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Fitting nicely with that other thread, mine was in 1994, a Tim Gould "replica" Peugeot thing. Loved it for years, took me all over, then bought a 2nd hand Cannondale Beast of the East which was a full stone lighter!
rogerthecat - Member
Dave Mellor Cycles - cheers Dave, that's 25 years of fun you got me into.
There's a blast from the past - gotta be 16+ years since i've been there. I used to go most weekends and salivate over the bikes I couldn't afford.
September 1991. GT Karakoram
Ny the time Id finished upgrading only the frame and forks were original, and even the forks had been modified by Dave Yates...
[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3268/2350150387_34b4235eda.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickw3216/2350150387/ ]GT, early 1993[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nickw3216/ ]nick3216[/url], on Flickr
This actual bike. Ex-demo from Rock 'n' Road cycles, Portsmouth.
Had borrowed stuff from my dad and mates until I could afford this. £1000! (1995, I think)
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(snapped the frame just a few months ago)
1987 Raleigh Avanti. Blue / white. Biopace, U brake, Reynolds 531 (i think), toeclips, weinmann rims.
Wow, I'm impressed. With the usual STW willy waving I'm surprised no one said they bought their first MTB/invented MTBing in 1967
😆
Around late 1980-early 90 Got a 1987 specialiazed hardrock off of my uncle who owned a bike shop at the time (and the specialized agency, which I'm sure he's since regretted giving up). Rode that for about 3-4 years and then bought a 1992 Bridgestone MB-2 whilst on holidays in the US with my parents. That bike was a thing of beauty. It got stolen a few years later but I managed to get it back after one of my riding buddies at the time spotted it. Was quite lucky as it had been resprayed but it was so unique it was still quite recognizable. After I got it back I rode it for many years till the chainstay gave out. Still have the frame in the garage and often consider getting it fixed and returning it to it's former glory frame colour and all.
1987 Saracen TuffTrax. Xmas 2011 my lads first MTB... Saracen TuffTrax!
87 i think.
Diamondback ascent with a shitty plastic U brake under the chainstays that kept clogging up every time it got a bit wet.
1990?? It was a black Spesh Hard Rock and it was the first year thumb shifters sat under your bar rather than on top. It's still in the shed at the in-laws and gets ridden from time to time. It's got bright yellow bar ends and a Shark Fin chain stay protector on it 🙂
twas 1988 (was either for my 13th birthday/crimbo).it was a lovely dawes ascent (in white/yellow/pinky red) 15 speed of loveliness,fully rigid,reynolds 501 tubing,thummies,grips harder than a glaswegian bouncer 😯 i even did my first 100 miles on it when i was 15 (those days are long gone now though 🙁
trb - Member
Purple Dawes, it was a low end model, 100 or 200LX gears, it was heavy, even the bars were steel. '91 or 92
Same here! Dawes One track by any chance? Awesome bike - loved it. Had it for 4 years and then snapped the frame at Thetford but Dawes replaced it and that got stolen 🙁
Happy days though when everything was simple - by that I mean 1 bike did everything!
Happy days though when everything was simple - by that I mean 1 bike did everything!
[b]*Rose-tinted spectacles alert*[/b] 😆
I got my first mountain bike in '85. The first Rockhopper in the country.
When I went to Art College in '82 I picked up the first Madison Freewheel catalogue and saw a couple of Ridgebacks in it. I had no idea what they were, but they looked fun. I couldnt work out why they were more expensive than the touring and racing bikes. I rented a demo one from Recycles before they became the Edinburgh Bike Co-Op, and went up into the Pentlands and loved it.
Designs were constantly changing, so I didnt want to buy an immediatly outdated bike. Sounds familiar? I was all set for a Saracen 531 Conquest, the type the Crane's took up Kilimanjaro, when the Rockhopper appeared at a trade show. I had a summer job at Robin Williamson Cycles, my Colnago had been stolen, and I had a wad of cash.
It was a great bike, until I thought an upgrade to roller cam brakes would make it perfect. A local bike shop with a mechanic who had aspirations as a frame builder agreed to fit new bosses. They ended up misaligned, which resulted in a near death crash on the Devils Staircase fire road switch backs. The brake cam pulled clear through the rollers and I headed now brakeless towards a precipice. I caught a tree to save my skin.
