[Closed] how did you get into mtbing?

Hill walking in England was too tame. I used to enjoy two or three days plus carrying everything, camping where you stopped type walking. Yorkshire is too full of tea shops and pubs for that.

Somehow doing it on a bike works

Never had a proper bike as a kid (made up for it since!). I bought my first proper bike, a 1992 (1993?) Marin Palisades with luminous yellow forks for £350. Never looked back since and have always considered myself a cyclist ever since then.

in 1985 i went on a outdoor pursuits course/holiday in northumberland.
on the course was a lad from london called andrew brown, who later in life wrote a cycle touring book (discovery road).
any way, he worked for B.P with either nick or richard crane who had just done bikes up killimonjaro (sp?).
out come was we went and bought a muddy fox explorer each.

but i had been riding the rough with the ctc since i was 11 yrs old on a old carlton coursaire with cx tyres.

for me it was only the year before last i got into it to keep fit for racing motocross.good cardio in the week,teaches you bike skills and body positioning,once your used to something so light.and now i just do mountain biking because i love it that much.you get your thrills right out you front door instead of travelling miles.oh and you can actualy enjoy the view.im meaning to get my arse thrashed at the od event this year.mountain biking today with mates and tommorow with the girlfriend.get in!

Got my first MTB in mid 80's while still at school but on passing my driving test pretty much stopped. Didn't have a bike till again till early 2007 when a mate i used to ride with while at school got into it again and convinced me it was a good free way of getting exercise ( free, yeah right 🙄 ).

Now i can't believe or understand why i ever stopped 😀

For me it was to access more distant hills, specifically the Cairngorms from the south. I'd turned my nose up at them to begin with, but saw the light in 95. Since moving to Highland in 2000 I've done little mountaineering, but visit the same places on my bike now. Garage full of climbing/ice climbing/telemark gear ... oh and bikes!

A very good and dear friend of the family, his best mate owned a bike shop, real old school. From about 10 years old until 17 (which was my last one, as our friend sadly passed away and the bike shop owner had retired).

I had a new bike every year, mixture of bmx, road, grifter, chopper, you name it...I didn't get into MTB until I was 19. Had a scare on a road bike and decided to try MTB. Never looked back.....

Still have a road bike, but not the same and it hardly gets used...

Bit like Swayndo. Once you've walked in to Derry Lodge 5 times you begin to see the sense in some sort of wheeled transport 🙂 For years, the bike was really just a means of accessing some remote glens. Now I do more biking than walking.

Went to get my tent repaired in Exeter, then repairer started telling me about how his new product launch - saddle packs etc. for *mountain bikes* was stopping him doing all his repairs.
Mountain bikes Whazzat????
He explained and it sounded totally insane. Uttely daft. A Very Silly idea. This must have been summer '88, and the tent maker started up Freedom Bikepacking, which for a while produced brillaint innovative and well made packs and panniers ( later to be sold on....)
Some months later I started doing up an old 'shopping' bike to go out with gf on her horse and realised it didn't stop when I wanted and I'd worn out a set of pads on a few mile trip. Then saw first edition of MBUK.... and started saving. Got my first new bike ever in April '89, nearly went for a Muddy Fox but then swerved at the last moment and got a Specialized Hardrock - thank goodness! Probably mty second trip saw me at Haldon, looking at a near vertical track and I saw 2 others - riding in longish cags and wellies!!!! They were obviously experienced, totally into it, and remember - there simply wasn't mtb specific stuff then, you had to improvise. I might have been in my Barbour for the first and only time!! ( sweated like a pig and was wetter in it than the rain had been outside of it!)
But it felt good. I remember a long time later actually getting down the sttep slope about 7.30am one wonderful morning....
...and so it begins!!!!!!!!!!
cheers
Q

I was into bmx in 1986 but my brother went to school with Brant and he had just got one of these funny mountain bike things my brother had a go on it and bought a muddy fox courier. Then later in 1987 I went to the Himalayas with the Yorkshire Schools Exploring Society and there were 3 different groups on the expedition, walking, mountaineering, and mountain biking. I didn't get selected for the biking but before we split up to do our seperate activities I borrowed one of the guys bikes for a couple of hours and was hooked. During the ride the crank fell off but thats another story to go with how they kept the bikes running for 4 weeks.Never looked back since. I think the report of the expedition is held at Leeds library. Ton I remember the crane brothers doing there expeditions and was inspired by them also.

i think it was 'cos a triathlon training partner back in the early 90's bought a raleigh glued alloy frame mtb and i thought it looked super-cool, so i bought one too, then had to take the damn thing off-road 'cos that's what it was designed for.

When I was a student I shared a house with a bloke called Brant.

No idea what happened to him.

I think it was 2004/5 for us. Went to the Lake District on a break from Uni. We hired a couple of Dawes bikes in Grizedale forest. We thought these were proper mtb bikes too! They had V-brakes and front suspension after all!!!?

We scared ourselves bombing the fireroads and when we got back home we went and bought our 1st proper bikes, i had a Trek and she had a Dawes. Neither lasted a year!! We both bought full-sus Marins asap. She has just bought a Yeti 575 whilst i now have a Orange 5.

