[Closed] Bikes and brands you'd have loved to have owned but didn't

Iron Horse Sunday
Trek Slash
Cotic Flare
Pole Machine
Shand Shug
Stooge

Ritchey p29

Original Turner Burner.

I couldn't have one mainly because I was 12 when it was released.

Ancillotti

The DHY just looked so stunning.

Klein Attitude.

Most of My list is from 15 plus years ago

Kona “Misser” Replica (Turner Burner)
Intense M1
Lahar M8
Yeti 303

The USPS Lance Special Edition Trek 5500
Pace DH bike (even though had the Pace DH forks - they were total garbage)

Cotic Soda
A proper custom to bike by Seven
.
Dream bikes I actually had
Marin Mt Vision Pro (ish, custom spec on that frame)
Yeti ASR-C
.
I currently have that mk1 Solaris the OP wanted and it's excellent 😁

My two "got aways" are a jobby brown Specialized Pitch Pro- the ones that you could sell for more than they cost new a year later- and a neon pink Orange 224 Evo that I'd fully bought and paid for on pinkbike, but the guy got cold feet. I had a blue one and now I've got a black one but never a neon pink. Or anything in jobby brown.

I've wanted a Nicolai since the very first one I saw, then the longererererer models really caught my attention, but it's never worked out.

Ragley G6, but not sure if that counts as a real bike

Pace RC300. Had a bare aluminium kinesis of the same vintage which was great but that carbon seat tube.

Kona Cinder Cone. Got tempted by last year's Muddy Fox Courier cheap. Should have got the Kona next to it.
Overbury's Pioneer. The definitive Bristol MTB.
Pace RC200. Likewise the dream British bike.
Dura Ace 9000. Little did I know it would be the best looking DA ever. Probably should have got that rather than 6800.

Zinn
Another vote for Pace RC200
Yeti Ultimate
Turner Stinger (pull shock)

Overbury
Klien Adroit
Merlin XLM
Bontrager Race Lite
De Kerf
Yeti ARC

Klein

Proflex 857.... with the linkage forks, obvs.

There are a few, many from my formative MTB days in the 90s when I was riding klunkers and couldn't afford them.

Any 90s Klein HT
Spooky Metalhead
Pashley 26Mhz
Kona Cinder Cone
Orange X1
Proflex Beast
Cannondale Killer V HT
Black Market Killswitch
GT Distortion
DMR Bolt
BTR Pinner
BTR Ranger

Cannondale Scalpel softail mk.1
Rocky Mountain Slayer
Cannondale hardtail in the Volvo colours
Saracen Kili Cromo in powder blue
Milk bikes belt drive prototype with the bendy top tube- All Day Long?
Saracen Clever Mike with the stickers decals
Genesis Ioid
Ibis BowTi
Corratec RaceBow
Kinesis Maxlight AluCarbon thing . In Red.

Schwinn straight 8

Santa Cruz Super 8 from the stif ad in MBUK

Gee Athertons Giant DH team (we couldn’t agree a price, 15? years ago.

Lahar carbon DH bike with a gearbox, again, couldn’t agree a price, at the same time as the above, ended up with a GT iT-1

Edit, M8, as per robz

There is a dirtbomb in the classifieds, as the lucky owner of a different one I can tell you it's the most fun you can have for the £900 they're asking for.

Always wanted X-Lite components.

Whyte PRST-1
Singular Rooster
Marin quake
Brooklyn machine works
Ddg shooter
Bomb track beyond advance+
That box framed yellow/red/blue giant dh bike

And in a similar vein I'm disappointed I never got to be Steve Peat.

Zaskar

I'd love a Mountain Cycle San Andreas, but with modern geometry.

Oh yeah, Turner DHR- the old square tubed one that they all cracked, they just looked so cool. And I always wanted an Ancilloti, they always looked like what would happen if sweary bob from spondon liked pushbikes instead of motorbikes (and swearing)

None

Pace RC100 and Klein Attitude. However, riding buddies at the time had both and from extensive ride testing (riding along some verges and car parks....) they both felt like riding scaffolding poles.

I'll add the Mantis Pro-Floater to the mix though.

For me it’s proflex with that linkage fork, it just looked Dino ok at the time! I’ve almost bought one a couple times over the last few years but not actually sure what I would do with it!
Anything made by dekerf, a mate had a generation bought with his first student loan and it was so beautiful
Always lusted after an intense but that got ruined when I rode a tracer about 6 years ago!
That first Santa Cruz chameleon was nice with the big chunky rear end. There were a lot of hard tails I listed after back then!
My list could just keep growing the more i think about it!

