[Closed] 5 Years Ago - how much has changed?

I wasn't riding anything but a 5 wheel variable hight gas shock office chair. I did have it slammed!
Only started riding in 2011.

How much do your zip ties weigh?

5 years ago I had a brand new mountain bike, an Orange P7 that was getting ridden every weekend. I was also considering doing Megavalanche and had started to accumulate the kit to do so.I didn't own a road bike.

Now, I have a 5 year old P7 that gets used 3 or 4 times per year. I have added 2 road bikes that get ridden 3 times per week to the collection along with a lot of Lycra. I am no longer considering Megavalanche but I am doing London to Paris in 24 hours instead.

It's safe to say my riding and my bikes have changed a hell of a lot.

not much they are special "Enduro" zip ties

5 years ago I was riding an On One 456Ti, and it was my only bike.

Yesterday I rode my On One 456Ti, it is still my only bike.

The bars are now 740mm (rather than 711mm) and it's got a dropper - other than that, nothing really changed except for pretty much every other component has been replaced in the interim due to breakage/wearing-out.

5 years ago i was running round on a Specialized HArdrock sport HT, just really getting into MTBing in a more serious way. Starting to think about weight, componentry etc etc. This replaced a stolen CUBE Ltd race 26", back in these days it was all XC XC XC, now i'm trying to make it all a bit more AM AM AM... although currently due to BPW claiming my ribs, i'm off the bike for almost a fortnight !

Overall though... i don't think that much has changed... my fitness is about the same, weight a bit lighter... skills a bit better... but mostly, i still love riding bikes 🙂

5 years ago I wasn't into bikes at all, but liked the looks of them. Four years ago I started uni, joined the cycling club and got hooked. Now I'm out at every opportunity. In that time I peaked at owning three bikes, sold two to build my current one, other other got nicked.

Damn, I love bikes.

Good timing. In 2009 I bought an Alpine 160 and headed for a season in the Alps. Having worked through a range of builds and bikes, I have recently settled on another Alpine 160 build although this time with dropper, new Pike, Flow Ex wheels and NW 1x10. These definitely make the bike feel lighter than I remember. That however might be down to [i]me[/i] being lighter and stronger having discovered road riding.

5 years ago I was on a Chameleon with 140mm forks and 3x9 had a 70mm stem and 685mm bars.

Now I'm on a Shan at 160mm travel, 2x10 50mm stem with 711mm bars and a dropper post

5 years ago my daughter wasn’t born so I was riding 2-3 times a week and going on a riding holiday to Spain every year. I now have a 4 year old daughter, with another due to arrive in a couple of weeks, and although I’m still riding 2-3 times per week the foreign riding holidays are less frequent. My riding hasn’t really changed though, as I’m still riding the same trails at the same daft speeds, but I’m now on a long travel 29er (160mm F/145mm R) instead of a 170mm 26er.

I'd just bought my first new 'off the peg' MTB (Spesh SX trail II), now, despite having a few MTBs (3) between now and then, I've just bought my second new off the peg MTB (rather fittingly, from the same bloke, at different shops), an SC 5010c. I like the second one loooooooooads more than I did the first!

I've gone from a 140/125mm 2x9 trail bike to a 160/150mm 2x10 trail bike.
My HT has had a couple of sets of tyres, nothing else.
I ain't exactly good for the bike business.

2009 was the Year of the Fork for me. I changed the awful OE marz exr pro forks on the Marin Wildcat Trail to U-turn revs and also the AM4s on the Supreme to 36 Talas. Made such a difference (especially on the HT).

The Supreme is now gone, replaced with a Stumpy Evo and the Marin has been spruced up and given to my eldest son.

Missed most of 2009 summer after breaking leg in Morzine and getting tibia pinned out there.
Missed most of 2011 summer after breaking elbow and tearing off tricep tendon in Wales, needed reconstructive surgery.

So I now ride flat pedals, a little more conservatively, and often on the road!

Just got a bit more awesome that's all 😉

5 years ago I didn't own a bike and was about 21kg's heavier than I am now.

