Couldn’t you just replace your dead bike with whatever’s available at the time,

IME bikes don’t die very often, this may be a bit triggers broom but until you actually crack the frame bikes live on. Most of my bikes have gone through several incarnations, including one* that’s had everything including the rear shock replaced, most things more than once. Replacing a bike coz one or two parts are knackered/worn out seems incredibly wasteful.

I’ve mainly stuck to 26″ wheels, straight fork steerers, threaded BBs and QR frames (atleast 20 and 15mm forks only normally mean a hub end cap swap). All that stuff is still available (currently) but maybe that’s only because it was the standard for so long. How long is the boost standard going to last? Is 27.5 going to get usurped in the not too distant? (crosses fingers for a 26″ revival)

Are you still going to be able to get ok parts for your bike 5 years down the line (I’m talking decent work horse parts not bling or cheapo basic)
But then, maybe manufacturers are getting around that by ensuring frames don’t last 5 years any more 😉

*and it’s still a bloody good bike, very capable and a hell of a lot of fun.

It’ll be interesting when someone rediscovers how fast a really light 26″ bike can accelerate due to lighter and smaller wheels.

molgrips – I got told off for posting the giant ad that said 27.5 was better as smaller wheels accelerated faster. Apparently that doesn’t apply to 26″

1300g wheel set and 450g tyres…

IME bikes don’t die very often, this may be a bit triggers broom but until you actually crack the frame bikes live on.

True, but it can get to a point where it starts to make less and less sense to keep doing it IMO.

I bought a new bike in 2014 when the bike I bought in 2006 needed new forks, pretty much a complete new drivetrain and new shifters. Sorting it out more or less like for like was going to be between half and 2/3rds the cost of a new bike so I took the opportunity!
I guess this does depend on where in the market you’re sitting though, and might not apply if you have a Nikolai or something.

Are you still going to be able to get ok parts for your bike 5 years down the line (I’m talking decent work horse parts not bling or cheapo basic)

Well people have been saying that for >5 years already, I remember people moaning about it in the 90s.

So I guess the test is, is there any 5 year old bike you can’t fix/get replacement parts for now?
how about 10 years old?
how about 20?
30?

apart from a few exceptions* which really are edge cases, and can still probably be worked around if you try hard, you’ll find that it’s still quite easy to keep those bikes running with acceptable parts.

* the place you’ll run into a genuine issue is 1 inch steerer suspension forks. you’re reduced to NOS or 2nd hand for that now, btu then 1inch sus forks wasn’t really a ‘thing’ for very long anyway and any bike form that era still in use is going to be on the kind of duty where it would be fine with a rigid one anyway, and as above, NOS or 2nd hand are still possibilities.

Deore today performs way better than I remember STX working- handles mud better, shifts better,

Obviously it is personal experience but I’ve always felt that my old STX running on Deore thumbshifters worked much better than newer stuff in mud and the difference in shifting speed is negligible.

The only drivetrain components I can remember being particularly poor were some SunTour Microdrive bits in the 90’s.
Bit fiddly re setup and seem to wear quickly.

Shimano stuff just works, doesn’t it?

I don’t think RockShox forks are as good as they were.
Or Brooks saddles, for that matter.

The industry deems that 26″ forks and wheels are dead and unsupported.

hasn’t happened though, I bought some Hope Enduro rims a few months ago from a bike shop in 26″ flavour, the world didn’t stop.

best “value” model year I remember?

2008 Specialized Rockhopper Disc

M4 Aluminium frame, RS fork with hydraulic damper, Avid hydraulic disc brakes, SRAM gearing

we used to sell these around £600, cracking bike for the money, certainly capable of “mountain bike” rides on rough ground and in wet / muddy conditions

I remember the prices creeping up and the specs sliding down every following model year

I am an average rider, not really all that good. I can get my wheels off the ground now and then when my mojo is working right and I like riding single track in the woods as fast as I can (i.e not all that fast). I’m 45 so not as fit as I once was, I’m a father of two so not as able to recover from getting badly damaged as I once was and I’m not loaded so 5k for a bike is not really money well spent.

