Just found this 👍where the wallet killing madness began!Is it a Marin? Hard to tell. Photos back then look like they were taken on a potato
Forks match the house paint colour. Bonus points awarded.
Dare you to add up what you've spent since...
Nice!
@suspendedanimation correct , Marin Bobcat Trail
@mattoutandabout stopped counting the day after I bought it , Ralph Colman's Taunton guys said how much do you want us to put on the receipt for your wife 😁
I bought my first proper mountain bike in 1995 - Kona CinderCone from MacLaines in Wolverhampton.
I was asked if I wanted two receipts - one for the full value for insurance purposes and another one for a diplomatically lower price. Aged 20 - I didn’t need one for a wife I didn’t have!
Dammit, I don't think I've got a picture of my first three mountain bikes. 🙁
I had that Cindercone, ‘95 with horrible Gripshift. It was an insurance replacement for a ‘94 Lava Dome which I much preferred. I will never forgive you Portsmouth 👿
My first ever NBD 😀
Apollo Blizzard. Steel frame, a whole TWELVE GEARS and knobbly tyres at a time when most mates had either 'racers' or BMXes. My folks dated that photo as December 1985 but I'm not convinced it's that early, possibly later 80s I reckon.
Full circle back on a 12-speed bike now having gone as high as 3x9 😀
My first ever NBD 😀
Apollo Blizzard. Steel frame, a whole TWELVE GEARS and knobbly tyres at a time when most mates had either 'racers' or BMXes. My folks dated that photo as December 1985 but I'm not convinced it's that early, possibly later 80s I reckon.
Full circle back on a 12-speed bike now having gone as high as 3x9 😀
First MTB I lusted after was the Blizzard, mainly because green. After having a go on a pal's Raleigh Mustang I was bitten by the bug and saw these in Halfords and wanted one immediately. Must have been around 1988?
Luckily before I could afford my own I'd switched to a Peugeot Lazer or a pink/black Peugeot I can't remember the name of, then bought a copy of MBUK and learned what was classed as decent before finally getting my own in 1990, a 1989 Saracen Tufftrax complete with Deore thumbies!
My first mountain bike was a fully rigid Trek around 1990. Then for a wee while I upgraded to an unbranded (probably Giant), aluminium frame from a Noah's Ark advert in MBUK. In 2000 I got my first proper mountain bike. An Orange O2 Ltd Ed. It had 80mm of front suspension and a front disc brake. I loved that bike.
Keep 'em coming 👍That Marin set my riding blueprint, always Steel or Ti HTs never had an alloy one only on full suss or electric .
As @chesterrockwell the Blizzard was listed after , I still have the 1995 Marin brochure. The starter bikes were in the front , I fast forwarded to the end for the high end stuff but at £1K were out of my price range .
I was 40 it was my first brand new bike our kids were young so money was tight .
My wife regularly reminds me of the conversation we had a year or so earlier. " You should get a bike so we can all go out together for family rides"
My reply ( I was a postman) " I ride a bike for work 6 days a week if you think I'm going to ride one on my day off think again!"
Wow, flashback. My first too was a '95 Marin, but a Hawk Hill as that was the only one I could afford. I don't have any pictures, but it looked like this:
Still probably the nicest looking bike I've ever owned... I kept it for years but ended up giving it away. I wish I hadn't, it'd have been a great gravel machine now.
@IHN I think I know where mine is ! Pretty sure an ex workmate has it rotting in a shed 😔
I bought my first proper mountain bike in 1995 - Kona CinderCone from MacLaines in Wolverhampton.
I bought a Kilauea from them a year or so later, still got it, still ride it. There's not much original left of it now, granted.
This was it after a respray and some kit changes in 2013
Bring back colour matched stems IMO
My first MTB was a big old gate of a Scott that I bought secondhand circa '92'ish
First new MTB, as featured a few times in my posts - '97 Lava Dome that I still have
My first ever NBD 😀
Apollo Blizzard. Steel frame, a whole TWELVE GEARS and knobbly tyres at a time when most mates had either 'racers' or BMXes. My folks dated that photo as December 1985 but I'm not convinced it's that early, possibly later 80s I reckon.
