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Current bike 11 yrs old and tentatively considering new bike. Full sus enduro natural trails type stuff. £3k region. But concerned before shelling out that there might be some new design changes imminent that might be really good and that I would classically miss out on. Since my current bike there seem to have been a number of developments generally regarded as positive - I’m thinking low, long, shallow, 29, wide bars, dropper, Single ring, seat tube angle and probably lots more. Am I safe to buy today or is there a great new innovation round the corner I should wait on?
If you play that game you’ll always be waiting!
Tbh in that regard I think it’s alright to buy a bike at the moment. I’ve just bought 2 bikes and it didn’t cross my mind.
Gearboxes are poised to replace derailleurs sometime real soon according to fans.
Good point Ogden but there
have been some key changes over last decade which is what I had in mind. Gearboxes, ****, sounds expensive.
Gearboxes have been the next big thing for 15 years, I wouldn’t worry about them.
I mean I bought a 650b full susser in Mar 2017 and it’s still current now. Boost / threaded bb / long reach / slack head angle / steep ish seat angle.
If you go 29er then that seems to be the wheel size that is getting most investment right now. I wonder if we’re getting to peak long / low /
Slack with some of the most extreme enduro bikes (e.g Privateer 161) and for the majority of people we might see some extremes getting slightly dialled back over the next few years.
See downcountry bikes such as the YT Izzo / Transition Spur as good examples.
For me I changed my frame for a shorter travel full suss from the same manufacturer (same wheelsize so all the bits transferred over) and I’m actually happier on that then the enduro big bike thing. I enjoyed it for 3 years but I concluded 90% of my riding didn’t need it. The shorter travel (140f/130r) handled a few uplift days a few weeks back as well as a 40km / 1.2k of climbing day back to back better. I even pb’d a
Load of tracks on the uplift days which were wet / damp vs previous dry weather times.
A few manufacturers are pushing ‘super boost’ rear spacing but they can do one!
I can’t see anymore cogs can be added to 12 speed really - it’s already a bit picky about setup vs 11 speed. I think wider range 11 speed (10-50 or something like that) would be optimal.
Gearboxes occasionally get some attention but they’re currently too expensive / too compromised - they need a Sram or Shimano to throw a lot of money at them to make proper progress.
Suspension is pretty awesome front and rear right now - linkage forks keep being introduced then dying off again too.
So I’d go for it - test ride some 29ers and see what’s the most fun on the kind of terrain you ride.
Am I safe to buy today or is there a great new innovation round the corner I should wait on?
Wrong angle on the Q, with respect? "What do I want a bike to do, how suitable are the current crop and how might I want to adapt it" might answer it better. Plus, availability anyway. Next year won't be much/any better in that respect.
Larger OD seat tubes for better dropper design is the main thing I'd expect to see as far as standards go. Things like increased axle widths and Flat Mount brakes front and rear wouldn't bother me, they'll take a long time to replace the current specs. Larger OD lower steerer tubes are coming but more of an E-bike thing and perhaps closer to 35mm bars in that they may well be finding the limits of how stiff we really need something to be.
There might be, but as insane as it sounds, they aren't going to reach a bike costing "only" £3,000. It'll appear on the top end frames that cost that much (imagine, £3k on a frame!) first. So just buy the bike you like the best and keep it til you've had enough of it, just like you did with your last one. Almost immediately after you bought that IS mounts disappeared, 15mm axles appeared (for absolutely no good reason whatsoever), then ten speed a year later, tapered headsets arrived a little later. It's endless.
You'll be safe enough, there is no imminent silver bullet full sus design, just lots of PR, don't think drivetrain will change much, other than wireless being drip fed down, but it does the same job as wired, so no loss, same with suspension, they've not really pushed that on for the last few years.
As for boost 148 being replaced, meh it might be, but we're still able to get stuff for non boost and even older
I think the slow transition towards dh bikes with a dropper and big cassette means more travel is just round the corner. By just they obviously won't jump straight to 200mm, it'll be 10mm extra every two years.
About to sell a mint condition medium Following MB if you’re interested. Don’t ride my MTB anymore - £2k gets you all of the above, I paid £4K for just the frame and fork about 18m a go. Robowns at hotmail dot com if interested.
Cheers all. Sounds like I’m good to go. Is an 11 yr old lapierre zesty worth owt? Robowns where are you?