5 years ago I had a 22lb 100mm travel XC race FS bike with 26" wheels. I now have a 19lb 100mm travel XC race hardtail with 29" wheels.

So lots, but at the same time virtually nothing.

Still riding a heckler unlike you mike with your la di dah vpp 😉
It's not my big bike anymore tho, slightly downgraded forks and ditched the hardtail (and broken etsx) to be my most ridden mtb. Have also traded in a road setup pompino for a disc cx and a shonky SS inbred for a nicer SS c456.

Other than that pretty similar, no 1x? gears, not even 10spd, no silly sized wheels or singletrack incompatible wide bars.

5 yrs ago, I was fit and healthy. and riding loads of northern chapter mtb rides.
I am now fubar health wise, but riding 3 times as far every week..... 😕

Hardly mtbing much these days, but I'll get it back

Sold my 03 Heckler last year and I want another!

5 years ago I wasn't even thinking about 29" or 650b wheels.

I'm still not.

Wider tyres.
Wider handlebars.
Wider rider.

Ton, that you riding through Colden yesterday afternoon?

Wider tyres.
Wider handlebars.
Wider rider.

😆

Pete, not me mate....I was riding the sette/toilet with the trots.... 😆

No wonder you didn't wave back then.

😀

5 years ago I wasn't even thinking about 29" or 650b wheels.

Now my Ti456 feels like riding my kids bike, and it's going to cost me dear.

2009:
[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3423/3370005606_91f84a0819_o.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3423/3370005606_91f84a0819_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonjohntaylor/3370005606/ ]Jacob's Ladder[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/simonjohntaylor/ ]Simon J Taylor[/url], on Flickr

2014:
[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5537/12324933694_eb76646d54_o.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5537/12324933694_eb76646d54_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonjohntaylor/12324933694/ ]ScandAl[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/simonjohntaylor/ ]Simon J Taylor[/url], on Flickr

Who robbed all the flat coping stones?

My bikes haven't changed much. I've broken a few, fixed a few, still riding!

Five years ago, I was about to go on a bike hiatus.

Having got rid of my DH bike and hardtail, I tried the one bike fir everything approach and hated it. It was an Orange Patriot 66 that was slack but felt horrible descending. It was grim to climb on and weighed more than my house.

I'm now on a bike with nearly as much travel but it's slacker still, weighs less, descends better and climbs better too. It has less gears, a fancy post and weighs about 5lbs less too. It gets ridden more too and gets taken to more places.

I've also got past my lycra-phobia and now have a road bike too. Having had a somewhat childish opinion of roadies, I now really enjoy it as something different to the MTB.

I've also got past my lycra-phobia and now have a road bike too. Having had a somewhat childish opinion of roadies, I now really enjoy it as something different to the MTB

Ooh yeah, me too!

5 years ago I was running.. a lot, and and getting injured.. a lot. I wasn't riding a bike.

I gave up the running and started riding again. Over the last 4 years I have gone from XC bridleway loops to more gnarpoon trail riding, culminating in a week in the Alps. I am a lot heavier than when I ran, but injury free, and able to ride all day without any problems. It's good!

I bought a nice (IMO) bike 5 years ago. It:

Doesn't have a tapered steerer.
Doesn't have some fancy black or gold coating on the forks.
Doesn't have a dropper post.
Has 26" wheels.
Has a 9-speed cassette.
Has a HA of about 70 degrees.

It still works and hasn't killed me yet.

In the last 5 years my stems have got shorter and my bars wider. Apart from that not a lot has changed. I'm still riding the same trails and getting the same results in the handful of events I enter each year.

5 years ago I had a 456ti, an S-works Enduro, a Spesh Globe commuter and a Spesh Allez.

Now I've got a blur LTc and a Croix de Fer and a lot more space in the garage.

Did tapered head tubes / tapered forks exist five years ago?

5 years ago I didn't know what,where or who STW was.
I have seen too much..

less travel, bigger wheels, fatter tyres

Five years ago I bought a Cube Ltd something, used it a bit in the summer, then the football season started again and the bike put in the garage again not to be seen for a long time.

Four years ago I signed up to a 100mile road ride, bought a cheap second hand Boardman off flea bay, road it loads though the summer, did the 100miles, bike went back in the garage when the football season started again.