Full circle back on a 12-speed bike now having gone as high as 3x9 😀
First MTB I lusted after was the Blizzard, mainly because green. After having a go on a pal's Raleigh Mustang I was bitten by the bug and saw these in Halfords and wanted one immediately. Must have been around 1988?
I reckon Dec 1988 in that photo. Zooming in I see my missing front tooth lost playing football in primary 4 aged 7yrs, so that's no earlier than 1986-87. Dec 1988 would make it my 10th birthday which is a better fit with the photo. It was lusting over a Raleigh Dune Dancer rather than Mustang in the window of my LBS that got my interest, but that was way over budget according to my dad!
Despite me owning lots of bikes since - I know the number but I'm embarrassed to admit it 🤣 - only a handful have been actual NBDs - most are N(to me)BDs, so this was a rare NBD for me.
Bring back colour matched stems IMO
Except the white ones that Trek used to put on every bike they made - I really didn't like them for some reason
Pretty sure an ex workmate has it rotting in a shedA mates wife is still using my first MTB to walk the dogs and carry shopping back and forth, baskets both ends, guards, deore DX groupset (well, it was when i bought it, probably not anymore!).
1991 Trek 970 IIRC
Dare you to add up what you've spent since...Did that once. It was a *lot* of money. Could have bought myself a starter home. Never done it since, but spent a lot more money...
Did that once. It was a *lot* of money. Could have bought myself a starter home
New bikes and bikes I've built, just totted up to around £30k - that's not including extra/replacement parts I've bought, but that total won't be ridiculous 🙄. Not bad really, less than a grand a year
Wonder how much some people spend killing themselves with fags or alcohol ? BIL being one Each to their own I guess
I bought a Kilauea from them a year or so later, still got it, still ride it. There's not much original left of it now, granted.
Still have mine and it is still my favourite of all the bikes I have owned. It’s rebuilt with:
- Original Ritchey brakes.
- NOS Control Centre headset.
- NOS XT rear derailleur
- NOS SRT600 Gripshifts - yes, I loved them!
- I disposed of the original seatpost and it has an upgraded Control Tech one. Have the matching NOS Control Tech stem - but it is too long…
Trek 830, 1989, stolen.
Raleigh Peak, destroyed by a Post Office van.
then this, 1992 Eldridge Grade:
I think I have only one NBD photo taken on the actual day with me and the bike, and it’s from 1983:
My first new MOUNTAIN bike day was just under five years later but sadly no photo…
I stand corrected, I just found a photo of me and my first (and only) ebike, in the dark, covered in mud, and rather wet, grinning like a lunatic after its inaugural ride on the day I got it.
then this, 1992 Eldridge Grade:
My first MTB was a 1994 Marin Muirwoods, £437, colour matched forks like the ones at the start of the thread but in a sort of turqoise. Then in about 1997, I got an Eldridge Grade with the optional Manitou Mach 5s. It was about £8-900 and was a lovely, springy, responsive ride. Unfortunately the springiness resulted in a broken frame so I replaced it with a Klein and my mate got the Mach 5s to put on his 1997 Kona which he still has.
Anyway, a friend recently bought a 1998 Eldridge Grade and I rode it around the car park. Absolutely terrifying compared to what I'm used to riding these days. Even my gravel bikes feel more responsive and planted. I'm amazed that I used to ride those things quickly! 😀
Despite me owning lots of bikes since - I know the number but I'm embarrassed to admit it
Not counting kids bikes, I've had 10 in 35 years - I still have 7 of them 🤣
10x MtB since 1991
4 x road / gravel / do it all since 1988
(although if I include kids bikes until they were 18 and mrs_oab's bikes, we are on another 26 bikes. Ahem.)
