[Closed] Bike brands that were of their time and then disappeared

Coyote - the original good ones. I had an F2 like below. Carbon fibre swing arm, 4" or 5" adjustable travel. Shame it had a stupid, proprietary shock with an i2i measured in feet. Keep looking on eBay for another. Fairly sure it's better than a Five 😆
[img] http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=66320 [/img]

Was it Boulder Bikes that had the shock mounted inside the top tube?

Yep.

Seen here;

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😉

I'm kind of surprised no-one has mentioned erstwhile STW darling Soli[s]tude[/s][s]turd[/s]tude Cycles. Can't find any good pics online, so this will have to do:

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I think this has been mentioned, but definitely needs a pic:

[img] http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=42545 [/img]

Also, jumping disciplines, but for me Jad BMX were probably the ultimate "of their time" brand:

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There was never a good Coyote.

It's just a generic hardtail, hardly reminiscent of the world cup winning times of Nicolas Vouilloz & Anne-Caroline Chausson.

[url= http://sheldonbrown.com/org/hetchins/index.html ]Sheldon Brown Hetchins[/url]

Hetchins, curly stay loveliness.

Caloi

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Kirk Magnesium Bikes

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http://www.chathambikeshop.com/%5Cclassic.htm

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

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Truly a thing of beauty

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I want one still

On a can of Tab clear, just to date the photo properly.

Has anyone mentioned Overbury's Pioneer. That was the first bike I really, really wanted - as a grown-up.

Verlicchi. Made seemingly half of the full suspension bikes in the early 90's (including the 'Iron Horse' that Cully rode, plus Kona, Diamond Back, Sintesi etc).

Bullseye cranks, wtb finishing kit( I know they still make tyres)

Thread.of.the.year.

Ooh, what's happening at Brooklyn machine works?

Seriously, amongst other things, sweatshirt collaboration with Uniqlo:

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Someone mentioned Airborne. They are now [url= http://www.vannicholas.com/Mountain/6/allbikes.aspx ]Van Nicholas[/url]. The Tuareg still has the flat plate at the top of the chainstays that the Lancaster used to have.

Breezer bikes.

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Shogun Bikes?

Townsend.
Had one in the early 90's in Orange with black flecks (I've seen a Orange with the same paint scheme) and a odd triple triangle frame

Club Roost had a chunky steam with a I beem running through it, and a raised bar.

Was going to say GT but it looks like they are making good(ish) bikes agin

Another vote for:

Rox clothing.
AC components (have a pair of Lo Pro cranks for my single speed)
ZZYZX forks
Onza pedals (I have two pairs in the man cave)
Zooka cranks
Spooky (the Metalhead was ace)
Sintesi

Plus I'll add:

Roox (chain devices, bars and stems)
Answer products (still have ao old stem of theirs somewhere)
Stratos forks (have a par of FR4's in the shed)

bigdummy - cheers for the info.
i did have a look at the bikes on the van nicholas stand at the bike show last year, they really are gorgeous.

Nothing says early 90s more than a Kirk Magnesium, a mullet, and an airbrushed truck.
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I blame KHS for 650B/27.5/kitten-killers. They were pushing them in 2009 in Mountain Bike Action mag.

Well after 5 pages and we get to Overbrurys !

Well done LAT as that's what I was going to post .

Had one when the U brake came out Was a great bike but wish I had not had the u brake !!!

I still have an Overburys frame from before the Pioneer .Its hung on a wall in the garage ,think its a Crossfell or Fellrider

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Brands from when I started that have disappeared include a few of those above, like Club Roost.

There were loads of cheap dirt jump and trials brands that were big in the early 2000's that've vanished-

DDG-

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Base-

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24-7

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Or, if you were rich, 24-

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I think alot of those little companies like Twenty Four bicycles died with the riding style. There has been a big shift away from street, "BSX"/4X, dirt jumping by lots of peoples. Enduro is so now.

Lots of good suggestions.

So, given that we've found plenty, next question. Why did they disappear? Poor marketing? Failed to follow mtb trends? Poor management of the business? Poor product choices/quality/etc?

Back to my original post then

KHS - seemingly dropped out of the UK market as quickly as they appeared due to Scott Dommett similarly disappearing (or was he actually any good? did he just get found out?)

Proflex - K2 made the pretty poor (IMO) decision to rebrand a popular make and then focus much more on the XC market IIRC just as DH/FR was becoming increasingly popular - they certainly squandered a good market position.

I know they're still going but I'm talking pre Trek days. Would love the frames to make a comeback.

