The first one...
from my early years gotta be marin bear valley. Gt zasker. Kona cinder cone. And now id think id be pushed to find better than my 5spot.
2006 Enduro.
early konas,cindercone steel,nice classic geometry.
gt Lts.
before the enduro was born,giant xtc full susser was the most efficient and reliable susser going
orange 5 [not sorry]
Heckler, for my money. Ancient design, still riding well. Or my Bonty Race.
whyte preston
Joe Murray Kona 853 Explosive - still miss it
On-One 356 Ti
Cotic Soda
GT Zaskar, the original one 1993-1997 before they did horrible things with the frame design. THE original hardcore hardtail, light enough to race xc, yet strong enough to race DH on, which I did for years & still have the thing!
Muddy Fox - started it all off for the masses.
Kona Cinder Cone - just done everything well, nice and simple.
Purely aesthetically, any early 90's steel rigid Kona, best looking bikes ever.
1) the original clunkers from the repack days - the birth of mtbs and still great fun to ride.
2) muddy fox courier - the British stumpjumper - the bike that kick started the UK scene in the 1980s
3) niner SIR9 - the best bike I have ever ridden, more soul and character than should be possible from a collection of steel tubes.
Intense M1 SL - a step change in DH mountain bikes.
Another 90s steel Kona fan here; a classic Explosif, with Project 2s would still be a dream machine for me today (only ever had a fire mountain, but loved that too)…
Not really sure what else I would class as the greatest ever, there are too many choices, it all tends to be stuff I remember from my youth, not necessarily great bikes, but my perception at the time was of unattainable wonder machines… any bike that gets people out riding takes the prize I guess.
Not sure if im just looking back through rose tinted spectacles but the bike that will always stay in my heart is the
1992 Kona Kilauea I got for my 16th birthday- I managed to pusuede my grandad to buy it me when he was drunk:)
steel, project 2's and designed by joe Murray - beautiful
1990's classic Specialized Rockhopper
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blatently a 5 or specialized pitch for all round suspension performance and geometry. zaskar or p7 for hardtail lushness. Surely a sunn radical or a ironhorse sunday santa cruz v10 for suspension performance dh. I've not owned any of these by the way I have a reign and a glory. Both excellent bikes and brill suspension performance although the reign doesn't have tip top geometry, still rides nice though. It was accident rather then design that I ended up with two giants.
Mountain Cycle San Andreas.
Owned two, changed the way I looked at trails and how I rode them, made my daydream lines rideable.
Wish I still had one.................
Forgot to add the original Marin Team Ti - awesome!
Specalized 03 enduro
Pace RC100/200/300
Turner 5 Spot
SC Superlight for keeping fun as simple as it can be with full suss.
And the Salsa Moto Rapido for being a bike that refuses to be just pootled, it can only go fast. Great paint job too 😉
Has to be the GT Zaskar, simple end to the thread...
GT Zaskar before GT's parent company went bust.
Downhill, XC and 4x winning them all (with the best riders paid for).
Towards the end the Zaskar was a race weapon in easton 6062 which I still run in xc but for trails its a bit harsh from being stiff and flies.
New Zaskars lack the quality/strength of the <02 but the carbon version has been nice to run and not fragile at all.
Stifee my 2nd fave-so many have copied it and the 69er was awesome.
I have repsrayed mine from being battered by Argos racing cycles but here's old skool' pic of a xtr 6062 easton jobbie before they went bust:[img] 
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Do it all but maybe a bit too racey for a comfort Sunday cruise.
i was wondering,will they ever release the old ball burnished zaskar,as a full production model (i know that they released 500 ltd edition frames back in 2008).i did try to order one,but hotwheels kept messing the shop around,as to when it was going to arrive. p.s i will have to add it to my list.