ye gods i'm actually doing a bike thread (it's been a while 😯
i actually rode my bike today (i cannot believe how unfit i am at present/no change there 😳
anyhoo i was thinking to myself about some of the old stuff i used to have/lusted after.
some of the things i miss:-
[img] 
[/img] fantastic (i used to have a pink triangle frame/shoulder bag on my first mtb dawes ascent from 1988 😀
[img] 
[/img] YES 3 in one pic here purple onza bar ends,grafton brake levers and foam brake grips CLASS! oh and tinker's klien adroit isn't bad either 😉 what the hell happened to grafton/cook bros racing e.t.c. which leads me onto
small companies that made cnc products for bikes (at highly inflated prices/although they were purple anodised so it was worth the expense 😀
so over to you.
Puple anodising's always cool.
I still reckon thumbshifters rule, but not seen any for years.
Pedro's milk bottle levers - I got a free pair from mbuk in the 90's (?) and they are my longest serving lever they flex before they snap and are therefore most excellent!
Thumbies are still around! Either originals still going strong or Pauls mounts with bar ends shifters fitted.
Cook bros have been making an attempt at a comeback and have a dogbone crank on show.
Me I'd like to see more fillet brazed skinny steel tubed bikes please 🙂
Bontrager privateer, made by Keith.
Hite-Rite FTW!
Anodised skinny bar ends. That and rigid GTs, I think
Milk levers... jeez that's going back some! Always liked the shark finchain stay protector and products by Dave ie DCD. More trick bits that anything
Klein paint jobs
Kona paint jobs (and graphics)
Orange Marzocchis
Those Bontragers
aldi had some frame bags like that 1st pic sometime last year
(one was on my road bike until very recently)
[url= http://muddyground.com ]Muddy Ground[/url]
Innocence and simplicity please. You know, where all you ever needed for a week in the hills was a rigid Clockwork on 1.8" skin wall tyres, few mates to take the piss, some sarnies in tin foil for lunch with water for your riding beverage, and beers afterwards in some smoke filled pub.
Actually did any of that ever really happen ;¬)
pro-flex stems, always wanted one!!
X Lite Fly stems in blue
XTR to still come in XTR grey
Klein, i'd like to see them again.
Those pace xc frames with externally butted square tubing.
Tioga disc drives, just for the rumble noise they made!
Proper old Shimano hubs that last forever (20 years and counting on my Exages, and they still do more miles than any other hub I own and get less servicing)
Hmm. Looking at the amount of stuff in this thread that people wish would come back, then having a quick look to see how much of it actually has come back, or never went away, is interesting.
a Ti Hite Rite and Cool Tool
Biscuit coloured tyres.Panaracer smoke and dart iirc. The crud claw and on a bmx,GT 3 spoke mags.
I wish they would bring back....
1) Nice high end steel Kona's, GT's and Specialized.
2) Onza bar ends.
3) Grafton bits.
4) M900 XTR.
5) Campagnolo MTB goups.
6) Elevated chainstays.
7) Nike Pooh Bah's with the 'world cup' stripe.
Sat in my shed waiting for me to get back is a GT RTS frame, a flite ti saddle, some yellow judy SLs, yellow onza ule grips, purple USE seatpost and bar with integrated purple bar ends, a full M900 groupset, some xt flat pedals and some white industries on mavic ceramic wheels with Smoke/Dart tyres.
I'm sure it'll ride crap compared to my ibis, but it's the bike I lusted after as a kid but could never afford.
Only 60 odd days till home time. 🙂
Oh, and some purple onza chill pills, because they're the very essence of early 90's bike bling. Utterly pointless over the OEM stuff, but increased pose factor. 😀
Poobahs, my first pair of proper cycling shoes. I was in fabric walking boots until then.
Bring them back.
It must be time for the DCD to make a comeback. Light and simple and kept the chain on.
Whatever happened to Rox and No Fear? I remember the days of going to a mountain bike race (XC of course) and everyone wearing either a Rox or a No Fear T-shirt.
/rose tinted specs.
With regard to Grafton, I think they had a bad batch of cranks that all broke. The resulting claims put them out of business.
Klein. proper ones.
pace rc 29er would be cool, tioga discdrive(not sure they were any good but i saw jmc race on one so had to be cool) - sounded better than a pro11! campag to do a mtb groupset again.
bullseye cranks!
Proper Iron Horse bikes, not the BSO's they've become.
IRC Kujo's
Not exactly classic/retro, but I'm not as 'seasoned' as you guys 
Edit: Pace did a CNC'd stem in the late 90's-early 00's and it looked the shizzle, similare to a sunline V1 but just better! I only ever saw one, but I've wanted it ever since!