Thats £300 bike to £2500-3000 bike in about 4 years!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

Late 80s for me. It was a natural progression. I'd been riding all my bikes off road for as long as I could remember. Always on technical singletrack or bomb hole type BMX tracks created in local parkland. I remember buying MBUK #1 and decided to upgrade from my Raleigh Burner to a Ridgeback 600. The rest is history.

My younger brother and dad started riding up in Swaledale every Sunday morning round about 1990. My brother had a pink Shogun and my dad a Trek 853 Singletrack. My brother's Shogun got nicked and he got a 1991 GT Outpost with the insurance money. My brother couldn't make it one week, so I borrowed his bike (which was, luckily too big for him) and went with my dad. I loved it so, when my brother upgraded to a Diamondback Ascent I bought his GT Outpost off him and we all started riding together, which must have been in 1992 so I'll have been 14 or 15.

All our bikes were rigid with cantis, silly-narrow bars, clips and straps and nose-down arse-up position.

Standard riding kit was hiking boots, tracky bottoms, lumberjack shirts and dark green non-breathable waterproofs. We soon got all techy and got Lifa tops and Tracksters.

the only shop in sunderland that used to sell proper skateboards, which i used to ride, was darke's cycles... one of the staff there was a certain jez avery, and one day he and a couple of his mates turned up at south shields skatepark. jez was jumping right across the middle of the big doughnut bowl on his pro-flex, and i was watching him thinking "that looks like fun"... so i went off and bought a trek 830.
had a few bikes in the years after that, and rode a few times back in the north east with my mates and one of their pals, a then unknown jason mcroy, but gave up in the early 90s as my knee got wrecked plus the band i was in at the time was taking up more and more of my free time.

got back into MTB again about 4 years ago after a brush with death made me realise i was a mess.

In the early 70s my brother, my mates and myself used to mess about riding bikes off road. The favourite bike was a single speed BSA with 24 inch wheels, we used to fit motorbike trials handlebars strip everything off that wasn't neccessary and file knife edges onto the pedals so you could get some grip in the mud. There were no offroad tyres so we used to get a junior hacksaw blade and cut alternate tread blocks off the widest tyres we could find (old Palmer tyres were the best). I got very good at hammering dents out of my steel rims and banging the pedal crank cotter pins in with shims made out of beer cans to take up the slack. Riding gear was jeans (cut off in summer) and Dunlop green flash pumps.

The first mountain bike I ever saw was a MBK 18 speed which my brother bought he had to go to Birmingham on the train to buy it because no one in the north west sold mountain bikes. My first mountain bike was built by a local guy who used to build frames in his shed. you just got the bare metal frame which you had to paint yourself I painted mine British Leyland Apple jack green with extra paint dribbles which was possibly the most revolting colour I could have chosen.

I have had a mountain bike of some description ever since there have been periods when I have gone a long time between rides but there has always been a bike.

My brother was the keen cyclist in the family. After a few years road cycling he bought an '88 Rockhopper comp and started discovering just what these new bikes were capable of.

At the time, Andy Stephenson's Biketreks was trading out of a shed in Elterwater. i hired my first mountain bike- an '89 Kona Firemountain and loved it. At the end of the ride I bought the bike.

Zefal clips with fluorescent pink straps, hitec trail boots and Ron Hills. Trying to get as muddy as possible...

ticked the wrong box on a consensus form, its been all downhill since.

Living in London in the late 80's I used to cycle everywhere and it never even occured to me to get a car.

For my 18th in 1987 my parents bought me a Marin Pine Mountain which I put slicks on and used as an 'urban' bike for a couple of years but then used for its real purpose when I moved away from London.

It just grew from there.

I'm 40 today and that bike was still the present I've ever been given

My dad was into RSF stuff in the 50's and so as soon as I started riding a bike in the early 70's I stated going off road on a modified roadbike. then my dad bought a mountainbike in the late 80's / early 90's to get to the more remote Munros and I had a shot on it. I was amazed how much easier offroading was on wide tyres with low gearing so I got one.

My dad took a 29er singlespeed* across black sail pass in the mid 50's

*known as a bike in those days.

Just glancing down this thread after I'd had my say ^^^ up there somewhere..... and an obvious thought stuck me.
Isn't it interesting - we all seem to have discovered it fairly early on it its' 'life' as a sport *and* then stuck with it 'til now at least!
Reading various recent MBUK's, some of the original people who were 'known' as top racers/explorers/prominent people in our sport when I started up in '89 are still at it too.
I think that's unusual to have such long term committment to such a thing.
Must be something in it!
( ...and don't forget Raleigh's take on it all in '89 " it's only a fad, it will *never* last!)
Just an observation.....
Q

Ridden bikes on and off since I was a kid. Used to ride Fixie in the 70's Did a lot of distance running in the 80's. A mate was short of a team member for a mountain biathalon in Scotland and I stepped in. I was on a Raleigh Lizard that I bought for £30 off another mates son. Soon realized when I got to the start that the bike might not be a "proper" mountain bike. Anyway I survived and was hooked.Gradually stopped running altogether in favour of biking. Went back to Scotland last year and did the same race, now has a full MTB category and managed to win my age group. Still completely hooked, thinking of making a return to Fixie as my next project.

