I found some retro pics of some pals riding the Devils Staircase back in the 80's. Cynical is among them, can you tell who he is yet?

The trail has long since been rerouted away from the big drop off

dont know i can remember jmc hammering down it though

whooop!

Loving the yellow helmet.

Slight Hijack sorry – Is it worth riding DS? Im up there next week with Mrs and was gona get her to drop me off at Glencoe ski area and meet me in Kinlocheven.

How long would that take is it a big climb from the south.

If only you'd had 6" travel mincecore machines in those days you'd have been jumping that drop-off instead of rolling it. 😉

Cool pics, nice one.

A do remember going over the bars at that very step in 1991 on my Aluminum Orange! Rigid barely described it.

Is it worth riding DS?

Yes! Ride from Altnafeadh to Kinlochleven. Its a push/ride up and a good ride down the other side. There are lots of waterbars, so pump up your tyres. Its perhaps 45 mins to an hour up.

Props for riding that stuff on those bikes and doing it before it was cool…er!

Looking at those has made me want to go round to my moms and dig out some of my old pictures from the same era. 8)

I'll bet every one of those Speccy bikes was bought in Williamsons. Still the best mtb bike shop ever. Shame it got sold to Alpine. Never was the same.

Heh – see my chain on the big ring???

EAT IT 😡

Oh and Mark those were THE helmets to own in 1987.

Fair play to you all!! That's really impressive 🙂

I that Kev in the 2nd from top pic?

MC, Kev, MC, wee "Milk Folat" Adrian, moi.

Back in '86 tastic. I assume that everyone was running 'groondies'

MC, Kev, MC, wee "Milk Folat" Adrian, moi.

I'd forgotten all about Adrian!

Rode it in late '96, I think, for an article in mbr "A grand day out". Five of us, whose bikes came to the total price of £1000. For all five.
I was on a Halfords Apollo Forma. Caliper brakes, steel rims. Required foot-on-back-of-fork-crown braking technique.

From on the WHW, from Crainlarich to over the Devils Staircase to Kinlochleven with a stop over in Bridge of Orchy overnight.

Best, funnest ride I've ever done. Fantastic fun.

Looking at those has made me want to go round to my moms and dig out some of my old pictures from the same era

I think you might get banned if you start posting mid eighties cut outs from penthouse and playboy/

Yep that's Kev Danger in the second pic. Check out the pinch flat pending on his front tyre. That day we organised an up/downhill race over the DS.

Me and Italspark rode ahead to the dyke but crashed en route using up all the first aid supplies we had. They ammounted to a couple of elastoplasts.

There were maybe 50 entrants.

Am pretty sure that wasn't the day of the race Pete, don't think we rode it as a group& hung about, it was also wet that day ( unless you've got a pic of 50 bikes outside the pub after on the same spool?)

Al, the pic of Kev was on race day, he's got his race face on. The othere were on another day.

I think the Droid won with Muddy Fox disc wheel!

Disc wheel? Ha! You mean flimsy piece of yellow plastic cover with the big Muddy Fox logo on it. I always lusted after a yellow Explorer circa 88. Still have the catalogue somewhere.

Cracking pictures MC.

Carbon 337. From the road, it's not that big a climb / push – maybe 30 – 40 minutes, if that. If you do it, head along the pipe track when you hit the Land Rover track to the dam and ride the Ciaran path if you like old school tech. Marvellous riding but worth taking it easy if you are on your own.

MC

Glen Clova monster loop this weekend if the weather picks up – Jocks Road, Glen Clova, Lochnagar – you know you want to!

Sanny

Sanny, I'm there! Make sure Sheera knows

whatever happened to the lad with the white yeti from williamson's? name escapes me now? took the plastic cover off his xt thumbies to cut em down more…?

blimey. nostalgic seeing these pics! bell v1pros….witht he wee window that opened on the front!…awesome…

That would have been Spoons. Neil somefink I think. He was a bit of a wait weeny. Wasn't too impressed when we removed his valves and filled up his inner tubes with water. He actually worked at Yeti in Colorado for a while IIRC. No idea what he's up to now.

blimey. nostalgic seeing these pics! bell v1pros….witht he wee window that opened on the front!…awesome…

My helmet was a Hanna Pro, the first generation with next to no vents. I tried to find a detail pic but couldnt find one – perhaps its too retro!

❓

ha! that was it…

rad times!

Here's as close up as I can find

An ill fated Mike Earrey 'special' route above Loch Fyne. Rick nearly drowned in his Bivi bag the night before.

Nice pics. Love the Stumpies, love the helmets! Brings back lots of memories. I had a Brancale back then, it was so uncomfortable but I thought it looked ace. Replaced with a Bell Image when they came out 🙂

Rode that bit in 1994 I think, on a very wet autumn trip. Great fun!

Aaah… hiking boots and racks.. it's all coming flooding back 🙂

Nice pics and some great skill from the OP! 🙂

I've posted a couple of these in the past, but I scanned some pics from the Malverns Classic in 1993, and some of me and my brother's bikes at the time too.

Have a look if you like 🙂

quote]I had a Brancale back then, it was so uncomfortable but I thought it looked ace[/quote]

Sheera on Ben Nevis with a Barnacle, I never knew the correct spelling till now

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My god – are those Troll tights too?

And my helmet definitely looked cooler than that, I'm sure of it…

My god – are those Troll tights too?

Yep, standard issue, perfect for the 'leisure sport of the '80s'

I can't believe how young Phil looks in that photo up there!

LOL at the narrow bars. They were definitely faster though.

**** me Fortwilliam looks like the Alps!

Spoon was Neil Mendum. Wonder where he is now? Think his Yeti got written off by a car. Nice bike (before he started messing with it). Probably had some BontraNger bits and almost certainly a SynchroNOs stem.

I bet I was the first on S/T to ride it on a bike.

1978 (or 9) Back marking the Scottish Six Days Trial on a 250 Bultaco Sherpa with my mate Hutchy. Altnafeadh was a major section in those days & the course went on to include Pipeline above Kinlochleven & Blackwater (still used) I've done it on the MTB & it brought back so many good memories of my trials days. Awesome ride.