MTBing - The Past Decade (2000 to 2009): A Time Capsule

[Elbo]

I was listening to ABC radio the other day and the host was talking about how 2009 draws a close to the first decade of the 21st Century (the "noughties" as they're calling it - 2000 to 2009 is 10 years, if you don't believe me, they didn't include 1990 in the 80's did they! So neither will 2010 be included in the "noughties"). The show was asking what you will remember this decade for, what will make it stand out when we look back on it in the future.

I thought about this and then thought about mountain biking in particular and what has happened in the last decade for our sport; product innovations, changes in the way we ride and just anything to do with MTBing that, when we look back on these past 10 years, will really define what it was all about in this period.

So the question is: What will you remember about MTBing and what has defined MTBing for you in this first decade of the 21st Century?

Some things I will remember MTBing for in this decade are:
• The emergence of night riding,
• 24Hr events,
• The rise of Singlespeeds,
• The increasing recognition of environmental factors in MTBing and trail bulding, and
• Sam Hill.

Post 'em up… like a farkin/rotorburn time-capsule.

 

[Rendog]

The technology change in bikes, much more efficiency but still keeping with the traditional bike, 2 wheels, forks, frame, cranks/pedals you know.

 

[Christo]

The carbon age - Carbon becoming a viable choice for frame builders - I know carbon MTB's were around pre-00's but the 00's showed widespread acceptance with most major manufacturers having a carbon full-squish bike in their line up.

Full suspension race bikes, full sussers for XC were a novelty pre-00, now they're showing at the pointy end of the field.

29ers - big wheels getting big acceptance, as above, we're seeing them at the pointy end of the market & race field . I think in the '10's they're going to replace 26ers on all but jump bikes.

Stan's/Ghetto tubeless - enough said.

There's much, much more but that's all I can think of for the moment.

 

[No Skid Marks]

1.5 headsets. I'm a fan for the adjustability of the headset stack, from zero up. I prefer the tapered steerer design from 1.5 to 1 1/8th for steerers though.
Great for aluminum and carbon frame builders.
Frame mounted gearboxs, although still held back.
Hamershcmidt and it's competitors, although designed well over a decade ago(over 6 or more), only now seeing the light of day in MTBs.
Steel technoligy, although not widely enough used.
Flat bars coming full circle, along with many other designs like the Horst link, VPP, High single pivots.
I-Beam seat posts.
Thin flat pedals.
Tubeless as mentioned.
Shock adjustability and technoligy, both front and rear.
Frame geo.
5-6" trail bikes.
Possibly 650b wheels
Tyre compounds and casings.

 

[cramhobart]

Brakes!!! How good have they got, who remembers forearm pump?

 

[morganwood70]

29ers and stans are the main ones for me!

 

[Elbo]

5-6" trail bikes.

Definitely agree on the 5-6" trail bikes… the rise of the All Mountain bikes. 10 years ago it was either XC or DH, now almost every company is offering an AM bike and the competition over AM is driving them forward at amazing rates!

29ers

29ers - big wheels getting big acceptance, as above, we're seeing them at the pointy end of the market & race field . I think in the '10's they're going to replace 26ers on all but jump bikes.

Acceptance of 29ers is another one for me too. That's a big call there Christo. I think 26ers will remain in DH, DJ & 4X in the future, but for XC and general trail riding, the benefits are definitely there.

 

[Christo]

Acceptance of 29ers is another one for me too. That's a big call there Christo. I think 26ers will remain in DH, DJ & 4X in the future, but for XC and general trail riding, the benefits are definitely there.

Also for downhill.