I'd been a keen hillwalker in the Scouts. When I was in first year at art school in Edinburgh in 1982 I bought a copy of a madison mail order catalogue which had the first mountainbikes in it. I couldnt believe that they were more expensive than the road bikes. A couple of years later I got a summer job in a bike shop. My Colnago road bike got stolen, and I bought the first Rockhopper to come into the uk.

The bike shop attracted similar types and I still ride with some of them 25 years later.

Been riding 2wheelers since i was 3 (1985)and always been into bikes got my first proper mtb a dawes with 40mm forks when i was about 12 never looked back riding the flats of delamere and now the peaks

When I was 14 my dad bought me my first mtb, it was a hi-gear something or anther. Nothing special but was a second hand fully rigid machine from Brizzle that was made from reclaimed bits of tank from WW2. Went to cyclemart one day to buy a new front mech and shifter as that's all it was missing and was told baout some local races. Was doing my first race within a couple of weeks of owning my first mtb and did quite well. About the same time my best friends also had their first mtbs and we all did the race together. Fom this point freindships with each other heightened and I couldn't leeave my bike alone for longer than 24 hours

What Swayndo and Druidh said. The walk out from Derry Lodge at the end of the day with all the bikers flying past you was just too much. I noticed the number of people biking in and out got more each year we went up.

Then started using the bike as an end in itself both in Scotland on holiday when it was too dreek to do a good walk, and started doing more at home, mainly as a way of halting the advance of middle aged spread. Did anyone else get to the point when you trot down the stairs and suddenly notice your stomach is moving in different phases to the rest of your body.

When we moved up to highland Perthshire intended to do even more walking, but found that kitting up for nights out with tent etc was just screwing up an already buggered knee. Then met some local bikers and the rest, as they say is history. Lots of expensive walking kit sitting in the utility room not being used.

Anybody else find that you join a bunch of riders better than you, and suddenly you are the main entertainment by providing endless examples of new ways to crash/fall off the bike? Hasn't half made me a better rider though

A friend's wife is an ex-pro from NZ and she used to talk about riding and competition when we lived near them. When we moved and they visited once we were up on a local hill and she was raving about how good the trails looked round our way.

By coincidence I had signed up to do a sprint triathlon about that time and I bought a Spesh HT to do it on. After the event I tried it out on some of the local hills not really knowing what I was doing or how much I could do - tried to get up a steep hill, thinking I was fitter and the bike was more capable - ended up walking and almost passing out by the time I got to the top - but the descent was awesome and I was hooked.

Was off work with shingles when I was 18 in 1990.
Saw one in a shop which also sold model cars & thought I'd have one.
19 years & 10 bikes later, I still have 5.
Also the reason I've settled in Hobart, 1200m mountain over the road covered in trails.
Most of my friends are riders as well.

I was walking round cannock chase with the family when i noticed a small track going into the trees it was tight and twisty and i thought it was just a short cut for the kids or something. I started walking up the trail and came across some bikers who informed it was a mtb trail i.e follow the dog, i liked what i saw, within two weeks i had ordered my first mtb from swinnertons now im totally hooked.

As a teenager I always did mountaineering both in Snowdonia and the Lakes, When we got hitched, prior to starting a family we had a Springer Spaniel. As you are probably aware these little chaps are charged with loads of energy, so as away of exercising the dog away from roads etc decided to buy "an off road bikes", this is back in 92

This dovetailed in nicely with dog/ walking etc.

Now the springer has gone, chasing rabbits in the sky, we've now got a Labrador. we're still "mtbing" but relatively little mountaineering.

So the bike thing really started as extension of the hillwalking thing!!

I was raised until the age of six in Goole, near Hull, which is very flat. My Dad was a teacher, not terribly well paid, and we didn't have a car, so our family used to go most places locally on bikes - I remember being dropped off at school on the childseat on the back of my dads bike - a fixed wheel Carlton.

We moved to Bingley in late 1976, and in early 1977 that winter it snowed. A lot. My dad got my bike, which was some horrible RSW14 small wheeler, and rode the six miles to his school on it. He quite enjoyed it, so started riding his fixie again, and got more and more into bikes.

At the same time, we were always a very outdoorsy sort of family - hill walking and stuff. I used to do all the sort of outdoor pursuits stuff. So it was natural really that as mountainbikes started appearing in '85 and '86, I ended up with one - it was a Muddy Fox Seeker, bought from Two Wheels Good in Leeds.

Two Wheels Good was an epicentre for mountainbiking in the North at that time, with John Stevenson (MBUK, Cyclingnews.com, BikeRadar, and returning Editor in Cheif of Cycling titles at Future) being a staff member, and Andy Morris (taught by Jeremy Torr) making hand built frames for Lester Noble (then Tushingham, later Orange) to race on.

John along with Harvey Jones (now MD of Wiggle) started the Yorkshire Mountainbike Club. We used to do group rides on a Sunday that Tim Flooks would drive up from Somerset for!

Crazy days.

I met GF at uni in October 93 and soon realised if I didn't try mountain biking then I wouldn't actually see that much of him, so easter 94 I bought (or rather persuaded my dad to buy me) a 2nd hand Kona Explosif.

When my older bro had his Raleigh nicked in 1990, we went to JE James for the replacement and I ended up with a Diamondback Topanga. After moving east to Lincoln, I used to go round with a bunch of mates tearing up the common and parks and round the local quarries - we even did a bit of dual slalom!

