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PS that was about 30+ years ago.....
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[url= http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/mtbwelcome.htm ][b]2retro4u[/b][/url]
Marin County, Cali
The Yanks think they invented MTBing but most of us were doing it for years, we just chopped up road bikes with a set of MX handle bars and some Trelleborge speedways
It's not like the "yanks" never rode cyclocross before taking up fatter tyres. Our first races were downhills, and your converted road bikes would not have been competitive.
No way I'm gonna let McMoonter sandbag this thread with a 1985 bike. That's my job.
Breezer #2, 1978.
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And in response to a post further up, Gary Fisher is quite happy. Until we started the company called "MountainBikes" in 1979 there was nothing called by that name, so the first one on the planet was one we built.
My first mountain bike was a Raleigh, a birthday and xmas present combined, in '88 or '89. It was one of these odd looking things:
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Yes, the top tube did slope down towards the front slightly, it's not just that picture. I have many happy memories of lugging all 35lbs of it around the South Pennines and Dark Peak over a couple of years. I hammered that bike into the ground. I replaced bits only when they couldn't be fixed back together with leccy tape or glue. I cut the enormous brake levers down to make them look a bit like the 2-finger levers that proper bikes had. I replaced nearly all the original stickers with Mint Sauce ones from MBUK. The saddle ended up covered in insulation tape to hold it together.
The only thing I spent money on was a set of cheap, curly bar-ends, some toe-clips, a bottle cage or two, and the necessary tools to fix it with when it broke, which was quite a frequent occurrence. Got horrendous chainsuck coming down Jacobs Ladder once, and bent a link; had to ratchet and scoot it all the way to the bike hire place in Derwent cos I didn't own a chain tool.
I finally managed to scrape together enough for my first 'proper' bike, a 1991 Breezer Storm, financed in (a rather small) part by flogging the old thing on for forty quid to some poor sucker. I sincerely hope it didn't snap on his first ride.
first mountain bike i saw was at the first ever mountain bike event held in the uk, i think it was 1983 but it could have been anytime between 81-84
it was at the 'real' aston hill in halton, nr wendover bucks, there was two bikes a muddy fox and some other thing that i have been informed since was in fact a cleveland ?,
they had roped out a small course around the bowl of aston hill and up into the tree line, i was invited along with the aylesbury cycling club and we only went along to take the pi55, oh how we laughed dressed in our lycra and vittrola cycling shoes and cleats, this will never catch on..scoff scoff
i brought my first proper mtb some years later in 1989, a diamond back accent ex, 400 pounds i think, my brother was riding then too, a kona cindercone with P2's , what days..
Damnit, I would have to go and post my boring old first bike story seconds after Charlie Kelly... 😉
1996 Orange P7, seen here on my first proper mtb ride. I've still got it.
[url= http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/345711443_bf06b11e39_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/345711443/ ]My first mtb ride[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/simondbarnes/ ]simondbarnes[/url], on Flickr
Can't remember what inspired me to get one, far too long ago.
nice flamer repack rider, he did ask for it,
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[url= http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/mtbwelcome.htm ][b]2retro4u[/b][/url]
Marin County, Cali
Damnit, I would have to go and post my boring old first bike story seconds after Charlie Kelly...
Sometimes I hate myself for doing that.
Then I get over it.
Repack Rider, says who ? 😀
Peugot Alpina 15 speed, got through two frames as they both went at the chainstay. Sold the third once the insurance paid up and bought a Gary Fisher A1.
Lusted after the Raleigh that was deep red/mauve/purple in colour, not the Mustang though, as well as the Muddy Fox Explorer with the plastic disk on the rear wheel, so so cool.
Sometimes I hate myself for doing that.Then I get over it.
Good, I'm kidding! It's completely awesome to be able to share my reminiscences about taking up mountain biking in the same conversation as someone who was in right at the start. Isn't the internet brilliant? 😀
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[url= http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/mtbwelcome.htm ][b]2retro4u[/b][/url]
Marin County, Cali
first mountain bike i saw was at the first ever mountain bike event held in the uk, i think it was 1983 but it could have been anytime between 81-84
1984. The promoters had to use a photo from An American race. That's Tinker Juarez.
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Here is where the advert was published.
