Quote:
Originally posted by CamB
Newer doesn't necessarily mean better...
Todd, I think the main point is that what was state of the art, $5,000 bike 5 years ago is now (aside from the frame) almost what you get for maybe $1500-2000 (as a new bike).
The $3000 bike can now be more or less replicated for way under $1000.
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Ditto...I had the Amp Research B4 which was the first bike with lightweight "viable" D1 disc brakes (hydraulic slave cylinder that was cable actuated) and when they were up to snuff the V brake had squat for power or modulation against the Amp units. Obviously others had disc brakes well before Amp, but the Amp design was peddled of to Rock Shox and the mounts got standardized. The problem was those brakes were $450+ a wheel at the time. The B4 in total was around $4500 built with XT. Today a bike with that technology is half that. The B4 I had came about in 1997.
Composite frames have dropped a lot in price and have come a long way from prepurchased CF tubes bonded together in aluminum lugs. True lay up optimized designs like the Trek OCLV stuff and Specialized frames with the Zertz dampers have come about leaps and bounds and are much cheaper than 5 years ago.
-BG