Happily I can keep my old blur LT going for a few more years with good reliable parts if I want to or I could spend 2k on something end of last years line and get a truly amazing bike well beyond my abilities (like those carbon triggers Paul’s were knocking out). The industry moves because all industries do but in general you can get a lighter, better, safer, faster and more reliable bike than you ever could back in the “golden days” for much less money (except SC who are right up themselves now). MTB isn’t cheap, it never was but I have always been into the expense and the inconvenience. Some innovations have been questionable but you don’t have to keep up with the trends, new bikes are optional after all.

I feel that the scene has become too diluted with niches, and that there is a perception that certain types of trail can/should only be ridden by certain niches of mtb bike. I also think that the mtb scene went through a period of snobbishness where people looked down their noses at others for not having a certainty of bike. Im thinking of the era when all-Mountain bikes came about, and having ahardtail was looked down upon. It was the way I felt when out and about.

Compare that to Road, the scene is more level in that irrespective of spec, a road bike is generally suitable for enjoyable Road riding.

With the niche thing comes the back of the mind thought of “am I riding the right type of bike?” rather than “I’m enjoying this”, and that can serve to bring down the pervasive ethos of the mtb scene.

Can someone make a video of a group of people riding together on different bikes? Just to show that you really can ride most trails on most bikes, and you don’t NEED anything specific.

Just to show that you really can ride most trails on most bikes, and you don’t NEED anything specific.

Pfft. If you’re not riding Boost, 27.5+, and don’t have a fat bike in the shed, you need to get with the programme.

It’s no surprise that 2008 may have represented peak value for bicycles in the UK – the entire industry runs in USD but here we buy in GBP. Look at the exchange rate since the late ’80s, when the MTB became popular in the UK – see the best year?

chiefgrooveguru – Member
It’s no surprise that 2008 may have represented peak value for bicycles in the UK – the entire industry runs in USD but here we buy in GBP. Look at the exchange rate

Look facts like that and inflation are just not welcome here, the only facts that matter is that people say it’s all got too expensive and it’s all profiteering and it’s all a mass conspiracy….

molgrips – Member
Can someone make a video of a group of people riding together on different bikes? Just to show that you really can ride most trails on most bikes, and you don’t NEED anything specific.

Sounds like every ride I do, some days I pick the bike that’s better suited but other times I don’t.

Might try and grab a vid from tonight but it will involve everything from a 29r HT (possibly rigid) through to 170mm Bikes with everything in between.

Should have taken a pic from Sunday’s ride. Me on my old Patriot, my mate on a fat bike.

So I guess the test is, is there any 5 year old bike you can’t fix/get replacement parts for now?

[i]currently[/i]well, 1″ example you gave was ditched reasonably early on, an even shorter lived “standard” was GF’s 1.25″ steerer. A few things have been tried and dropped as yeah it adds soemthing but not enough to leave what we already have. Otherwise a lot of stuff on your 5yo bike has been around possibly since the dawn of mtb. Dropping a well established standard should have some proper advantages, you can only get altus/acera 7spd gear currently, sure it’ll do the job (breifly) but it’s not work horse stuff is it, however I’m fairly happy with the gain from the extra 2/3/4 gears (the switch from 7 to 8 seemed pretty pointless – as did 9-10 until 1x became a thing). 26 to 27.5 which was prety much universally accepted across the industry, serioiusly harming the 26″ market if not actually killing it off….for what gain? Like i said imperceptibly bigger wheels doesn’t seem like much of a trade off. Boost might be great for big wheels (26 managed without 🙂 ) and become a thing, we’ll see,

I may well be worrying for no reason and 27.5 and other new “standards” will be around for ages but the suddenly dropping a standard that’s been there since the start for seemingly no reason seems a worrying trend.

1″ example you gave was ditched reasonably early on

This is the only one that ever really holds any water, and even then I still maintain not as big a deal as people thing, on the road even less so, but look at MTB:

headsets – available
stems – available and shimmable
rigid forks – limited choice, but available if you’re unlucky enoguh to break your existing fork
sus forks – not available, but then as we said earlier, wasn’t a thing for long anyway, chances of you right now in 2016 needing to find a replacement boinger for you 1 inch steerer’d MTB are slim. NOS and 2nd hand can still keep them going, especially as any fork of the right length for that era is likely to be one with swappable steerers.

