can be a bike you have owned/haven't owned.you can choose up to 3 bikes,as i know that it's difficult to choose 1/different types of riding. well here's my 2 pence worth. in no particular order 1. 2002 cannondale f800 matt black with lefty fork (i absolutely loved that bike). 2. klein adroit/purple linear fade with oversized rigid forks.i so lusted after one of those,back in the day (never got one though). 3.i would have to say my new 2010 stumpy fsr comp.although it certainly isn't the flashiest/most expensive bike.since getting it,i have started to get my passion back for riding,big time. it's just so much fun to ride (will easily cope with anything that i will ever do/attempt). well that's my choices (for what they're worth). 🙂
Orange 5
Sorry, Orange 5
1993 marin bolinas ridge
I still insist my Evil is the best ever.
Bontrager privateer............cos keith was right
Anything by on one...............for sheer vfm
My ventana...........cos they let a big fat bloke ride full sus.
GT LTS.
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Mountain Cycles San Andreas, years ahead of it's time.
Orange 5 (want one but out of price range at the moment), Marin Mount Vision (had a cheaper 1998 Marin Alpine Trail as back in the day I couldnt afford the full monty version) and a bike I do own and ride most One One 456 with XT and Hope/Thomson and dual air U turn Revs.
Cove Stiffee and Specialized 2004 Big Hit
Kona explosif...Dont need to say anymore ;0)
2002-04 Enduro.
Orange 5 (sorry)
Whatever bike you are riding right now.
Marin Nail Trail circa 1986 ish.. no matter how much I hammered it round Helvellyn, High Street Skidaw etc etc, those 2 inch travel elastomer forks soaked it all up it and never failed. Fired me up about mountain biking which still lasts today. (Still a Marin owner too - no beard though...)
turner burner was yonks ahead.
Some of the earlier GT's ( including the LTS and Zaskar). Possibly a Muddy Fox Courier.
TBH Though I would have to say a YETI.
Orange Five
orange 5 (not sorry)
ooh ooh can i change?
i would say an early yeti to.
I think this has got to be a personal thing... a bit like saddles. I still miss my Y2k Gary Fisher Sugar 2. It was light, handled everything despite very short travel by todays standards, good price, looked nice but above all... no bike has ever fitted me like that one did.
Had Spec Enduros (inc 2004 SWorks), Merlin Ti, Konas, Giant carbon HTs, ridden Orange 5, SCs Blurs, Nomads and other exotica, but the best 3 are my current stable: Intense 55 EVP, Intense 66 and 4 bar ICT Turner Flux. All bases covered from Big Mountains and Quantocks, to Polaris and centre riding. I am about to buy a Cotic Soul, so list might change.
i would love a scott genius limited, my best bike ever is my current merida matts, still not great by any means, and also want an evil revolt.
Specialized Stumpy - the original (or one of them) and until a couple of years ago, still one of the stalwarts in the business.
Kona .... (insert model name) - mine was a Pahoehoe, but it taught me just how versatile a hardtail can be and how much fun can be had on it.
There's a case for an On-One in there - bringing mountain biking basics to the masses at a very affordable price, be that Ti hardtails for under £1k, the basic Inbred geared, or variations like the 456, summer season etc.
seconded..
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seminal bit of design
Spesh Stumpy, set the bar for mass market mtb's
Mountain Goat, Whiskey Town Racer still the benchmark for real nice steel
Marin Mount Vision the original version, proved a decent full suss bike need not cost the earth.
i would love a scott genius limited
8)
My vote for a bike I've owned though has to go to the Marin MV - full sus that worked for the masses.
For me,it's got to be the 2002 Trek 6500.
Purely because that was my first mtb,and it got me to this mtb addicted state that i'm in now!(4 bikes,spare room full of gear,Alpine & Canada riding hols etc etc...)
🙂
Alpinestars Al-Mega - end of thread.
AMP B-5 if you want the father of them all.
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...But I would have to say the Enduro has it for me. The 5 is way too UK specific.
GT Zaskar the old easton ones with the laser etched logo as the end of the top tube.
Clearly, I can't comment on every bike that's ever been made, but of the one's I have ridden:
Marin Pine Mountain 1991 (+ Pace suspension forks Mk 2.)
Funk FS
K2 Proflex 2000
Specialised Stumpjumper M4 FSR (2001)
Rocky Mountain ETS-X70
Orange 5
The winner is - perhaps not surprisingly
the '5. 8)
Yeti Arc
kona kilauea
Orange Clockwork 
Bontrager OR (pre "race" / "racelite" - circa 89 /90) :
Bonding, riveting, bisected stays, proper gusseting, chainsuck plate, horizontal dropouts and bombproof steel frame. Engineering genius.
Same of the Bontrager comp fork;...so much attention to detail. The privateer wasn't a patch (sorry Ton).
Others:
Bushido - for showing what might be possible
Mantis XCR - Composite possibilities
Cunningham / Bradbury (not Answer!) Manitou - Alloy possibilities (shame the latter liked to crack)
RC100 - holistic / integrated design approach
Merlin Mountain - Ti simplicity
Mtn Goat Deluxe - cycling art
Mtn Cycles San Andreas - With Suspenders & pro-stops - yum
Yeti C-26 - Tomac never looked better
Foes XC-T - suspension for people who don't like suspension 😉
I could make a very long list 🙂
Woppit, do you mean one of the "new" FUNKs or the originals?
