Obviously by rights I should say my current bike, as it's the most up to date, by far the 'best' and I bought it because it fits the bill for me perfectly.
However that's boring. So I will answer in a more interesting way.
I have two favourite bikes.
One is an old mid 90's Klein Attitude in Red, with Girvin Vectors and green Wildgrippers, as it's a setup I saw used in a race back when I was a young lad and my jaw dropped at how gorgeous it looked.
The other is a Yeti Lawwill Six with Boxxers and Ringle anodised kit, Cook Bros cranks and yellow half carbon HED rims, as it was the bike that used to make me drool when flicking through the magazines.
I remember turning up to a NEMBA weekend in about 95 – I'd be about 14 and I entered both DH and XC races on my £250 cantilever braked rigid – and it was the first time I realised that normal people owned such exotica. Before then I had assumed only those sponsored californian types rode that kind of machinery, and suddenly I found myself on the start line in my local woods surrounded by the stuff I fantasised about.
Now I'm older and earning a wage, it's all affordable and within reach, and somehow the magic is gone. Which is why no modern bike really excites me. Back then, in my young schoolboy eyes they were akin to the Lamborghini Diablo, the Jaguar XJ220 or the Ferarri F40 – Utterly unobtainble and endlessly exotic.
Now I can order any bike I choose and spec it just how I like, the magic has gone from the machines themselves. Devalued by their availability and obtainability.
I sometimes wonder if those few who can afford their dream cars feel the same – I'm sure nothing ever lives up to the desire you had for it when you couldn't have it.
The bikes I've mentioned above would ride like dogs – badly dated, surpassed by much better machinery like my current fairly unremarkable trailbike which will easily outperform the both of them in their respective disciplines.
But as long as I keep my bank card away from the Retrobike classifieds and ensure they remain nothing more than a dream, they'll continue to be my favourite bikes.