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I 'up-graded' to a real ATB Falcon Sherpa in'88
It took me a few more years to get hair as good Charlie Kelly's - just revisited the repack home page - big smiles - Inspirational joy, thank you Charlie.
Not counting my pre mountain bike 69er, ( normal road frame with a Chopper and NSU moped front end) I first rode one in late 83. A Dawes Ranger?? had done Snowdonby the end of that academic year. We were well pissed off by the Crane brothers as were had managed most of the Welsh 3000's when they did it. Not in 1 go though. Can't remeber what else arrived until my Giant Escaper in 89
1989 Raleigh Appalanche, full reynolds 531 and Deore II group. a v. nice bike in it's day
Muddy Fox Courier 1988 I think.
My dad bought it so it was a gate like 21"
couldn't understand why the following year I bought a coral Spesh rockhopper 17" frame and swopped some of the parts across.
Still got the Spesh with Mavic Paris Dakar hubs and rims that cost me 6 months pocket money - heady days of dreaming in a bike shop!!
hey whats changed??
My first mountainbiking experience was on prewar sit-up-and-beg singlespeeds. The key ingredient I feel that is missing from todays mountainbiking is the inclusion of a frying pan and sausages. Our school holidays and weekends were spent on sausage frying epics.
Charlie has got us all licked retrowise, but we looked the part.
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'85 Rockhopper
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[url= http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/mtbwelcome.htm ][b]2retro4u[/b][/url]
Marin County, Cali
McMoonter has checked in. All's right with the world.
Charlie has got us all licked retrowise, but we looked the part.
I believe the facial hair in that photo came from the novelty shoppe.
McMoonter has checked in. All's right with the world.
I believe the facial hair in that photo came from the novelty shoppe.
Cheers Charlie. We were auditioning for the Lumberjack vacancy in the Village People. The Joke shop sold out of facial hair!
I'm headed out your way tomorrow, in reality a bit further north. To Oregon and then up to the San Juans. Should be great. Thinking about a move out there.
bought a scimitar 84/85, I was working at ironbridge yha, ()ahh happy years it was the pre saracen brand, had it for 12 years sold to my cousin in brighton he rode for 3 years till it was pinched, back in the late 70s i rode my bsa road bike down lanes and off 2 foot drops till the rear axle broke and then the rear wheel fell apart,
Something Raleigh, the model name began with an A I Think. It had front suspension (RST) and cable disc brake, therefore it was the coolest bike in my group of friends.
3rd September 1986 Specialised Rockhopper bought at Rayments in Brighton, Currently trying to decide what 2011 bike to buy to mark 25 years of riding MTB's. Torn between Whyte 19Ti and 19 Team issue very different I know but both appealing in their own way.
Bought a neon yellow Muddy Fox Courier from our local police auctions - it had fetching pink paw prints all over it. Some years later it got pinched from the back yard - the insurance company said the nearest thing replacement-wise was a Muddy Fox Rock 'n' Roll full susser!! I [s]nearly[/s] cried when my folks refused to claim on the house insurance for fear of losing their no-claims 🙁
The thieves did me a favour really - saved up and bought a rigid Kona Lavadome which did me fine for a few years until it got swapped for a bright purple Alpine Stars with my first ever sus forks - RSTs no less.
My 1st ATB/MTB was a 1986? Raleigh Mustang in black & white with red logo's, 15spd, heavy as a house. Good fun though once you got up to speed.
The bike I always wanted was the purple Muddy Fox Courier, it was leagues ahead of the ATB's I was riding at the time (Falcon, Raleigh, Claud Butler) or so I thought, maybe it was just that disc rear wheel, or the paw print on the top of the seeatstays...or just that it was purple...
My first MTB was a Diamondback Ascent EX 1988. OK apart from the chainstay mounted U-brake.
First MTB I got excited about was an orange and grey Marin Pine Mountain (just before they started that textured paint)I saw at a smell race event in Devon. It looked the business. :o)
Mine was a 1988 (or '89) Dawes Wildcat with Reynolds 501 tubing on the frame and 531 for the forks.
