This thread highlights the importance of the rider's experience--not the years of experience, but the on-the-bike riding experience.
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Mooisture really likes his bike. He feels good on the bike, he feels like he can trust it and make it work.
Long ago (back when tMoisture's Zaskar was young) I had an entry-level Univega MTB. I rode the snot out of that bike and I knew it intimately. I knew then and still know that I didn't have high-level skills or anything, but I knew how to make that bike work as well as it possibly could.
One day a Gary Fisher sales rep brought a bunch of dealers to the trail head, to let them test-ride the (then) new Sugar 1. It was Gary Fisher's (and MTB's generally) first foray into lightweight, long front-end FS XC MTBs .... it was sort of a next-gen, forward-thinking development of MTB design. The bike did everything better than everythng else, with the possible exception of big-drop, North Shore-type obstacles (back in the day when anything with 100 mm of travel was an "extreme free-ride" bike.)
Even though I was not a dealer or affiliated with a shop, after I chatted with the guy for a while, he let me ride it for half an hour.
I brought it back well before my time had elapsed. Yes, it was light-years ahead of my low-end Univega---but to me, it was Not a "better" bike. I didn't know how to make it work. The front end kept washing out, because I didn't know how to ride a bike with all the weight in the back---which made it a great descender and a good climber--tons of traction, suited to seated rather than standing climbing, and balanced on the downhills---but I didn't know how to make it work for me. All I knew was that pig of a Univega, which did nothing as well as the Sugar .... in the hands of a rider who knew how to make it work. I didn't know how to make the Sugar work.
Moisture loves his bike. Yes, he is way over the top and maybe a little confused about some stuff .... but there is no faking his enthusiasm.
For me, I didn't get another MTB for two decades---life changed, and off-road riding (in fact, riding in general) just wasn't happening for a while. When I finally got a new (used) MTB, it was a 2007(?) Cannondale Rize---FS, gigantic travel Fox suspension, Industry 9 wheels (26" wheels which i also like --- I don't ride a lot of high-speed stuff, and I like the tighter, more technical stuff (even though I can't clear most of it any more.)) .... Amazing.
When I say "Amazing," I mean it. I was amazed that even with twice the travel, the bike didn't feel mushy or sluggish. What it did was make up for losing two decades of MTB skills---I cannot explain how much technique I have lost. Road riding is great for fitness, but MTB builds bike-handling skills at ten times the speed--and I lost all those skills in my time off the trails.
And it hardly mattered. Modern suspension really is so good , and modern design also, that I could ride the bike up and down stuff I completely lacked the skill to clear--because the bike made up for it. I was able to ride sections which would have taken 100 percent of my ability before ... and now, with only ten percent of the ability, the bike made up for the rest.
But ... do I Enjoy riding more? Actually, no. To me, clearing difficult sections (relatively) is part of it, but knowing that I am really riding at my and the bike's limit is much bigger ... and I will probably Never reach that with the Rize. I will have different experiences---still fulfilling and exciting and enjoyable, but different.
Mr. Moisture, enjoy your Zaskar. Enjoy thrashing it to its very limits, and finding new limits in yourself. That is really what matters .... not parts spec, or suspension travel, or cutting-edge design. What matters (IMO) is the actual riding experience---the joy of riding the bike. You have that, and it is not something you can buy. You could buy a $7000 bike and not like it as much.
if you are young enough and have the time to ride, you could probably buy a modern bike and learn to use it to its limits (I am too old and my riding time is too limited.) But you could possibly eventually get a modern MTB and see how far the sport/art/tech has advanced since the '90s.
Until that day, you have something which is worth way more than money---you have good time on the bike.
Thrash that Zaskar and love every second of it.