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There's been no real shift away from street riding.. it's just not watered down by daft large wheeled bikes, gears or stupidly powerful brakes anymore.
MTB Dirt Jumping has finally gone in the right direction IMO with riders like Aggy and Lacondeguy pushing and building ridiculous FMX style trails.
BSX/4X was only ever properly popular in the South of the UK where there are very few places suitable for DH (and now Enduro).
Fashion means it won't stop folk turning up to Chicksands on Capra's and Spectrals.. it's definitely an improvement from their Demos and V-10s. 😉

I had a shogun trailbreaker 1. I wanted a Caloi but I couldn't afford the extra 40quid

I bought it at Hardisty Cycles in Byker

In the v late 80s I had a Ridgeback 603. It was my first mtb.

It had Deore components and a huge 'swan neck' stem. The brake levers were truly emormous with 7sp thumbies....

However i really wanted the top level model that had some spaceage electrically controlled hinged inner chainrings that moved sections to help gear shifting......it wasnt Shimano, but i cant remember who made it...SUNTOUR?

*Coughs* Marin?

Cool in 1996, uncool for years. Cool again (briefly) in 2008/9 and then straight back to obscurity.

Pace...square profile tubes and carbon forks that didn't work for long.

Panaracer.

Pace... carbon forks that didn't work for long.

Wrong. Forks that had poor QC - some worked forever without any issues, others used in the same conditions were rubbish.

AMP Research- Horst Leitner (Mr. Horst Pivot) sold the FSR rights to Mike Sinyard at Specialized.

We have 2 Halfords Sarcinz in the garage. Marvellous machines, if I weigh them in for scrap i'll be rich. I suppose Saracen have been of their time twice, and disappeared once. Nice that the name returned though

*Coughs* Marin?

Marin were just the Santa Cruz of their day. Bronsons and Nomads will go the same way in about 4 years.

Had a couple of Saracens when they were at their first high-point (Ltd Edition and then still got a brazed Kili-Flyer)1989-90 vintage.

Mrs rode for Parkpre (imported by Cambrian Tyres) in 1995. Titanium Pro-Elite was a great bike. The frame still cleans up like new after squillions of off road miles and I've lost count of the number of rims it has worn through - currently used by eldest son (who keeps asking for a weld on rear disc mount). I think the bikes were a lot of hassle compared to distributing tyres, and then Parkpre itself disappeared a year or two later.

Sachs were doing some good stuff in 1996-97 before being bought out by SRAM.

Wrong. Forks that had poor QC - some worked forever without any issues, others used in the same conditions were rubbish.

I was generalizing. I know of a few Pace forks that seemed to go on forever, albeit from anecdotal evidence.

The Pace forks I had and the Pace forks a few people I know had all seemed to be somewhat mercurial in terms of reliability...

This thread is great. I'm too new to all this to know any of the brands listed but it's fun looking through the pictures 🙂

[img] http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=5777 [/img]

Cook Brothers?

Marin were just the Santa Cruz of their day. Bronsons and Nomads will go the same way in about 4 years.

Wow this thread has brought memories flooding back. I love it.

All of my ideas have been posted already. Its funny how a few of these bits we used to lust for are now ridiculous. It makes you wonder what today's top of the range 160mm fs will look like in 15 years time. Unrecognisable?

Love those cook Bros cranks.

Girvins , loved em ...... even the english copies which were called quasars !
and Brahma bars 🙂 .... so very 80`s
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This thread is great. So many memories.

Bullseye hubs anyone?

There's been no real shift away from street riding.. it's just not watered down by daft large wheeled bikes, gears or stupidly powerful brakes anymore.
MTB Dirt Jumping has finally gone in the right direction IMO with riders like Aggy and Lacondeguy pushing and building ridiculous FMX style trails.
BSX/4X was only ever properly popular in the South of the UK where there are very few places suitable for DH (and now Enduro).
Fashion means it won't stop folk turning up to Chicksands on Capra's and Spectrals.. it's definitely an improvement from their Demos and V-10s.

I used to ride Chicky on my Demo 9! In my defence though I wasn't local and it was the only bike I had.

MTB street has alway looked wrong - so much better when done on a BMX. It was even worse when MTB riders where trying to grind stuff.

BSX/4X/Dual could be added to this list - all very cool at one point but have kind of died a death.

Just thought of a few more...

Le Toy (horrible DJ / Street frames)
Rocket (I think - old school dual/jump frames)

There was never a good Coyote.

Bullshit! The Coyote Dual is an awesome frame. Bombproof and reasonably light. Still got mine after almost 10 years. Still rides great.

I used to have a pair of Roox risers on my 98 Rockhopper.

I still have a Ringle H20 bottle cage at home on my old Saracen Trekker.

Are Odyssey still going too? I remember everyone used to have their bear trap pedals. And rip their shins open each time a foot slipped off the pedal.

Club Roost risers with the cross brace?