Dug the mountain bike out last night and crikey it's amazing how things have moved on in not a huge amount of time and I'm guessing mine is considered deeply uncool now.
The component spec back in the day would have been quite high (plenty of XT, Fox Float Factory etc) but these days the overall package would be sneered at.
Steel frame, hard tail, non-compact geometry, non-tapered 1 1/8" steerer, 100mm travel, triple chain ring, 9sp rear, 26" wheels etc. It does have disc brakes however the rotors would be considered small these days.
But I enjoy it when I get the motivation to go out on it. In fact yesterday was the first time I've ever tried a full sus and I can see the appeal to be honest but unless I get myself out more mine will do.
My road bike is not dissimilar but has more retro appeal (custom sized Reynolds 853 etc) and I love that even more.
I guess it's ok to be uncool so long as you enjoy what you're riding 🙂
Mine's rigid steel with a 3x10 drive train, 1 1/8" steerer and bar ends; I've always ridden flat pedals.
Deeply uncool I'm sure but it's a MkIV Swift and I have to say I do think it's a good looking bike & I love it to bits.
-- Edit --
Yes, no dropper & it spends most of its time on the road pretending to be a gravel bike.
I guess it's ok to be uncool so long as you enjoy what you're riding
Head. Nail. You hit it 😀
Going by your narrative my bikes are relatively cool / current. They need to be to compensate for me being a deeply uncool late-40s dad-bod rider.
One mountain bike is a steel hardtail (Inbred), 26, 3x9, rigid carbon fork, no dropper.
The other is a carbon full-sus (2010 Stumpjumper FSR) but still 26, 3x9, no dropper. The fork is a TALAS Fox32 with a straight steerer even thought the frame has a tapered headtube (warranty replacement - Specialized swapped the alloy frame for a carbon one as they had no alloy ones in stock). It's got nice bits on it, but is essentially worthless.
I keep debating whether to sell both of them (either whole or split as parts) and just get a trail hardtail, but the Inbred might be suitable for my daughter when she's grown up a bit and it doesn't seem worth selling the FSR for peanuts.
26” wheels ✅
singlespeed ✅
rigid ✅
18 plus years old ✅
silly handlebars ✅
Yep, all good here!
By STW standards I ride the least fashionable bike in the world. I ride an Orange.
Is that ‘unfashionable’ or ‘niche’?
…either way, I like it!
I still ride a rim-brake Giant TCR with mechanical shifting and 25mm tyres. Not hugely uncommon and far from unique but its strange how it feels pretty old school now despite the fact I bought it in 2019 and still feels almost brand new to me personally.
I don't buy bikes very much but I assume my next road bike will have 30mm tyres, disc brakes and Di2 which will be a huge leap.
Last time around, I went from a £600 alloy Planet X to a 2k carbon Giant TCR but its not like the difference was night and day despite the massive price hike.
Dunno. If fashionable = latest tech here, not at all. And 'cool' in MTB is like within any scene, it's cool to you but someone else thinks you're a dork : )
both mine start off reasonably fashionable in certain circles on paper
Gravel 29er from Salsa, - then i bolted on TT bars , a double chain ring , No dropper, 2.2" tires.
Titanium 29er - but it has 2009 race angles, low front end , Rigid , no dropper , jones bars, skinny tires, single speed.
both have a full compliment of baggage to strap on.
Both are ace , both make me smile and both are built for my needs/wants
I’m a bloke in my 40s messing about in the woods or riding to work.
This is where fashion goes to die.
I could swap out my 853 26er with 1 1/8" steerer, 27.2mm rigid seatpost bike for its 29er successor with 30.9 or 31.6mm dropper, but judging by the Global 32er Bike Network's coverage of Sea Otter (and other vids), that will also be hilariously quaint and outdated by 2028 too.
So I won't bother.
Retro bikes ftw.
By STW standards I ride the least fashionable bike in the world. I ride an Orange.
Beaten to it. I have 3 of them in the garage 😀
@tomhoward nails it, this is a deeply unfashionable sport. My bikes by this thread though are the cutting edge! One is a 2019 Spesh Enduro and the other a Yeti ARC that I bought new in 2023.