After doing the off-raod coast to coast in 96 (still on the rigid topanga) things got quiet (discovered beer and girls) until uni is Sheffield where the Orange was bought and we got the train out to the Peaks loads.

Spending on bikes as logarithmically increased every year since!!

Always had bikes as a young'un and did a bit of junior road racing/tt, first time on mtb was in the lakes on holiday with a couple of mates when we hired them from a shop in Windermere, wasnt that impressed!
My brother got a Mudddy Fox (courier I think) in 1987, I borrowed it a few times, and deciced to join him.
An afternoon in Peter Darke's in Sunderland resulted in the purchase of a Saracen Tufftax. The choice was between a couple of Saracens, a couple of Muddys or a Gary Fisher(seemed very exotic!)
And it all went on from there...

Used to ride a road bike as a youngster but gave up at age 16 when I got me first moped & then moved on to cars etc. Fast forward to age 39 & bought my first MTB as a way to get fit again with the big four Oh just round the corner. I got a Raleigh Max full susser & rode about 4,000 miles on it in 4 years mostly on tarmac with the odd foray down cycle trails i.e. Camel Trail & Granite Way. My LBS used to try to convince me to buy a real lightweight MTB & in the end I bought a Spesh HT. As I now had a real MTB I decided to try riding on Dartmoor starting from Princetown down to Burrator & back, I scared myself half to death on this simple trail but I was hooked on the adrenaline rush from riding over such rough terrain & surviving. I'm now a regular weekend warrior & I've added a full susser to my stable.

I was involved in a car crash and was in a coma. you know they say you see a lovely warm bright light that you are drawn towards. Well that happened to me. It was dead weird. I was drifting outside my body, I could see the doctors and nurses all doing stuff to my body but it didn't seem to matter, I wanted to leave them to it. I saw the white light and was drifting towards it almost ghost light, it just felt so peaceful. It kind of turned into a tunnel, and I drifted faster and faster towards the source of the light. Just as I thought I was going to pop out of the tunnel, this bloke with a beard appeared (if you imagine what Moses might have looked like, he was a bit like that, all dressed up in kind of swirly sheets and stuff). Anyway he told me my time was not up yet, I should go back and ride mountain bikes.

So I did.

I've just always rode bikes all my life.

Had a BMX when I was about 8 or so, then got a 'mountain bike' when about 11. Had one ever since (21 years).

I've had patches where I haven't been out for a few months, but always come back to it.

umm, mountain bikes were the bike to have when I was about 13. I managed to swing a Raleigh Lizard for my birthday and while the others rode to the park and hung out, I started riding down to the woods and doing 'proper rides'. Loved it, never stopped. Tried loads of sports as a kid but MTBing stuck for 'fitness and fun'

Seriously into running xc, 10ks etc. Got past 30 and injuries became a regular problem. Got back on a bike to give myself a break but maintain fitness. Mtb's looked like a good way to get of the beaten track. Voila! I found a new money pit. Fortunately Mrs is similarly inclined.

Started riding MX at the age of five. Then by the time i was twelve BMX came onto the scene and everyone I raced with got one for extra training.

This caried on until I started doing Enduros at the age of seventeen ( as soon as I could get a road licence)
The BMX kind of went out the window at this point but was replaced with MTB's as soon as they became available in the UK. Again as a kind of extra training aid.
At the age of twenty three I gave up the Enduro scene but have kept on with the MTBs and have no intention of stopping. 😀

1983 was into bmx(raleigh burner, wanted a skway ta) living in cambridge. used to see ads appearing in the usa bmx mags for mountain bikes....1984 my parents split and i moved with dad to cranham in the cotswolds. i bmxed all the woods and beacons. got my first mtb in '86 a shitty emmelle cougar that my dad made me by when i wanted a muddyfox(i had some cash left to me from granny and was gonna blow the lot on a bike) still it was a start and inspired me to save and get a better bike - specialized rockhopper of an american mate. wanted an overburys pioneer but it all made sense with a '89 explosif....now im 34 and again(london, somerset, devon and india in the meantime with various bikes) living next to cranham woods and riding a steel hardtail, so is my 9 year old daughter and wife!

I've always ridden bicycles of road as a kid in the the 60's.Probably because my father used to race scrambles (motocross)and I wanted to be like him.When I starded racing MX myself it seemed the logical thing to do, to keep fit.Eventually I gave up the MX and just keep riding Mountain bikes.

I bought a 10 speed Coventry Eagle in 1984 and started bike riding again. Very quickly I began to start venturing off road on it across the south downs as a short cut to areas with better roads for cycling. Despite it being not exactly ideal for hilly off road use having drop bars side pull brakes and and 42/52 rings with 14-28 cogs I began to spend more and more time on the off road sections. By 1986 the frame of the Coventry Eagle was a a bit bent out of shape and the forks were pretty knackered meaning that the front and back wheel no longer wanted to go in the same direction so I bought a Rockhopper. The main thing I that sticks in my mind from that time is just how few mountain bikes were around. I could spend all day out on the downs and never see another bike.