Mine come from the days of real BMX...

JMC, pretty much any frame from their range but probably one of the signature ones
MRD PRO, looked at gettt one of the remakes Tim put out last year but £2k for F&F that I'd never really use was too much

In the more modern era and road/MTB I don't think I've missed out on much. A few I would have liked at the time but not too bothered by never having had them. I guess a really trick TT bike would have been nice. Maybe a Felt DA1 or similar

Always wanted a Cannondale Delta V 2000. Used to lust after the one in the ‘dale catalogue. Years later (‘94/5) a mate bought one and it was proper 5hite. Stem that spanned continents, handling from a road bike, suspension that would disintegrate if you looked at it wrong. Truly awful.

In the same vein, Boulder Starships looked so amazing. Fragile as a butterfly though.

Original Kona Stinky (the green ones that cracked). Remember looking at a launch sample on the Kona stand at the Malverns and thinking “yep, somebody finally did it: a proper mountain bike, built for winching and plummeting. Want!”

Manitou FS. Not the early one with a second set of forks cludged onto the seat stays, but the later version with the top tube mounted shock. They always just looked right.

In rough date order starting in 1993

Orange clockwork*
Marin Team Ti HT
Pace RC100
Fat Chance Yo Eddy
DeKerf HT

Since then I have bought pretty much what I wanted. Might have taken me 10 years of saving, and C2W in the case of my Colnago road bike, but got there in the end

*Finaly have this now and love it 🙂

Sick

I tested lots of exotic bikes from Mud Dock in the 1990’s on test days etc.

I tried a £2500 Trek OCLV HT running yellow Judy SL’s, and full XTR in about 1994, it was nice. I just couldn’t see myself getting that sort of money so didn’t lust

I have been lucky enough to own rather a lot of the bikes on peoples lists- Klein, Proflex, San An, Turner, GT RTS & LTS etc… Still do own a Klein.

I would like to have had the chance to own a Pace RC, an ATX-1, a Spooky Metalhead, or a GT Lobo

As a youngster: Alpinestars AL Mega DX
More recently: Orange Blood

I tried to buy a 26” Cotic Rocket a few years ago back when they were struggling to make them. Eventually gave up and bought a Whyte instead so never scratched that Cotic itch. Now I’m in Hertfordshire so a Rocket seems overkill, maybe get a hard tail at some point.

I lusted after the Ti Indy Fab for a looong time.

Ibis Mojo = the ones with the handjob cable hangar
Original San Andreas
Brooklyn Machine Works Mini-Link

Mountain bike wise it would be..

Jones, had a shot on a couple and really liked the whole Jones thing.

Stooge, I read the early mtbr threads on the Stooge inception and was totally on board. Decided in the end though to go with the tried an tested Singular much too my dismay. Still time to pick up a Stooge at some point though it's unlikely as I don't mountain bike enough to merit it.

Steve Potts, was going to order a custom Potts for my 40th but instead went on a MTB holiday. Glad I did as I'm less fussed about actual bikes and brands these days. But a Potts is a lovely thing indeed, retro or modern.

Mountain Goat Whiskey Town Racer
ANT roadster
Moulton twin pylon
Riese & Müller Load 75

1992. I desperately wanted a GT Zaskar but could only afford the Richter 8.
I bought a Team Marin new in 1994, I really wanted the Team Ti but couldn't afford the extra £400.
I had a Klein Pulse but really wanted the Attitude....cost too much more.
Wanted an RC100 but I was miles off affording that, a few years later I had the RC200 F4, lovely thing.
I seem to have been the 'almost had it' man. Still loved every bike I had though.
I could buy what I wanted now....middle aged with a bit of spare money....but stick with my 6 year old well used Cannondale Trigger.

Colnago Mexico with Campag super record kit and mavic ssc rims.

All the Klein’s…

Back in the late 90s, it was the Giant XTC Team hardtail i wanted, didn't have the money so got the ATX version instead.

Early 2000's it would be a Turner Burner, but something else came up.

Brand wise, i've always seen Santa Cruz for years, but never owned one, same with many brands, but Santa Cruz was always in the options, just never bought, and now i have Stif down the road from me i'd love to be able to get one, but they are just a little pricey compared to other makes, hence why i ride a Norco instead 😁

@ boxwithawindow

Thanks for the heads up. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to buy another bike right now and I also already have a Stooge. 😔