lionheart said it for me earlier about the Inbred 853 SS. I just love this bike so much, it's comfortable, it fits right, it's almost impossible to imagine a custom-made frame riding or fitting any better. My Inbred 567 is a bundle of laffs too, the only frame I could imagine swapping it for would be a Ragley...
Fat Chance Yo Eddy, '92 Team Marin & ASR SL.
Everything in between needed tweaking to some degree.
Never really like my PA
Loved most of my recent bikes
224
meta 5
lemond zurich 853
Whyte 905
Not loved, but mainly just OK
Specialized Allez
Dialled PA
Specialzed Demo 8
Azonic Saber
DMR switchback - This thing is so ballanced it jumps itself, conering just seems to be instinctive, no thought required it just does everythign on automatic. Best bit was riding at cannock chas came off section 14, endo'd to the ballance point, front wheel hopped a few times, hoped onto the back wheel and hoped a few times. There is no way ive practiced that! It just did it, in front of a group of peoe, without kicking me off!!!!!
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Cannondale R500 - it just keeps accelerating untill your lungs fold inide out! and has only cost me £425 for 4 years, that includes buying it! 300 secondhand, 35 for secondhand r550's, 40 fo gp4000's, £50 in drivetrain bits.
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thisisnotaspoon those confused onlookers may have been trying to work out what was going on with your sticker job?!
I treid a Yeti 575 that I loved.
It took me all of 5 minutes to fall in love with the Soul when i demoed it, up the fire road and down pennel's vennel at glentress. That was it, sold.
Kona Lava Dome 1994
Cannondale F700 1998
RM Blizzard 2002
Maverick ML7 2005
Intense Spider 2 2009
I have had a few few others in that time but these have been the best!
1984. Raleigh RMX BMX. It could do anything, nothing beat it one the singletrack through the nettles. Taught me how to hop.
S Works M2 Hardtail, awesome speed. Kept snapping rear skewers though on uphills.
Hopefully the Ibis Mojo I just ordered 😆
My Cove Handjob was great the minute I sat on it and rode.
But my Raleigh Grifter was the besest bike ever innit
Loved my Vassago Jabberwocky the minute i got it and I cant see me ever selling it 🙂 I did say that about my old Morning glory though 😉
1998 Marin East Peak. I went straight from 12 years of rigid to full suspension and found I could go out all day without feeling wrecked at the end of it. Most of the time I wasn't really aware of the suspension just aware that it wasn't hurting as much any more. Having a hardtail now I realise that 80% of the benefit was coming from the front end and that's all I need for the riding I do.
I had no real intention of buying a Jones.
Then I had a ride on Jeff's bike and ended up selling loads of other stuf to fund one.
The only other bike i took to so quickly was a Malcolm Smith Racing (pre Alpinestars)and I've always regreted selling that.
I loved my kona kilauea from the first ride back in 1995. It's still being ridden now.
My Rocky Mountain Element is also fantastic despite being a size too small but just rides brilliantly somehow.
Of the present stable, this one;
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2 years on still lovin' it.
My mid 90's (biaxial tubing) Kona Explosif which I bought 2ndhand cheap off the manager of a LBS which I then had braze ons for vees added and resprayed prior to even riding which turned out to be truly wonderful. Bike that I've ridden best (felt that I was getting to its and my capabilities!).
After that my Soul (which reminds me of my Kona...). Again took the chance and bought untested.
Also hired a Klein Attitude in the Winter Park one day which I really liked.
i loved my scott scale, and scott spark. so light quick, and ride so well!
and my evil d.o.c. soooo much fun
aviemoron...is that a 29er?
I still miss my Y2K Gary Fisher Sugar 2. The best fitting & handling bike I've owned. Early model with Black RS Sids, (not Manitou's as shown in catalogue).... apparently the Manitou's weren't ready for the first batch of frames...
My new Pitch pro, only used it 3 times, but i just love it.
Rode a Nicolai gearbox bike in whistler for a day, absolutley amazing, flew down everything, so stable and controllable over jumps too, i'm guessing because all the weight was central.