The 1 inch steer situation is the trickiest one, but it’s not insurmountable and it certainly isn’t enough for you to throw a frame in the bin because it can’t ever be ridden again.

an even shorter lived “standard” was GF’s 1.25″ steerer

no points for that example as very easy to fit a reducer and 1 1/8th headset and carry on, and bearings for your old 1.25″ headset probably still available.

you can only get altus/acera 7spd gear currently

no points there as you *can* still get it, chains and cassettes not a problem, and if you’ve broken a 7speed shifter then 8speed will work with one less click, I think you’d also be surprised what NOS stuff is out there if you look, You could also consider drive train upgrade and keep the bike rolling, again, not a deal breaker.

but it’s not work horse stuff is it

I disagree, it absolutely is workhorse stuff, especially on the consumables, and the only 7-speed specific component apart from the chain and cassette of a 7speed drive train is the shifter, and as above, options are there.

One of my road bikes is still 7 speed, and HG50 cassettes shift and last as well as ever, and I can still walk into a LBS and buy one, don;t even have to hunt them down.

I do understand where the the worry about droppping of older standards comes from, I really do, but the reality is that it’s not a major issue, for those that want to keep old kit going parts are available, and for those that don’t well, they’ve moved on anyway so they’re not affected.

I think a lot of people conflating “dropping a standard” with “parts unavailable and my bike becomes useless”, when actually all it means “new bikes might not use this standard any more”

Those two situations are very different things.

Post-googling-update…

interesting quote from a 650B thread on this very forum 2 years ago….

decent 26″ stuff will be around for a couple of years and then start to disappear to the point of not being able to keep a 26er going.

Find good 7spd or 8spd now, won’t be long before 9spd is off the menu as well.
Find a good cartridge bottom bracket, etc.

Yes you will be able to find the cheap stuff but that is all you will find.

Well we are a couple of years down the line and the important bits, tyres, rims and forks are still not a problem, let alone starting to disappear.

The drivetrain one makes me a chuckle a bit too, as after 3-5 years of decent use pretty much every part of a drivetrain is in need of replacement anyway, rings and cassettes will have been done a few times already, mechs bashed to bits, shifters gone floppy etc. so why wouldn’t you look at replacing with newer stuff? It will retro-fit jsut fine, it’s not like you can’t 10 or 11speed on a bike that came with 8 or 9 speed.

Another one, which is demonstrably not true if you look around online.

Have a look at the choice of rim brake rims, not much in the way of decent stuff now.

This same discussion gets trotted out ad-infinitum as new stuff comes out, but people still keep riding their bikes, and still keep fixing them, tell you what, in 5 years time if you can’t get some 26inch tyres for your MTB, I’ll buy you a new (28.3inch by then I’m sure) bike so you can stop worrying about it 😉

I think a lot of people conflating “dropping a standard” with “parts unavailable and my bike becomes useless”, when actually all it means “new bikes might not use this standard any more”

Those two situations are very different things.

I agree up to a point, but try finding a straight steerer 20mm fork

I think a lot of people conflating “dropping a standard” with “parts unavailable and my bike becomes useless”, when actually all it means “new bikes might not use this standard any more”
Those two situations are very different things.

I agree up to a point, but try finding a straight steerer 20mm fork[/quote]

You’ve absolutely just proven my point there!

lack of, or difficulty sourcing, one specific component does not render the bike obsolete.

I can only assume you’d be looking for such a model because you had one and it’s now broken/worn out?

so your options are:*

> buy a 15mm or QR fork (and convert and your wheel)
OR
> fix the broken bit of your current fork
OR
> buy a NOS fork

Or at absolute worst, buy a 2nd hand one, they’re out there, your bike is not consigned to the bin and will be back riding as good as ever in no time.

* which funnily enough are pretty the same options had you just broken a 2 week old current fork, repair or replace.

Yes I get the point you are making.

I’ve got a 2010 5-Spot which I absolutely love – I think its the last year they did a straight steerer which is the only thing that really dates it.

