Just a thought that crept in on todays ride….I bought my Cotic as I saw a Solaris in Whinlatter a few years back and thought, ” That looks great”. Looked at the reviews and happy owners and when the time came I bought the Bfe :-).
So, why did you buy your current bike/frame

used to have an inbred with a really nice spec missed it so bought another one . it just works

The frame was heavily discounted and was designed by Joe Murray who had designed my two previous favourite bikes so i thought I’d take a punt.

I bought my Ti Stooge after owning a steel one and loving it. I had originally bought the steel Stooge as a singlespeed hack but it became my main bike

Fell off and cannot ride so bought another frame + parts. Obvs

I had a Solaris at the time which I liked but had a hankering for a shortish travel fs. Mildred off here posted a PSA for a sale at Alltricks and I managed to nab an Orange Gyro frame for a little over £600.

Currently fancying sticking some 650b plus wheels on it for a giggle but overall I’m delighted with it.

I tried a club mate’s Lapierre X-Control and liked it. A couple of years later I bought one.

Mtb; because it was a brand new from official dealer Alpine 160 frame with CCDB for £1050 8) built with 55RC3Tis bought at half price.

Road; it was seeing an Team FDJ Lapierre in the flesh that captured my imagination as a born-again roadie, and then found CRC were selling old stock Lapierres cheap.

CX; wanted carbon/hydros after dipping toe in water with a cheap alloy/cable disc which is also my commuter. Always been a bit of a Cannondale fanboi anyway, and recently found a SuperX at nearly 30% off.

So a bit of a theme; nice bikes I’d actually wanted at bargain prices.

Couldn’t buy the frame I wanted, so a few hours with a spreadsheet and the internet found me an alternative that was as close in geometry, weight, price and suspension type as I could reasonably get with 26 inch wheels.

I like blue. It was cheap. It had good reviews. A car park test on some random chaps bike revealed it was good. It was cheap.

It had a Lefty and was cheap from Paul’s

Road a lesser travel version of the same frame suspension and really loved it , but needed more travel and went down the same company route, after reading reviews and my own take on the companies customer support/service levels, and when I plan to change again in 12 months time it will be for the same companies 150+ travel machine

Tried a mates bike over 100mtrs, went home and ordered a better spec for less, big smiley.

Specifically chose every part for my needs..then researched frames that would do what I wanted…then found the one I have currently on here and had to have it.

Went to demo a couple of bikes as I hadn’t tried either a 29er or 650b. Then the shop owner (Stu from Dales Cycle Centre) said “have a go on my Solaris”. Rode it round the car park, something just felt right so ordered one. Not regretted it.

Edit: Should say I’ve not actually used it for the purpose I was originally wanting a HT for!

The voices in my head told me to buy it.

Excellent crash replacement deal from those nice guys at Transition

My 2 main ones… The Ragley was a long campaign, I had a Soul and thought “I wish this was a bit more full on”, so bought a BFe, didn’t like, an Mmmbop, loved the geometry etc but hated the stiffness, bought a C456 which basically just teased me with how it should be similiarly excellent but wasn’t… Borrowed Druidh’s Ragley Ti and loved it even though it really didn’t fit. Finally found one for the right price on ebay IIRC, and snapped it up, never looked back- love that bike.

The big bike, a bit less discerning frankly- I rode a Five 29 and a Remedy 29 and loved them, so when I got the 7 year itch on the old Hemlock I started shopping for massive 29ers. Evans slashed the prices on BMC Trailfoxes so the used market also fell like a stone, picked up a nicely upgraded one. I knew it ticked the boxes but I’d never ridden one, it was very cost based as the Remedy and Five are far more expensive. (I got the entire bike for about the price of a used Five 29 frame)

But it’s worked out OK so far.

The Tripster thread.. The frameset was also reduced to £900 on the upgrade bikes outlet because there was a small scratch on the forks…
Win!!! Have barely ridden a mtb since

I’d replaced most of the stuff on my Hardrock Comp so all that was left to replace was the frame. I fancied steel or titanium HT, rather than a full suss. LBS had a new ti frame at a discount and I thought what the hell 8)

Still my only mtb 12 years later so that worked out well 😀

The Arkose thread on here, combined with C2W

I had a HT (Orange Evo) that I never rode and assumed it was because I didn’t like HTs. Then one day I had an epiphany and realised it was the Orange I didn’t like.
Had a spare pair of 29er wheels so bought a Solaris frame off Stu at Dales Bike Centre, swapped over various bits, replaced others and discovered I was right.