Moved to within a stones throw of Swinley a few years ago and thought I had best make use of such a good resource!

parents moved to the side of a hill in the Peak District in 1988 when i was 10 and i started mountain biking out of necessity. Haven't stopped since.

My brother wanted a riding partner, he's 8 years older than me. As soon as I could fit a "decent" mountain bike I was expected to follow 🙂 Enjoyed years of trips in his maestro van to various parts of the country. Wish I still lived near him as we'd both be more likely to ride more often!

Mrdomino had a shiney GT Zaskar sitting in the corner of the room when I met him. When we moved in together he persuaded me to get a bike and I got my first mountain bike.

Got into it late, about 2001. Horrendous marriage break-up, sympathetic friend "bullied" (well a bit) me into trying it to get me doing stuff. I have been eternally grateful and never looked back. I just wish I'd started younger of course, especially when I was college in Sheffield.

Always rode a bike (racer with inverted curly bars), done a 12mile commute while doing a YTS back in the days of yore. Got older put on 5stone, got married, had 2 kids, lost 5 stone, bought a bike in Halfords sale for the huge sum £100 (half price) had a spring in the middle and the forks moved about 20mm. Started riding in the local country park which is 5minutes from my door.

4years on and now have a 3 bikes to choose from. Ride trail centres, natural trails and do a 28 mile commute as many times as weather, family and work allow. Even managed a days guided ride on the family holiday this year.

This years plan is big mountain rides..

I started in 2006 after giving up rugby. I kept getting injured and having time off work so decided to give cycling a go as I always enjoyed getting out and about on the bike and hopefully it will be a little safer for me.

So far so good....

I took it up around 1999, perversely perhaps as physio for a dodgy knee, which was swollen and not straightening properly and as a result of the limp some of the muscles around the knee were wasting away. I built a bike out of bits from my brothers loft - a mix of hi-ten lumpen steel, thumbies, full five finger plastic brake levers and a mismash of misaligned drivetrain and other fun, including a chainset with two different brands of crank and biopace rings.

Took it to the lakes with my brother and did a lap of Skiddaw, had a riot on the way up, then rattled my eyeballs out on the way down. Coasting back into Keswick I discovered the wonder that is the autumn-end-of-season-bike-shop-sale and bought a nice plush pair of Bombers with still rattling hands that i could hardly hold a pen with to sign my name. I figured that if I'm going to do this properly it would be nice to see and feel what I'm doing.

Of course the bombers wouldn't fit the frame, so I had to buy a frame (which I still run as my about town bike), and then of course non of the components on my rat bike fitted the new frame and within two days I was a fully fledged bike tart.

Some fantastic stories on here! Great thread; one of the best in ages.

In 1988, I was 16, and had a bit of money saved up. wanted to buy a bike. My mum wanted me to get a traditional roadster type thing, Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub, chainguard, mudguards, etc. I went, on e day, to Chamberlaines in Kentish Town, and came home with a purple-splatter Raleigh Mustang. 15 gears. Caliper brakes. Steel rims. 36lbs. No mudguards. No chainguard. My mum was not impressed.

There being a slight lack of mountainous terrain in London, the most exciting riding was up to Hampstead Heath, where a tiny bit of 'off-road' stuff was to be found. And bloody fast road downhills!

Had several bikes over the years, with each major new one being better than the last. Mostly went out by myself in the early years, but gradually got to know others into the sport, at various stages. Started to go up to Epping, and further afield. Occasional trips to Wales, Norway, USA, Australia. Discovered STW about 2 years ago, and have since done a lot more mountain biking, and meeting nice folk. Learned new skills, become a better rider. Got stronger and fitter.

I currently own 5 bikes, and loads of bits and pieces.

And 20 years of memories.

And my mum is still not impressed. 😀

As a young'un I'd always ridden bikes around the estate etc. etc.
It wasn't until high school I got bought a Giant ATX 200 (or something similar) and a few mates use to head out over the local downs. In the final year of high school and through college I sold the giant and got into trials riding big style. Did this for a good few years, then went on to uni. Needed a bike to ride to classes on, so switched from trials to a rigid singlespeed and played around on the streets with it for a bit! That got nicked so I built myself up an HT freeride bike on the cheap and messed about in Lordswood (and on the street still....!) - I bounced better in those days!
Got a job in Dorset and decided the area was so nice I needed to do some proper riding so a GP mate sold me a Scott genius at a bargain price and I fell in love with 'proper' riding, not just hooning off a 10' dropp over and over! However, a part of me still wanted to hoon so I sold the scott and got my meta.....

Present day.....

Incidently - I got the rigid SS back by beating a pikey off it who I saw riding it out of the blue!

DrP

Yep, really good thread. Everybody's story is interesting simply because it's obvious how much MTBing means to them.

I was a teenager in the home counties in the late '80s, bikes were our means of transport and independence - MTBs were starting to appear and a mate offered to sell me his Raleigh Montage for around £100.

It was a bit bigger than my racer, but how was I to know that a 5ft 8in boy didn't need a 24in frame. I think I was a bit of a sucker when I was younger.

Anyway, soon flogged that and put together a parts bins special on a 16in 4130 frame, and suddenly riding the singletrack round the local woods and parks became our main passtime.

Rode and raced a couple of more ritzy rigid steel bikes for years until I shook off my luddite ways and embraced full suspension (as well) in 2007.

