mine is a Morewood Ndiza 4x.still got it three years on.still love it. xc ,lame jumpin,dh ,the lot...
Patriot. Gave me the confidence to try jumps, descend properly fast and hit really gnarly bits - now I do them on all bikes 🙂
evil d.o.c. geared at 1st, now singlespeed. 100mm forks, super fun and learnt everything. still got it 3/4 years later (in a slightly more abused state)
redline mx24:
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(itsa 24" bmx cruiser fyi)
i bought it new for £200, and without even trying i've sort of learnt to jump / whip / manual / wheelie.
as close as possible to actually being able to buy skills.
(yes, the new skills have transfered to the 26"ers in my life)
*cliche alert*
Orange 5
Again, 5, ha!
DW 5 Spot!
Buying another hardtail after getting a full suspension bike too soon. I was relying on the suspension to do all the work, learned better technique on the HT.
Riding with people who are better than me helped more though.
MC Battery. Jumps, jumps, drops, rooty nasty rough stuff, easy as pie.
Its the best skill compensator ever...
My TranceX - speed, cornering and lots of fear.
All my bikes have been great and all transformed my riding tbh... But it has to be the Hemlock, the Soul though brilliant didn't do anything my older Scandal and Carrera did, it just does it a hell of a lot better, but the Hemlock's a total hoodlum, mainly what I lack in my riding is confidence and it just inspires me to ride stupider stuff. I've loved all my bikes but would I have gone and done laggan black or off beat on my Idrive? Hell no. Yet it's still brilliant for simpler stuff, even does a decent impression of an XC bike. Good enough to flatter but not so good as to make me a passenger, perfect.
my ventana el capitan 29r...............cos it is the only bike that has ever fit me properly.
Orange MsIsle.
Lovely little bike and it was great fun to ride, especially at speed on twisty singletrack. It helped a lot in building my confidence up as it was such a bombproof machine.
Still got the frame in the shed, would love to build it back up one day....
gary fisher rig, big wheels one gear - it taught me a lot but it took me a while to learn the lessons
more recently my superfly has been awesome, just feels the right size, bloody love it
Blue pig
my first one
Blue pig
Evil Sovereign. Makes you a better rider at everything and makes you enjoy it more. It's better than all the bikes mentioned above (and below), and that's S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
2004 Spesh Enduro.
SpokesCycles - Member
Evil Sovereign. Makes you a better rider at everything and makes you enjoy it more. It's better than all the bikes mentioned above (and below), and that's S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
shame they are only available in kid's sizes........... 😉
Sold all my mtb's (despite working in a bike shop) and rode nothing but bmx for 2 years.Then bought a Kona unit 2-9 for pub duties.Two years later I'm racing the crc and no fuss enduros this summer and 3 peaks on the cx bike (ss of course!).
Remedy
Surprise surprise... Five
Rigid on one inbred, tought me I had to be skilful, involved me, inspired me to get the Jones, which with a fat front wheel and saint brakes again transformed my enjoyment of riding.
Trek Remedy 9 - 2009
Planet X jumping jack flash. One of the first batch in the country in 1999? I think.
ton - Member
SpokesCycles - Member
Evil Sovereign. Makes you a better rider at everything and makes you enjoy it more. It's better than all the bikes mentioned above (and below), and that's S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
shame they are only available in kid's sizes...........
how big are you ton?
i know a number of folk over 6ft managing fine on them
Nicolai Helius FR.
Cove stiffee.
Cove Hustler - handles beautifully, totally confidence inspiring, justs eats up roots, drops etc.
2006 Marin Attack Trail
SC Chameleon.
Evil Sovereign. Makes you a better rider at everything and makes you enjoy it more. It's better than all the bikes mentioned above (and below), and that's S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
I would agree totally - as would Nim if he were being honest!!
Giant ATX 890-F with Judys (Indys)- LOVED THAT. Rode ace and had a massive dent in the top tube which never seemed to bother me like it would now!
Ton- oli up there is an inch shorter than you and rides an Evil with a smaller seatube than mine! Gurt big seapost'll sort it.
my on one inbred set up as a SS. I think it was half having a SS bike and half having a good bike, all of a sudden my interest in cycling exploded and ive not had a break/layoff for the year since i got it.
My first bike - a Raleigh Stryker. Went from not being able to ride, to being able to. A fair transformation.
My 2003 Enduro FSR. Really great bike, although my 96 Zaskar LE led me up the path to it.
2008 enduro, ride anything with 0 skill
then a on-one ti, learn the skills i missed on the enduro 😀
😆
h[/i]eihei - MemberEvil Sovereign. Makes you a better rider at everything and makes you enjoy it more. It's better than all the bikes mentioned above (and below), and that's S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
I would agree totally - as would Nim if he were being honest!!
Very funny! Indeed Evil Sovereign is great fun but not one I own! (yet)
blur LT
S&M Mad dog, the first rider owned company to break away from the factory team nylon uniform days of BMX.
Awesome frame-rode everything on it-raced it, street, trails.
Also a MK1 Chameleon. The first frame to give me that BMX feel I'd been looking for in a mountain bike. Upto the Cham it had been GT Zaskars that were the closest I could find but the Cham took it to another level.
5 
My Trailstar LT. The Rockhopper I had before it was lighter and faster but nowhere near as confidence inspiring. Learned to jump on the Trailstar which has been a huge boost. Now I just need to start trying some bigger drops 🙂
SS inbred - taught me to pedal efficiently and carry my momentum.
orange 5 without a shadow of a doubt
+1 for 2004 Enduro.
