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Low gears, suspension, disc brakes and wide tyres have all been around for over 20 years.
Not on any of my bikes they haven't. So, your idea of new is very different to mine.
Actually, I lie. I used to have a triple on the hardtail so I did have low gears. Let's say 1x w/ big cassettes then. This same 2000 era hardtail also had the luxury of disc... mounts. No disc brakes though. "Wide, low-pressure" - I used to run tubes and being a heavy fucker that required 60psi or something to keep from pinch flatting so modern tubeless that don't need 60psi is where it's at.
hippy-
Just because you were a luddite, doesn't mean the tech wasn't there ;-)
2000ish MTB discussions were like road bike discussions nowadays: "you don't need discs, wide tyres, low gears. We've always been fine with XYZ"
To be fair, I avoided buying a dropper until they became cheap and reliable. I convinced myself that a QR seat collar was basically the same thing. I was very wrong.
leggy_blonde
Low gears, suspension, disc brakes and wide tyres have all been around for over 20 years. My Dialled Bikes Prince Albert from 2007 had all the above and it was all pretty refined by then. It didn't have a dropper though and that has made a bigger difference to my riding than Boost, bigger wheels or any other modern changes