All-time great bike designs – a top 10?

The Lotus carbon that Chris Boardman rode and Mike Burrows designed would make my top 10 along with the Rover Safety and The Windcheetah HPV

Has anyone said AMP B3 and AMP B4 YET?

Think this bike the first to use hoist link/four bar and was so good that Specialized bought the rights to use it on there bikes (FSR etc)

Also they bike was light for it’s time, forks where a bit poo though

It was flexy too.. it’d be worth including on the MTB shortlist tho. The Proflex of the time was a better bike I think? When travel was so short, 4-bars made no real difference. I liked the simplicity of the Proflex, the fork was notable and the pivot placements were closer to spot-on than earlier SP bikes. V2 Proflexes had that now-proven SP general position.

specialized demo 7

has fsr suspension platform which has become a really good design

ok, here’s a log for the fire:

is not that more ‘marketing’ than ‘design’ though? I mean, us urbanites have bin cobbling simple fuss-free bikes together for decades.

As a ‘type’ of bike, it’s a good call though I spose. Remains to be seen whether or not it will stand the test of time though, as it’s more a ‘fad’ thing than anything really.

Cannondale seized on the fact many urbanites were using fully rigid mountain bikes with slick tyres, and brought out theBad Boy range, which seemed to span an entire generation of black/grey simple no-frills utilitarian do-it-all bikes.

But on the subject of urban riding, how about the Dutch bike? They’ve bin round for centuries it seems, are solid, reliable, simple and stable. Upright riding position great for short pootles about town.

And are currently very fashionable amongst trendy young ladies who don’t like the more aggressive Hipster look.

Stylish and elegant….

The Lotus carbon that Chris Boardman rode and Mike Burrows designed would make my top 10 along with the Rover Safety and The Windcheetah HPV

3 near-certs out of 10 there I think.

Plus –
Brompton
Boris Bike
Humber or similar 3-spd roadster
Moulton – not sure which, but certainly the basic design

That 7 possibles.

I’d add an original / early BMX, the Stumpjumper to represent earlier ATBs, and a simple fixie city bike.

That could be a top 10 there.

edit – the Dutch bike above would be a good inclusion, kind of covered by the Humber style bikes but maybe worth a seperate mention? It’s more proven in terms of genre>social effect than the urban fixie. The fixie does have design merit by being so simple and representing a different bike style.
So maybe the list would have a few ‘genres’ where it’s hard to single out one model, or the model listed should be the one furthest back in that part of the bike family tree.

…is not that more ‘marketing’ than ‘design’ though? I mean, us urbanites have bin cobbling simple fuss-free bikes together for decades…

exactly, the ‘design’ is a classic. all it’s taken is a can of spray paint, and a pair of skinny jeans, and it’s ready to save the world.

bikes are ace.

The Metalhead is to jump / HC HTs what the first Ritcheys were to klunkers. The first made-for-purpose version of bikes that had been adapted previously (Zaskars and 15″ Stumpjumpers)
Many said the mid-80s Stumpjumper was the iconic bike of early ATBs as it was readily available and influential, so by that logic the DMR may be the bike to focus on for jump bikes, maybe not. I’m not sure if I agree with that logic, or really think the DMR would be in a top 10, just saying. The bikes I listed were just a starter that came to mind. The Metalhead is like an M1 (or Pace RC100 etc), an iconic MTB but maybe not a great bike design in the general sense.

Great pic though, takes me back as I really wanted one of those, but it was way cooler than my skills justified!

Or the Bandwagon for cheaper skates…

Still the bike I most enjoy riding.

Yeti, spooky, sinister, Frank really has made some ace bikes

good times.. when a hardcore hardtail had a ~69 deg head angle and 100mm forks )

Raleigh etc 3 speeder of 50’s best uk bikes ever.
Grifter bikes became fun, I had a girls shopping bike when these arrived.
Mongoose BMX, I cant put into words how much I wanted one.
Peugout Raleigh 10 speed racers of 70’s 80’s what you had before we had MTB
Orange/Marins of the 90’s all cool.
Specialized Sirrus decent accessible bikes.
On one inbreds/scandals must be the most popular bikes in the uk now

Thats about all I can think of off hand, not much niche on here.

martinxyz – Member
The whyte preston an all-time great bike design?

