First "proper" MTB was for me 2007 GT Avalanche Expert, no pics though.
This pic came via Google images but it's almost exactly the same as mine:
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Saracen Sahara Elite, my first MTB bought for my 16th birthday (1993). Used it for ages, did loads of great rides on that (rides where people now seem to think that you need 6" travel, 2.3" tyres and a Saint groupset for the XXXC trails...)
Note please the neat cable routing (very rare back then, it was usually a right mess!), the radical 1" travel forks and the 28/38/48 chainset coupled with a 12-28 7sp cassette. 🙂
Even did a few races on it, upgraded it lovingly over the years (changing the own-brand forks on it for the super plush long travel of some RockShox Quadra 21R's!). Eventually the frame was the only original thing left. It also originally came with loads of Ritchey parts which were, without exception utterly shit. I refused to buy Ritchey parts ever again after that.
I eventually gave the bike away to a local kids cycle club.
1991 alpinestars cro-mega DX, had it from new sold it this year.
This was my first proper mountain bike circa 1987, well not this one but it was just like it.
The original Raleigh Maverick
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1988 Kona Lava Dome - don't have any digi pics, they would all be on film.
19" frame. Bought from Aire Valley Cycles. Ended up with Pace RC36 EVO2 forks, hope/X517 wheels and full XT kit. Eventually frame upgraded to a Kona Kula - the only bike I really regret selling.
Sold the frame to some bloke via Bikemagic classifieds, met him in a services on M1 vaguely near Bedford in about 2001.
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Pic from:
http://www.klassickona.com/oldgold/98bikes/lavadome.html
Another Muddy Fox Courier rider here, then I had one of these;
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Farmer John's Cousins, Tioga T-Bone, Mountain LX, Araya RX7s and possibly the best paint job EVER!
Peugeot tim gould replica (the cheap one), tried google for an image but no joy. Put a rockshox sticker from mbuk on the pogo stick forks it came with but unfortunately it did nothing for the damping lol!
Good memories of that bike, the first bike i didn't break on a weekly basis.
Another Lavadome here, fully rigid. Actually started on a Muddy Fox Courier but the Lavadome was my first 'real' bike. Swapped it for a brand new Carrera of some sort - took me about two rides to regret it 🙁
So.... A few years back I started looking for another one and eventually found a Hahanna almost exactly similar on ebay. Snapped it up for £50-ish.
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Saracen Tufftrax in 1995.
Bought it from a mate who had a serial bike habit so it was hardly ridden and in perfect nick for £180. Similar to the one below:
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Don't remember much about it spec-wise but it had Kona P2 forks and some kind of rapid-fire shifters. I can still remember my first ride on it, from Ullapool, up Glen Achall and back by Strath Nimhe. It felt like some kind of magical conveyance with hunners of gears and would go up anything. Rode it for about 3 years, fully rigid, including some big days like Laggan to Spean Bridge via Corrieyairick Pass, Fort Augustus and Great Glen Way (before it was named so).
Sold it to a mate for £120 and he still has it, gathering dust in his garage.
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My 1991 Scott Montanna next to the new bike.
It used to have a Girvin Flex Stem now its got some Mag21 SLTi's
In the new year it will be back in the peaks for its 20th birthday ride 🙂
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Muddy Fox courier too but I had the big yellow paw wheel disc on - thought it was the bomb.
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have been riding some of the old trails I used to ride the courier on recently but now on a Zesty - how did we do it????
muddy fox courier around 86/ 87 i reckon.
also had one of those squiggely painted gt karakorams a good few years later. brush painted over it in gold hammerite 😯
saw it in my mums garage when i was there a while back, couldn't believe it's not been skipped. brought back some memories 😀
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A 2008 Trek 4500 WSD - lovely little bike, but on hindsight far too short for me. The Trekadee has gone on to a new owner, a young girl that's depressingly better than I'll ever be! 😆
*grumble* Couldn't even ride a bike at her age *grumble*
2005 Gary Fisher GED.
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Except it came with the next years Drop Offs (The decent looking all black ones) Replaced it with a Turner Rail last year, and then rebuilt it and tried to sell the Turner, then rebuilt the Turner, so now the GF is in the shed, needing some chainring bolts to be rideable.
Some beautiful bikes on here, still think the early Konas look lovely. That Scott is awesome Andy W, it's great that you're keeping it going.
another raleigh maverick.
Stu_N - That Lava Dome really does look great, I remember being after one in 97, they looked great.
My first mtb was a peugout raider like this one ...
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but i crashed it and ended up getting a custom build replace frame from the factory through insurance .... even had a custom built in france sticker on it !
it got stolen years and years later.
Nothing fancy. ca. 1990 a Professional Matterhorn with a tasty red/white/blue fade paint, and then ca. 1994 a Hawk of some sort. I remember it had underbar shifters and was satin black. I even stuck some slicks on it and went TTing with it.
1995 Univega Alpina 502, this one isn't mine.
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I loved that bike...it got stolen from about 6ft from where I was sitting!!
My first proper MTB was a second hand Diamondback Ascent way back in 1988.
Shitty plastic exage brake levers and an under the chainstay u brake.
Same as this but with a pink Cosmic Trail frame bag and matching pink cables.
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