obviously i wasnt around in the old skool times but it cant have been that good, because i did go through a xc bike thing and it was crap all i did was ride around bunny hopping which was fun when your a little kid but i just cant imagine even contemplating it now. xc bikes (more than trials bikes) are always braking and make it super difficult to even do the simplest of moves, no wonder trials was so unknown it looked completely bollocks. also youve got everything else trials forum, better equipement, camera technology has improved so you can watch vids (thankyou tunni, CLS), and everything else cough