Fork is fine I just know my choices will be very limited if I ever want to change, but realistically I’ll probably just run the bike until it dies as I still really enjoy riding it.

Have a look at the choice of rim brake rims, not much in the way of decent stuff now.

first site I go to, aka my usual online store.
20 pages worth of rim brakes and spares (MTB ones… road will naturally have a lot more)
Shimano XT, Cane Creek, … even some Magura Hydraulic ones.
Quick look out of my office window with a bike shed outside… almost every single bike is 26er or 700c with mostly V-brakes.
And a quick nose at the cassettes, and I’d say most are 6,7 or 8 speed, with only the newest big brand names being 9speed.

Find good 7spd or 8spd now, won’t be long before 9spd is off the menu as well.

well 2 years later, same shop, 6,7,8,9,10 and 11speed cassettes all available. and chains too.
feel sorry for those with 5speed.

Find a good cartridge bottom bracket, etc.

also 2 years on…
square taper cartidge BB from €9.90 each up to €175.90 each for Tune cartridge BB (I guess that must be a good one).
BB is less of an issue, since they’re all BSA 68 threads, and easily replaceable with pretty much any crankset/bb out there (bar all the pressfit nonsense, and the fact that the square taper longevity will outlast a standard, unlike it’s more modern replacements).

No issue whatsoever getting parts for my 1989MY roadbike, other than the fact that hubs/wheels are now all 130mm rather than 126mm OLN.

first site I go to, aka my usual online store.20 pages worth of….

I think that’s half the issue Mr Rocketeer, you obviously know where to look, but most people get blinkered by what CRC/Wiggle/Evans are currently selling, and only see the shiney new stuff on display in their LBS, and either forget or don’t realise that there’s other online shops that cater for older and more traditional markets, and the many warehouses and stockrooms of LBS that hide the less blingy stuff

feel sorry for those with 5speed

I don’t feel that sorry for them, still 5 speed freewheels aplenty from suppliers if you ask.

other than the fact that hubs/wheels are now all 130mm rather than 126mm OLN.

and even that’s not a problem is it, you can cold set your frame, or re-space your hubs, or just squeeze it in!

long live old bikes! 😀

not even knowing where to look.
it’s the german equivalent of CRC, Wiggle or Evans.

LBS, you might have to ask, if it’s an LBS that geared for posh roadies or the latest MTB stuff. If it’s a mostly hybrid/commuter oriented LBS, all that stuff is probably behind the counter.

Find good 7spd or 8spd now, won’t be long before 9spd is off the menu as well.

another bugbear, gears used to be more compatible too. Yes I’m sure we couldn’t still be using 7spd cable pull with 11spd setups but I’m even more sure we didn’t need a change for 9, 10 and 11. Is anyone going to defend the change for each generation as valid rather than the making your old kit incompatible pitch it obviously is?

chainring bolt patterns … that’s my contribution to this middle aged man rant …

But, to be honest, new bikes work better than ever, and are better value.
And spares for old bikes are still available.
So no rant really required from the rider point of view.

I agree that some changes have been more hassle than improvement, but overall, the direction of travel is good.

Retail problems are real and difficult to overcome though. But that’s not just mountain bikes, is it.

spares for old bikes are still available.

pretty hard to get a range of forks in 1/1/8 straight steerer flavour.

Rockshox still make good ones.
Just been looking at some straight steerer 2016 29er SIDs myself.

chainring bolt patterns

Yes. I’m looking at you Shimano. And now also FSA, but at least they’re doing it to get good ring sizes on doubles.

There are two things you can do for/in a market, a)expand it with lots of new people usually through some new quantum leap in innovation or fashion driven attraction via movie or mass opinion leader placement or b)Create more niches, re inventions (of the wheel), to sell more to the existing proponents.

Neither is now happening and hasn’t for a while since the 27.5/Enduro BS.

As has been mentioned, you can and will be able to keep any bike you want to running as long as you want it to.

I have a 1992 Orange Clockwork. Without much trouble I could replace the Shimano DX groupset, Panaracer Smoke tyres, 1″ headset, 25.8mm bar or virtually any other part with new or mint period correct parts. I could replace the rigid forks with a fully refurbished set of Pace RC35’s. What’s more they wouldn’t cost the earth.

