Depends what crappy is..
Just been out on the GT Peace this morning – missing rear spoke, wooden juicy 7s that are about as effective as dragging feet, EBB that creaks like a creaky thing, rusty chain that binds and worn chain rings. Horrible frame and forks, hate it, but unsaleable.
Also in the garage, a trek xo2, nice cx bike, but scruffy as ****, big dent in tt, flexy bb, ding in the rear rim, and poor shifting, and the carbon seat post is fused in the frame.
CAAD9 road bike, scratched and scraped, needs the drivetrain replaced, buckled rim again.

I have a couple of bikes of similar vintage to the OP, I have some significantly older, and some a wee bit younger, none are so old that I can’t get spare parts for them and all perform their functions very well indeed. to Dynasys, Tapered head tubes or QR15 for me…

I don’t think there’s a “rolling programme of deliberate obsolescence” there’s just new stuff, there’s always been new stuff, it still probably takes a bare minimum of 20 odd years before any bit of bicycle equipment is completely unsupported, more likely 30+…

You can still buy 1″ steerer forks and headsets, not as many and yes options are limited but I’d take that as a barometer of how long it takes for a standard to truly die out.

Realistically a bike should have a working life of 12-15 years (baring major accidents) and 20 years of daily use is not unreasonable IMO… 7 years is barely run in TBH…

The Magazines and carpark bitches would have you belive that you need to spunk ~£2k+ every 12-18 months or else you run the risk of falling behind in some way… But it’s simply not true, a bike will do what it’s designed to do for quite some time, and being modular and designed using only a handful of standards it’s easy to maintain ,repair or upgrade…

Obviously cycling is the new golf for some, and I always chuckle when people talk about the “resale value” of an MTB like they’re talking about last years 3 series, then batter it down a rock strewn hill and forget to clean it for 6 months…

I’m happy with my various “Old” parts: 1.125″ steerers, QR and 20mm forks, 25.4mm bars and Euro BBs they may not be cutting edge but they all still work.

I will happily nod along when others feel the need to tell me how utterly awesome their new 15mm/tapered fork, 35mm bars, 44mm Head tube/BB30/142mm Dropout framed bike is, and I’m sure it’s great, but it’s never worth what they paid for it….

Bottom feeders like me will eventually sample these technological delights via the 2nd hand market at a fair price, once a few Mugs have paid the Shiney tax for us, taken a hit on “Resale” and lost interest…

There will be another collection of numbers, marketing TLAs and buzz words in a few years and all the currently cutting edge kit that people fuss over will be “Old”…

cookeaa – get out of my head, you’re scaring me!

Sorry I shall go and use my psychic gifts for the betterment of mankind. Time to focus my thoughts on this fella:

Bung, Bunga, BUNGA!!!

My main bikeis old, but not crappy. It’s a 2005 SX Trail that still rides really well. Ok, its a bit heavy at a shade over 31lbs and a wee bit steeper than modern bikes but I can still get up a hill ok and back down the other side at a reasonar pace. It does have modern stuff on it though…10 speed, XT 785 brakes, Easton wheels etc. Forks are 2005 36’s and still work really well. They’ve been converted to Vanillas but have been looked after so no stanchion wear.

My BFe is new, but the old version. Most of the stuff in it is old though….2003 Z1’s, 5 bolt Bulbs, old X9 mech etc. Rides well though.

I used to get caught up in the latest stuff but given how expensive a modern uber bike is, I think the law of diminishing returns comes into play. Is a £5k custom built carbon bike going to make me a riding god? Nope. All that’ll happen is the boss will go mental because she can’t have a new drive because I’ve tazzed t away on a push bike. If I had the means though, I probably would though.