There’s something to be said about skills progression too. I love my well manicured trails/parks they help me feel safe getting used to different features so when I go out on something not manicured I feel a lot more confident approaching and tackling it. My bike is way more bike than I can utilize but I’m hoping to grow into it skills wise, which is imo better than buying a bike that’s limited and replacing it every year or two I get better and need more out of it.
this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2026
16 points (94.4% liked)
Mountain Biking
878 readers
11 users here now
Community for discussion mountain biking and related activities.
No self-promotion of services and products is allowed.
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
people buy bikes like they buy cars.
and like cars, they buy a new one rather than maintain their current one.
Sorry wat? Guess I didn't get that memo, I'll go trash my 2008 giant stp and buy a new bike. Thanks
a 2008 bike is like a model T ford at this point.
you should very much get a new bike, and be amazed. 2008 bikes were still mostly using road geometry and road components.
Won't lie that's a far stretch to say that a bike with hydraulic disk front and rear, Marzocchi Bomber DJ 3, and a geometry that most hard tail mtb mimic these days, I find it hard to agree. The only thing that I am missing out on is having access to a 12x1 group set. But an 8x1 is more than enough for the stuff I do.
I mean, you're wrong. But ride what you want man. Nobody is forcing you to buy a new bike, you can keep riding your model T and thinking it's the best thing ever, rest of us prefer suspension that actually works and isn't a glorified pogo stick.
Plenty of alt-cycling hipsters are riding bikes with 1980s tech and spending thousands to do so, to 'own' people with modern bikes. Marketing is a hell of a drug.
Wow, not often you meet a prick in the mtb community. Are you also one of those who think the bike makes the rider? And now, are salty because you found out the truth? Or are you too scared to actually ride your bike because one dent and your high tech carbon fiber frame is scrap?
You're wrong.
But please blame and mock other people for your ignorance and stubbornness.
https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/components/forks/suspension-forks/marzocchi-dj3-review
Is the reviewer here, also a prick because they only gave your fork a 3.5 star rating, because even in 2008 it was a middling product?
Interesting. After 18 years, my fork still slams just the same. Nice. Looks like a win to me.
Nah, you're just being a gate keeping prick.
Like I always say, Shut up and ride.
I mean mine is a used 2016 la Pierre that I got a good deal on 3 years ago and have been doing the maintenance on mostly myself.
There are plenty out there that change their gear like they change their underwear. But as Shawn says in the hit movie Fast and The Furious Tokyo Drift, “It’s not the ride, it’s the rider”.
Mountain biking is gradually arriving at the same place skiing has been for decades. Manicured trails and cushy, predictable, long-travel bikes make the sport more accessible. A lot of people enjoy the flow and the exercise but don't want to rattle through a loose rock garden or pick a line over slippery roots. Just like a lot of folks want to go to a ski resort to casually cruise groomers. And that's fine.
I agree it's basically becoming summer skiing. The resorts are building these trails and getting them approved because they say 'look at the money we can make.' All the investment is going into one type of riding because that's where the returns will come from.
And that's where the money is. Upper middle class people who can afford to travel, spend money on gear and bikes, and rent a condo and go to restaurants.
The PRO line at my mtb park, has virtually nobody on it. It's a cool for videos on for YouTube to promote the park, but the people riding it aren't weekend warriors with two groms who are renting out the condo at the base of the mountain for 500/night.
I think more people are getting into it and there might be some nice trails that attract a lot of beginners and families, but there's still a lot of numb nuts hitting worst trails in their local area.