Never been more into it than I am now, and wish I'd spent more of my misspent youth in the saddle.

Always used to hillwalk and road cycle so mountain biking was the natural way to go. Bought a Dawes from Freemans staff sale in Peterborororough in 1987: 25" frame (knew no better), 501 frame, LX Biopace stuff. Then moved to Swindon to find work during the recession in '91 and started riding the Marlborough downs, ridgeway etc and was hooked.

In 1992 bought my first proper MTB; one of the first Orange P7s with a 1" headset. Left the sport for 10 years when got into yachting. Year before last started again and couldn't believe I had ever stopped. Never been on a boat since.

Rode the ridgeway last year for the first time in 10 years; brought back a smile.

Good thread, good stories.

blimey 15 years between recessions who would have thought!

really enjoyed reading all these responses this morning. I think the reason i asked is because i was chatting to a fella i used to play football with on Friday night in the pub. he couldn't believe that i didn't play or coach anymore, (knowing how much i loved football), but i said it so much nicer just being able to go out when i want, i don't have to worry about getting lumps kicked out of me, and i know when i wake up monday morning i'm going to be able to walk. but most of all i just bloody love it.

I always used to ride with my parents across fields and hills as a kid. Never was a mountainbiker, I just rode my bike wherever I could.

Always ridden bikes from being a small kid, started on a Raleigh Striker when I was 6 years old and it has just rolled on from there, age 11 got a Super Burner (non mag wheels) cos my dad said it was lighter. Used that for about 5 years then started using a road bike till I started my first job.
I had been craving after a Dawes Wildcat for weeks on end as I had to walk past the bike shop in York when I got off the bus.
Kerching...purchased and then started using straight away for my commute 18 miles each way.

Leap forward to 1994, moved to Somerset and started back into the MTB thing as football was cr4p, bought a Sarcin innit' and took it over the Mendips, this first ride over dirt proper changed my life, all bad habits went and the money pit known as bikes opened, 15 years later and 16 bikes I still enjoy every single thing about it.

MTB for 21 years for me, hopefully a load more too.

1991..............I could not ride a bike, never learned when I was a kid 😥 the doctors told me I would not be able to play rugby or football again and I should take up cycling I was like cannot cycle so my wife bought me a 21 inch KHS mtn bike (massive bike) at a auction for a fiver and taught me to ride that summer.....................been trying to learn ever since :D........alsoit has been a really good excuse when I have bought a new bike "well you did introduce me to mtn biking."
Sold the bike to a 6ft 5 bloke for £30.00 I am 6ft that is how big the bike was

Used to be a fairly serious motorbike trail rider and simultaneously as that got more and more 'clamped/confrontational' I was at Centre Parcs on holiday and we hired the Dutch cowhorn singlespeeders and did all the trails and loved it. Conveniently one of the trail riders was a bike dealer - Giant Terrago, Shimano Deaore DX, which one of my mates missues now uses as a get down the stable bike.

You'll probably think this is old git rant be we live in a very privileged age - the sports I love became technologically/cost possible - mountain biing, surfing, windsurfing, kiting .......

My Dad used to ride MX when he was younger in South Africa and in his old age, (40ish) he decided to take up mountain biking. Been doing it with him ever since, but now I'm getting into motorbikes and road bikes. Still love the old xc ride though.

Was a keen BMX'er back in the early eighties. Many a Saturday spent at Birmingham Wheels, then bikes on the train up to Stetchford to drool at Hutch Beartrap Pedals & Pro-Neck stems etc. Always had a bike ever since I was a kid. Got in to MTB in about 1990 when I bought a pair of Raleigh Dakota MTB's from Halfords for me & my GF. Brother bought a pair for him & his missus also, & we had a few outings. The girls soon gave up but after a ride over Cannock Chase me & bro were hooked. Soon roped our brother-in-law in & we did a few trips out. Family commitments took their toll eventually & I was the only one to continue.
Hooked up with a chap at work who was very keen, & bloody fit, & we rode together for a while. He then left & I continued solo, & rode solo for a good few years after that. Did a good many all-day epics, indeed today's 2hr family commitment-dictated outings seem pretty tame by comparison.!!!
Then a chap started work in my office & I noticed him on the net one day looking at MTB's. We soon organised an office outing & had about 8 on the first run. A year later we were down to a core of about 4 & we've continued ever since. We still get together about once or twice a year, but we've either moved, retired, & moved on into other sub-groups. Funny how it works really, each of us has branched out & have regular smaller groups.
I called in a rep from a company we buy stuff from at work. Turns out he's a keen MTB'er & we've had a few runs now.
I love MTB. Its always been there however low life gets.

I revolted, as a youth, from a parental obsession with road rsing rsf and tt. In rural wales hanging around with farmers you either became a young farmer, played rugby or got a motorbike. The main goal was always events, trials and later enduro at national level, in a competative group life could not have got better. By the mid 80's I was getting knee problems the doc said swim or cycle to help it, since I could not swim there was no choice. I did not want to un-rebel and go back to skinny tyres and I preferred my fat tyres flat handlebars and slithering around in the mud.

