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[url= https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2492/3960382512_41d3215183_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2492/3960382512_41d3215183_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/72XZK7 ]d082[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/dave-lowe/ ]Dave Lowe[/url], on Flickr
2004 HL Five Spot. It fitted me like a glove. Kept it for 8 years till it broke.
Ive owned plenty of bikes over the last 25+ years....i'll always have a soft spot for my Raleigh Maverick, which was my first 'ATB'. The best though, is undoubtedly my current one, Trek Fuel Ex 9.9. My second fave, was my 2011 Fuel Ex9. The rear suspension action on them is just so lush compare to anything else ive owned...Orange 5, Stumpys, Enduros, Cubes, Felt Virtue, and many others ive forgotten.
DP Freestyler. Was given away by Mum when I left home. Didn't even tell me. Would have to sell a kidney to get one now.
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Not my pic. sadly I no longer have one.
+1 for Evil Sovereign. Longest I've ever kept a frame. 27.5" & 1-1/8" forks took the decision out of my hands.
My Ragley td:1 was an awesome bike. It went everywhere and never complained. Work commuter, all day dales basher, lake district trails, trail centres, it never missed a beat.
I also had a Saracen Kili-flyer full sus a couple of years ago that was unexpectedly brilliant. Its high up on my list for a new bike too.
I had to cone back and give s mention to my Karate Monkey Ops.
It's old school but just brilliant.
Not the biggest bike but a real 'ride all day' one.
Probably the 2016 Ragley Blue Pig that I bent last weekend on Ben Lomond. Love how its looks (when it was straight), rides fantastically, encourages you to ride things you shouldnt in a way youre probably not capable of.
My Cotic flare is a keeper, I've had countless bikes that never ticked all the boxes or made me feel so fast 🙂
ton - I'll post the bike I was expecting to see when I saw your thread:
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Nice to see a thread almost entirely of MTBs 🙂
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Tranny scout, the bike that just keeps giving me the biggest grins.
Got to be one of the most fun bikes ever made.
Prob the three turners I've owned. My 5 spot went all over Europe.
My burner bettered that. (Sold last week)
So my new turner flux surpasses those two. Climbs like a mountain goat. Great for all round riding. Superb at ardrock the other week.
Peedictably,my current bike,a 2015 orbea rallon with 1.5 deg slackset.
Keep thinking about replacing it,and start looking around at other bikes but theres nothing that appeals,apart from possibly the new rallon,but that would be v expensive.
Best bike,, umm, my two Stumpjumpers, 1982 and 1987 were amazing in their time. The 87 I still have and is still fun to ride. The Merlin XLM most ott bike I owned, feels like cheating uphill but a challenge on the downs. SC X4 Cross most fun on the downs and mucking about. Most surprising an OnOne Fatty. Most fun alround was a beaten up Mk1 Soul off here (was my second cheapest bike), replaced with a new one, that's just not the same. Most capable alrounder a Cotic Solaris (third cheapest bike), no plans to ever sell, currently on 27.5 plus which has added smiles. Most used my OnOne inbred SS, I know it's in some people's hate list but mines like a big bmx on single track, right good fun, goes on and on, my cheapest ever bike.
So my best bikes have been my cheapest... and all the above (except sadly the mk1 Soul) I have kept , that says something.
makes owned: Specialized (a couple), Orange (a couple), Santa Cruz (couple), Yeti (a couple), OnOne (lots), Merlin (x1), Whyte (x1), Marin (X1), I'm sure a couple of others lost in time.
ton - I'll post the bike I was expecting to see when I saw your thread:
Nigel, always wanted a Jones mate, and when i bought it i so wanted to like it.
but my thoughts on Jones bike are now a bit 'dont believe the hype'.
i found it wasnt wasnt overly good at one thing. it felt too long, it was shit in the mud, it creaked at the seatpost and at the bb.
currently riding a steel hardtail that is comfier, more suitable at certain things and half the price.
My Giant anthem
Sold it to buy a carbon hardtail, regretted it immediatley
Orbea Aqua road bike. It reignited my love of cycling, fits me like a glove and has carried me on some amazing rides. I have "better" bikes but the Orbea is awesome.