Pedro's milk bottle levers - I got a free pair from mbuk in the 90's (?) and they are my longest serving lever they flex before they snap and are therefore most excellent!
I used mine yesterday! They must be pretty much the longest serving tool I have.
a flite ti saddle
These went away? tell me it isn't [url= http://www.webindustries.it/se_it3/prodotti/pdf/Flite1990.pdf ]so[/url]
Ringle bottle cage. I have one but I'd like another!
Angus Wells - Member
Poobahs, my first pair of proper cycling shoes. I was in fabric walking boots until then.Bring them back.
I thought they were great, loved mine.
LAT - Member
With regard to Grafton, I think they had a bad batch of cranks that all broke. The resulting claims put them out of business
That's a shame, didn't know that.
White Onza Porcupine tyres
Fat Chance Yo Eddy
WTB Ti bars
Caroline Alexander.
Marin, Kona and GT steel frames.
Proper mud clearance.
Spooky Metalhead and Pashley 24/7. The two frames I REALLY wanted when I first seriously got into MTB.
Specialized Evil Twin Slalom tyres. Not particularly fast but grippy as ****.
Shimano red DX servo wave brake levers (I think LX were the same at the time?) - only Shimano kit I've ever preferred hands-down over SRAM/Avid stuff.
slainte 😀 rob
Chill pills and biscuit tyres!!!! Minted![img] 
[/img]
2.35 inch red Ritchey z-max tyres, grippy, soft and a lovely colour.
elastomer sprung forks...who wants any travel when it's cold anyway? 😉
the malverns classic would be good to revisit too!
26 inch wheels
Etto - nothing was cooler
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7188/7006704493_b34ee9a4c2.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7006704493/ ]etto helmet[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/67749037@N02/ ]boltonjon[/url], on Flickr
Poobah's where the most comfy MTB shoes I've ever had.
I prefer the old shape Crud Guard over the newer curvy flimsy types.
X-lite stuff - finally got the fly stem I coveted, it's on the GF's bike currently.
XXYZX forks or however it was spelt, looked so hard core at the time
spin - tri spoke wheels
Pace DH bike
edit: just seen a 'dale Killer V head shock on ebay, I'll have that too along with a Klein Mantra for a SS project
Jon - bet you've still got one of those.
16stonepig - Member
Jon - bet you've still got one of those.
I wish i did! I had two back in the mid-90s, lent them both to a mate and he lost them both. How on earth do you lose two awesome Etto helmets??
he owes me bigtime!!
8 speed XT cassettes
Mavic 121s
bling Blings and slow reezay Dual ply DHFs
and the pricing.
id love to see some proper shimano thumbies again.
id buy them, light. simple, reliable, no need for stupid indicator windows etc. . . .
Karimor polartec 100 base layer
Bula hats...
[img] 
[/img]
ok, maybe not
Mk1 Crud rear mud guard that mounts on the rack mounts.
I've still got a Rox hoodie 'On the 7th day he rode' (cheesy!) and 'Max Air - just get high' (rip off of an old Nike slogan) 😳
oh.. and 80p a litre fuel
Cheesey slogan t shirts. Used to wear this while out on the bike!
[img] 
[/img]
Scott AT-4 or even better the AT-4 Pro curvy handlebars, perhaps in a C21st width.
Kona Explosif. Still want one.
Totally pointless pauls components pineapple hubs in a zillion anodized colours
Snowflake spoke lacing
Halson inversion fork
Brakes that didn't work if you were going fast or it was wet
scott AT4 bars
white onza procupines
my dave lloyd that I sold as a student because I was skint 😥
Tioga factory mud tyres, maybe rose tinted specs but I remember them being great winter tyres and far less draggy than trailrakers. Could be down to the super skinny 1.85 width tho!
Axo Mission SPD shoes in blue suede.
who decided that bright blue suede would be good for mountain biking?
who cares, they were aweseom.
(can't find a picture of them anywhere though)
Mavic 618s - Double-eyeletted, wide and indestructible!
Clear crudguards - Still got one, but each time I squeeze it into the car, another bit falls off.
Tioga factory mud tyres, maybe rose tinted specs but I remember them being great winter tyres and far less draggy than trailrakers. Could be down to the super skinny 1.85 width tho!
No, they were great! I had the SL version, about 390g each.
Finished them off in the snow last winter, excellent snow tyre. Panaracer Fire XC Muds for snow use now, good but not as good.
Karimor polartec 100 base layer
Think I've still got one of those somewhere - the one with road and mountain graphic on the back.
I'd like to see Zamberland Bikelite boots back again.