I should add mine does have at least dropper but it's a 27.2mm Raleigh wire release thing with 3 positions, the middle one of which doesn't engage properly so I can't use it on that setting. Which is annoying as it's a really useful height to have the saddle at sometimes...
Still riding a 2012 Yeti Arc carbon hardtail as my main mountain bike. No dropper and not even boost hubs. People ridiculed on here (a small minority) the £1,600 cost of the frame, but it has been very good value for money I think!
Complete Triggers broom apart from the fork, headset and stem though!
Begining to think I might treat myself next year for my 50th
Most of the bikes we ride have transcended unfashionable and are probably retro.
most have 26 inch wheels and the road bikes have rim brakes.
I don’t really care and just ride them.
Most of the bikes we ride have transcended unfashionable and are probably retro.
most have 26 inch wheels and the road bikes have rim brakes.
I don’t really care and just ride them.
Yep, my road steed is rim brakes. And a 10sp rear. Traditionally laced wheels too which I built myself (ditto the mountain bike wheels)
I diverted from fashion decades ago... when carbon frames popped out of moulds started to became fashionable. It could be going back the other way now...
@dannybgoode - if that is a RSP dropper I think, from memory, they use a simple spring or magnet pin mechanism with three holes drilled in the post. Maybe the middle hole needs a clean up with a micro file?
Ms Bruce rides an original orange Orange P7 with a 1 inch headset and original f7 forks v brakes etc
it makes a great shopping bike.
My bikes range from deeply unfashionable to high (ok, mid) end bling and tech. I however look like I crashed through a Fox clothing display and came out wearing whatever stuck to me. I don't think my bikes are the problem
@dannybgoode - if that is a RSP dropper I think, from memory, they use a simple spring or magnet pin mechanism with three holes drilled in the post. Maybe the middle hole needs a clean up with a micro file?
That's the one. It feels like it engages and is quite secure until I actually put my weight on it.
Might have it apart but that said I've seen some more modern, and well priced, hydraulic ones kicking about so might take a punt on one of those. A dropper is one of the few reasonably recent inventions that I think are genuinely useful...
i think its all personal opinion. Some old bikes arent cool to some, but retro cool to others. Some latest bikes are cool to some and garbage to others (my personal one, i think Atherton bikes aint all that, whereas most get a chub on for them). Same with clothing and helmets etc. Pit Vipers... defo not for me!!
I would like to think my Raaw Madonna is pretty trendy... small german brand, well regarded in the press, dont see many about.
its all very subjective. Would be interesting to do a poll and see which brands are perceived to be trendy by certain ages ranges.
I had confirmation that my carbon FSR was uncool when I overheard a kid exclaim to his Dad 'that bike over there is carbon fibre' (it's bare and the weave is quite obvious) and his Dad replied 'no, that's just an aluminium frame with a carbon wrap' 😯😂
My mates still rib me about it to this day.....
Mine has a 3x10 on it.
Chap in the LBS asked if I was "keeping it real". Cheeky git. If it isn't broken etc...
I have a bike with VPP suspension, the shame, it's not even got 29" wheels :-O
My 26er Shan in Gulf orange and blue remains the coolest bike I own.
My 26er Shan in Gulf orange and blue remains the coolest bike I own.
I've managed to make my 26'er Shan uncool with Stooge Moto bars a rack and panniers - it was never cool enough to be in Gulf colours though
I guess it's ok to be uncool so long as you enjoy what you're riding
It's the person riding who is automatically cool, the bike 'fashion' is an irrelevance.
So, you got it.
Oh, and I ride all the latest standards like 29", through axle, FS, modern geometry.
It's still a beige painted filing cabinet frames bike with one black and one tan wall tyre, grips that don't match, and a couple of odd red things like mudguard and valves because they were in the box. About as uncool as you can get. But, dammmmn it's fun to ride bikes so DILLIGAF.
with one black and one tan wall tyre
Burn her.
Some things are just so unnaceptable, they cannot go unpunished. This just takes the piss. I feel sick
"blimey, is that 10 speed XTR?"
"No, it's 9 speed"
Recent convo at my LBS. My MTB is nearly as old as the staff member asking the question.