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Wow, I'm impressed. With the usual STW willy waving I'm surprised no one said they bought their first MTB/invented MTBing in 1967
I started backflipping 160 foot doubles on my hand built fillet brazed, carbon lugged, titanium framed, fat front, 700c rear, rigid lefty forked, front wheel hub geared belt driven rear suspension recumbent down the Fort William DH track around the time of the crusades.
This one ride when I was in the middle of popping this massive sick huck, Gary Fisher and Joe Breeze came up to me, both obviously just itches in their ancestor's pants, and they said to me [i]"That looks totally sweet dude. When we are eventually born we're going to take credit for inventing that"[/i] and I just said [i]"whatevs"[/i] before landing no handed and going off to kiss my numerous supermodel girlfriends.
I am therefore considerably more old school, gnar core and nichetastic than all yous.
(In reality, a Gary Fisher something or other in about 1994).
"First" mtb? I have only ever had one. 5 year old Trek HT with a massive 100mm!! Keep toying with buying a fancy bike but wimp out at the last minute - imo, bikes are currently crazy prices for something to race occassionally but normally thrash about on the trails/mountains. Love riding my old faithful even if it needs a better/braver rider on top. I can just about get over the bike envy at the start of races/car parks especially when you pass the same bikes later on 😉
But still recall childhood when my old raleigh did everything - road, riding in the woods, jumps etc. A monstrous set of three gears driven by my old friend sturmey archer. Never failed, rarely needed servicing and I can only recall one puncture and I thrashed it. If only they made them like they used to....!!!
£200 Ridgeback from the 1986 Freewheel catalogue, after seeing my then BIL riding his up a really steep hill with ease 🙂
back in the late 80's
some kind of Peugeot (got nicked)
some kind of Raleigh (got nicked)
then a Raleigh strata (cant remember what happened)
Around 1991 I think. A Raleigh Dune Dancer from Halfords in Croydon. Still got the frame and forks in the shed somewhere.
Cheers
Andy
Ps Well done to DezB for breaking a Principia. I've got 3 of their road frames and I reckon they'll outlive me.
1995 raleigh max was my first full sized (26" wheel bike) i was so happy when my parents got it. had some catalogue orange thing that i'd outgrown for ages before that. at some point it got yellow planet x downhill bars!
1986 Ridgeback. I loved it at the time but lusted after an Overbury's Pioneer (which I didn't get) and later a Roberts White Spider (which I did).....
1987, Marin palisades trail from my windsurfing shop in barrow in Furness....
1996 a specialized rockhopper, which got up graded pretty quickly to a Kona Cindercone.
The cindercone was the first proper bike that I actually rode 'off road' on, around the Peak District mostly, until it broke on an epic ride in the Lake District in 1999. I loved that bike.
a Roberts White Spider
Chris Shaw the guy in the red jersey worked for Chas Roberts. His pink White Spider was a thing of beauty. He was sadly killed in a RTA when out training for a world cup race.
Chris's White Spider is still in service in Marin, now as a singlespeed. Amazingly the guy who replaced Chris at Roberts brazed the new drop outs on. He's working as a frame builder in the Bay Area.
A random ride on Ben Lomond about March '88 with Chris Shaw and Josie Dew.
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Crappy MTBSO in about 89/90-ish after riding BMXs for a fair while.
First 'proper' MTB was a second-hand Marin Palisades in about 92/93. It was the grey supposedly chip-proof paint with yellow bars and fork.
89/90 i think... some sort of British Eagle. 1st 'proper' mtb was early 93..
First 'proper' bike was a '97 steel Rockhopper which I got in April, haveing saved a load of cash and added it to my birthday money. A few quick upgrades followed... Sachs wavey shifters in yellow, LX v brakes and an ano red Azonic riser bar. Unfortunately whilst riding in Burnham Beeches, some pikey decided to liberate it from my ownership (along with my mates Orange). Two gutted fourteen year olds.
A Kona Koa soon replaced it - I thought this was ace because it was aluminium and mega light (rigid forks!).