Cool Tool.
Suntour micro drive groupset especially the grease guard xc pro set up
WTB frames.
XC Pro thumbies.
Breezed steel frames circa 1990 ish.
Ground Control tyres.
Muddy Fox bikes before they lost their way.
Frame pads - Muddy Fox ones were the best.
Cheers
Sanny
Proper old Shimano hubs that last forever (20 years and counting on my Exages, and they still do more miles than any other hub I own and get less servicing)
Hmmm. Mine are 19 years old and the front has packed up already, a year or so ago actually. Rear still seems Ok though.
.
Could have back the idea that a 'standard' was one size/dimension/fitting/etc that all manufacturers would use in order to ensure compatibility? Seemed quite sensible to me. Anyone remember everything being advertised as 'Shimano compatible'? (except some Gipshifters, the Sachs ones were though)
The Cannondale multi-tool. My reason for this is that I got mine in around 1996, and the plastic fell off it last week. Tools are still good though.
My Cool Tool still gets regular use though as a pedal spanner.
I miss the DCD, and also the Cog Hog as a nice precursor to Shadow mechs.
Haha I still have a DCD my bike in the shed with the mavics I'm selling has it on its even yellow to match the bike lol triangle bags were cool and held loads of stuff till I had a full sus
These. Always coveted a pair but never got any 🙁
[img] 
[/img]
I'd raise a herd of cattle just to slaughter them with a rusty bent ladle if it meant I could have a pair of 217 sunset rims again.
I miss the old Stif adverts in MBUK, hours spent creating my dream build in my head as a teenager back in the early 90s. MBi mag too, every pic a powerslide but my fave of all the mags.
ell_tell I was just about to post those. Sunsets, I never got any neever.
Did someone mention Flite Ti's? They went but came back again.
Short travel sussers, I'd love a Sugar again.
Accu Trax forks
Bulleye hubs and cranks
Not worrying about if I've got the specific kit for the specific trail type and just getting on with it.
The original Red Bull route at Coed-y-Brenin
'proper xc'. Like what we call trail riding now but less stopping, less focus on tech of bike and trail, less of the '2hrs or so is a decent ride', more out all day riding for a mini adventure. Spirit of 87. ) sandwiches and wellies and simple bikes. Or something like how it was before dh radness came along ) rose-tints are on this am!
Folks, the Pineapple hub was by Clark Kent.
/anorak.
Roox t-shirts.
Purple.
Cannondales with tubes the size of drainpipes
Proper SunTour XC Pro.friction thumbies.
+1 for Poohbahs, there were great
Proflex rigs with Girvin forks
Klien Mantra's
Friction shift DX thumbies
The original Flite Titanium
Marin Titaniums
Answer Manitou full suss rig, that was a thing of beauty
My 1999 Reynolds 853 Kona Explosif
The first time I rode a bike with suspension forks and the revelation that was, all 35mm of travel from a Pace RC35 with floppy carbon legs, earth shattering. No more stopping halfway down descents to shake out the arm pump, no you could go three quaters of the way now! 😀
Happy days, life seemes simple then!
mattbee - MemberI miss the old Stif adverts in MBUK, hours spent creating my dream build in my head as a teenager back in the early 90s.
likewise for me. stif and [img] 
[/img] i would read every word of, pretty much!
by the way, for everyone going on about how good Nike Poobahs were, I had two of the original colour, on both of which the soles cracked and were replaced, and then some of the grey and blue ones which did the same. they did look nice and were comfy, though!
Fortunate enough to have a yoeddy with sunsets on ringle hubs, only comes out to play on sunny days though 🙂
theflatboy - Member
by the way, for everyone going on about how good Nike Poobahs were, I had two of the original colour, on both of which the soles cracked and were replaced, and then some of the grey and blue ones which did the same. they did look nice and were comfy, though!
The exact same thing happened to me.
Loved them though and I still think they were the best looking shoe's; Blue with a green swoosh and WCS stripes 8)
River crossings in races. My first ever race was the BMBF nationals at Broxa forest near Scarborough. Can't remember the year, but there were around 3 crossings a lap. weather was apalling, there were even North Face igloo tents on the hills for you to take refuge in if you had a problem. I think some guy was even fetched down off the hills with Hypothermia after trying to fix a flat. Proper racing.
I miss the old Stif adverts in MBUK, hours spent creating my dream build in my head as a teenager back in the early 90s.
What about the Wades Cycles ones. Mindbogglingly un-pc.
Read through everyone's posts, and there's not really any bike parts there that are as good as, or better than what's available today.
Obviously those clamouring for flex stems and hite rites didn't use them. 😆