1988 - bought a Specialized Hardrock (my first adult bike) solely as a means of accessing some of the more remote Scottish mountains.
2005 - bought a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR when I came to realise that I was enjoying riding the bike as an activity in its own right.
Peugeot mtb in the mid 90s, Raleigh klunker off road on the bridleways of N Somerset before then 👍
13 years. Started off with a Carrera that was upgraded, nice bike i have to admit. I guess it depends what you call as MTBing, i had a MTB before that, but never took it down anything more than a canal path. It was only when we upped sticks to the countryside i found MTB really.
2014 I gave it a whirl when I got a cheapo calibre two two for commuting. Me and a friend did a few whirls around Ashton Court/Leigh woods in Bristol and I remember being absolutely shattered afterwards. Then picked up an unrelated knee injury that stopped me for a while, got back into it properly at the start of 2018 when I got a YT Jeffsy in an end of year sale. Since then I've moved to the Forest of Dean specifically because of MTB!
So not that long compared to most of you!
About 91 on a Raleigh Mustang I think. Gravel biking however in about ‘76 on a hand me down 5 speed racer in the local woods:)
First bike was a Muddy Fox Courier Comp in 1990, bought because they were "fashionable", bitten by the bug and traded up to an Orange Clockwork, bought from sShokwave in Nottingham the year after.
At the time I was living in Leicester but found a job and moved up to Sheffield in '95. been here ever since, still riding and loving every moment. Currently being old and useless on either a Geometron G1 or an Evil Offering.
About '90 I think. Road bike got nicked from the common stair and I thought I'd try one of these new MTB things. An Emmelle Cheetah which was poor quality steel and didn't last very long before it was replaced by a decent Trek. Fun times exploring when not many people were really in the hills on bikes.
October 85. I used the money made from tattie picking in the holidays to buy a 15sp Raleigh Maverick from one of the Raleigh dealers in Aberdeen.
1988 on a bike i cant remember that i bought from my mums catalogue for £1.50 a week or something equally ridiculous.
Two years later i got a Peugeot Trail like this
1988 on Spesh Rockhopper when I was 16, not sure where it went but it was covered on various frame packs and bright coloured padding bits. Juts now ordered a bikepacking rig, - which will also be covered in various frame packs- the circle of life!
It must have been around 1994. Bought a gorgeous Specialized Stumpjumper off a mate at work and paid him in instalments. Got out round Beecraigs mostly then into the more remote Munro’s like Ben Alder.
We rode converted racing/touring bikes in the late 70's early 80's and rode offroad and dirt(ish) jumps on them. Thinking back I'm surprised I can still walk. Oh the crashes we had... The good old days.. I didn't get a proper mountain bike until the late 90's it was a Cinder Cone, bought it from a mate.
In between those times having a family got in the way. However my main mode of transport was a single speed racing bike. Wife had the car.
A Peugeot Ranger for my 12 birthday (30 years ago) followed by a 1992 GT Timber line both from Finch & Sons in Reigate, although I actually had a full suspension bike before either of those.
One of these bought from Vic Eastwoods Yamaha in Crawley.
https://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/yamaha/69618
The GT
I'm 35, so abourt 25 years of 'MTB' as opposed to just riding up and down my driveway/street. Spent a few years on some real POS (inlcuding a home made suspension bike made with rubber bobbins in the seat stays) before I got a £299 Kona Hahanna in 1999.
V-brakes. Aheadset. Glow in the dark decals.
It ended up with Manitou X Vert forks, Club Roost bars, XT/MavicD521 wheels, a front XT disc brake (how good were they!) with the braided hose they came with, a rear Parrallel push XT brake.
It also had 2.1 Tioga Factory DH tyres, but I had to take the edges off all the knobs on the rear with an angle grinder so it wouldn't rub the chainstays.
In 1989 at the age of 30 I had an early mid-life crisis. I gave up smoking, gave up eating dead animals, and bought a Trek 830. Never looked back.
