[warning - boring technical stuff ahead]
While I was out riding a few nights ago it occurred to me, with not an insignificant amount of sadness, that the bike I've built over the last four years will be my last for a long time by the look of things. It's my third 29er hardtail, each successively better than the previous one, and the road ends here. It looks like there won't be any more of its kind.
Coming from a long family line of hardtail XC bikes descending from the Specialized Stumpjumper of 1981, the world's first mass produced mountain bike (I also have the last Stumpjumper HT generation) it's the last one of its breed as properly quick hardtails are going the way of dodos just about right now. Very few models are anymore available with thru axles, Boost hub spacing, lightweight frames - the stuff that is standard in every other genre, but not hardtails. In a few years most, if not all, that are left are entry level models with quick releases, 2x8 drivetrains and so on, ie. technology from nearly two decades ago. Anyone who wants a quick mountain bike has to buy a full suspension model that is heavier, more complex, more expensive and often wholly unnecessary, and those who want a quick off-road bike that doesn't have full suspension have little choice but gravel bikes with their fetal riding position that definitely isn't for everyone.
I guess that's how the market, or probably more like marketing, works. People are sold images and at the moment you're not a mountain biker unless you have at least 160 mm of travel, preferably in an e-bike with more power than the dirt bikes of old, and the gravel bike is the ultimate tool that does everything from downhill trails with rocks big as sheep to winning the Tour de France. Of course none of that holds true and for a lot of people the lightweight hardtail would be the best option but it has dropped completely off the radar.
The gravel bike in particular is a bit of an odd concept, especially as it's sold a lot to beginners. The chainrings are basically straight off a road bike which means that nobody without a lot of training already done has power to push the big ring on the higher half of the cassette, while the cassette itself is often a wide range model to give adequate climbing gears which then leads to large cadence jumps. Add to that the narrow road spec bar that is probably chosen for aerodynamics but is anything but confidence inspiring on rougher roads - and the advantage is lost anyway with the rolling resistance of gravel tyres (and the gravel itself) effectively preventing the speeds in which it would be beneficial. A lot of it just doesn't make sense and usability could be hugely improved by relatively small changes but again, people are sold images. If the image requires 50/34T chainrings (big rings = going fast) with a 11-36 cassette (big cogs = climbs well) and a 38 cm handlebar (narrow = fast), that's what is getting fitted even if a 38/24T combination (if you spin a 38-11 gear out you're going plenty fast already) with a 11-28 cassette for nice small cadence changes (and actually a much lower first gear than the 34-36) and a 46 cm bar for stability would make it a lot more functional.
