You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Been riding a 2008 Marin Attack Trail for the last few years (this one: https://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain-bikes/product/review-marin-attack-trail-08-22480/). It’s pretty standard besides having a slightly newer 150mm revelation fork fitted and running 11 speed SLX. By the current geometry standards it’s pretty short although the headtube angle is relatively slack.
Having kids I tend to ride my road bike more due to time constraints so it doesn’t get used loads but everytime it does I realise how much I love mountain biking!
Currently looking at the Trek Remedy and Orange 5 but also thinking about 29er options. Obviously doing a few demo days would be the best thing to do but in the mean time how dated do you think my current bike will ride compared to a new one?
About 11 years 😉 having jumped from 2012 to 17 on my last swap its a big change with less compromises for an all round better bike.
If you love riding it, why change?
Unless you have the money burning a whole in your pocket, or you're looking at racing competitively, I wouldn't bother.
As long as the bike makes you happy and it's keeping you fit, keep it.
10 years of development will have changed bikes quite a lot - they’ll likely be stiffer / more stable at speed / suspension forks will be better and rear suspension could be better depending on the bike.
However, what would you like your current bike to do better? If you’re still having fun and not really pushing the bike beyond its limits is it worth a new bike?
Or is it just because shiny?
I don’t think I’d be looking at an Orange personally for a new bike - I hear too many bad things about them reliability wise and it’s just a high single pivot bike. I’d be looking at a 4 bar or VPP bike myself.
Good thing about an Orange for people short of time etc is that there is only one pivot making it easy and cheaper to repair. 2 guys I ride with both had issues with their Santa Cruz bikes, not for the first time...
I occasionally take my old ‘05 Kona Dawg out for a ride and it still makes me smile, bought against all “poor” reviews. Current bikevis an RM Altitude, now 3yrs old
Until you can “truthfully” justify it then keep on riding it until you have the time and cash to do so... I rode my Bontrager for 16yrs till it broke, tempted to get some bits welded back together but the rust beetle is likely to have taken its toll. The other projects I have set aside for my retirement are 2 Treks, ‘94 8000 and ‘96 Y22
Took me 3yrs and many test bikes before adopting full sus bikes
Yes. I went from a bling 26er FS XC race bike (Kona Heihei) which I thought was the nuts and very fast. I replaced it with a parts bin Trek Superfly FS which now has 11sp and a dropper. It weighs 27.5lbs vs 21.5lbs for the Kona, but it is miles better, much quicker over anything rough, and just bags more fun all round.
If you live where there are rocks then bigger wheels are vastly better. The reason I replaced the Kona is that I had previously acquired a rigid Salsa 29er and started aiming for KOMs on stuff I could barely clean on the Kona.
Bigger wheels, fatter tubeless tyres on wider rims, slacker angles for trail bikes and droppers are all transformative.
Some good advice cheers.
Ultimately it comes down to wanting something new and shiny so I'll probably resist the urge to scratch the itch for the moment! Hard to justify the expenditure for the amount of time it will currently get used.
I did consider fitting wider rims and going tubeless but was undecided whether it was worthwhile spending money on an old bike. Do have a dropper post fitted. Couldn't be without one now!
If you do decide to go for something new and shiny just make sure you aim for something suitable for your riding. Here are lots of decent all round trail bikes these days, but there are also lots of big enduro bikes and the line between both is getting a bit blurred. If you like something lively and poppy I’d stay towards the trail bike end of the spectrum. If you want a fast and stable bike for a lot of downhill orientated stuff / uplift days then I’d be inclined to go more enduro.
This sounds familiar- I rode a 2007/8 Marin Mount Vision till last autumn then built up a carbon 29er hardtail because
* spending cash replacing 9 speed XT when 11 speed clutchy M7/8000 is ~same new seemed silly
* urge for longer 29er through axle stiffer [insert more buzzwords]
* these days sadly my usual rides consist of smashing out to Epping/Herts or train followed by Swinley so full sus seems overkill and a 10kg hardtail would be better for road sections.
* planned to ride more in winter and full sus requires more cleaning/maintenance.
* couldn't be bothered to DIY rebuild my 26" Reba's AGAIN and it didn't feel worth paying someone.
I only got a cheap Chinese frame (with ~2013 design geometry) but I think it ticked all the boxes. I think a proper modern trail full sus would be an even "better" ride. On the other hand I'd have been pretty happy still with my Mount Vision. The monetary value for 26" frames like that is low and part of me wishes I'd got more use out of it. Also I miss the emotional connection 🙂
Best time to swap is when you need forks which are now tough to get hold of for straight steerer.
Also do a few test rides to see if you notice the difference of a new bike.
Through axles and more rigid forks are nice to have as is new suspension tech.
Lower and longer sometimes not so much if you don’t want to keep hitting pedals.
Buy a new bike, it will be loads better... and make you ride loads more.