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My Norco Sight, such a capable bike and has me grinning from ear to ear. Never had a bad ride on it, it just wants to be opened up and ridden hard and fast (ooo errr missus). Recently upgraded the wheels and it feels a completely new bike.
My current one and first full suss. So stable and I feel like it gets me away with a lot of stupid things and scares the hell out of me without killing me!
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MY GOD MAN...... are you trying to make STW implode?
My Niner.
1998 Specialized Rockhopper..
currently sat in bits upstairs awaiting a powdercoat (undecided on the colour though!) as its looking a bit worse for wear after 16 years.. 😀
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Best.
Bike.
EVER.
I love all my bikes, wouldn't keep them if I didn't. But this one's the keeper, had it for most of my riding life
[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3916/14330091232_fb3f68afcf_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3916/14330091232_fb3f68afcf_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/nQisSu ]IMG_2742[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/53860438@N06/ ]Northwindlowlander[/url], on Flickr
Very different from how it started out- more travels, more slacks, more carbons, less paint. Er, technically not the same bike at all because of all the replacement parts, I think maybe there's 100 grams or so of the first build left, and that includes the frame. Basically, some of the pivot hardware 😆
Stumpy FSR circa '07 or my Orange P7 circa '04. Loved both bikes and miss them both. Also love my Charge Cooker but need to get away on decent trails to give it a proper run in.
2003 Marin Wildcat Trail hardtail. Bought at university, ignited my love of mountain biking. Its had 3 sets of forks, been singlespeed, survived a million crashes. Not built up as its at my parents but will be again. I remember reading a guy on bikemagic had a custom Ti frame built to the exact geometry of the same frame. I would be very tempted to do something similar if it ever breaks.
I'm also developing some serious love for my old but new too me charge duster frame. SS and rigid and way more fun than it has any right to be.
good god man! did you let your wife colourway your bike too!!!PS you appear to have let her fit a chainstay protector....to an SS.
...and put the rotors on backwards, which is more of a concern.
Im a serial bike buyer, but my fave trail bike was a Commencal Super 4. And I would love another. There must be some unsold ones hanging about in an Andorran warehouse.....
Curtis SuperX a 21st birthday present from my parents. It looks a bit tatty round the edges and needs a respray but nothing else I have ridden compares to it flies out of corners.
[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3887/15033354650_3b46094237_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3887/15033354650_3b46094237_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/oUrSzQ ]Sunshine[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/16949733@N00/ ]Mike Smith 79[/url], on Flickr
the current one, light enough, strong enough, tough enough, great design just does everything I ask of it. Before that all my bikes felt too much of a compromise with longer forks than recommended or built burly or too light etc.
My.Santa Cruz Chameleon. Until I broke it. Great fun to ride.
Probably this, more smiles per mile than any other bike I've owned.
(Currently with me on a 5 month trip round Australia)
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I really miss the Sanderson Life which was nicked a few years ago, and which really got me into the whole thing. I agree with Northwind in that if I don't love a bike I don't keep it. That said, I've loved the numerous Cotics I've owned, but haven't got one now. So, the best bike I've ever owned must be my Kinesis Sync.
Mine has to be without doubt my Commencal Meta AM29. Despite the fact I've thought about selling it more than once. It's immensely capable, fast, agile and brilliant at battering through stuff I couldn't ride on 90% of bikes. I'm not the greatest rider ever and as a skills compensator it's exceptional.
I have 2 - A Trek Remedy and Ragley Blue Pig. Both are brilliant to ride and so very fast!. Sold the Blue Pig to fund a Banshee Paradox 29er which i am now selling to fund a new Blue Pig. It was an experiment I felt I had to try and am happy to go back. I still have the trek, at first I didn't think I would like it as it was a from a big manufacturer and I was always into Santa Cruzes or Oranges but I am glad to be proved very wrong!
Through rose tinted glasses it would be my Trek Y22.. Just because I loved the way it looked. In reality it was probably my Orange ST4, went uphill very well and came down hill quicker than a dose of the tex ritters! Was immensely quick through flat singletrack aswell.
I did however learn and push it more than I have ever done before on the Orange 5 I had.. Bit of a slog going uphill but really nice to fling down the other side.
I have had 3 Cotic Souls though and the current frame is in it's 3rd stint under my ownership. So I guess the Soul must be up there aswell. Just feels right for the riding I do and love the way it looks and handles.
Ideally I'd have an ST4 and the Soul.. But I can't justify both.
So to sum up.... I have no idea which one I like(d) the most... Sorry!
I have very fond memories of most of my old bikes but my current 2012 NP Mega is my all time favourite as I custom built it down to each individual bolt.
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Excuse the cable holocaust.
I've still got my mid 90s Kona Explosif, which must say something about it. I've made it into a single speed and it remains a lot of fun. Other than that it has to be my Dialled Alpine. If ever I am going somewhere I haven't ridden before it is the bike of choice, as it is so confidence inspiring.
it's this for me, my Yeti Bigtop... it's fast, light and is more capable than i think a hardtail should be. it's the only 29er i've ridden, the only thing i'd change is possibly a fork upgrade, but i love this bike, make no mistake, it'll be mine for a very, very long time...
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I've loved all my previous bikes, but my current Spitty is by far my favourite. It's just so right and I can ride everything I want on it. The only bike I regret selling was my Stiffee as it was the best bike I've had bar the Spitty.