Got a lot of attention because no one had really seen a Nicolai there too, Even had tourists who didn't ride asking if they could get photos next to it.
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My fave frame was an alloy Spesh hardrock from about 2002. The one that looked a bit like a Cove Stifee. Crap bits but once a few upgrades were done it was the best MTB frame I ever had. Great geometry and was stiff in the right area but had a good smooth ride. After many £1000s on other frames and bikes I still have not had one as good!
Love at first pedal stroke; Specialized Stumpy M2 in '91 - felt like a rocketship.
Kona Kaboom! In '99, just what I'd been waiting for.
Sunn Revolt in '02 - looked good , rode good.
Probably the 3 most significant bikes out of all the dozens I've owned.
Whilst there is going to be an obvious connection between the bike you loved at first ride and going out and buying same, I do wonder about how many of these posts have the word "my" in them. I wonder how much, even unconsiously we "love" things that we have just shelled out big bucks on irrespective of attributes. There are very few post along the lines of "I had a go on my mate's XXX and it was awesome!". Would it be different if we were talking about partners?!?
claud butler (2005 frame) Cape Wrath DD - bought me back to cycling and reminded me why I loved getting on a bike and just riding.
this is now my one and only ride, with a lot of upgrades, I just can't bring myself to seriously consider buying another bike.
Has to be '95ish spec M2 with Rockshox FSX carbon forks-in red of course!
97 Salsa Ala Carte, still rides beautifully. Built up old school
95 DBR Axis ti, rebuilt in 07 as my race bike. Flys when I'm on it, throws me if I'm just mucking around.
04 DMR Switchback, good with 125mm Vans, great with a 140mm Talas. Smooth, fast & can take a beating.
07 Iron Horse MkIII, even smoother & faster than the DMR, & climbs better.
covert
"...There are very few post along the lines of "I had a go on my mate's XXX and it was awesome!".
Well the Handjob I rode was Juan's singlespeed.. all the others were demos. I bought the best of them.
S-Works hardtail... faster + more agile than anything I've ridden before or since, the handling is almost telepathic
04 Switchback... I rode that thing harder than I have any other bike and it just laughed at my feeble attempts at being 'core.
Mk1 Whyte 19, now f*** me but that is a great bike
My rigid CroMo '97 Rockhopper, still going strong today - done more miles on that bike than all the others I've ever had put together
Hmmmmm, trawls through extensive history . . .
I reckon I'd have to go for my '04 Kona Stinky - didn't keep it that long as I didn't feel I did it justice then but I'd love to have it back now. It was the first full-sus bike I'd owned since my Trek Y bike (boing) years earlier. Sit down. shut up, hold on!! 
I remember riding it from the bike shop to the car park through the streets of Abergavenny on my birthday - like an armchair with wheels.
Hardtail-wise, it's gotta be the Cove Stiffee. Best hardtail I've ever ridden - so confidence inspiring. Another I didn't keep too long though as full-sus came calling again (that Stinky has a lot to answer for).
Oh and talking of armchairs with wheels, I guess I should add the Intense 6.6 to the list. Demoed one at SSMM last year - even the small size was a bit big for me but wow!! Like an armchair with wheels and pinpoint accuracy.
not ridden it yet but hopefully my on-one 456 when I build it up next week
Pace 303, only bike i have i couldnt part with. Even now, 2 years on, i cant even bring myself to upgrade anything, it works/rides that well. Although those Formula R1's and XTR cranks keep tempting me...
I also had a 2005 Cape Wrath DD, back when all the mags were giving it 10/10's, and it was great, just my head was turned by the Pace. Even waiting 7 months for it to be delivered from wiggle couldn't dampen my affection for it.
So thats two out of the 12 or so ive owned in the past 5 years.
'96 Kona Cindercone, absolutely thrashable - think I descended as quickly as some folks on the Marin FSer which were the bees-knees at the time. 🙂
Was fine until rear drop-out broke and was replaced with a Pahoehoe under warranty. 😥
Now run a Giant NRS Carbon fibre frame, and an On-One In-Bred SS, which reminds me so much of the Cindercone.