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I was thinking this at the weekend - I wish I'd kept hold of my first mountain bike - a 1995 Marin Hawk Hill. It wasn't particularly special even then (except to me), but would have made a great twangy-steel gravelly/canal towpath cruising thing.
I actually gave it away too, eejit.
Cove Hummer. It was - apart from the god awful chain suck, sublime for it's time.
Planet-X Jack Flash. A wonderful little play/street/mucking about bike that I'd built from scratch. Sold it for not much, should have kept it as it was great fun.
Genesis Day 0 singlespeed.
Lovely thin steel tubing (yes, it did flex enough for the chain to come off, a KMC with deeper side plates solved that issue) clearance for wider tyres (pre-cursor to the gravel trend) mini-V brakes, lovely orange paint job. Modern equivalents are hub gears and disc brakes which just seem to be the antithesis of what a simple steel singlespeed should be.
I upgraded tyres, cranks, freewheel, possibly seatpost and saddle too, then finally decided singlespeed just wasn't for me (or at least my knees) and sold it. Don't even have any decent photos 😥
Have since filled that void with a bright pink Charge Plug which does exactly the same job, but still regret selling the Genesis.
My 1986 Rockhopper would be nice to have. All that's left now in the parts bin is the seat clamp and for some reason I've kept the cantilever brakes.
Equal first place - my Charge Plug SS and my Orange Evo2 with Pace forks.
The one I own now
A XL Ti Fargo if anyone is interested.
Getting rid of? none, really. Not having any more? the 853 inbred that I broke somehow, it's still sitting in a box in my garage with the bent chainstays that rendered it "hors service"
Nothing for the riding, one for Nostalgia (1st proper MTB, Carrera Mission) one cos I reckon it might be worth a bit, or a fair bit more than I paid for it/sold it for, in a few years (GT iT-1)
Similar situation @IHN
I had 1993 Marin Bobcat Trail I used to commute on then started off-road touring (before it was called bike packing) on.
I ended up lending it to a friend to get to work while his car was broken down. He didn’t think I wanted it so lent it to his cousin and I never saw it again. That was around 2008.
Transition Klunker as it looked cool and was lots of fun to ride with a rigid fork, single speed and only having one brake - a coaster brake at that. I don't know what possessed me to take it to Glentress or how I survived. It was a joy.
This.
I wouldn't ride it but it would be on the living room wall.
Wish I hadn't sold my mkII cotic solaris. Would have saved me a fortune eventually replacing it with a cotic cascade.....
An old Pompino with 32c small block 8s, sram red cranks and a white industries freewheel - used to fly along that thing (or maybe my knees were better 15 years ago).
Also had a Bianchi Sass at one point, which was rubbish to ride but looked really good. Would have the frame as artwork on the wall now.
I miss my Mk1 Evil Sovereign. It was so versatile, and the colour was amazing. If one of them came up at the right price I'd almost certainly buy it - it'd be not much use on the trails compared to my modern bikes but I'd take it down the pumptrack.
My Dad's Flying Scot. I sold it and used the proceeds to buy a balance bike, before the concept of having a garage full of bikes was a thing, and before I had the skills or contacts to make it rideable around Calderdale. It was probably worth more than I got for it, but the sentimental value was priceless. Much sadness.
1996 RockHopper.
Sold it to my BiL who gave it to his mate... who left it to rot.
Santa Cruz VP Free - i absolutely loved that bike - still not too sure what i sold it?!
MK1 On-One Inbred. Bought off firestarter of these parts - nothing massively special but it was such a good bike to ride... ended up riding it more than my Cotic Soul I had at the same time.
Curtis S1. One of that batch CRC sold off dirt cheap a good 12ish years ago. Was everything a top notch steel frame should be. Stupid for selling it and would have another in an instant.
Brooklyn Machine Works Park Bike loaded with BMW goodies - stem, bar end caps etc. Somehow had been kicking around on Pinkbike for a while for a stupidly cheap price with no interest so I grabbed it. Was something very special... but I simply didn't use it so sold it for an equally cheap price and regretted it since.
Not quite a bike but back in the day I had a set of Risse Roxxxy single clamp forks on my old Curtis SX. Were shit forks in terms of functionality and the (factory tuned, ex-Martin Ogden) Z1s I replaced them with were head and shoulders above them but I'd love to have them on the wall...
On One 456 Summer Season, I've posted photos of it a few times. Built burly, weighed the same as a small moon, smashed through everything with 160mm coil Marzocchis on. Loved that bike.
Probably my 2001 Intense M1 and my 2006 Iron Horse Sunday. The Sunday in particular was a phenomenal bike, my race results improved as soon as I got on that thing.
2002 Kona Pahoehoe. Probably not a 'classic' Kona hardtail, as it was aluminium rather than the old steel frames; but the spec was good (Marzocchi Z3, full XT groupset etc) and the geometry was just spot on. It was excellent in so many ways; I rode it around the Surrey Hills a fair amount before taking it to the States and riding various places in CA, CO, MT, and Moab.
https://products.mtbr.com/product/older-categories-bikes/2002-hardtail/kona/pahoehoe.html
I replaced it with a custom Ti hardtail, but it never felt quite as alive or good to ride, and I ditched that with a Cotic Soda that I still have.
