Ibis Mojo SL-R

[raganwald]

To me the hype manifests itself in the fact that the dropper Jehovah's can't accept the fact that some riders don't like them.

Some riders make different choices. For example, within certain reasonable limits, many riders don't care how much their bike weighs. Many trail riders are perfectly satisfied with tubes at medium pressure rather than tubeless at low pressure. Some riders are convinced that they enjoy a "flickable" 26er rather than a "roll over everything" 29er.

Some riders have exactly one bike, others a "herd" or "quiver." Some spend their entire budget on bikes, others spend less on bikes but take vacations to exotic riding destinations.

Some riders--gasp--will mow down vegetation and create a "braided" trail rather than ride over obstacles that others will play on with whoops of joy. And here's the weirdest thing: Some riders do not accept the OneTrueSuperiorChoice™ between clipless and flats.

Odd that we don't all agree on the one true way to configure a mountain bike. It's almost as if we're different people with different tastes, who all operate under a general umbrella of "mountain biking."

When I participate in these online flame wars, I am reminded of the old saying:

Why are University politics so vicious? Because the stakes are so small.

[wingguy]

To me the hype manifests itself in the fact that the dropper Jehovah's can't accept the fact that some riders don't like them.

I can totally accept that you don't think it's worth it for you. But you contradict yourself by claiming they hype are even though you admit that they work really well for other people.

[Benno]

To me the definition of hype is something being over exaggerated (read "marketed") as the solution to everyone's problems. That's why I used 1x drive trains and wide bars as an example as well. Also throw 29ers in there. The moment you lose the ability to choose then you are taking a step back.
I have a feeling you are arguing unnecessarily with me here when in fact we are agreeing. Perhaps go back at read my posts.

[raganwald]

But you contradict yourself by claiming they hype are even though you admit that they work really well for other people.

Perhaps Benno takes the view that hype and value are not mutually exclusive? For example, a little while back 29ers were being hyped to death. "The next big thing," "26 inches is dead," and so forth. But lo, it came to pass that the XC race market has adopted 29" almost entirely, and the market has embraced 29" wheels as having value.

But you could take the view that although 29ers are a real thing, and provide real value for many people, the way the industry went about marketing them was still "hype." All the breathless advertorials in magazines, the blanket advertising, the incessant chatter on the internets...

So... I'm not 100% sure that someone can be contradicting themselves if they say that (a) dropper posts are being hyped, while (b) dropper posts work well for some or even many people.

Of course, if they say that dropper posts are "just hype," that would be another matter.

[Benno]

Yep. But people are gonna read what they want to see. And so is the way of the Internet.

[Benno]

Anyway maybe we are a little O/T here. What's important is that I think your bike is great and I can totally get why you would spec those parts. Enjoy the ride. I feel more XC guys will move towards longer travel just as road bikes are becoming more mellow and user friendly.
Seems lately the industry is being driven by the consumer, not the pros, which means lots of win for us.

[wingguy]

I have a feeling you are arguing unnecessarily with me here when in fact we are agreeing. Perhaps go back at read my posts.

Yeah, I did - you said put it in the hype bin. Maybe a language barrier but stuff you put in the bin gets thrown out. Perhaps you could have been clearer I'm also not sure that droppers have been marketed as a solution for everyone, I don't remember seeing any great push towards putting them on XC bikes or DH rigs.

But hey, since we're in a thread where one person is argung that droppers are two heavy but another is arguing that 150mm is more fun for cross country than 100/120 then it's easy to see that you'll never have one product that pleases everyone!