[Closed] Back in the day..................

Trail centre was the middle of the path.
Dayglo lycra was where it was at.
Bula hats where the thing to wear.
STIs were cutting edge.
Clipless meant flat pedals with no toeclips and straps.
Riser bars were for shopping bikes.
You could get grips for your brake levers.

oh and where would you be with out the old XT sharkfin on the chainstay

nobody wore helmets

you could only buy a steel bike

suspension was laughed at

nobody knew what a mountain bike was

most things didn't work and kept breaking

jumpers for goalposts

Spesh Hard Rock
Biopace chainrings
Shark fin chain stay protector
Bright yellow toe straps
Panaracer Smokes
Big Mt Zefal pump that peeped out the top of my rucksac
Ron Hill Tracksters 😯

I always wanted one of those little triangular frame bags and a "height rite" or whatever they were called.

Still got the Spesh, doing a permanent tour of duty at the in laws in Spain. No, the Smokes are no longer present

{EDIT}...and Chapel Gate was eminently easier to ride 😆

Kirk revolution with Amp research front forks
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The MKS MXP-110 CLIPLESS MOUNTAIN PEDALS. The most dangerous pedals i ever rode with, as it was near impossible to get out of them as the cleats caught on the hook as you tried to release. If there were no lamp posts or trees nearby you hit the deck. Put me off clipless for quite sometime.
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Did not see another MTB for a year and was asked constantly what I was on. We put mudguards on them because they went in the mud. And years later going to toe clips -when they came in.
Still have on one or another bike: thumb shifters, pump-seat post, Bio-pace rings, Purple 'Chicken Sticks', full mudguards on a 'Stumpjumper', sharkfin, toe clips..........
In boxes: cantis, more bio-pace rings, answer elastomer forks, another seat-post pump, narrow flat bars and very long stems,inc Flex-stem, and MBUK mag 1.....

I remember all of this

Girvin Flexstem
Farmer Johns (and uncle)
Hi-Gear neon frame bags and pads
Neon Cables (i had pink ones)
Derailleur Guards
15 Gears
Sharkfins
Biopace
Ligne 7 Boots
23inch Frames for 5'3" riders
Magura Hydraulic Rim Brakes
Onza bar ends
XT was top of the range
SIS indexed thumb shifters had a little switch to friction mode for the non believers.
Campag and Suntour made MTB gears
Toe clips were hardcore
Project 2 forks were the best
Brakes under the chain stays
Helmet had a removeable fabric cover

We ruled Ilkley Moor and Otley Chevin

Ballistic forks........
Worked great for an hour & a half then broke.

Oh no, I've just remembered that I owned some pink Descente bib shorts. There's photographic evidence somewhere too.

I'm not that old- so friction shift thumbie on the left, 6-speed SIS thumbie on the right, wen that was new and exciting, probably dates me best.

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This is what my first bike looked like, not my bike though.

Vaporized Maroon was the name of the colour.

Non-indexed gears, weighed a tonne, kept it until 1994 when I got a Shogun Trailbreaker with indexed gears - oh it was heaven.

Having a crush on Missy Giov

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Former world downhill mountain bike champion Missy Giove had plead guilty to smuggling marijuana, capping what is likely one of the most spectacular tumbles from grace in all of action sports. The 37-year-old, featured last fall here retired from pro racing in 2003 after world championship titles and a flamboyant career peaking with her world title in 1994 and a sponsor contract that was the envy of all pro pedalers.

Last month Giove admitted her role in a 3-year smuggling operation, telling cops she took $30,000 to coordinate couriers shuttling marijuana from California to New York. Last summer, cops busted her in Illinois with 350 pounds of marijuana. They later found another 30 to 50 pounds of the weed at a co-conspirator’s home, along with more than $1 million cash.

She could face up to five years in federal prison. Sentencing is set for March.

And my mate getting a stumpjumper and going on and on about it weighing 25lbs

What about those things that fitted into the rear cassette to scrape the muck out, Crudcatcher made them

still got my purple metallic one!

Zak Tempest in MB-UK..

can't forget this

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The Kirk Revolution.

I would have sold my mum for one.

A website dedicated to kirk

http://www.kirk-bicycles.co.uk/Kirk.htm

Riding round on a Marin with Neon green forks and stem and this grey paint that looked like teflon. 21 speed and Biopace. The cutting edge it was.

Smoke and dart (although I then went with smoke and Specialized Ground Control S for quite a few years), flexstem (I actually liked mine!), Flite saddle (still the best), Campagnolo silver rims with Ritchey Logic spokes (still using those wheels), purple stuff, Etto helmet (they'll come back in fashion one day).