However the bike that's totally re-ignited my passion for riding is - wait for it - my Marin Wolf Ridge.
Haven't had one that's done that yet. 100% mince here.
303
The first bike I built by myself for myself. Got the build spot on first time and while I ride my 456 more often, the Pace still puts a bigger smile on my face everytime the trail gets twisty or starts descending.
Meta 5.
This
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2004 Enduro for me too. It boosted my confidence immensely, and going back to a hardtail I realise it's made me a fair bit faster.
United forte, 2nd bmx frame, but the first was far too big. It's taught me how to jump properly, and alot more...
Ribble winter training bike for me.
Has improved my fitness, hence I enjoy it more when out on the trails.
bought a turner burner back in 1998 and still trying to ride it properly.
also a genesis 531 frame last year that is absolutley lovely to ride- not ridden proper steel before.
a mates titanium on one, amazing.
patriot sweet as , absolutly fab
Blue pig
kennyp - Member
2004 Spesh Enduro
Me too, fab bike, still kind of regret getting shot of that one. New bikes aren't always better.
Turner 5 Spot.
Switching to full suspension reignited my passion for mountain biking.
Mountain Cycle San Andreas in 1998,I could then ride the lines that before I had only imagined riding.
Specialized Rockhopper. Humble compared with most machines listed but my first suspension bike. Re-awakened an interest in offroading 🙂
Unfortunately also inspiring me to get something 'better' 🙄
Nic Helius FR '05
My fixie track bike, the O'Donovan 753t.
I actually sold it to buy my first mountain bike, back in 1987, but it taught me how to pedal efficiently and smoothly, and how to handle a bike that never, ever wanted to stop moving.
Rode it off road occasinally too; that WAS an education!
Spesh S-Works FSR 120, first full sus.
It actually felt pretty horrible at first until I stopped trying to ride it like a hardtail and realised just how much faster I could go
Ragley Ti, transformed my confidence and speed on gnarlier stuff after ten years of riding all sorts of full sussers and hardtails. Not the best for trail centres imo but who wants to ride those anyway. Fantastic.
2004 spesh enduro for me aswell first full susser and its still going strong
I keep thinking about selling it and getting somthing newer but then i go on a difficult ride and it proves how good it is and makes up for my lack of skill
my Patriot has me trying stuff that I'd usually chicken out of
a lot of it has to do with my mood on the day though
People more than bikes. You know who you are 🙂
Turner 6pack, it gave me the confidence to start doing big drop offs and hitting really steep stuff, the skills have passed over to lesser bikes I've owned since.
One of these. [b]The Raleigh Burner Ultra[/b]
On it I could jump 6 kids lying down on a 8 bricker jump.
(thats a scafold plank with eight bricks high support)
Can't do that now!
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2010 Soul for me.
Has allowed me to do all of the things that my 5'' full squish used to do without the weight penalty.
Really confidence inspiring stuff.
Wonder how many people just listed their latest bike?
Can't make my mind up.
fisher montare (once I'd put bombers on it), nowt spesh was just a lickle HT that I learned to hop, manual (a litle), drop off and go down steep stuff on.
or
Heckler (5" '03 i think) cos of the silly stuff I can ride down and how fast it [i]makes[/i] me go.
Surely it's something like your first mountain bike or BMX?
A slightly lighter/bouncier bike is hardly going to change your riding that much.
Being able to get up steep hills then back down with decent brakes was a plus of my first MTB even if it did weight 19 tonnes.
Tiger - we did the same (6 kids was my max too) all kitted up in BMX gear. RAD MAAAN! Surprised no one got hurt though.
hmmm.
mates xc bike. clip pedals, high saddle, uphills. not my usual style.
i dont think i`m any better a rider for owning it but the skinny bars, long stem, no grip and death brakes makes for fun (read damn scary!) riding.
Brompton....
got me cycling again after a too long non cycling break
Chameleon, Heckler and DB Alpine. All taught me how to chuck a bike about a bit more each time.
Stillwaiting for the one that makes me ride as well as I'd actually like, though...
My bikes tend to evolve and bits get moved from old frames to new etc, rather than buying complete new bikes.
But of particular note are;
My Inbred with Pace RC31 forks, it made me relearn how to choose lines and just how much difference suspension and fat tyres can make.
Turner Flux (TNT). It's meant to be an XC bike but on my first ever trip to Whistler it seemed more than happy in the Bike Park. Sure I wrecked my RS Reba forks in the process, but it's a frame that will take literally anything you throw at it as long as you can hang on. It really opened my mind to new riding possibilities beyond standard UK XC.
2008 Orange Five with Fox Van 32 QR15 forks and nice fat 2.35" Kenda tyres. This bike in this setup has blown me away, it just eats up any terrain and over the past couple of years the rate of progression in my riding has been huge. It's the ultimate skill compensator....until I find one with even more travel that is still rideable up hill 🙂
A slightly lighter/bouncier bike is hardly going to change your riding that much.
Not if a bike gives you the confidence to try new things or helps you discover a new way of riding, or even just gets you out significantly more and speeds up your progression, which are then skills transferable to riding other bikes...
demo 9
Islabike Rothan
Transformed me from a mountainbiker into a commuter & pootling-along-family-trails-er