Three years ago I’d had enough of football and have only played 5-6 times since, but in that time I've been well a truly bitten by the cycling bug and now own 2 MTB's and the Boardman. I'm also in the process of buying a summer road bike.

Still 4, but all different 🙂

I had :

a FS, a short travel steel HT, a cx bike

I have :

a medium travel steel HT, a new cx, a road bike, a track bike

..it's all still riding 🙂

5 years ago: trek 6500 HT
Today: trek 6500 HT
Nice and simple.

In the interim, some upgrading followed by downgrading when expensive stuff didn't last!!!

Nice to see the changes, there was another heckler in between mine - it's now with a kid from the LBS who does not care about wheel sizes or tapered steerers.
I also aquired a road bike in the middle and started doing some XC events along side the gravity. This year was all XC/multi day stuff and no gravity - time to mix it up next year.

5 years ago I had my '04 Enduro and a Rock Springs. The RS was fantastic, but a touch too small for me so I gave it to the missus. However the affair with Marin's Quad Link was an enduring one, so today I have a Wolf Ridge complete with a CTD shock and Marzocchi 55CRs and it's probably the best bike I've ever owned - although it's taken a long time to get it that way.

The Enduro now hangs on my living room wall, having been replaced with a Camber and an Orange P7.

Aside from having much wider bars and shorter stems, the other big breakthrough for me has been tubeless tyres. Oh and XT ten speed is absolutely brilliant...

Same bike, but wider bars, slightly longer forks and a dropper

I think I was just about to drag my 90s Carrera out of the back of my dad's garage and fix it up for commuting. Which led to me getting overexcited and blowing a mighty £200 on a slightly newer used Carrera, and a trip to Glentress with an old mate...

5 years ago I had one bike, a Reign. Now I still have one bike but it is the bike I'd wanted at the time, an Intense 6.6
I'm still riding the same trails on the Malverns but doing it all faster and enjoying it more..

ah the 04 enduro, that was sat in the cupboard while I was out travelling, built it up when we got home and snapped it 🙂

How time flies. My Prophet was new 5 years ago.

Still got it. Only thing still original is the frame and forks. Tubeless, wider bars, shorter stem, dropper etc.

Sometimes I feel like a change, but it's still pretty good to be fair.

My video camera got better. As did my bike. And my riding skills. And my editing skills. And my taste in music. Still got the same camelbak though 🙂

2009:

Now:

[img] [/img]

My 2007 Heckler sold it the end of 2009 bought it feb 2007, had a good time on it , even went to the Alps 😀

Gone from mainly riding this around cannock
[url= https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1401/1484960461_e06eced8b5_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1401/1484960461_e06eced8b5_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/1484960461/ ]sswc simonbarnes[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr
To this in the Lakes 🙂
[url= https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2826/12276038964_0ac2a1991e_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2826/12276038964_0ac2a1991e_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/12276038964/ ]1385055_10203364503382520_182459469_n[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr

5 years,still living in the UK and most likely killing myself commuting to and working in East London, yuck. Doing loads of riding though, swinley and the chilterns and pretty regular trips down to bristol. I think thats when my mates discovered rowberrow and the tracks there.

Now out in WA, working less, for more money bur riding less and probably not as fit. As trade off's go it could be worse ha.

5 years ago:
Unmarried
No kids
Self employed
1 x hardtail
Out at least twice a week

Now:
Married
1 kid
Employed
2 x full sus
1 x road bike
Out once a month if I'm lucky

2009 was a simpler time and I was probably fitter, but I guess there's not much I'd change

5 years ago i was still riding my full suss Heckler at Glentress etc but not much as riding my first Katate Monkey rigid 29er on coastal trails here in East Lothian.