The only one that runs it close to my Kona MinUte cargo bike. Not the best bike I've owned but the one that made the biggest impact on my life (I basically sold my car because the bike replaced it).
My Geometron really is head and shoulders above anything else I've owned.
And that's a whole lot of bikes.
So much so that my all singing all dancing Hightower is hardly getting a look in now.
It also made me change my hardtail to a Last Fastforward as it seems to be the only hardtail that has the same ride feel to the Geometron, though I would like to try a BTR.
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4242/35199433772_67b31e7006_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4242/35199433772_67b31e7006_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/VCsikb ]About to feed the pony.[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/ ]multispeedstu[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4263/35365970505_36ca2ae147_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4263/35365970505_36ca2ae147_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/VTaQUa ]Minch Moor[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/ ]multispeedstu[/url], on Flickr
I know it's boring to say it but the current ones I have are all great,the Dolan fixed gear commuter is just great fun for its purpose, the Vitus road bike I have now got the fit spot-on and I can ride all day comfortably and corner with confidence.
The niner EMD is a full on keeper, it has everything my skill level (low) needs and more, it puts a smile on my face
Like lunge I have a Kona Ute and it's transported kids to school and nursery and basically enabled us to be a one car family... When it goes next year due to not being used I will be bereft
It's a toss-up between the road bike and the niner
in it's time it's a toss up between my 04 S Works Endure - 125mm of go anywhere do anything mega travel
or
2012 Santa Cruz Blur LTc - Same idea but with 140mm and 160mm up front - also my first proper all new bits bike
Ragley Ti, but with an oversized headtube so it can run tapered steerer forks, currently a Pike and a whopping great oversized curved downtube - thanks to Mark Lynskey for sorting those. Just a brilliant thing.
Great thread!!
When I was a kid I had a Chopper. Crap beyond belief in truth, even for the time, but I loved that bike.
Then a Muddy Fox Courier in my late teens. Had some hair-raising OTBs on that when I had even less of an idea what I was doing than I do now..
More recently a 1992 (I think) rigid green Stumpy (the one they re-released a few years back). Bought 2nd hand in 1999 and rode everywhere (incl an Alps trip!) before some scrote liberated it from the garage.
Moving on to more recent times, my 2Souls Quarterhorse is a superb bike to ride. Bit short in the Reach for modern tastes (has a tendency to wander a bit on steep, steep climbs) but so much fun to ride and so capable.
But the bike that does it for me is my brand spanking new Giant Trance 2. Only had it for a week and it wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to say that it seems to have transformed my riding. First time I rode it was this weekend in Hebden Bridge. Did a loop that includes Blue Pig, Lumb Falls and Peckett Well descents (all steep, technical, rocky, slippery) and it excelled. I was faster, cleaner, more composed than I ever have been and I'd never ridden the bike before (other than back from the shop). Climbed great too and so much fun. Spent last two nights hooning about by the river with the trailhound and all of a sudden I'm bunnyhopping stuff and manualling like I never could before. Can't believe how much difference one bike has made.
These thoughts compare from an FS point of view to a Turner 5.Spot 2009 (sold to Renton as it happens), a Turner Flux 2011, a Norco Sight and a Vitus Sommet.
Incredible how much difference the "right" bike can make!
Used to be a Cotic Simple, but can't get enough of this one...
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My Ghost AMR 5900 at the top of the Garburn Pass.
6 years old next month and still find myself sneaking out to the shed to take a peak at it.
I got very lucky as I was after a full sus before I got married and had kids, I took a flyer on something on the Internet (would never do this again!) and fortunately I loved the bike from the off.
It's 26" and only 120mm but for me that's perfect for riding in this country. More comfortable that a hardtail but still a challenge to ride stuff and the bike remains playful.
Have been all over the place and made some great memories together. Think when it finally dies the frame will be hung on the wall.
Second-hand Reg Harris roadie given to me back in the 70's - that bike gave me the freedom as a 16 year old to become an independent traveller (from the family) camping and YHAing my way around parts of England and Wales with a mate.