I come from a background in motorcycles and dirt biking. I’ve been looking at used mountain bikes and was a little shocked by the price. I have seen some older models, 10-15 years old, that seem to be in pretty good condition, but when people ask about old bikes online they get a poor response.
It seems like the consensus is that you will die if you ride an old MTB down a trail. Obviously this isn’t true, people ripped them 15 years ago, so I should be able to rip it today.
It’s a little confusing, because I rode a 25 year old motorcycle about as hard as I could for years, and I never felt like I was reaching the limits of the bike. So why is it different for mountain bikes?
I’m pretty handy, and do all my own maintenance on motorcycles, including servicing suspension, so would there be any issue with me buying a 2010s full suspension mountain bike, giving it a few minor upgrades and maintenance job, and ripping it down some trails?
Pic is a 2012 transition bottle rocket that I found on Craigslist, I’m not set on any bike, but I’m not interested in hardtails. I figured this would be the better sub to post on rather than MTB. I’m hoping to get a more diverse set of responses.
by Upbeat-Proposal-6310
28 Comments
Mountain bike technology has advanced SO much in the last decade, two decades, three decades, that just a year or two difference can make a very significantly better bike. It’s not that older bikes are no good, it’s just that newer bikes are more good.
The fact that you are familiar with servicing suspension parts makes you an ideal candidate for an older bike. Just remember your legs are the engine so rear suspension design is critical. Find a design that is still being used todayish for best results. There’s been some goofy and inefficient designs over the years.
Is it just me… Or does that front fork look like someone rode that bike into a tree at high speed?
As long as you can keep the bike maintained, don’t worry about people’s opinions. It is better to be a trend setter and not a late adopter.
I’ve always wanted a transition bottlerocket
I sure love my 90s rim brake fullsus mtb, buts its not a sane choice of ride admittedly
Problem with getting a bike like the one in picture can be finding new consumable parts for servicing the end of life suspension
People are over-hyping new bikes. (period)They still have:-metal frames-a derailleur on the rear-Full suspension (geo may vary, and is everyone’s biggest nit-pick-hang-up)
A ten year old bike will be fine to get started, specially if you’re handy as you say.I think the biggest concerns are with Aluminum fatigue on lighter frames, old stale suspension/brake fluid, and dried/dirty grease/lube. All things a competent mechanic can deal within a weekend.
The only outlier I always find spooky on used bikes: Sometimes its hard to see a frame crack, and the owner/seller might not even be aware of it.
I have a 1990s MTB I ride on trails sometimes to remind me how awful things were. The saddle to bar drop is insane and the front wheel wants to tuck all the time. The tires are too skinny, there are too many front chainrings. The skateboard size wheels crash into things instead of rolling over them.
I was a tour guide in the Andes on one of these garbage piles so I know it can be done but I would never choose to.
They’re much more like road bikes to be honest. They make pretty good general purpose bikes but they’re pretty hopeless for hard woods riding.
Honestly, it’s just that for aggressive riding the newer bikes and geometry are just plain much, much better. It took a long, long time for mountain bikes to truly embrace moving away from just being taller, bouncier road bikes with big tires. This isn’t even touching on the wheel size changes, or the general changes to the way trails are built, as I believe that every other change is completely secondary. Bikes post ~2017 or so are going to be much closer to current, as I think that’s around when everyone had kind of gotten on board.
I ate-slept-lived mountain bikes from the mid-90s through the mid-00s, didn’t touch one for around a decade, and got back on in the mid 2010s. My current hardtail is night-and-day more capable and significantly safer to ride than even my DH bike was in 2006 or whenever. My current (six years old now) mid-travel trail bike isn’t even in the same galaxy. I would very genuinely rather ride my current hardtail with a rigid fork installed than any high end MTB on the market in, say, 2009. Hell, that hardtail already has ten-plus year old brakes, fork, wheels, so it’s not like I’m just someone who advocates for brand new everything.
You can absolutely still have heaps of fun on an old bike, and assuming you can find suspension parts and everything, you can make them work great for what they are. I had a buddy get gifted a ~2011 bike to get started on; I pulled a dropper out of the parts bin for him, and he has had an absolute blast on it and it makes me so happy – but he also refuses to take me up on any offer to borrow one of my bikes because he doesn’t want to know what he’s missing.