My current Five is probably on paper and in reality the best bike I've ever owned. Its got a load of nice stuff on it and its as good as the hype suggested it would be but it feels a bit like its 'just a bike'. Doesn't stop me having fun on it etc and its a giggle to ride.
So that means its down to my mk1 Chameleon really. Bought when my GT Zaskar was nicked when I was about 18 from Stif who did a completely custom build on it complete with the first set of 5" Z1 BAMs in the country. It was so different to anything else out there at the time and it rode absolutely brilliantly. Hope C2 up front, XT V out back, XT/LX gears, Bonty finishing kit and D521 CD rims. Was an ace all rounder and I was devasted when that was nicked too less than a year later.
Oddly I built up pretty much the same bike again a few years back and it was crap. Guess I've got used to better suspension, better gears, brakes and bloody massive bars.
Close call between the Kona Explosif 650b and the Stooge in SS guise.
They are very different but both incredibly fun. This time of year I think the Stooge gets it. Simple build, rigid & ss, means I can ride silently and trouble free and put it away until the next ride.
Similarly my ASR5 is the best bike I've had, and all round I love it.
However, my Enigma Ego 26 is such a well, "enigma" in the way it can swoop through summer singletrack, race XC courses and somehow also handle off big rocks in a 100mm XC guide that despite an emotional attachment, its the one bike I'd keep.
mk2 inbred. Did everything, geared hardtail, rigid commuter, trailer wagon and best of all - rigid singlespeed. Rode it until it was battered and rusty then gave it to a mate.
Planet-X Jack Flash, bought from £28. When built properly with rigid or light ish forks, 1x drive chain and reasonable wheels is was the most fun bike I have ever owned, like a bog BMX. Sadly, I decided to spoil it by adding biker forks and heavier wheels in the hope of building a mini-DH bike. Then I hated it and sold it.
That or my Orbea roadie. Faster than I ever will be and fits me like a glove.
Still this, still going
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My first full sus, Rocky Mountain Instinct is a close second. That bike was so fast... and it could go all day.. (or maybe that was down to me being rather fitter back then)
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For me, the best bike I had would be a toss up between my MK1 Soul with 100mm float's or my Cannondale Prophet with a set of 140mm Pikes.
My mk1 Chameleon. 14.5", v-brake, singlespeed, plush 80mm Marzocchi oil forks on the front.
The phrase "hooligan hardtail" never made sense to me until I rode that bike. It just begged to be hopped and launched off every single curb, wall, bump, hillock and speedbump in site.
My 2003 Turner 5 spot - I rode that thing for 8 years all across UK, Europe, Oz, NZ, US & Canada. It took everything in its stride. Built with Marzocchi Z1s, XT, Chris King and Magura Louise brakes I hardly changed anything in those 8 years - just consumables.
My 2011 5 spot is a real improvement, I love it but I still haven't got the same affection for it as the old one.
I would say my old Santa Cruz Blur 4X.
That thing was great fun. I think I had that bike for 5 years 🙂
Tempted to get a little Blur TR to razz around on for the winter.
1993 Marin Palisades Trail.
Lovely bike, fitted perfectly and handled well, light and tough.
I'd have one today with wider bars & discs.
My Giant Propel race bike. I can honestly say that it makes more than the most of my modest skills.
Off road, the list is short, but I prefer my Genesis IO to the Kona Unit it replaced.
My tallboy, i liked my previous one but this one is fantastic.
My first roadie built using a skipped Reg Harris frame and parts from the scrappy and with the help of a 1st edition Richard's Bicycle Book. I was 13 and it gave me a lot of freedom and adventure.
Has to be current bike, Intense Spider 29er, just way more capable than i.
That said... If were talking about love, probably my Trek Bruiser 2, with upgraded brakes and wheels, never since felt as confident on a bike as i did with that.
Cove Stiffee. I miss my stiffee.
actually 2 bikes i will have to say.
my 2002 cannondale F800 in matt black with lefty fork,and my 2010 giant anthem X2 (in blue with white fox fork).
both fantastic bikes to me (and i miss them).
My current bike '06 Tomac Omen. Mostly it's my best as it's the only bike I've ever had that hasn't been knicked or run over.
For riding qualities my Specialized P3 would be my favourite, despite its lack of replaceable hanger. That was a fun bike to ride/jump/trick. After being run over by a motorbike, then torched in a fire the P3 gave up after being run over by a car.
My Horsethief is probably the best bike I've owned, definitely taken me up a large notch in what I'm tackling. Still even though I've said in the past its the safest bike in the cupboard I keep getting urges to swap, Rockets, Banshees and the new Horsethief all appeal.
[img][url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7376/8720215716_d5f77653c7_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7376/8720215716_d5f77653c7_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/ehzojQ ]Dunker HPE 008[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/28886706@N05/ ]Bigbroondug[/url], on Flickr[/img]
ah forgot to add another one.
my 2012 specialized tarmac sport road bike.
loved it.
Favourite bike I own would be my Ti Fargo - I adore this bike, capable on everything.
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One bike I could never sell... my ratty fixed Fuji Track commuter. 10 years old, well over 15,000km on it between training and commuting duties. I love it despite the fact that the seatpost is welded into place, and the quill stem is about 1 degree off to the left and cant be removed.
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Probably this. Still can't let it go (currently in the conservatory on a turbo).
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I try not to look back so my best bike ever is always my current one.
At the moment its a weight watched Trek superfly 100 sl elite 😀
I have no doubt my next one will be the best ever LOL.