I can’t buy the latest suss forks for it but even if I could they would ruin the handling. Pace were still offering the RC39’s with a 1″ steerer back in 2005 and they’re still half decent by modern standards if I really wanted to go that way.

Yes, as your bike gets older you may not be able to get the latest version of every part but it’s always been this way. Get a new bike or keep your old one running. It really is as simple as that.

After reading all this and posting, or not, has a single person changed their opinion?

More choice is a good thing. The end.

Poopscoop – Member
After reading all this and posting, or not, has a single person changed their opinion?

No of course not, I’m right, why would I want to change that? 😉

Poopscoop – Member
After reading all this and posting, or not, has a single person changed their opinion?

Most of what I’ve read is moaning, extrapolation or a basic misunderstanding of simple things like inflation or exchange rates.
The BS on you can’t get this or that when wait a minute you can or the melodrama of I can’t get this I must bin my bike the evil bike industry is evil stuff.

So no I hold firm that things are going well in the world of mountain bikes, the range and choice is fantastic.

molgrips – Member
Can someone make a video of a group of people riding together on different bikes? Just to show that you really can ride most trails on most bikes, and you don’t NEED anything specific.

Last night we were rattling down a cracking descent flat out with a guy on a 29r HT, 2 of us on 26″ am bikes and a guy on a 100mm Spec XC bike with the RS upside down fork. It was good fun. Somebody probably had a straight steerer too

More choice?

When it’s ‘reinventing the wheel’ and not giving you the choice as its being phased out; that rankles.

Yes more choice, if some in the handle bar thread were in charge we would all still be using 680mm bars.
Sram kicked the drive train market upside down with 11sp
I can choose from a huge range of bikes with leanings to certain styles of riding and the do everything bikes a really really capable these days.
And you can still buy 26″ kit despite all those who don’t believe it. As for the actual wheel size I don’t have an emotional attachment to it.

mikewsmith – Member

Poopscoop – Member
After reading all this and posting, or not, has a single person changed their opinion?

Most of what I’ve read is moaning, extrapolation or a basic misunderstanding of simple things like inflation or exchange rates.
The BS on you can’t get this or that when wait a minute you can or the melodrama of I can’t get this I must bin my bike the evil bike industry is evil stuff.

So no I hold firm that things are going well in the world of mountain bikes, the range and choice is fantastic

Ho-hum. Kind of have to reply as you quoted my post.

Moaning? From me, perhaps, if it contrasts from your viewpoint it seems? A heavy amount of cynicism from me however? Most definitely guilty there. I’ve seen enough of this amazing world to know when change for changes sake is being applied rather than change for the better.

That said, I hope I never become so world weary as to attempt to belittle any contrasting viewpoint to my own. There in lies true cynicism.

Hmmm.. perhaps I’m not as cynical as I thought afterall?

Wont comment on my or others “basic misunderstanding of simple things” such as exchange rates or inflation. I don’t profess to be an internet expert in such matters or even bother attempting to be via a bit of googling and such. In my previous posts I didn’t bring them up to support my empathy with the OP’s opinions anyway. Not sure he did either but without a long reread I’m really not sure?

Ah, not being sure… A wonderful thing! The self admission that not every opinion other than my own is inherently “BS”. Yep, I’m definitely feeling less cynical by the minute.

You mention “melodrama”, “binning bikes” and an “evil industry”.
Cant say I feel any melodrama at all and its a shame you sense that from a forum post about the cycle industry. Im passionate about bikes, arent we all, not melodramatic about them however? Can’t say I see the industry as evil either. Misguided on occasion, sure, not evil though.

Anyway, not meaning go into sarcasm overload but to be honest mike when you time after time belittle others opinions simply because you don’t agree with them, well…as you said in a previous case about wheel sizes I think, “it becomes dull”.

Back to the real world.

Zero animosity meant in this post. We all/both love bikes and if I ever met you out on a trail one day id shake hands and be glad to meet a fellow STWer whilst out. 🙂

Then compare wheel sizes.