[Griff]

I'm happy to answer any questions you have. I've ridden through the changes. A buddy got stuck with a modern FS (full suspension) that does not fit him by purchasing online from a lying sack o shit outfit that rhymes with liceloint but the other guy I ride with bought from the same and made out great. The cool part is the FS bike fits me so I test drove a modern high end bike last weekend. My takeaway is that disc brakes, which I don't have on my older bikes are amazing. You can make a lot more mistakes and get away with it on the modern FS bikes. They go through stuff we usually hop over. I still love the hardtail for climbing though and all that fancy gear is pricey to replace when you break it. My two rideable bikes are a full XT 1999 Rocky Mountain Race soft tail and a mid 2000's parts bin GT Avalanche hardtail. Those FS bikes are very forgiving for middle-aged riders. Both my riding partners at I think 54 and 56 recently went modern FS.