You have to be joking?
If you ride along on said bicycle approx 5mph.. and compress the suspension with body weight you can actually bring the bike to a hault.On the return.. it actually brings the bike back up to speed. Try it,then try it on any other suspension design! We found this out a few years ago and wondered what this would do on steep techy trails. I never want to find out.

Interesting I have 3 of them and have ridden 1000s of km on them and have never found this

You wanted pictures I admit it,s not pretty

Raleigh Burner. Every kid I knew, wanted one.

I really like seeing the original Spesh Enduro’s on the trails. I always stop to admire them.

Good grief, I’d never seen a Whyte Preston. It has upset me a bit.

I,m sorry wynne there is a counciling service , when you ride them you cant see how ugly they are,

I like the Whyte Preston.

All the basic suspension geometry is there with a good front end. It then all comes down to the suspension units which are easily changed.

Just spent 30 mins typing my list and reasons but the PC has just died so you’ll have to make do with just the list:
1. Intense M1
2. Boardman Lotus
3. DeKerf Generation
4. Martin B-17
5. Pro-Flex 956
6. GT Zaskar
7. MountainCycle San Andreas
8. Spooky Metalhead
9. Muddy Fox Courier

Mal-ec that TRek is just wrong, It’s like a bad mullet all business at one end and all party at the other. 69ers are just for the indecisive and lady boys

jameso – Member
good times.. when a hardcore hardtail had a ~69 deg head angle and 100mm forks )

They still do don’t they?

slainte 😉 rob

GT Zaskar, this could still win races today.

Oh, and forget Spooky and the like. I was waaaaaaay before them in the hardcore hardtail evolution with my ‘Team Moron’ 😉 Trashed the downtube on my 1989 Team Marin so had a downtube from a tandem brazed in. Fitted a ‘short’ high rise stem when we were normally rocking the 150, and check the inboard mounting of the brake levers mimicking current trends. The thumbshifters are practically touching each other heh heh….This was upgraded to a Diamond Back Axis in the same set up but with Marzocchi Star Fork braaaah. Freeriding at Snailbeach Slagheaps, ridiculous coloured lycra jackets for goalposts…

ridiculous coloured lycra jackets for goalposts…

😯

Mummy I’m frightened… 😥

martinxyz – Member
The whyte preston an all-time great bike design?

You have to be joking?
If you ride along on said bicycle approx 5mph.. and compress the suspension with body weight you can actually bring the bike to a hault.On the return.. it actually brings the bike back up to speed. Try it,then try it on any other suspension design! We found this out a few years ago and wondered what this would do on steep techy trails. I never want to find out.

Interesting I have 3 of them and have ridden 1000s of km on them and have never found this

I’m with Ade on this one; I’m had two over the last 9 years or so and have never experienced this phenomenon either.

I know the limit of travel was limited by bar clearance on the upper front linkage; I’ve often wondered if this could have been improved with an ‘M’ shaped bar (ish) to create a ‘pocket’ for it to swing into.

I have to admit the pace rc100 should get in the list if only by default it did lead to several generations of quite raceworthy hardtails or maybe as with most bike related things from the retro period they were on the scene at the right time to capitalize on the fact that the technology (trends) weren’t moving the goalposts every year.

The lotus I believe has only been bettered aerodynamically by two other bikes which means the concept was pretty much on the money however many years ago and in the time trial world (engine being boardman) aside is quite a feat to achieve.

I would also like to add the BCD gearbox bike to the list (one of the first) it was quite an inspiration shall we say when the design of the now defunct GT IT1 was penned (or should that be Proe’d)

The thermoplastic Gt’s were also a bit ahead of their time considering that technology is now being looked at again and hasn’t changed so much since then

One thing I do find interesting is that 2 bikes in the list which look completely different to the norm are by motorcycle designers
Maybe they just dont think differently but aren’t defined by what the general consensus a bike should look like.

Somethings missing from the list Vitus/Alan, yes they were crap and flexy and heavy etc, but they bonded and Aluminium, then there is the TVT carbon frames.

For mtbs try the Fisher cr7 trying to make the most of different materials.

The Bontrager with its use of gussets, and attention to detail.

i agree with kingkongsfinger about the zaskar le. i have one in anodised blue, and it still looks the dogs nuts, even though its 14 years old.