Was also riding my Surly Pugsley fatbike alone around the coast and trails here in East Lothian alone and looked at like a freak by other (usualy road) riders 😆 🙂

Now there is loads of folk riding fatbikes around the coast and trails here in East Lothian and are also looked at like freaks by other (usualy road) riders 😆 🙂
Est 60 -80 freaks turning up at Forth Fat in 2 weeks, so guess some things have changed for some in the tyre width department 🙂

Sold all bikes with suspension now as no need for our singletrack trails around here and never go to trail centres anymore. I bought/built some drop bar off roadable bikes and enjoying them as suited to our trails and green lanes and hill tracks i can ride to from home.
Still cycle nearly every day to work and often detour off road on the way home.

Film quality of my compact cameras have improved a bit, spelling is still as bad on the blog 🙂

5 years ago

last month same trail, different Monkey, different set up - newer compact camera

5 years ago I was hacking my new Parlee Roadie over the South Downs and riding my Gunnar SS 29er. Now I'm riding my new Cervelo R5ca over the South Downs and riding my NinerSS.

So nothing has changed, although I do have a TCX Advanced which I have just introduced to the trails...

5 years ago I didn't have a road bike. Now I have 3 🙂

5 yrs ago I had 3 bikes, currently in the shed I also have 3 bikes.
In 2009 the bikes were:
Sx trail
Orange 5
Identiti 666 (dj bike)

In 2014 they are:
Alpine 160
Ti slackline
Spesh p1

In 2009 I did a skills course with Ed Oxley as I felt that I had stopped improving and fancied someone analysing my riding, giving me some tips on improving and a push in the right direction. It seemed to work and my riding has gone from strength to strength since. In 2009 the dj bike was a dust gatherer and I never got the confidence to use it properly so it got sold, I bought the p2 last summer and actually got into riding dirt jumps properly and am looking forward to getting it back down the road to the local spot when the trails dry out towards summer. I also started racing a bit of local dh last year and did my first gravity enduro - fair to say I've got the racing bug now too! So yes I'd say a fair bit has changed in 5 yrs for me but no dramatic changes, I have had a road bike in that time (that I did jogle on then sold) and a cx bike but it's fair to say I'm a far happier mountain biker than a roadie!

5 years ago I was riding a 100mm BeOne Karma hardtail. I had just got back into mountain biking about 6 months at that point. I regretted not getting back into it sooner. I'm now still on my 4 year old Meta 5 and about to embark on a full season of Irish enduro racing.

In 5 years? I'm a lot lighter, a little bit fitter, definitely more cautious.

Bike set up hasn't changed much apart from a more upright riding position - lower seat, shorter stem

Postierich, top pic vs OP pic.. You are mikewsmith aren't you? : )

Here, 5 years has seen more change than the last 15. From 26" HT with middling HA, 27-30 gears and 710mm bars on rides of up to 5-6hrs to a rigid 29er with bigger rims / heavier tyres, 1-12 gears, h-bars and longer rides of up to 15-20hrs, or days.
Having been on longer-forked, big-barred compact HTs since '97 ish it all changed quite a lot in the last 4-5 years, longer rides, clicking with SS more full-time and bikepacking bags changed what MTB is for me and I got a bit fitter overall. Still riding on the road about 30-40% of my time and still ride the same local trails in the same way, some of it quicker, some of it about the same, just with a bit less room for error. I guess I just got old )

Slimmer Tyres
Slimmer Bars
Slimmer Rider

🙂

5 years ago I would have been in the middle of a few years out of riding altogether. I still had 3 bikes from 04 sat in the garage, a 100mm race/trail FS, a 120mm jump HT, and a decent alloy road bike.

I started riding again about 3 years ago and added a 29er 120mm FS last year, finally going tubeless. Frankly my back thanked me and it definitely suits the loose and rocky trails here. When it gets cooler I plan to recapture and develop my jumping having bought pads and full facer. The 26 FS seems tiny now and will only get used when I have to service the 29er. I don't really like riding road here, group rides start between 5 and 7am and don't seem to go further than 70km.

5 years ago I'd just had my P&J Patriot nicked and swore I'd never buy another decent bike as long as I lived in Oxford.
I now live far enough away to warrant an Intense Tracer, a Planet X pro carbon, and soon some kind of big ish travel AM bike like the Patriot to re live my youth on.
The fitness has got better but my handling skills have gone to shit though due to a lack of technical trails, and it being a bloody trek to get anywhere from P'boro.