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 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.