Nope, I've upgraded by so much (and so infrequently) that the previous bikes were all completely shit in comparison, except for the Ventana tandem which was still very decent as a frame but needed a full set of components.
The first bike I bought myself with money saved up from my paper rounds - a 1993 Kona Cindercone. Was fantastic fun, would've made a great gravel bike.
I'm probably going to feel like it soon about another bike I'm 'keeping' for my kids (who have 0 interest in MTB) - a Santa Cruz Blur TR (old 26" wheel version). I just can't bring myself to sell it.
1987 Muddy Fox Courier - the decision was sort of made for me after breaking the frame riding down the stairs at Uni but could/should have had it repaired.
2000 Freeagent Air-raid BMX - brought it home from Australia and sold it around 2010 due to needed the space in the garage - what a d*ck.
Can also add a 1995 Landrover 110 and a 1998 Discovery to that list.
Probably the Nukeproof Mega TR which, in hindsight, was just under forked and rode terribly because of it, kept binning it in steeper corners and I just blamed the bike. It was the last 26" wheel bike I had so probably wouldn't have lasted long but would like to have got more or of it.
I miss my Mk1 Evil Sovereign.
I really really wanted one.
Still got most of mine. The early 90's Diamond Back Ascent is now a daily commuter, but it had a full refurb in the Winter - resprayed, new stickers and I treated it to new 'period' handbuilt XT hubs/wheels. It's a lovely ride, and can haul some weight. My early 90's race bike I still have and it's used weekly. My late 80's/early 90's other road bike is a bit of a triggers broom, but has remained the same bike since the mid 90's - I resprayed it a coupe of years ago, and cleaned up all the Shimano 600 components.
The only newer bike I got rid of was a nice fast fixie commuter, but I'd got my spine broken on it, so had bad memories, plus I'd stopped commuting then - sold it during lockdown for not much.
'92 Marin Team Marin - first new MTB I ever bought, despite the purple/flouro green paint job.
It rode incredibly well, all things considered, although I don't think adding RS Quadra 21s helped it in any way whatsoever.
Mountain Cycle San Andreas.
Looked beautiful, actually had two of them, one of the early 4.5" travel frames with the pro-stop mounts, then a later DHS with shock shuttle and IS disc mounts.
So short and steep compared to what's about now (or even at the time), but it was a work of art.
Got made redundant just before Christmas one year, and needs must.
RS Quadra 21
They were a total POS! Mine nearly killed me when the elastomer stack ejected from the fork and hit my adam's apple. Big crash into nettle infested rock garden.
Escape Route cafe in Pitlochry have some in the loo for the loo roll, I get PTSD when I go in there.
My 2006 Kona Unit-29, bought the frame to try the new at the time wheel size, really thin Deddaci steel tubes made for a really light (at least that's how I remember it) frame and it rode really well for XC. Only sold it to upgrade to a new On one Scandal 29er (2012) which I still have and is my only mtb now.
Maybe my Orange Stage 6.
Replaced with a Starling which is better in some ways, but I wish I still had the S6 to take on a multi-day ride later this year.
Wish I hadn’t sold my mkII cotic solaris.
I used to think the same, but I reckon my gravel bike has filled the gap now and I ride it a lot more.
Probably the cheapest bike I ever owned but its simplicity was its charm. Genesis iO single speed with the rigid fork replaced with a Rockshox something or other. Such a hoot for charging around trails we would now call "gravel".
@Mister-P - the charity I work for actually has one of those for sale if that would help you relive the memories?
Road bike for me, Canyon Aeroad from 2017. Loved it. Only got rid of it because I wanted a full stop from my road racing, so sold it to buy a more relaxed road bike.
I paid £2300 for the Ultegra Di2 version (in a TDF sale). Would love another. But current price is £6200, being an old fat knacker I can't justify the spend!
1991 Diamondback Apex.
Hard to say why I loved it so much but I did, and so did everyone who borrowed it. I've never found anything that fit me quite so well.
I remember all my bikes, and I occasionally miss them - even the rusty little blue thing that I had my first ride with. Losing the stabilisers was a defining moment in my life.
a 1999 Kona Kula
Threw it in a skip
Kona Wozo it's fat well nearly, great fun but has'nt been out much in the last 18 months and I put a deposit down on a new bike last night.
My jones spaceframe and my salsa el mariachi rohloff oh and my shand stoater rohloff too doh...
Genesis DayOne disk with a fixed gear. Had a consolidation of road, gravel and SS MTB into a new commuter and gravel bike. Shouldn't have sold the DayOne, I miss the simplicity of it.
It'd not be too hard to replace, but I recently got an old Orange P7 so am back up to my sensible limit of 4.
Charge Blender.
So I bought myself a new one (old) this year
Aim was to build a pump track/Dadcountry bike for under £100. Total build came in at £107 so not bad