(Auto correct changed mid-life to mud-life - should probably have left it like that)
My first mtb was a 23” Giant Escaper bought in August/September ‘89. It had thumbies and the under the chainstay U brake. Bought in the end of season sale for the princely sum of 350£ from Cycling World in Aberdeen.
But I did not really start mountain biking properly for another couple of years (best guess would be late summer/autumn ‘91) and I upgraded to 19” Escaper, triple butted with sti’s and canti’s. Woohoo!
My first full on proper ride was in Glen Tannar. I can remember coming down a hill thinking I hadn’t so much excitement/fun since I crashed my brothers motorbike and nearly killed myself... obviously I needed to do this more!
Not long after mountain bikes took over my life. It got to the stage where I identified as a mountain biker primarily, before anything else. They just seemed to fill my head.
There have been periods of leanness when I’ve not ridden much (for a while climbing took over), but I always came back in the end. Bikepacking being the most recent obvious impetuous.
Started riding round the woods on my Raleigh when I was wee. Bought something more suitable in 1997 - a Kona Hahanna - took it to Aberfoyle ... got lost, fell off, loved it, hooked. 😃
89/90ish my first MTB was an Emmelle 'Cougar' that my Dad got from the local car parts place, a couple of weeks later he bought himself a bright pink Peugeot and MTBing became a bit of a farther son bonding thing... My first nice bike was a '92 Diamondback Ascent EX.
Never liked peanut butter though...
1986 I also got married, I bought a 21" Rockhopper . After a year I drove to Alves near the Arctic circle for Charles Ralph to give me a top tube reduction of 2" fillet brazed with two struts silver soldered, and then drove back in my Marina van back to civilization
Always fancied an Overbury Pioneer but ended up with a Chas Roberts pink and blue White Spider frame a year or two later
1988 when I borrowed my brothers Raleigh Mustang (The mk1 black & white one with the red horses on the top tube) and had a lot more fun riding it than my road bike
@piemonster I think it was a Colorado if I remember right.
There was also the Smokey Bear which was grey & marbley
had mtb's as a kid but only really for dicking about on the street. didnt really start properly till i was 30. im 40 now and cant comprehend life without it!
10 years of riding and im still improving, jumps and drops still only getting bigger rather than smaller, tracks steeper and tech techier. Technique is definitely something i think more about now tho... rather ride a track well than ride it fast.
most people i know my age cant their head round a 40yr old bloke digging turns in the woods either!!
really wish id discovered it sooner
1987 for me with with purchase of Saracen Blizzard (white with pink accents!) after a couple of years longing for what I had read about in Bicycle Times And Bicycle Action. After that was stolen I got a Saracen Trekker with front and rear u brakes which nearly killed me descending Dollywagon Pike. Did anybody get those brakes to work? Argos brazed on canti mounts and all was well. Great days.
86, a Claud Butler from an lbs. I had been doing enduros ,proper ones on motor bikes, for a few years and thought an MTB would be good for fitness. I went out and tried the hills I would do on my m/bike which lead to me putting it away for a few months. Eventually I tried again and became hooked with motorbikes dropping off the agenda completely a few years later
Mid 80s I had a BMX that I rode all over the welsh hills where I lived. There was a lot of pushing involved. And scabs. Lots of scabs. Probs around 89/90 I got an MTB - a Carrera something or other.
Used to ride Coed Y Brenin when it first opened and up & down Snowden and the surrounding mountains (rigid, skinny tyres and cantis made that great fun!). And also the old quarry that is now Revolution Bike park. Happy days!
Only a pup at 35 so probably started out in 1995 with going out at the weekend with my older brother (1994/5 diamondbacks WCF) on my school bike (Claud Butter). Later on after much saving from part time job was able to buy a 2000 jobs cindercone. Had a few year break due to women, cars and alcohol before getting back in to riding because of women, cars and alcohol. Been ridding for 20 years in total.
