of an advance.
Really? Outside of trail centres my rides tend to go along for a while, up for a while, or down for a while. In various orders, but rarely have I felt the need to adjust my seat height every 10 seconds.
They're useful, yes, and easier than using a qr, but surely to say they've revolutionised riding is a bit steep.
What he said...
the internetenabled non-club group rides, changed the way of bike shopping, on-line event/race entry, promoted endless, er, discussion
Good point. Use it as much for keeping in touch with riding buddies and organising rides these days as I do anything else. Was using CRC back in the day when you had to phone them up though... 😉
Affordable Hydro Disc brakes and Air Forks.
Were already available by 2002... My XT disc brakes I bought in 2001 cost me £100 an end including rotors, roughly what the new equivalent is today online.
And air sprung forks have been around since the very first MTB suspension, the Original Rockshox RS1 was air sprung back in the early 90's!
Were already available by 2002... My XT disc brakes I bought in 2001 cost me £100 an end including rotors, roughly what the new equivalent is today online.And air sprung forks have been around since the very first MTB suspension, the Original Rockshox RS1 was air sprung back in the early 90's!
Fully aware they where around then, but no where near as many affordable versions,
Look at the bikes out there now with hydro discs and air forks, something in 2002 was on very few bikes under £1.5k
Slack head angles and wide bars. They've made bikes more RAD which is the most important thing.
The thing with uppy-downy posts is that if you don't need one, you don't need one. As soon as you do, then you really do! I'll explain 😉
If you ride the sort of XC stuff that you have the skills to do with your normal height seat, or accept that you might have to stop for 15sec everynow and then for a height change, then you won't see any, none, zipp, zilch, benefit to fitting a droppy post.
But, if like me, you ride places that have a mixture of XC and AM stuff (in my case Woburn) then the ability to get the seat out of the way on the fly is worth a lot. it's not sometimes even that it's completely necessary, but the confidence boost (and extra margin for body positioning that a low seat opens up) it gives is marked and worthwhile.
I'm not fussed about all that GPS stuff (i'll just flow my eyes, ears and nose (or the locals!) to the best trails thanks 😉 but decent lights and a droppy post hit the spot for me.
Properly grippy flat pedal shoes that were designed for MTBing rather than borrowed from skate/bmx?
Given the average group ride stops every 200 yards to scratch their collective arse, it doesn't sound like much of an advance. Riding on your own I can see them being good though.The thing with uppy-downy posts is that if you don't need one, you don't need one. As soon as you do, then you really do! I'll explainIf you ride the sort of XC stuff that you have the skills to do with your normal height seat, or accept that you might have to stop for 15sec everynow and then for a height change, then you won't see any, none, zipp, zilch, benefit to fitting a droppy post.
Forks/rear shocks.......generally lighter more travel travel adjust pretty good all round
rear shocks pretyy impressive with push technology, cane creek double barrel will make any suspension system better......
Another +1 for uppy downy posts.
If you ride the sort of XC stuff that you have the skills to do with your normal height seat, or accept that you might have to stop for 15sec everynow and then for a height change, then you won't see any, none, zipp, zilch, benefit to fitting a droppy post.
If I'm riding something undulating, I'll have my seat at a good height. Imagine there's an optional little drop / jump / bunny hop over tree etc, one that I wouldn't do it with my seat up. With a normal seatpost, I [i]could[/i] stop, lose all momentum, put my seat down, but half the time if you do that you're going too slow for whatever's in front of you - I probably wouldn't bother, I'd keep my seat up and ride round. Or I'm rolling downhill on a road, with the Reverb I'll put my seat down and bunny hop or manual something. You'd never stop to put your seat down just to do that.
So I'd argue that even if your rides are generally up-for-20-minutes, down for 5 minutes (and repeat), as mine are, then you'll still see a good benefit from an Uppy-Downy. They're not [i]just[/i] time-saving devices.
I know its not a part, but trail centres must be the biggest advance.
Bikes 10 years ago were not really that different from today, maybe if you went back 20 years then you ould get more advances.
Not to get dragged off into the whole dropper post debate, but I think part of the reason some people who've not tried them think they're pointless is that they call them "dropper posts". Mine isn't a dropper post at all, it's a raiser post- on descents it's down almost all the time and pops up for the traverses and pedals. Which is an awful lot more useful than dropping it 😉
It's got to be down to an individual's experience surely?
10 years ago I was riding a steel 'hardcore' HT with Marzocchi air forks.
Today I'm riding a steel 'burly' AM HT with Marzocchi air forks.
Granted, I now have more travel from the air forks (twice as much), better brakes (disks as opposed to Vs), better geometry for the type of riding I do and marginally better tyres (I LOVED Spesh Evil Twins!).
For me individually though it's a dropper post with remote that's made the most difference. Weren't around 10 years ago (in any recognisable current form) and until I got one I didn't know I wanted one. Has changed the way I ride totally in terms of what I will take on and how confident I feel doing things. Not just for steep stuff, but I tend to drop the saddle now for everything other than just riding along or climbing - makes moving the bike around and getting it up, over and down stuff so much easier.
Having said that, can also easily see how for others lights, tyres, GPS, whatever would be more significant.
slainte 🙂 rob
its not carbon fibre....well not as it currently stands
I might also put a vote in for my Garmin Edge 200, im loving it.
Probably borderline ten years but bike specific 5 10s.
Hydraulic disk brakes - reliable, strong and they don't eat wheels
Tapered Headsets.
I can't believe how we managed before.
hmm, yeah another vote for the internet, especially combined with YouTube, Vimeo and a GoProHD. ADmitedly this has led to some pretty dull vids, but its pretty easy to create and shared decent HD vids these days.
druidh - Member
MTG - you're looking at it the wrong way round.You can take a FLOATilla of Fatbikes into places a 10-year old bike would never reach. That's a true advance.
Like bogs, or beaches, or other, featureless places that aren't much fun to ride?
10 speed gearing
All the above are wrong.
The biggest advance in the last decade is the change in social acceptance, the whole 'mountain biking is the new golf' thing. It has had a far greater influence on MTBing than anything else. As MTBing has become more 'middle class', so more money has become available in the 'sport', allowing manufacturers to produce new models, or to revamp old stuff, or to flog you different colours or different sized wheels or different niches.
It's become a business, that's the difference.
lights... No not really was using Lumicycles a decade ago and they were fine, used Vistas before that and again fine.
Did Mountain Mayhem in c2000 when it was at Sandwell, so racing was possible.
Biggest advance of the last 10 years????? As far as bikes go, there have been no real step changes, it has been tweaks.
The biggest change is probably the internet and how it allows bikes to be used.
Plus 1 for the Internet.
Not sure that mtb is the new golf though, still an obscenely uncool sport, but there's always been people
Paying a lot of money for a radder / cooler / lighter bike
Dropper post would be a good call. Where (what) I ride, I can really see the benefit and as soon as I get a job again, it'll be on my list!
Lights wise, I did my first Redbull 24hr at Trentam Gardens in about '97. Lights have got better, but they aren't new
Biggest advance? Dunno, but the biggest regression has to be proliferation of standards. From basically 1 standard BB standard (well 3 but all with identical frame spec) to an array of incomprehensible standards that even wikipedia can't answer.
still an obscenely uncool sport
I wonder why that is? Road has had a lot of profile building especially in the UK etc with Cav, Sky etc but still mtb is perceived the way it is.
Or is it alway going to be inherently uncool to be riding a bike around the woods with a rucksack?
I think road cycling has always been there, and has a good deal more tradition and heritage than mountain biking. Mountain biking has been led far more by fashion than road.