[Sandwich]

Excuse the rhetoric...

I know we love to bag on the industry for the plethora of wheel sizes, bottom brackets "standards", axle "standards", and half-fat gimmicks, but bikes these days are crazy good. I was out on a ride with STIhacka this sunday and I just can't get over how well my bike rides. It climbs every bit as well as anything else I've owned, it's surprisingly efficient for a 6" travel bike, it handles switchbacks well but just wants to go faster and faster at any opportunity...all for under $3500.

It's easy to complain about how expensive bikes have gotten, and how ridiculous these marginal improvements are, but maybe that's just a testament to how dialed our current rides are. We've got better technology for lighter frames, dampers that work, tires that don't wash out with any significant lean angle...it's pretty good out there.

 

[jonKranked]

i definitely agree. despite all the marketing buzzwords, bikes are better now than they ever have been. there's still some real garbage out there, but thankfully it's few and far between (and generally easily recognizable).

and now let's all sing...

 

[TrumbullHucker]

technology is pretty bangin now-a-days for mountain bikes

#BIKESAREGOOD
#BLESSED

 

[StiHacka]

Thanks for the ride, Andrew! I saw little to no wallowing or pedal bob going on when you were in front of me. A quite impressive bike indeed. I got to work on my suspension setup, the M/M tune of the Monarch+ RC3 seems to be too harsh and spikey for the HDR, and I am not getting the last 25% of travel either.

 

[dump]

Bikes are definitely good.

The prices continue to climb and push the sport into increasingly exclusive territory.

 

[kidwoo]

Yup, bikes are good.

And pressfit BBs, boost™, integrated headsets, abandoning 20mm forks , and plus sized tires had nothing to do with it.

 

[stevew]

bikes have always been good.

suspect marketing.

 

[dump]

bikes have always been good.

suspect marketing.

bingo.

 

[boostindoubles]

Agreed. This new Scout I am riding is a smile inducer for sure.

 

[Dogboy]

bikes have always been good.

While this is true, they are better now. Better than 5 years ago, way better than 10 years ago, and light years better than 20 years ago.

 

[Uncle Cliffy]

Yup. I'm on Ridemonkey.

Had to check...

 

[jackalope]

Excuse the rhetoric...

I know we love to bag on the industry for the plethora of wheel sizes, bottom brackets "standards", axle "standards", and half-fat gimmicks, but bikes these days are crazy good. I was out on a ride with STIhacka this sunday and I just can't get over how well my bike rides. It climbs every bit as well as anything else I've owned, it's surprisingly efficient for a 6" travel bike, it handles switchbacks well but just wants to go faster and faster at any opportunity...all for under $3500.

It's easy to complain about how expensive bikes have gotten, and how ridiculous these marginal improvements are, but maybe that's just a testament to how dialed our current rides are. We've got better technology for lighter frames, dampers that work, tires that don't wash out with any significant lean angle...it's pretty good out there.

Yep, time to break out the ol' neg rep gun...

 

[SylentK]

I was out on a ride with STIhacka this sunday and I just can't get over how well my bike rides. It climbs every bit as well as anything else I've owned, it's surprisingly efficient for a 6" travel bike, it handles switchbacks well but just wants to go faster and faster at any opportunity...all for under $3500.

What bike are you talking about?

I'll tell you if its good from the pic and my e-engineering arm chair

 

[Bikael Molton]

Bikes been good for a while now...

 

[jackalope]

Most bikes have been good for a while now...

Fixed!

 

[slimshady]

Excuse the rhetoric...

I know we love to bag on the industry for the plethora of wheel sizes, bottom brackets "standards", axle "standards", and half-fat gimmicks, but bikes these days are crazy good. I was out on a ride with STIhacka this sunday and I just can't get over how well my bike rides. It climbs every bit as well as anything else I've owned, it's surprisingly efficient for a 6" travel bike, it handles switchbacks well but just wants to go faster and faster at any opportunity...all for under $3500.

It's easy to complain about how expensive bikes have gotten, and how ridiculous these marginal improvements are, but maybe that's just a testament to how dialed our current rides are. We've got better technology for lighter frames, dampers that work, tires that don't wash out with any significant lean angle...it's pretty good out there.

Get of the bong shed you hippie! I thought it was well established we all come to ridemonkey to show how uncomfortable we are with today's trends.

 

[norbar]

Excuse the rhetoric...

I know we love to bag on the industry for the plethora of wheel sizes, bottom brackets "standards", axle "standards", and half-fat gimmicks, but bikes these days are crazy good. I was out on a ride with STIhacka this sunday and I just can't get over how well my bike rides. It climbs every bit as well as anything else I've owned, it's surprisingly efficient for a 6" travel bike, it handles switchbacks well but just wants to go faster and faster at any opportunity...all for under $3500.

It's easy to complain about how expensive bikes have gotten, and how ridiculous these marginal improvements are, but maybe that's just a testament to how dialed our current rides are. We've got better technology for lighter frames, dampers that work, tires that don't wash out with any significant lean angle...it's pretty good out there.

I agree though I don't feel bikes have gotten expensive. Yeah some companies went nuts and basically decided to create D&G Bvgari bikes for 10000$ but I remember my first real dh bike in 2003 cost an arm and a leg. Jesus even my crappy dnm forks were around todays boxxer team prices (and that doesn't include inflation). Now you get a ton of decent completes at 3000$.

I think most of the complaining comes down to the part that while the bikes have gotten cheaper it's not harder to build your own bike and it makes more and more sense to only buy complete. Don't know about you but it makes me feel somehow dirty (like wearing a buzzer over moto jersey on a kona stinky dirty so basically bike herpes).

 

[Sandwich]

What bike are you talking about?

I'll tell you if its good from the pic and my e-engineering arm chair

s'pecialized m'enduro

 

[tomasis7]

Bikes are good indeed.

My bike is like dream. Bos suspensions.. Etc.

Compared to year 2000, kids are lucky nowadays and they get good stuffs working even on low prices.

 

[slimshady]

I won't disagree, today's bikes do work really well. The sport has certainly progressed since I started riding 20 years ago on a cromoly frame so big and square-angled you could use it a door frame.

I'd wish the media would showcase more of the middle/low end of the spectre more often, as NSMB did with the Kona Process a while back. Living in a third-world country and just starting to pay a new house isn't exactly a motivation to go full carbonz and kashima coated...