A mate was hanging around with the Muddy Fox guys and he got me one on loan.. it was fun but never seemed capable of getting more fun than motorbikes. I then bought a Scott with indexing, my knees were improving and the competitor in me discovered Max Glaskin's Mountain BIke Club, for a number of years I rode the MBC and NEMBA races which like enduros led me to travel to every end of the country meeting other nuts which allowed a kind of fanaticism to develop.

Fed up of leaving North Wales to travel to Norfolk to mtb race, I got together with Sian and Dafydd Roberts and decided to put on an mtb race which in 1989 was an outstanding success. From that we ended up hosting mbc races at Beddgelert and Coed y Brenin, and as far as running an early bmbf NPS and the first National Downhill Championships by which time I had but almost ceased to be a motorbike rider, I still have one in a shed but it is only ever used if needed to lay out xc circuits. I still have my second Scott from 1989 and at 4 Coves in the kitchen and have ridden most of the uk, mountainous europe and america

Always had bikes from an early age. Single parent family, so no car but we all cycled everywhere. Used to cycle 8 miles to school on my Raleigh racer rather than take the bus. Saw a bright yellow Specialized Rockhopper in Johns' bikes in Bath (84??) and had to have it. my boss gave me a loan to pay back weekly to pay for it and have been MTBing ever since.

i've rode bikes ever since i was a kid. BMX in the early 80's was the first type of cycling that i really remember being into. we'd try and ride them on the south downs, but it was too much like hard work so we just used to build jumps out of anything we could find and fall off a lot. stopped riding when i got into skateboarding in the late 80's. discovered mountain bikes in the early 90's when some mates at work were doing it and been doing it ever since.

Always rode bikes as long as`I can remember, inspired by Richard's Bicycle Book. Gradually went further and further on the road as age and fitness permitted then got really into motorbikes before I was old enough to have one. Tearing round on a bicycle was the next best thing - I remember going out in old clothes and well padded trying to get my knee down round the corners.

Used to cycle everywhere at Uni and loved exploring in and out of town. On a family holiday in Ullapool Brant's dad had brought a couple of mountainbikes so we did a 20 odd mile circuit down a valley, lug up a hill then blast down the other side. He had some kind of sprung stem to help with the bumps. We did that circuit at least twice that week and I distinctly remember the moment when I realised you have to think about the back wheel as well as the front.

Next borrowed a Saracen Tuff Trax from a friend (it was blue, his wife's was pink) and used it so much I had to buy it as it was pretty trashed. That was my bike until Brant sold me a 29er three years ago and rekindled an obsession . . .

MX bike at 3 years old(1973, yikes), bmx from '82 till now, alpinestars e-stay in 90ish (still in mums garage, all original bits if anyone wants it for a decent price). Mostly ignored mountain bikes from 91-2003 until i smashed myself too much bmxing and needed something hmm 'safe' to do instead. Not really 'in' to mtbing like i was with bmx. Got a road bike too.

Ruptured cruciate ligament 16 years ago meant my football 'career' was over. A couple of years sitting drinking beer, watching football on telly meant I put on about 3 stonne. Decided I had do do something and bought a GT Avalanche.

Came about through my brother! When I was 13 him and a mate ad £100 bikes and went out and for some reason bought MBUK .. this was May 1993! They started riding a lot and bro went out and bought a Marin Pine Mountain and his mate got a Raleigh Lizard! I inherited my bro's old Emmelle Cheetah (£99 Halfords bike). Started tagging along and got roped into a local race .. turned up a won in my jeans and rugby shirt! Met a load of boys from local bike shop at the race so joined what was then Cardiff Cycle Centre! Spent all my hours getting muddy and saving up for new bike! In October 93 bought a Kona Fire Mountain, grey and purple .. loved that bike and after 3 months it got nicked! was gutted .. and as New Year began I had to buy the 1994 Fire Mountain .. remember I was gutted as it was red and I didn't like it! Soon grew to love it with my Onza pedals and Nike Poo Bah shoes!!

Cardiff Cycle Centre closed down so we all decided to start a new club, since there was a roadie club called Cardiff ajax we decided to call ourselves Cardiff JIF as a pi** take!! Cyclopaedia opened and everything revolved around the shop! I remember bunking off school to go there and help them paint the walls! Sitting on milk crates dealing in 2nd hand bikes with the odd chain set on the wall!

Was racing lots around Wales and winning! Was welsh cyclo cross champ and Welsh Junior champ in 1996.

I still have that Kona running like a beauty and now it's all XTR'd up! about 3 years ago I put some old PACE RC35 suspension forks on and took it to Morzine .. ground the elastamers away in 2 days and formed a newly rigid bike again!!

It was only 2 years ago I bought a new bike, Giant Reign 2!! Still have my Kona as my winter bike but love it as it has so many fond memories of my youth!

cannot imagine life without my MTB! Morzine downhilling every year for the last 5!! Off to Morocco in April on a tour.

Cardiff JIF running strong and produced some great cyclists ... Geraint Thomas (infamous team pursuiter from Beijing) was a member! Ian Jeremiah (who owns Cyclopaedia) was 14th in Commonwealths in Manchester! shop is still running strongly.

Oh my youth of spending all summer in the mountains with squashed sandwiches and my Dad so understanding letting his 15 yr old daughter out MTBing all day with lads of 20-25yrs old (and yes it was completely all innocent!).