There are definitely some older models that you can at least get into the ballpark by sizing up and using an angleset, though. IIRC, the early gen Kona Process is one oft-cited example.
They are trying to justify the absurd amount they spent on an overpriced new bike
Bike parks and enduro racing have contributed to the geos being dialled in, bb heights, stack & reach, head angles. This has all been emphasised since about 2012. Prior to that big brands were obsessed with wheel size and suspension travel. This was about the same time that dropper posts came through and bikes could genuinely be pedalled up and would descend well too.
Older bikes are great! But I don’t blanket recommend them to new riders because it is really easy to find a bike that looks decent but actually has some issues that someone not familiar with used bikes might miss. If you have the mech skills to assess and repair, you can get some smoking good deals.
Products usually improve over time. I have over 10 bikes in my shed that span 30 years, the newer the bike the better ( as a general rule). Most steer better, stop better, shift gears better etc. But by all means if you can get a nice old rig that suits you go for it.
I like 10+ year old full suspension bikes. They are right at my price point and skill level. I figure about 1/3 of whatever it waa new is a decent price
make sure you sit on it and it’s the right size.
A 3-4 year old base model Stumpjumper can be had for $1000-1500.
A 10 year old mid to high end bike can be had for the same price.
Due to advancements in geometry and suspension, the newer stumpy is going to pedal uphill better and descend better despite having lower end components and maybe be heavier. No to mention that it hasn’t had 10-15 years of wear on it.
Consumerism. Gotta keep up with the Joneses.
It really just depends on whether the trails you take it on are the sort that the bike was intended for. Which is literally true of any bike. Past that, if it’s well maintained and everything functions as intended, send it.
skill issue and rampant consumerism
She looks like she still rips but looks more like a downhill bike, not sure what you ride but might be that great for xc.. or it might be idk looks heavy to me
Every bike on here was a old mtb at one point. My biggest problem is with squish bikes the shocks eventually need replacing
A lot of online MTB people get precious about MoDeRn GeOmEtRy and there is something to that, but really you’re usually getting some of that if the bike isn’t much more than 10 years old and that’s around the point that you get modern suspension design, tubeless wheels, and dropper post routing all of which are awesome and worthwhile.
The only thing I hesitate on is all of the the deferred maintenance you are getting along with the bike, especially the suspension – if the bike has several hundred hours on it without service, you might need some expensive rebuilds
Nice Bottle Rocket! Still a very capable bike. Frame geo and suspension design isn’t that far off from modern stuff.
I’m with you, OP. I’m still riding my 20 year-old Superlight. I was thinking about getting a new bike last summer but decided that, while I might be able to handle different terrain, I wouldn’t have any more fun.
Seems to me that the more capable the bike, the more difficult the terrain you need to provide the same experience.
(Of course, if I had a spare $10k lying around, I’d happily get a new Santa Cruz and start evangelizing new bikes to justify my purchase like everyone else 🙃)
I only own old bikes. On the road, I don’t think much has changed since they brought out STI shifters. I’m still happy with downtube shifters though, which I have on a couple of bikes. Disc brakes are great if you ride a lot in the wet, which I don’t.
I recently rode my brother’s modern MTB and I was blown away by how good it was. You can absolutely have a blast on an old bike, but they really have come a long way.
Nothing wrong with older bikes, they just usually need some work or will eventually need work and finding direct replacement parts for older bikes can sometimes be difficult.
There’s an entire industry that only survives because they can convince people they have to have the latest and greatest mountain bike.
I ride a 20 year old full suspension Intense and that bike is way more capable than I ever will be. Price was right too ($300 in shipping from a family member who doesn’t ride anymore).
It’s because there have been considerable leaps in MTB technology in the last 10-15 years. Anything prior to 2019 is very outdated if you are seeking for performance. Everything after that has a been a bit redundant unless you consider mulleting a bike or hiding cables/hydraulic housing big improvements.
Geometry and suspension design go a long way. I’m still pretty happy with my 2014 29” Fuel, but earlier designs of the same bike lacked features I definitely appreciate