Probably mid '91. Bought my first MTB - a 1991 dark blue 20" GT Timberline from North West Mountain Bike (Cheadle, Stockport). It was a toss up between that and a Spesh Rockhopper but that had Suntour? gears and I'd only read about Shimano so went with the GT 'cos it had 400LX
I loved the GTs of that era, the ball-burnished Xizang, Zaskar etc. were gorgeous.
Messing around on bikes as a kid, got my first big 26" MTB when I was maybe 12/13. It was a Raleigh Activator. Messed around on cheap bikes until I was 15/16 and then stopped. Football took over. Got back into it in my late 20s, think I was 27/28 when I bought an undersized BeOne hardtail from CRC. My biggest regret is stopping when I was younger. I remember being able to jump and wheelie all day long back then.
Must have been about 1987. About 14. A yellow Diamond Back Ascent EX no less. It had Biopace don't y'know. My riding and bikes havn't really changed. After full sus and slack..now full circle...about the same angles, an oval chainring, steel and still sometimes rigid!
Interesting that mid 80's seems to be quite common for those still doing it and on here.
I remember doing a paper round to save up for my first proper MTB in the late 80s, probably 1988. It was a Marin Palisades Trail, I didn’t have quite enough for a Kona Cindercone with the splatter paint. But I’d been riding my SS tracker bike in the woods for years by then. The only time I’ve been without MTB since was when I was at uni in the mid 90s.
Since 1988, when I wanted something to keep me fit during the sled dog racing off-season (ie the summer), so I bought a Kona Explosif...
Yes, I still have it.
Off-road stuff in general far longer than that - since I was16.
Got hit by a car on my redline BMX in 1986. Took over a year to get any sort of payout from the drivers insurance, by which time I'd had a growth spurt. 6' and 13 years old, the LBS told me I was a bit tall for BMX and showed me mountainbikes.
First ATB was a Peugeot ranger, replaced by a laser 15 after I broke 3 frames and had an argument with the Peugeot rep about suitability for offroading, where he claimed they were ATB-like bikes and not really suited to riding on the Malverns! (not exactly gnar, even back then)
so 1987 was when it all began for me. well, when I swapped taking my BMX offroad and got a bigger wheeled bike.
fluoro yellow Cosmic frame/shoulder bag, matching Mt.Zefal pump and rear plastic disc wheel cover.
weighed about the same as my current MTB (!) and lasted until I bought my first proper MTB, Cannondale SM600 in 1991.
I started in 1993 when I bought a Diamond Back Sorrento and carted up and down the grad union canal around Hounslow and Brentford, that then evolved hard rock rigid.
Next in 2006 was a Marin Wolf Ridge and carting around the incredible Rossendale Hills with a great bunch of lads, then came my first Orange 5 (bright orange) which got nicked and then my present 2011 5 which is serving me well today.
However the world or gravel arrives I hope in a few weeks in the shape of a Sonder Camino.
Some great memories from folks..... here's my history.
I reckon my first MTB was around '90/91 it was a Fluoro Yellow Al Carter Sidewinder, Shimano 200gs gears and canti brakes.... I was about 11 or 12 I guess. Rode that bike all over the place.
Next up was a '93 Kona Fire Mountain Silver to Blue/Purple fade, that got some magnesium Manitou elastomers on it that probably weighed a ton but were the dogs danglies for a 13/14 year old.
Out-grew the Kona and got a '97 Orange C16r in British Racing Green, gold decals.... something like a 10th anniversary model, STX RC on it. I loved that thing. 🙂
The latter two came from Aire Valley Cycles, not very close to us really, but seemed to be the best bike shop around for me at the time, a proper Aladdin's cave of bike bling.
After that.... Kona Caldera, Trek Top Fuel, Santa Cruz Blur LT, and now an Orange P7 29er..... I have stretched the swapping intervals in later years! Though I do have a 91/92 GT Karakoram and 2004 Cannondale Furio in the garage for retro goodness!
