{"id":1838849,"date":"2026-03-21T12:05:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1838849"},"modified":"2026-03-21T12:05:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:05:26","slug":"why-you-should-hold-onto-and-keep-riding-that-5-year-old-mountain-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1838849","title":{"rendered":"Why you should hold onto and keep riding that 5-year-old mountain bike"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"A<\/a>
New bike day, 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Stoke<\/a><\/em>\u00a0is an occasional opinion series highlighting the things that get us stoked about mountain biking. \ud83e\udd18 \ud83d\udc4d \ud83d\udc4f \ud83d\ude4f<\/p>\n

TIL that in 2025 the average passenger vehicle on the road in the USA was 14.5 years old<\/a>. Though I can\u2019t say how old the average mountain bike on the trail is, it\u2019s certainly much younger than that. Based on our own surveys, most riders buy a new mountain bike every 3-5 years. And new bikes are great! The technology changes rapidly, and I would argue today\u2019s bikes are a better value than they\u2019ve ever been. <\/p>\n

And yet there\u2019s something special about riding the same mountain bike for half a decade or more. New bikes, like newborns, are a lot of work. There\u2019s always a fussy break-in period with new frames and components, and it takes time to get the fit right so your body isn\u2019t feeling cranky after a long ride. If you have kids, you know that five can be a fun age, and the same goes for a dialed and familiar bike. It\u2019s not until about age five that kids \u2014 and bikes \u2014 really start to develop their personalities.<\/p>\n

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My Orange P7 hardtail is going on seven years old at this point, and if I had to pick, I\u2019d say it\u2019s my favorite bike in the shed. No, it\u2019s not the most capable bike I own, or even the one I\u2019d say is the most fun to ride. In fact, it gets ridden less often than my other bikes.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n

No, I think the P7 is my favorite because we\u2019ve been through a lot together. For a time, it was my only mountain bike, and I rode it everywhere, just like a trail bike should be ridden. Then, as I added a full-suspension bike, and then another, the P7 became my long-distance partner, ferrying me and my gear on bikepacking trips across Florida and Arkansas. After countless experiments and modifications over the years, it\u2019s the bike that fits me the best, and it\u2019s become my reference point for every new bike and test bike I throw a leg over.<\/p>\n

And then there are the memories. Like the time we came across a rock show taking place in an overgrown and abandoned waterworks facility in the woods. Or when we rode for three days straight through the clouds and rain, and I vowed we would never bikepack again<\/a>. (Like any good partner, I think the P7 knew I was bluffing.) Mostly, my blue steel hardtail makes me think of Tuesday night rides, full of shenanigans, pizza, and beer with friends.<\/p>\n

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\"Close-up<\/a><\/figure>\n

A big part of finding the right long-term bike partner is dating around and then being selective about who you ultimately choose. Buying a bike is a commitment, both financially and emotionally, and it shouldn\u2019t be done on a whim. Buy right, and your frame will last for many years, and should serve you well through upgrades and repairs. After all, good bikes, like good relationships, require maintenance.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s hard to hold onto a bike forever, especially when adding a new bike to the quiver. But hold on, don\u2019t sell that bike! You wouldn\u2019t sell your five-year-old, no matter how bratty they get, would you? OK, well, sometimes that\u2019s tempting, but I\u2019m here to say you shouldn\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n

Looking back, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever sold a bike. That\u2019s mainly because by the time I\u2019m done with a bike, I\u2019ve eeked every last bit of value out of it. But it\u2019s also hard to put a price on a relationship, even if that relationship is with a hunk of metal and rubber. For me, freely offering<\/a> a beloved bike up for adoption is the way to say farewell, but not goodbye.<\/p>\n

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Nearly 80% of Singletracks readers report they still ride at least one mountain bike that\u2019s 6 years old or older, so I\u2019m probably preaching to the choir here. In a culture that seems content with disposable purchases, it\u2019s satisfying to be a part of a group that values and cherishes machines that can go the distance. That are designed for the long haul. That bring the stoke, year after year.<\/p>\n

Sure, I\u2019ll probably add another bike to my stable within the next few years. But it won\u2019t be a replacement. I love these kids too much to give one of them up.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!–<\/p>\n

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Related articles<\/h4>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/a><\/p>\n
Community<\/a><\/div>\n
Mountain Bikers Know How to Have More Than 1 Type of Fun [The Stoke]<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n
Mountain Bike Trails<\/a><\/div>\n
Long-time mountain bikers love to hate on flow trails, but I’m stoked<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA person in a black and red flannel shirt rides a mountain bike along a dirt trail in a lush green forest, with a sign titled \"The President Bush Push\" visible nearby. The sign describes a challenge associated with the trail, inviting riders to test their skills on the climb. Sunlight filters through the trees, illuminating the scene.<\/a><\/p>\n
MTB Tips<\/a><\/div>\n
90 Years Old and Still Stoked on Riding Bikes<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Close-up<\/a><\/p>\n
Hardtail bikes<\/a><\/div>\n
Why I’m switching to a hardtail for mountain biking this winter<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New bike day, 2019. The Stoke\u00a0is an occasional opinion series highlighting the things that get us stoked about mountain biking. \ud83e\udd18 \ud83d\udc4d \ud83d\udc4f \ud83d\ude4f TIL that in 2025 the average passenger vehicle on the road in the USA was 14.5 years old. Though I can\u2019t say how old the average mountain bike on the trail […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,274],"class_list":["post-1838849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-singletracks-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1838849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838849\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1838849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1838849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1838849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}