>>1501335I think it comes down to skill and the kind of terrain the bike is on
on lesser bikes the rider has to be fully aware at all times and actively preventing problems
and if there is some crazy terrain they just dont go there or take it slow if they do
on a bike with proper handling and suspension one needs to go a lot faster to get the feeling of being constantly on the edge of failure
and instead of using skill just to prevent falling off over its used to push the limits just for the thrill
for the less ambitious a high end late 1990s hard tail bike seems to work, all be it with hell to pay on the rear wheel unless the rider is careful
to match the current gravel bike in function would take something like a very early fully suspended bike from before the down hill bike appeared en mass, but those are largely collectors items
the first full suspension downhill bikes that I can remember were extra THICC and had a massive unwieldy weight to them, and all kinds of wasted strength
at the moment bikes that perform down hill just as well as they could are perhaps half the weight if not less and look far less bulky
they even have somewhat decent suspension geometry
but its going to take awhile till they show up second hand say 10 years
just long enough to be "too old" "junk" but not so old that they become over priced historic items