I chose a Transition Patrol from reading reviews, it’s geometry and it’s looks. It helped that it’s suspension set up was similar to my old bike which was a Pitch. I like steep technical trails and the occasional enduro race. Not disappointed at all . Fantastic bike

Cycleworks had a really good price on an sb95, I was offered a deal swapping various bits,
In 25+ years on MTBs, I’d never owned a yeti 😀

Already have KTM HT and a KTM Roadie, I like how they look, ride and the 55cm road frame fits me bang on so I bought a 55cm Canic CXA to race, which is nice.

Because it was time to buy a 650b

It was big and orange and shiney and just cried out you need me in your life, so it was hello Specialized Fatboy.

The choice of bikes available to have a go on that fit the bill (120mm hardtail, off the shelf) was pretty limited. My bike felt OK on a few laps around the block so I bought it 🙂

Price mainly

I am not sure what bike would be considered my main one though but price for them all really.

I wanted say a FS or a SS and that was what I could get with the money I had.

I tend to not do fad bikes or stay trendy as I have all 26 ers and no fat bike amongst them.

Oh and they were not white. White is just wrong as a bike colour

thanks aracer and toys it works great

Which one…?
I bought a kona chute frame second hand as i wanted something smaller and more chuckable as was riding a lot of trail centre stuff at the time. It was cheap and the bits I had in the shed fitted. Did the job really well except I’ve never found a satisfactory seatclamp that would hold things tight enough. Cheap bike with cheap parts.
Then bought an Orbea something or other for an attempt at the whw, as the chute was a little harsh for that kind of distance. It was really cheap off a foreign exchange student. Surprisingly good at that sort of thing, became my main bike for 5 years or so, with the chute still on play duties.
After a 60mile day ride with some mates on an 80’s Raleigh road bike with downtube shifters, I spotted a more up to date giant in my size with triple chainset and dual control levers for £70. After scraping about 3lbs of grease and crap off it, rides pretty well for some quick training blasts.
The good bike – a 2010 orange st4 pro with all the hope goodies from the upgrade catalogue. It’s an awesome bike, and really suits some of the riding I do. I would probably have bought a five, or a specialized pitch from the same era, cheap fatbike and a 29er hardtail if it had been my cash, but this one was left to me by my best mate when he succumbed to leukemia a couple of years back, so it’s going to stay.
Dunno why I felt the need to give you all that info about my random bike collection, but there you go

Of the current lot…

Trek 1.5, fancied a go at road biking.

Trek Madone 5.2, liked road biking, got a great deal from the lbs, then upgraded to Di2 due to another deal from m a different lbs.

Santa Cruz 5010, rode one at a demo day, decreed that all other manfactures should stop trying, as perfection had been reached.

Santa Cruz Nomad. Ordered on release day, on the strength of how good the 5010 was (I’d been hunting around idly for a bigger travel bike), right place right time. Good call.

Santa Cruz Chameleon. Because I’ve wanted one for as long as my as I’ve ridden bikes.

Specialized fatboy pro, demoed one in whistler, said it was a laugh but I’d never buy one. Lbs got one in stock, had a nagging voice reminding me what a laugh it was. Got a good deal, it’s still a laugh.

Had a Solaris. Loved it, but hankered after ti again. Tried a Sync at the bike show and it ticked the box. One came up at the right price, and bingo.

Yeti 575 – did a load of demo rides back in 2005. Best were the 575 and the Scott Ransom. Yeti was cooler, so I bought one off ebay. Recently updated the frame (again off eBay) and still love it.

Tripster – slightly influenced by a certain thread on a certain website 😀

I broke my old one.

It was a really nice colour

Price for my FS (giant trance ex demo)

And price for spec for my cx ( norco threshold)

I had permission from the authority on both occasions (SWMBO)

Since getting the cx the FS hasn’t been out…

Yeti SB5c – decided it was time to get back into MTB after being away from cycling for nearly 2 years following a back injury. I wanted something to inspire me again saw this bike in late January bought one 2 weeks later. Absolutely LOVE IT can’t spend enough time out riding now.

Accidently bought a TI 456 frame on eBay, but as I had a steel one I knew I’d love the lighter version and I do. Shame not everything on the old bike was transferable but I basically got a new TI bike for about £500.

Soul – The hype on here to be honest. It’s fantastic.

Blur TRc – Demoed one, by accident really, loved it. Decided I was buying the alu but week before I pushed the button, I picked up a second hand frame off here. Thanks Jeffus 😀

Canyon plastic hardtail. Wanted something light, fast, well kitted and not ‘too’ mentally expensive. Canyons are good for that.