What about those things that fitted into the rear cassette to scrape the muck out, Crudcatcher made them

still got my purple metallic one!

Crud Claw? 😉

Little extensions for your brake levers so you could brake while using your bar ends!

What about those things that fitted into the rear cassette to scrape the muck out, Crudcatcher made them

still got my purple metallic one!

Crud Claw!

Whatever made you want a Kirk? They were really heavy, expensive and rode crappily even then.

Whatever made you want a Kirk? They were really heavy, expensive and rode crappily even then.

They looked coooooooooooooooool and were made of magnesium

Fitting a DCD

Nishiki Alien!
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"Shogun Trailbreaker" !! I had one of those Quirrel.. was my first bike to be nicked aswell :/

Rich YES crud claw! how could I forget that

I actually miss Gripshift, i always liked it

solid Answer attack alu stem. pink brake lever grips-WTF? My lovely Grafton speed controls.... the ever so cr4p Tioga disc drive, cleverly sold to a German over 4 months of MBUK back page classified adverts.... 😯
Umma Gumma tyres... http://www.snakebite.fotopic.net/p1082172.html

TURBO GEL SADDLES!!!

Thread Closed!

Did you have anything back then that you would still ride today, ignoring the nostalgic retro-cool factor?

I reckon my old Kona Fire Mountain from 1992 would be a good ride still. My Orange P7 (one of the very first) was also quite good to ride on non techie stuff, as you could really get power down and cover some ground. Really good riding position for hammering the pedals - it'd have made a better 'hybrid' than my actual hybrid.

My first proper off-road bike (Marin Bear Valley) was one of only two in the range available in UK, and one of three possible brands totaling seven models in all. I didn't see ANYONE else riding a trail for at least a year, and when i rode it on the road, everyone asked "why my bike looked like that".

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1987, a good year for bad frame colours, and bad flouro clothing borrowed from the roadies. Things have, fortunately, come a long way.

Singletrack was a relative novelty, probably the biggest difference. Lots of cheeky footpath riding.

You could get grips for your brake levers.

My old steel spesh rockhopper was great! even with the oval chainrings

brake boosters...I have an anno blue one somewhere....

oh, and Tange Prestige. My new frame is also Tange.... as was my first clockwork.

Tiger6791 - Member
What about those things that fitted into the rear cassette to scrape the muck out, Crudcatcher made them
still got my purple metallic one!

Crud Claw? 😉

Just in time! 😉

Bright red Saracen made of 531 (in the UK), steel risers, suntour gears and pre accushift. Since then every fashion failure going and some great bikes.

Jim Mc Roy, Hans ray and Ned Overand....legends

Onza Prcupine tyres

My rasta coloured cranks from Kooka

My first cannondale with pepperoni forks from Mountain High in Pricess Risborough sold to a mate who still has it and i want it back.

Wheels that constantly needed rebuilding 😥

I remember when Maxxis were a cheap nasty motorcycle tyre..

I remember being very excited about T-bone stems coming into the country and ordering a 150mm

When an orange clockwork cost £240 and came with rigid(not really) forks.
Deore DX
Thumbies
No helmets
Big **** off bear trap pedals with power straps, shins still bare the scars!
There were only 3 tyres, those v shaped tioga ones and the smoke and dart
Mavic 231 rims then the ceramic ones!
Dia comp 987's
Pulstar hubs.

Stems with big pulley wheels which the front brake cable routed over. What ever happend to them?

Haven't we been here [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/whats-your-favourite-bit-of-retro-mtb-technology ]before[/url]?

But anyway yes I remember John Stevenson getting married and the is Zack Wylde really Brant Richards disucsions.
Elevated stays and elastomers.
JMC and his bird Sophie being Team MBUK/la Salsa
Pace trying to make a full suss and the GT RTS blowing our minds
Paul Smith on the San Andreas making us all want to have a dart on the front AND back.

molgrips - Member

"Did you have anything back then that you would still ride today, ignoring the nostalgic retro-cool factor?"

Yup, I'm (painfully slowly) rebuilding my '91 Carrera Krakatoa, mainly as a commuter but it'll see some off-road use from time to time. It's needed a new wheel and basically every part of the drivetrain replaced, oh and stripped to bare metal and repainted, but it was a good bike then and it's still a good bike now. Tange tubed too which was a nice surprise when the stickers emerged from under 20 years of grime.

that interview in MBUK with naked peeps in the hot tub.

the old stumpjumpers used to come with a plastic cover for the rear cassette.

Most of the stuff I remember from back then would be cack now I reckon. Based on the kind of riding I do.