Originally Posted by
mackgoo
When men were real men that's exactly what they did. Put more politely, that's what we did before commercial niches were created.
Strong work insulting the current gen.
Technology advances products and opens up opportunities. Wider tires arent necessarily slower, tubeless has shed weight and rolling resistance, and formed tubes allows for increased comfort built into frames.
All this leads to being able to ride faster and ride further than before.
1.9" tires and rigid frames used to be the standard for mtb, but you can ride faster and further with more comfort on 2.3 and suspension. The real men can keep their old tech and ride slower while getting beaten up more.
...and this is coming from someone who has half a dozen 80s road and mtb frames built up at any given time and is about to braze cable guides onto an old frame.