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Stuff(bikes) is more expensive, but it operates in a totally different capacity. I paid the equivalent of $4900 for this in 1994. XT/LX spec.: It was a nice bike, but light years away from what we have now. In 2024, 30 years on, $6799 was MSRP for this: That $1900 buys so much more bicycle now it’s nearly nuts.

a good well specced steel hardtail will ride better than a entry level dual suspension bike IMO.

The first prototypes were very exciting, but definitely didn't look like something that could command much money! The first pic is an example of one of the early prototypes that didn't look very good, and didn't work well either! The second pic is a later-generation prototype where I definitely started to say out loud, "Damn, this thing looks sick!". Even at this stage, we didn't have a full understanding of the costs, as we were still trying to get a certain level of performance out of it and weren't there yet.

Haha, imagine developing the fork in the middle of Covid, when nobody wanted to work at an Aluminum mill and the first round of tariffs flipped the script on even the domestic material. The price and lead time of raw material was changing month to month or even week to week. I think at the prototype stage the conversation was more often, "are we going to be able to get the material to make this thing?"

I think this is a great valid question. Here's my two cents on how to make a bike flickable/playful/poppy/unstable (four words that mean basically the same thing in MT : 1. Shorter chainstays. This has been beaten to death. 2. Higher BB. As others have said, your bike is more stable front to back when your feet are below the axles, and less stable when your feet are above them. 3. Smaller wheels. A mullet is more "flickable" than a 29" bike, and a dual 650 bike is going to be more unstable than a mullet bike. 26" bikes are king...

Flick-ability could likely be definable along a spectrum based on the amount of input force needed to change the direction of the bike. How this direction change is defined or quantified would be situation dependent and further define what is flick-ability for each person. However, the concept remains the same. If your goal is to perform a moto-whip in the air, a bike that takes 10N of force to throw the back end sideways would be more flick-able than a bike that takes 100N of force. You could then assess what variables on the bike affect that required force, i.e...

I built a bike in '21 that was exactly what I wanted with all of the parts that I wanted, a generally no-expense-spared build. Maybe, introspectively, I'm finally coming to terms with being in my mid-30s and don't need a new bike every 2 years as I once thought I did. I don't have unlimited hours to ride and train every week like when I tried to race in college. I'm certainly not a top 1% rider, so incremental improvement in tech means about 0% improvement to my experience/performance. Nothing (bike or component) has come out in the time since...

Man, can't believe anyone would ever want to be associated with a mountain biker. Turn it off so you can poach. Turn it on but turn off the Global Heat Map so the "man" won't stop me from destroying the places I want to go selfishly. I can't even relate to half the crap you nit wits justify in the same of your own selfishness. Narcissists. Strava is justification for all you do right or wrong and the bane of existence at the same time. My take on Strava is it turned mountain biking to shit. To find out a...

Good quote. I also wanted to point out, we are on mountain bikes where the body can handle so much more of the impact compared to say, a dirt bike or (obviously) a RZR, UTV, baja truck etc. That's a lot of the equation that has to be tricky as hell to balance out. I will literally put my face into my handlebar on my dirt bike if I over jump something without adequate damping. Mountain bike, usually its on me to BMX through the event (BMX guys have zero travel and make us look like wusses 99% of the...

It's funny, people often say they "want better damping" as if for example a more expensive fork is going to inherently have damping that "feels smoother" or whatever. If you look at how hydraulic damping actually works, you'll soon understand that more damping will always equal a harsher ride, especially when talking about any kind of high-speed suspension event (talking about shaft speed, not the speed of the bike although the two are often related). Damping in and of itself is not something "smooth", even though it involves moving oil around. A spring is something very dynamic. It resists compression...