 

[.Alex.]

just simply hydrolic(s) disc brakes and the adjustability some of the forks and shock's have now

 

[swanny]

There are many things that have changed, and many stay the same. But one thing that has changed and i find very disapointing is..... Olympic format XC racing, and our competitiveness as a nation in this discipline. Having been invoved in this sport since 1992 (although i was a little tacker), i loved seeing the rise and rise of XC (and DH) racing and the champions we produced. Cadel, Paul Rowney, Rob Woods, Mary Grigson, Alex Alty, and so many more who really 'took it' to the overseas competitors. Beign involved (mostly through Dad and FTF) with the massive Doncaster XC events in the late 90s was awesome. We had over 800 riders at a single ONE DAY event in 1998 and i remember doing the lap scoring in Novice which had over 190 riders (what a headache).
At this time, the sport seemed to have no boundries, and sponsors were really getting into it, champions were being produced and all aspects of the sport was benefiting. I switched to DH racing in late 1999, and to this day have never competed in an Enduro style event, but would love to, and i certainly can see the attraction for the riders. However, i feel that it would be VERY important to reinvigorate the Olympic format XC events if possible. The discipline definitely needs a little more flair, and entice the riders a bit more, but it seems that clubs and MTBA have 'given up' on this format. This would be all well and good, if it wasnt for the fact that it is the OLYMPIC FORMAT, and we need to produce champions for this sport to boom again. (Not saying that it isnt booming in other areas) Now if the decision was to make the ENDURO format the OLYMPIC sport, then i guess we should work on that. Its hard for me to pass judgement on this topic, (as i havent ridden an Enduro) but it does sadden me a little to see the demise of the format that was the original format that we all raced. Does anyone else share may pain or is it all Enduros and 29ers from here??? I guess the way i veiw the enduro thing is as a 'once in a while' (like every two months) fun and social race, that has little outcome on the champions of this sport that we desperately need. Except for of course, the champions we have produced in all disciplines including Enduro.
Man, im a little off topic now.

The other thing that has changed AND stayed the same, is MTBA. A great bunch of really enthusiastic people and hard working, but i feel like some aspects of MTBing are back where we were 10 years ago, just before the split. The pinnacle of our sport, the National Series, seems a little too over reaching for most people and i cant see the current format to be very attractive for a lot of people, especially the newbies.......
I hope its great.....time will tell!!!!

Matt.

 

[BansheeTwoTwelve]

Progression,
\

The improvement of linkage systems on Dualy's have been massive. Same with tripple clamp forks. We've come from forks like Marzocchi Shivers (USD, Heavy as Fark - But still work well) to Forks like Fox 40's and Boxxer WC's, that are strong but light, and offer a really linear curve of progression.

I do believe working out the bugs in suspension is a mix of both evolution as well as technology.

Feedback from thousands of customers and team riders contribute to ironing out the bugs and developing a top notch fork\shock

 

[b_S]

For a while I've wanted to dig up my big pile of mags and do a "MTB trends over the past 15 years" writeup, but it's such a big project I'd rather just let threads like this discuss it instead

The constant splintering and reuniting of riding styles, as dictated by marketing... always entertaining to watch.

 

[Hopper]

linear curve of progression.

Love it

I think that one of the major trends of the noughties was that riding became more affordable. I also found parts have become more durable. That said I am still rocking my DH bike from 2003, all of it is original spec except the tyres, rear rim and rear brake lever (this is actually an even older Hayes Purple lever).

 

[floody]

The improvement of linkage systems on Dualy's have been massive.

No, it hasn't, unless you're speaking of development on existing concepts, or widespread adoption of smooth, durable pivot mediums.

 

[Elbo]

What about things that aren't product related? Think bigger picture. This was where I was originally heading in my thoughts. It's easy to reminisce or talk about parts and products, what about the riding, the competitions, the trails and the people?

Forums: Another major one for me that really sums up MTBing in the 00's is the whole forum/internet community side of MTBing. We've got Rotorburn and other large forums and news sites, I know our local club has quite an active forum, and I'm sure many other clubs do too. The forum community isn't unique to MTBing, but nearly every MTBer I know I somehow interact with over the net (organising rides, general chit chat and trading or helping out with bike servicing). I see forums as part of MTBing, I guess it is just as much a part as hanging around after races having a chat.

