Originally Posted by
Kapusta
I think the biggest thing to happen ion MTB in the past 10 years is that everyone finally realized that the dropper post is the biggest game changer since suspension. (took everyone long enough).
You're not the first person to say this, but I still haven't understood what is so miraculous about this. Everyone seems to point to the seat being in the way but I've never found my seat to be in the way. Last fri I rode with a group, we did 10 miles of flowing singletrack with plenty of jumps, drops, and downhill in just over an hour and I didn't once have a moment in which I thought my seat was in the way. Seems like it would be like having a lockout on my suspension fork, I usually get done and discover I left the fork locked out and never noticed.
OP, can't really help, my mtb is now going on 7 years old and a hardtail. I have enjoyed the simplicity of 1x11 and no chain slap so those are improvements but for me the biggest improvement was going to 29" wheels. I tried fatter tires 29x2.4 and went back to 2.25, didn't like how slow and heavy they felt, doesn't help I'm bad at climbing, tried tubeless and kept burping the tires so went back to tubes but even riding in the Catskills and CT I haven't had a pinch flat on 29" even running 25psi in the back despite being heavy. My wife has a newer, 2yo, c-dale dual suspension and complains of the slacker angles being harder to steer on the tighter trails we have here on Long Island but when riding some of the trails near Bear MTN she does like the way it feels more stable.