You are right.. I guess I am looking for a reason to justify buying a new bike.. Come on Brendo.. work with me to justify it, and I'll help out when you want more speakers and a new amp/receiver.
I personally have been wanting for over 10 years now a workable 1x design as I always found the granny front ring to be a complete waste of time. The 1x gives me now a selection of 11 unique usable gears without complexity, where a 2x design just offers maybe 13 unique and 8 effectively duplicate gears. The limiting factor to me is not finding an easy enough gear to climb a hill. that is the only thing a 2x or 3x brought to the table. For me it's the other end of the spectrum. finding a large enough front crank ring to give me speed on smallest rear gear.
As for my shocks. They are a spring damper design. I have a set of the standard spring/damper that came with the bike and the most heaviest ones. the damper pads have hardened and the spring has stress issues. They sadly just don't make them any more and trying to custom build my own just doesn't make sense. I'd be stuck buying a new front fork regardless what I do.
The standard spring still is in pretty good condition (but cannot handle my 275lbs weight). I am trying to convince my daughter who rarely rides a bike ever to consider using my old trek and give her bike to my wife. I get the new bike and I am happy. But sadly I doubt that wish will come true.