As you can gather I LOVE MTBING!!!!!

Very similar story to munqe-chick!!!

My brother got me into mtb-ing...hired a bike and went 'round Grizedale, but my chain snapped and bro' had gone on ahead!! What fun that was!!

Then spent months and months reading MBUK and got myself a Marin Pine Mountain. How I loved that bike!!

For me, i've always enjoyed riding bikes, over the last 6-7 years what with doing lots of landscape photography, hiking and mountaineering over the uk it was a natural progression onto two wheels. Why walk when you can ride? 😛

After visiting Glencoe in Scotland and seeing the DH course at Fort William last summer, i thought i want to give that a go! So i saved up for a bike, and brought a Spec' SX Trail. Love the idea of just grabbing the bike and heading out on the Yorkshire Moors!

[oops, this is jojoA1 posting on hairyscarys's account]I was brought up in an 'outdoorsy' family living at outdoor pursuits centres in Scotland and the Lake District. Bikes and hitchhiking were the main means of transport as there was very limited public transport. We just rode everywhere, on all types of trails other than properly rocky ones. My first 'proper' MTB was a Shogun TB 2 in bright pink, probably the same as MikeTually's. I was more into rockclimbing until 2004 when my boyfriend started taking me out riding more and too much wet weather made climbing a rare occurence. We're now a fully fledged biking family with my 7yr old daughter just starting to ride off road now. I asked her the other day if she wanted to ride the primary schools' races at the SXC this season and her reply was "Humm, I'm not sure my skills are up to it yet.".

My dad has always been into road bikes but bowed to fashion and got me and my sister matching splatter finish GT Timberlines in the early '90s. They didn't get ridden much off-road (Lincolnshire not being the biggest mountain biking hotspot in the UK) but we would go on holiday to the Lake District and rag round the tracks on the campsite, round the shores of Coniston, and occasionally longer rides too. I remember seeing a couple of guys riding down Walna Scar road and one of them nutting himself properly on the cross bar after hitting a rock, we were very amused. I also remember my cousin (who had been exposed to MBUK and wanted some make of bike I'd never heard of called a Kona) trying to demonstrate a proper bunny hop, missing the pedals and breaking my saddle off, half way through a 10-mile loop.

Fast forward a few years and I was mainly using my bike for commuting, tried dabbling in a bit of off-road but wasn't really fit or skilled enough to enjoy it. The turning point came when I moved to Bristol and a friend took me riding round the local trails, back when they were still semi-secret. I was rubbish at it but was enthusiastic enough to order a proper mountain bike (a Merlin Malt 2). At the same time I cycled across Spain with a couple of friends from uni which helped my fitness a bit. Got back to Bristol, fitness vanished after a bout of holiday-borne food poisoning and my spanking new bike promptly got nicked. But I got another bike a few months later and the enthusiasm hasn't waned since.

Have been into travelling and hill walking for ever, but there's not that many worthwhile hill walks in Somerset so got a cheap hybrid in 1993 as something occasionally to do locally. Found myself seeking off-road more, then I crashed a lot and broke the bike so got my first proper MTB in 1998. My riding was still sporadic though. Then started riding XC more with a mate from fitness class in 2004. This coincided with not being able to travel for hill-walking as much so it became my major sport. Two more bikes later I'm still at it!

Mid 90's I broke my elbow on a tree stump and didnt ride again until 2001 when I needed to drop some weight. Bought a 01 Rocky Mountain Vertex 🙂

always ahd various bikes, mainly kids type MTB style ones. Then started riding singletrack and sliding all over the place (and loving it!) on a 24" wheeled diamondback.

Progressed to my dads raleigh maverick, and used it to get fit on, riding local cyclepaths etc.

Got my first "propper" mtb, a saracen rufftrax, christmass 98 and rode it till it broke (gears worn to the point that the chain just slipped, wheels bent, tires shreaded etc). Got intorduced to propper mtb'ing on that one, including nightriding with no lights (just sit behind/ infront of people who can see where theyr going)! but had to take a break as no cash for a better bike when it was termianly knackered.

Graduated to a carrera fury, good spec (sub 30lb, full deore, ritchey RockShox etc) but rubbish geometry. Rode ti till it was almost no more, then added bomber z4's, hope disks, XT/317's, big raisers, etc and took it to the peaks when i went to uni (sheffield)

That lasted till about 2006, when i began the new build arround a DMR switchback frame, handled like a pig but was better thant he carrera in the peaks. Crashed ont he second outing and was off bikes for nearly 2 years. Rebuilt in 2007 after my knee op, with new forks/tires. Now handles liek a dream. A proper ballance between point an shoot, but changes direction as soon as you think about it!

Takisawa2 - "It's always there no matter how low life gets" - Spot on mate, captures it perfectly.

I brought a Carera from Halfords and was pretty pleased with myself until I told workmates (Takisawa2 and crew) and they told me about Wed eve rides they did on the Chase. So I went feeling proud of my wheels - soon found out it was like a roman chariot but got hooked by the riding and the great laughs and beers after. Got rid of the chariot for a better frame and eventually upgraded to Spec 'S Works HT' but now also ride a trance cos its bullet proof.. need to get out more now tho...