[nostalgia] Moved my 2002 Kona Caldera on today, or what was left of it – like Trigger’s Broom, most parts had been replaced. It’s been a standard HT, a commuter, a SS and back to a normal geared HT again.

Sold it for a bargainous £100 to a local lad who is just getting into biking, which is better than it hanging on my garage wall never being ridden, which was the likely outcome after this week. He’s delighted with it.

Felt a bit strange seeing him wheel it up to his house, like an old friend. What a sad man I must be 🙂

First time in 14 years without an MTB in the shed. [/nostalgia]

Look on the bright side, £100 of beer vouchers, nowt in the shed to be robbed by scum, another man being converted to the love of buying mountain bike bits or riding mountain bikes, perhaps both

Have you hung up you mountain bike boots then?

Only until Friday 😀

No real sentimental attachment to bikes any more, got shot of the remains of my first full sus before emigrating. They are just tools or objects to be replaced. The idea of keeping important bikes has gone, it’s only cool if your a world champion otherwise it’s just tat. I practically gave away a heckler frame and fork so somebody could get going it had no value to me. Thinking some wheels might go the same way.

Only until Friday

New bike day?

Let me know what wheels they are mikewsmith i might be interested

are you in Australia?

New bike day?

Yes. Not a frequent event in this house.

Only bike I’m sentimental about is the Klein, more because of its place in my biking history than the bike itself.
Currently stripped and wrapped in blankets under the bed in the spare room, I vacillate between building it back up and riding it or hanging it on the conservatory wall. Almost don’t want to ride it as at 22 years old it will probably feel like an absolute dog geo and handling wise, however awesome it was to me in the mid 90s.

I’m kind of the opposite view to Mike – but there again I ride the same frame for years…
I’ve only had eight mountain bikes since 1989… I upgrade them a lot in that time – each frame since suspension forks have been around will have at least 2 suspension forks in its lifetime. I’ve had one bike stolen and sold on two. The rest I still own. My mountain biking is a big part of me and keeping them is keeping a bit of my history that I value.

My 1994 Kona Kilauea, recently recovered after many years away from me, will never be sold. No matter how desperate I am for cash I’ll always need a bike and that’ll probably be the last personal possession of any value I would part with. I’m not someone who is sentimental about objects normally but it’s value to me far outstrips it’s value on the open market, so it’d have to be extremely desperate times for it to be sold.

After it’s recent restoration to as new condition.

My 1995 Marin Hawk Hill, resplendent in it’s purple-forkedness, will never be sold. Even though it was nothing especially spectacular back then, (I think) the second from bottom model in the range, it was my first MTB. It’s been:
– a flat bar, bar-ended 90’s mtb
– a bodged SS
– a slicked up 1*9 road ring and cassette full mudguarded commuter
– a 1*9 mtb ring and cassette 2.4 tyred frankenfat ‘thing’
– and is currently a slicked up full mudguarded bodged SS takeaway retrieval wagon.

I love it.

I was going to keep it as a spare bike, or for when guests are here, but it made more sense for this lad to have it rather than spend £300 on something new but not as good.

I’ll admit I get quite easily attached to bikes, even crap ones but mikewsmith is right they are simply tools/objects…

I did find myself toying with the idea of moving my ancient DH bike on, the other day, it’s barely done any miles in the last couple of years, and is taking up valuable garage space, but it is also largely worthless to anyone else, and were I to flog it I know I’d just end up looking at a shorter travel trail/#Enduro bouncer and that will cost me far more to acquire… as it is I have a DH bike available whenever I want one…

No longer fond of my barely used BMX, time for it to go!

I don’t really get attached to bikes if I’ve got something new to replace it with but much as above, I’ll never sell my ’95 Kilauea frame as it’s worth next to nothing to anyone else but has years of memories for me.

And this is fairly timely as I’m about to unbuild it to save a bit of space in the new house as I don’t really need it but I expect it’ll be built up again at some point.

Sold my lovely Marin Eldridge to my mate last year, still ride it when i go round his haha. It was sold to him on the proviso that i can buy it back eventually. Superb bike and beautiful to ride.

I was sentimentally attached to an ancient Diamondback Outlook that I inherited from my late father, and got me into riding again – right up until I didn’t have room for it and a new crossbike. I still have very fond memories of it though, which is just as good.

My Five Spot, it never gets ridden anymore but I can’t let it go, too many memories and I’m not that skint I need what little it’s worth…

just the one.
My Dad bought the best tourer he could just after i was born. I inherited it in my mid twenties as a ‘funtioning’ bike. Its way too small for me, im 6″ taller than my Dad. The chrome 27×1&1/4 wheels went, the rear for a flip-flop 18t, the seatpost (25mm) got replaced and the the steerer/stem too, newer wider ergo drops, cranks/chainring and BB…… so frame, headset, centre-pull brakes, esge chromoplastics are the only ‘original’ parts.

still doesnt fit me, still weighs nearly as much as my mtb and now relagated to a work run-around SS.