"blimey, is that 10 speed XTR?"
"No, it's 9 speed"
Recent convo at my LBS. My MTB is nearly as old as the staff member asking the question.
Amateur
7sp is where the cool kids hang
I don't think my MTB's are too bad, although one's a Vitus and the others an On-One with a DIY paintjob, so it's all relative, hardly Yeti levels of cool.
My fixie is deeply uncool, fat tyres, shallow rims, mudguards, front and rear racks, mtb clipless pedals, brakes. It's probably everything LFGSS would aspire to avoid!
And my 'track' bike is currently rocking 44-22 gearing (about 33% lower than it's normal 50-17) for rehab, deeply uncool.
I've managed to make my 26'er Shan uncool with Stooge Moto bars a rack and panniers - it was never cool enough to be in Gulf colours though
"Gulf colors" is an odd one, why is that considered cool, yet BC being sponsored by Shell isn't? It needs a re-brand as "Michael Bay color's, which would be equally uncool.
Mine is a 90s Kona Kula. In fairness I use it for highland glens going hillwalking or MTBing so not real MTB. 26" non tubeless of course. It was a 3x9 but now has a 26/36 chainset with no front shifter. Manual shifts to be on the 26 ring going into the glens and on the 36 coming back down or road sections.
It's been a long time since I saw my mountain bike as it's been in the cellar for a few years now. From memory it has 2x11 XT on it with 2 pot brakes. Wheels are 27.5" non-boost and running innertubes. I have to pedal it myself, there's no motor on it, so it's way out of fashion.
"Gulf colors" is an odd one, why is that considered cool, yet BC being sponsored by Shell isn't? It needs a re-brand as "Michael Bay color's, which would be equally uncool.
I don't think that Gulf itself was the cool bit, more the race cars that wore the livery. And it's an undeniably easy on the eye combination, it's not like PP put any actual Gulf stickers on there thankfully. If Shell painted a Porsche in bright red and yellow I'm not sure it'd have been quite as successful (but they did do a Shan in the Martini stripes I think, that looked nice too). I'm aware that you didn't really ask this question and I should shut up already.
Now then, teal and orange for Michael Bay, I don't know if I'd like that! Possibly just trauma from too many interior decorating conversations over the last decade where teal ended up being the colour I was ordered to paint with.
Banshee X 2008,55rs,X7 3x9,Mavic rims and Continental tyres.Its not light.😄
Forgot about my GT Avalanche 3 Comp 2007.Feels like riding in a block of wood.
My main bike is the most boring main bike I've ever had, a Bird AM9. It's really good, of course, but it's just a bit... normal. I liked my ancient modified Trek, my hammered Cotic Hemlock, my even more ancient 224, all were absolute oddities by the end. The hardtail is a bit weird- massive, long, slack enduro titanium thing- so it's not fashionable and never will be but it's still probably cool rather than unfashionable.
So I need to rely on the fatbike to be Not, since their 15 minutes has definitely ended.
'll just leave this here to wind you up
Jesus. There should be laws that prevent this. Get in the sea, or the bin, whichever is closer
I don't think that Gulf itself was the cool bit, more the race cars that wore the livery. And it's an undeniably easy on the eye combination, it's not like PP put any actual Gulf stickers on there thankfully. If Shell painted a Porsche in bright red and yellow I'm not sure it'd have been quite as successful (but they did do a Shan in the Martini stripes I think, that looked nice too). I'm aware that you didn't really ask this question and I should shut up already.
Now then, teal and orange for Michael Bay, I don't know if I'd like that! Possibly just trauma from too many interior decorating conversations over the last decade where teal ended up being the colour I was ordered to paint with.
Teal/orange isn't unique, it's just good graphic design practice picking two colors opposite each other, which is why everything in Michael Bay's films is a mix of over saturated skin tone and sky, or fireballs and sky.
It's just oddly inconsistent that BC can get 'canceled' on here for taking Shell's money, yet fairly explicitly using there competitors color scheme is cool.
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Not that I ride them but I still have.
Orange 7+
Santa Cruz Heckler
Santa Cruz Chameleon although it needs built up
Orange MsIsle part built.
On-one Inbred I think 2 frames.