Mary Grigson

Now there's a name I haven't heard for a while! Matt, I too would like to see Olympic format XC make a comeback, it really has just fallen away from all attention. I think you're right, if we get this up and running properly and make it attractive again, then we well see a big surge in developing top riders and possibly reviving a whole pool of talent and new riders to draw from and develop the sport even further.

 

[alexalty]

Hey Swanny - And here I was thinking it was Andrew! and it's his son Matty! Good to see you are still involved in MTB - more than I can say for me! One Horse Power for me now. Husband still rides alot and has just bought a Gary Fisher Roscoe that he loves and I am amazed at the technological advances since I was racing a hardtail. He lives in hope that one day I might pick up my helmet and shoes and chuck a leg over....NOT! I am amazed at what a couple of grand can buy you now, compared to when I was a yoof! $2000 would get you a shitter. Now, its a reasonable entry level bike. Anyway, nuf of this MTB talk....off to my horsey Dressage websites! Ciao!

 

[cameron_15]

What about the crazy improvements in Tricks some people are able to do. Watch NWD 1, then NWD 10. the tricks thrown down in the jumping sections are vastly different.

 

[Elbo]

Thanks for sharing that Private Message with us, alexalty
But yes, I agree with your somewhat thread related comment, the price of bikes has fallen and value for money has definitely increased.

Enjoy your dressage websites.

 

[Turner_rider]

1.5 headsets. I'm a fan for the adjustability of the headset stack, from zero up. I prefer the tapered steerer design from 1.5 to 1 1/8th for steerers though.
Great for aluminum and carbon frame builders.
Frame mounted gearboxs, although still held back.
Hamershcmidt and it's competitors, although designed well over a decade ago(over 6 or more), only now seeing the light of day in MTBs.
Steel technoligy, although not widely enough used.
Flat bars coming full circle, along with many other designs like the Horst link, VPP, High single pivots.
I-Beam seat posts.
Thin flat pedals.
Tubeless as mentioned.
Shock adjustability and technoligy, both front and rear.
Frame geo.
5-6" trail bikes.
Possibly 650b wheels
Tyre compounds and casings.

Going down your list I'm not sure the naughties can really lay claim to many of the above.

1.5 and tapered headtubes, no arguments there although there were oversized headtubes in the 90s.
Frame gearboxes, yep
Steel technology - not sure what you mean as steel itself hasn't developed much in quite a while, it has gone out of favour and come back again though.
Flat bars - yep went very out of fashion and now are cool
I beams - tick
Thin flat pedals - tick
Tubeless - actually a late 90s thing including home made adaptations. Took off in this decade though.
Shock adjustability - yep took ages to drop down to mountain bikes but now fairly common.
Frame geo - not convinced here, other than much better standover, frame geo hasn't changed that much since the late 90s.
5-6" trail bike - Actually late 90s but became common in the 00s
650B - Actually has been in use since the mid 80s in mountain biking - but was more a Euro thing.
Tyres - yep they are in the most part better, although there are still some classic tread patterns surviving.

A few more to consider:

Direct mount stems
Plain colours - while the 90s had a big anno phase, the 00s definitely had a drab dull lack of colour phase.
White components - again a fashion statemnent, but suddenly everyone "needed" white parts for their bike.
Shimano Dual control levers
The return of 2x9 - Tom Ritchey introduced a special 2x9 setup (with 8 speed spacing) back in 96/97. When Shimano went 9 speed it became simpler and more common, but when compact cranks went out of fashion it pretty much died, but its burst back onto the scene again.

 

[frdlvr]

This is interesting, have to say my first duel suspension bike I bought in 97. It was a Cannondale Super-V 900 Carbon (3 inch travel), I put on it Manitou X-Vert R's (100mm travel), used XTR rim brakes and used WTB VELOCIRAPTOR tires (2.0). It cost a mint

Used it at thredbo quite often, it was a great bike.

Then bought a Norco Shore in 2006 and just realized how much the technology has changed, got better and cheaper.

Updated to a new Norco Team DH frame this year and well totally different again.