Yo vs. Hard Eddy

Well now here's a bike Mrs bikesandbuildings would never permit in the flat- the new Intense 'Hard Eddy'. It's a shame the marketing guys didn't think the innuendos through a bit more, as otherwise this is one of the few 29er bikes that I actually think looks proportional and elegant. The name did bring back memories from a  classic mountain bike from back in the day when I was poring over purple anodizing in Mountain Biking UK-

Oh yes, the seminal Fat Chance 'Yo Eddy' circa 1994 (image sourced from retrobike). I thought it was quite fun to put these two images side by side. Back in the 90s bikes were photographed against dodgy mottled backgrounds (do school kids still have this background?), whereas now we have concrete. Back in the 90s we had fade paint jobs in lurid colours mixed with anodizing, whereas now we have stealth black. Back in the 90s we had steel made in the USA, whereas now we have carbon made in Asia. Back in the 90s our brakes didn't work, whereas now we have discs to stop on a dime. Back in the 90s we had suspension that didn't do much whereas now we can use a rigid fork with big wheels to gain more compliance than a RockShox..

I could go on, and yes, it is interesting how much has changed in 18 years. I don't think there's much doubt the 'Hard Eddy' is not only more tasteful, but also a faster bike. However, in the unlikely event that I was offered a choice between one of these bikes taken from my name sake I know which one I'd pick. Yo!