Orange 5
Blur 4X
Nicolai Helius CC.
Everyone knows it is a Turner 5 Spot 🙄
We had this a while back and agreed it was the early Enduro.
You serious about a Demo Jedi?
Complicated and over engineered I reckon.
An Orange 5 the greatest? Some people still drunk?
SC Chameleon- in vibrant orange gets my vote 😀
Original Breezer.
The Zaskar, as quick uphill as it is down, still rides like nothing else.
90's Zaskar; it won World Cups in multiple disciplines, a mate rides and loves the one that he bought 14 years ago with paperound money and because I always aspired to have one because the 98 Backwoods was as close as I could afford at the time.
SC Chameleon, the last one before they went eccentric.
Yeti DH8 which belonged to a friend and felt amazing when I rode it down Cwmcarn in 2006/2007, especially so for something so old; I couldnt get my DH9 to ever feel close to it.
YO Eddy!
Klein Attitude..
or
Giant Anthem..
(Oh, I appear to own both of these!)
02 enduro and orange 5!
Whyte 19 I reckon.
No other bike has made me feel as capable or competent.
Or early Zaskar/Cindercone. High performance for the masses!
Pace RC100
SC Bullit
Orange Patriot
These 2 bikes added lots of fun to biking when it was getting a bit stale.
Much as I'd love to say a Yo Eddy or Klein attitude - being realistic it has to be the Kona/Turner Burner or the Mountain Cycles mentioned above... these bikes set the mould for modern MTBs.
Original stumpy was a mass-produced blatant rip-off of Tom Ritchey's design at the time.
Although the bike I'd most like to own has to be a Merlin Newsboy
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Surely it's got to be the one that got the world started down this trail - the 82 Stumpy. Otherwise it's got to be the latest, greatest bike for whatever particular riding you're doing right now (which, I conceed might even be an Orange 5 for some people).
Zaskar got to be . All polished and lovely, that was my original bike porn .A mate still has one and it still does everything even if its 10yrs old and I still stare at it gooey eyed when he's not watching
No no order!!
Gt Zaskar always wanted one as a teenager but could never afford it but seemed to be a do it all bike of the time!
Orange five its just a brill bike might not be pretty but like Wanye Rooney it gets the job done!
I would love a s-works stumpy fsr, again harks back to me getting into riding always wanted one but got my Ibis instead, still lust afer them though!!
proper Stumpy (without all that springy nonsense)
Explosif
Cinder Cone
santacruz super 8
spec sx trail
dialled bikes holeshot
RM Blizzard - it's been around as long as I've been mountain biking and still delivers the most fun per mile of any bike Ive had.
Honourable mention to the first Enduros, my first full-suss and it was just right in every area.
It would have to be either the Stumpjumper or the Explosif. For the obvious reasons!
bumhands, yes i am serious.
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Ibis Bow-ti is what I mean. Mine will pass the 40000 mile mark this year.
Without doubt
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I'd go for the original Joe Murray Cinder Cone with project 2 forks.
The first Mtb with the right geometry that lured me from my BMX.
My original had flecked paint graphics.
Klein Adroit - light years ahead of its time.
Early Proflex - yes elastomer suspension was rubbish but was a trail blazer for mainstream FS.
+1 for any of those early Konas. The current crop just don't compare.
almost certainly the san andreas, shop by me had one in second hand and almost every week (in 94') I would go in and lust over it - looked like something from a different planet at the time!
also:
specialized stumpjumper
marin bear valley
santa cruz superlight
My vote for a bike I've owned though has to go to the Marin MV - full sus that worked for the masses.
Seconded, I've still got my 97 frame.
Spooky Metal Head
Specialized SX Trail
Litespeed Kitsuma
2005/2006 specialized enduro. There has never been a bike before or since that rides as good as it IMO
I'd suggest a late Klein Adroit too- if you saw one without previous knowledge of Kleins, you would assume it was some radical new bike (well, maybe apart from the brakes)
Klein was also ahead of the game with the Adept- an early 29er
I'm not much of a fan of FS bikes but Santa Cruz's Superlight should be up there- a simple design that got it mostly right first time, and has only needed a few evolutionary tweaks since.
Early 90s Diamond Back Ascent SE. Fully rigid, whippy steel frame that was obsolutely fantastic. Closely followed by the first generation SC blur (great bike to ride, pain in t'ar5e to maintain).
5
Cant believe no one has mentioned the Orange P7. Dominated early to mid 90's race series'
Intense M1 - THE downhill bike, it was an absolute revelation when it was released
GT Zaskar - Set the standard for most of the hardtails that ride at the moment
MountainCycle San Andreas - So far ahead of its time people just didn't get it.
Titus Switchblade
Apollo FS.26 S [must be the S version]
Barracuda Tonga
Montana Mowhawk
Crell - MemberWoppit, do you mean one of the "new" FUNKs or the originals?
Original, I suppose - hire bike in Greece, 1992.
yeti arc deserves a mention
Marin FRS (Mount Vision, Rift Zone) '97 - '98. One of the first full sussers to get it right. Pivot position was spot on, could be built light and lasted for ages. Had mine for about 9 years, and with better forks (several Pace) and an excellent Cane Creak AD10 rear shock (plus other upgrades along the way)it was still a fantastic and light trail bike when I sold it.