Weighed about the same as I did when I was 15!
1) 1st MTB Saracen Conquest in 1985 - finished 2nd overall in the Bicycle Action Magazine - Fat Tyre Five race series - prize mug below
2) Cover of a US bike mag in early 1985 + in Freewheel catalogue.
Near Chorley in 1985 - me on the gate and a young Andy Oldham in the background
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first bike I saw was in a catalogue at school in 85, don't remember the brand but rememember thinking that a bike doesn't need that many gears!
Bought myself a 1990 Marin Eldridge Grade for 545 quid after working on a site in germany all summer. Kept it until 1998 when i moved to nz, dad sold it 2 years back for 25 quid. 😥
When my Dawes team replica 10speed got nicked, bought a 2nd hand stumpjumper which was too big for me, but had deore on it, proper thumbshifters.
Then that got nicked and I got a Marin Palisades trail, yellow bars and forks, 'scratch' resistant grey paint. One of the first bikes with trigger shifters.
Loved that bike, lots of throwing it around the woods, exploring lanes, paper round etc etc, even a bit of touring round the lakes. (Has big arguments with the boy with the muddyfor courier over who's was better)
That got nicked, bought a FS1SE motorbike instead and that was the end of biking for a few years.
Got back into it with a bodge bike, then a basic Scott (both also stolen), then a Scott Elite Racing, which is up there with the Marin as my favourite bike, it really got me back into riding, doing a bit of racing and even some B+B touring, most of it got upgraded. Was totally gutted when it got nicked, more gutted about that than the £2 grand motorbike that also got nicked.
Then a felt virtue as my first full suss, never really gelled with it, which is why the frame is sat unloved in the garage and all the bits got transferred onto my current Maxlight XC120, which I'm loving. Also got a nice genesis IO for the muddy winter nights.
Next bike... Something with about 5" travel for playing on, quite possible an ariel, Oh, and a clever mike for the commute...
Carrera dolomite (halfords) followed by Marin Pine Mountain (no scratch paint, first generation "ned" underneath shifters). Was the bee's knees. Then I discovered GIRLS. Bad mistake.......
Early 90's I had a fully rigid Offroad (of pro-flex fame) but in a break from the norm for massive frames, this one had a 13" frame with a MASSIVE seatpost and very long Zoom stem. Used to spend Sundays bombing about glentress when it was "out but fields"
first bike was a rigid saracen hard trax bought from halfords sale in about 1996 , a totall revelation to be able to peddle up into the hills, still have that bike in the shed, i ride other bikes now , but the exitement to get out onto the hills is still there . 🙂
1992 GT Pantera
At the time was on placement year from poly, living in north Wales.
Remember catching train to Bangor, riding to top of Snowdon up tourist track then riding back to Llandudno.
Had some dawes thing that I bent the forks on within a couple of weeks. That was swapped for an emmelle, black with green flecks on it. Then I got an emmelle 7005 alu, fluoro yellow and built that up. Then I had a dave yates diabolo made with my first set of sspension forks, some spesh future shocks. Great bike and miss it! The forks died so I cobbled my mates girvins from his proflex beast onto it - bizarre ride! Don't even remember selling it but it's long gone. Replaced that with a spesh fsr xccomp - dad still using it, it's still mint, will keep it for the long haul 🙂
Not mine but wanted a shogun as my 1st one,ATB's they were called 🙂
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An Emmelle Cougar back in 86, 12 speeds and it weighed a ton but I rode it everywhere till the frame cracked then replaced it with a Kona Cindercone in 89 then a downward spiral of an empty wallet since.
1994ish GT Timberline
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Sometime in the 80,s I got a black and white raleigh mustang it was great , particularly when fitted with neon shoulder carrying/bag and pads and with my free neon pink brake cables from mbuk 😉
Just dug this photo out. Sorry about the flo shorts+ glasses??!? 😆
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It was a 1988 Giant Sierra, pictured with my mates mustang. It had the 1st or the 1st I'd heard of, hyperglide rear cassette. I got the frame sprayed later, 3 colours red yellow green I think (oh dear!). We used to ride a lot on the South Downs.