I have also inherited the bike that first sparked my interest - my uncle's early nineties Beast of the East complete with purple USE stuff, cable hope disc, more purple bolts etc and Pace forks. Needs a new BB and headset. One day I may get it back up and running.
94 I think, I had a cheap s/h hardtail by Hi-Gear with 24" wheels bought from Cheltenham Road in Brizzle. Had it a few weeks and had painted it up and added all kinds of random stuff - sharksfin, bullet bros tensioner etc. Had it for a fair few years I think before my first proper bike
A peugeot thing with a bright green paint job it lasted 2 rides around clent hills, halfords told my old man when he took it back that it wasn't really meant for real off road haha
so i guess my first real mtb was my diamond back topanga , loved that bike. gave up track racing and cyclo cross shortly after getting that bike, i was well and truely hooked. I was 14 at the time, im now 34 🙂
1989 Raleigh Mirage with Exage Trail group on it, 21" frame and it was waay too big for me.(I'm only 5'6") Anyway I whacked my nuts on the first test ride down the road on the oh so powerfull canti brakes!
I quickly got the bug and luckily I won a Rockhopper in a competition in 1990. It came with Shimano 400LX on it. Now not many people nowadays will remember that groupset era 😆
87 Tufftrax.
Oh and has Charlie Kelly shown up yet? He seems to have some searhc set up for threads like this 😀
Mine was a 1991 Saracen Sahara, in bright yellow; bought brand new after saving up my paper round money.
Loved that bike and I still have the odd look on Ebay and Retrobike just incase a mint condition one turns up 8)
Oh and has Charlie Kelly shown up yet? He seems to have some searhc set up for threads like this
Meantime, back in Crested Butte in 1980
A black Giant Acapulco in 1992. Bought for me by my grandmother as a birthday present...I was pretty chuffed. I can remember a lot of the bikes in this thread from the bike sheds at school.
Marin Pine Mountain in 1993
87 it was a Falken something, it was blue and very crap. But it gave me the bug so it was followed by a couple of Claud Buttlers, Marins and Specialized. 1st full bouncer though was a Giant ATX990, i loved that bike.
87/88 Dawes Jackal. It was ace.
1985 Muddyfox
1990 Spesh Rockhopper like the one pictured but in green.
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First proper mtb was a '93 Kona Hahanna (in blue) bought in '94.
Fond memories...followed its progress to a friend's wife who used it for a while. Then some bastard nicked it off her. I often wonder where it is now. 🙁
Raleigh mirage 1990, 23" frame, 300 lx parts, and apparently "shimano total integration" £300.
Snapped at least two frames. Sti shifters lasted 3 months.
Jus had the exact same model come through the shop for a service... A weighty 33pound beast. Good memories, but happy to ride what I ride now.
1996. Orange P7 with LX.
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Here it is last year on a 15th Anniversary ride...
[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5072/5882371616_0f0ecdafae_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/5882371616/ ]15th Anniversary Ride[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/simondbarnes/ ]simondbarnes[/url], on Flickr
I may have it wrong due to it being so long ago, but I think it was 85/86 when I was eleven years old I had a yellow Dawes 'Wildcat' atb (not mtb!) with hard plastic grips and Sachs gearing. Possibly had 700c wheels rather than 26inch. Did my cycling proficiency test on that.
Once the atb/mtb bug bit I moved on to a black Saracen Traverse Hydrotech around 1990. Really loved that bike. Although at the time of saving up for it I really wanted the Conquest with elevated chainstay that was pictured on the Saracen poster on my bedroom wall. Currently on the look out for a similar bike in the shape of an Alpinestar al-mega or ti-mega.
Around '93 while at Uni.
I did ride a road bike but hit the side of a car at a rather high speed after it turned across me. Bike written off and I decided the crap state of the roads warranted a mountain bike.
Bought a Giant Escaper, joined the MTB club, started racing and have been hooked ever since.
Upgraded with fluro yellow Girvin Flexstem and fluro pink Onza bar ends.
It's still in the garage and is now the pub bike.
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/251668/
can't post picture its not minebut....
mine was a townsend Hedgehopper... can't remember when it was though probably about '90