Don’t know whether it’s sentimentality or having a bike that’s very very good, but old and worth bugger all 2nd (3rd) hand, but this isn’t getting sold any time soon:

’99 Dekerf Generation, now discified and greenified by Daves Yates and a not ionsignificant cost, currently SS and rigid. Frame now worth £90, maybe? Rides beautifully.

I sold my Marin Indian Fire Trail on to a mate, after it had been through several different usages with me (original with threaded headset and Manitou 2 forks, updated with AHead and Marz MXCs, singlespeed, slicked up with P2s, back to the MXCs). He’s now completely stripped, serviced and rebuilt it twice as well, the frame is still awesome.

2007 Stumpjumper….not as old you lot but its the first bike I managed to actually ride trail centres around. Me and her have just clicked and its a running joke around my friends now!

That Dekerf is just lovely. Some stunning bikes on here.

bikes are (can be) very personal objects, we sweat on them, feel frustration, pain, fear, and joy, happy times and difficult times. sentimentality is totally understandable.

but that said, a bike is always better ridden by, and building memories for, someone else, than standing neglected in a shed or garage

a bike that’s not ridden is a thing. a bike that’s ridden is a bike.

I hope I’ll always have my old Kona, had it since new (1996) and I’ve done a lot of things and been a lot of places with it.
It holds a lot of memories and still rides brilliantly and if it ever snaps It’ll looks great hanging on my garage wall 🙂

Oh, and I’ve still got my Trek Y bike too but I’m not at all sentimental about that, just haven’t got round to a clear out of my parents garage!

I’m seriously attached to my Hemlock, I gave it a ridiculously full nuts-n-bolts refresh this year and even the frame’s almost all new but it’s still the same bike to me, I more or less learned to ride properly on it… Came close to replacing it this year but it just wasn’t going to happen really.

It does help that the frame’s worth ****-all, mind.

I have two MTBs in the shed. One from new (1998 M2) and another new to me but a c.1995 Kilaeua, SS convert. I would be (as you can tell) reluctant to off-load either..

A few years ago I vowed to keep all* my bikes in the future, or at least the frame and forks as I move parts over. I kept regretting selling things. I tend to ride things into the ground anyway so the resale value is minimal.
I mothballed a Roadrat a year ago but I’m bringing it back to life in a different guise because I’ve broken another bike.

*apart from the Mongoose Black Diamond which I took to the tip as it was a crock of shit.

but it’s value to me far outstrips it’s value on the open market,

Value on the open market is, I agree, a terrible reason to own any bike unless you’re a bike trader. Owning to ride is sometimes sentimental. Owning to hang on the wall out of sentimentality is simply hoarding.

1997 RSP rebuild. Going nowhere unless I’m riding it. And I do, lots. Lately has XT thumbshifters off my first Kona, so is even betterer. Named after late grandfather who finally checked out the week I got it, so is even more sentimentaler, if not the mostest 🙂

In terms of being sentimental about old bikes, I can’t be – I only ever own one bike, and I ride it until it breaks!

However, in choosing a new bike I am now sentimental:

Full-suss? Makes sense to have a bit more comfort if you can afford it. Nah.
Carbon/aluminium – nice and light? Nah.

Steel hardtail because skinny, straight tubes and no linkages etc just look ‘right’? Where do I sign?

mikewsmith – Member
are you in Australia?
POSTED 8 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST
No mike other side of world lol

Built up a new Cotic Soul a few months ago, funded by inheritance after my grandad (last remaining grandparent) passed away. It was him who taught me how to ride a bike when I was a kid and my earliest biking memories are from weekends away with my grandparents. Felt like a fitting tribute to build up a decent hardtail-to-last and everytime I ride it, I think of him and my grandma.

It’s not old but it has sentimental value to me 🙂

I was sentimental about bikes. Then they were stolen. Then I replaced them. No longer sentimental. The only exception is the Kiddyback tandem. I really should move it on; We had so much pleasure from that bike and somebody else deserves the same.

When you get your new mountain bike, offer to take the new young owner for a ride. If he’s new to biking then he will appreciate any advice.

It’s already pencilled in! Think he spent most of yesterday afternoon on it from his messages.

I tend to ride things into the ground anyway so the resale value is minimal.

You’re telling me – I barely got anything for those stems you lent me!

[winky face]