When I started it were all Ron Hills, Rox t-shirts and rigid forks...
First bike I'd class an an MTB was an Emmelle of some variety, circa 1992. First 3 bikes were rigid, the joys of a pair of 60mm elsastomer sprung Rock Shox Indy's had to wait until bike number 4.
Went to 3 early Malvern's events, camped with friends and drank for to much bad beer for a bunch of defintely not 18 year olds.
I am old enough to remember when Brant was Zac Tempest.
1984 for me, I bought a Motobecane City-Becane, it was sort of a mountain bike
1987 Dawes Wildcat ATB
I had sold my MX and Enduro bikes to fund a London move and thought this 'new' ATB thing might be a fun way to get out in the dirt and escape the city at weekends 🙂 DId some of the very first UK ATB races and have been hooked ever since.
1984. After falling in love with a picture of a kingfisher blue Overbury Crossfell sat in deep snow!
First bike was a custom built, violet and mauve, Swallow Griffon in the first Tange Prestige to come in the country (with Roberts and Yates) That got stolen so my second bike was a Roberts DOGS BOLX. Still have expensive tastes in bikes that my finances barely support.
Rode bikes all through childhood but never really took it seriously. Did some longer tour style rides after my GCSEs ending up with a Dawes touring bike and LEJOG in the summer of my first year at Uni. It was University that properly hooked me onto mountain bikes though. First week or so I ended up in Leigh woods with some new mates trying to ride the picnic bench on a horribly unsuitable Scott hybrid. First loan cheque on a Marin 'Trail' hardtail and basically was doomed from then onwards. So since 2003 I guess?
1988, August. Christ, 32odd years! It was my first 'proper' MTB, a Raleigh Montage.
An absolute tank of a bike, lasted me a good 10 years before snapping at the top of a seat-stay.
Six foot four!
1988 - Easter holidays. I was 16. Got a Saracen Tufftrax in yellow like this one...
Absolutely loved it - then got a Saturday job in the local bike shop and trade discount on Konas, so had the original Cinder Cone and then 3 Explosifs. Was quite a latecomer to suspension - '97 I think when I got a Bontrager Privateer with Judy forks. Then I continued my Steel Hardtail theme in 2002 with an Independent Fabrication Steel Deluxe.
Since 1989 for me. We were an adventurous group of scouts into climbing/ hillwalking and saw an MTB for the first time high up the side of some Welsh mountain, thought- that looks fun. Next trip out we hired some MTB's from a local shop and strapped them to the roof of the groups sherpa van and drove up to the Lakes. So the first proper MTB ride was the Black Sail Pass/ Great Gable loop, unfamiliar bike/ steel/ rigid/ canti's etc...nobody died, but someone did bang their head quite badly. Got home and everyone purchased their first MTB's, soon after that we headed to the mountains again and the second proper mountain ride was up Hellvelyn in the snow - looking back we were fearless then as these would be considered fairly serious routes now. Strangely I think we knew what we were doing as were quite experienced in the mountains for our age, all thanks to an excellent scout group led by some keen mountaineers. Hooked ever since.
1990 after spending £500 on a Trek 950, although I did "compete" in an mtb race in swansea on a borrowed bike c1987 - unless you count riding (s)crap bikes round the 1/3 mile motorbike track my brothers rode their bsa bantams around, that'd be about 1970 😀
Probably 1992 on an already ancient Off-road (not a pro-flex) it was far too small for me - I think it was like a 12 or 13” frame so I had a massive seat post and a mile long Zoom stem. U-brake behind the seat stays, farmer John’s, toe straps, thumbies
Used to ride with the local road club (Musselburgh RCC) out at glentress before glentress was invented! Up to the mast, bit of single track and lots of fire roads.
Back down to George Pennels to look at tyres and drink tea then the cafe in pebbles high street for soup.
Awesome memories
