Just found this from my first ever ride on my new Rockhopper, 1985 Green Cleugh straight over the bars.

If you like crazy old brakes….

http://www.blackbirdsf.org/brake_obscura/mtb.html

M&P bikes sending out a bumper catalogue full of Clark Kent and Nuke proof hubs, Tioga disc wheels and lots of other retro goodies.
JMC ripping it up.
Heavy steel frames with one piece stem and bars.
Thumb shifters all the way.
Suspension being only suomething I had seen in MBI not available to mear mortals.

Dream Bikes = Kona CinderCone, Explosif; Yo Eddy Fat Chance; Klein Adroit; Rocky Mountains (all of 'em)
Heroes = Dave Hemming, JMC, Cazza, Barry Clarke et al
Kit = Dodgey Specialized helmet with yellow 'hairnet'
Dream bits = Kooka, Rigle, X-Lite
Aspiring advert = Some bloke frollicking in a snow field through forest on a white Trek 7000(ish)and some wolf/dog thing alonside. Not sure why but always stuck in my mind (MBUK)oh and those Raleigh ads like the Dune Dancer bike…
Reality = Dawes Rough Trade w/GS300 groupset and bio pace rings

Thank goodness for progress!!!!

I remember when….

…we didn't worry so much and just rode our bikes up, over and down anything.

-Dart and Smoke tyres, i was amazed how grippy there where on the first outing.

-Ano bolts EVERYWHERE, purple of course.

-XT Thumbies being the best, not guessing the crunch and slip was so cool!

-Flexi stems, rubbish then and rubbish now.

-Gold Judy XC, 60mm of rubbertastic travel.

Good times 😀

Trail centre was the middle of the path.
Dayglo lycra was where it was at.
Bula hats where the thing to wear.
STIs were cutting edge.
Clipless meant flat pedals with no toeclips and straps.
Riser bars were for shopping bikes.
You could get grips for your brake levers.

oh and where would you be with out the old XT sharkfin on the chainstay

nobody wore helmets

you could only buy a steel bike

suspension was laughed at

nobody knew what a mountain bike was

most things didn't work and kept breaking

jumpers for goalposts

Spesh Hard Rock
Biopace chainrings
Shark fin chain stay protector
Bright yellow toe straps
Panaracer Smokes
Big Mt Zefal pump that peeped out the top of my rucksac
Ron Hill Tracksters 😯

I always wanted one of those little triangular frame bags and a "height rite" or whatever they were called.

Still got the Spesh, doing a permanent tour of duty at the in laws in Spain. No, the Smokes are no longer present

{EDIT}…and Chapel Gate was eminently easier to ride 😆

Kirk revolution with Amp research front forks

The MKS MXP-110 CLIPLESS MOUNTAIN PEDALS. The most dangerous pedals i ever rode with, as it was near impossible to get out of them as the cleats caught on the hook as you tried to release. If there were no lamp posts or trees nearby you hit the deck. Put me off clipless for quite sometime.

Did not see another MTB for a year and was asked constantly what I was on. We put mudguards on them because they went in the mud. And years later going to toe clips -when they came in.
Still have on one or another bike: thumb shifters, pump-seat post, Bio-pace rings, Purple 'Chicken Sticks', full mudguards on a 'Stumpjumper', sharkfin, toe clips……….
In boxes: cantis, more bio-pace rings, answer elastomer forks, another seat-post pump, narrow flat bars and very long stems,inc Flex-stem, and MBUK mag 1…..

I remember all of this

Girvin Flexstem
Farmer Johns (and uncle)
Hi-Gear neon frame bags and pads
Neon Cables (i had pink ones)
Derailleur Guards
15 Gears
Sharkfins
Biopace
Ligne 7 Boots
23inch Frames for 5'3" riders
Magura Hydraulic Rim Brakes
Onza bar ends
XT was top of the range
SIS indexed thumb shifters had a little switch to friction mode for the non believers.
Campag and Suntour made MTB gears
Toe clips were hardcore
Project 2 forks were the best
Brakes under the chain stays
Helmet had a removeable fabric cover

We ruled Ilkley Moor and Otley Chevin

Ballistic forks……..
Worked great for an hour & a half then broke.

Oh no, I've just remembered that I owned some pink Descente bib shorts. There's photographic evidence somewhere too.

I'm not that old- so friction shift thumbie on the left, 6-speed SIS thumbie on the right, wen that was new and exciting, probably dates me best.

This is what my first bike looked like, not my bike though.

Vaporized Maroon was the name of the colour.

Non-indexed gears, weighed a tonne, kept it until 1994 when I got a Shogun Trailbreaker with indexed gears – oh it was heaven.

Having a crush on Missy Giov

Former world downhill mountain bike champion Missy Giove had plead guilty to smuggling marijuana, capping what is likely one of the most spectacular tumbles from grace in all of action sports. The 37-year-old, featured last fall here retired from pro racing in 2003 after world championship titles and a flamboyant career peaking with her world title in 1994 and a sponsor contract that was the envy of all pro pedalers.

Last month Giove admitted her role in a 3-year smuggling operation, telling cops she took $30,000 to coordinate couriers shuttling marijuana from California to New York. Last summer, cops busted her in Illinois with 350 pounds of marijuana. They later found another 30 to 50 pounds of the weed at a co-conspirator’s home, along with more than $1 million cash.

She could face up to five years in federal prison. Sentencing is set for March.

And my mate getting a stumpjumper and going on and on about it weighing 25lbs

What about those things that fitted into the rear cassette to scrape the muck out, Crudcatcher made them

still got my purple metallic one!

Zak Tempest in MB-UK..

can't forget this

The Kirk Revolution.

I would have sold my mum for one.

A website dedicated to kirk

http://www.kirk-bicycles.co.uk/Kirk.htm

Riding round on a Marin with Neon green forks and stem and this grey paint that looked like teflon. 21 speed and Biopace. The cutting edge it was.

Smoke and dart (although I then went with smoke and Specialized Ground Control S for quite a few years), flexstem (I actually liked mine!), Flite saddle (still the best), Campagnolo silver rims with Ritchey Logic spokes (still using those wheels), purple stuff, Etto helmet (they'll come back in fashion one day).

What about those things that fitted into the rear cassette to scrape the muck out, Crudcatcher made them

still got my purple metallic one!

Crud Claw? 😉

Little extensions for your brake levers so you could brake while using your bar ends!

What about those things that fitted into the rear cassette to scrape the muck out, Crudcatcher made them

still got my purple metallic one!

Crud Claw!

Whatever made you want a Kirk? They were really heavy, expensive and rode crappily even then.

Whatever made you want a Kirk? They were really heavy, expensive and rode crappily even then.

They looked coooooooooooooooool and were made of magnesium

Fitting a DCD

Nishiki Alien!

"Shogun Trailbreaker" !! I had one of those Quirrel.. was my first bike to be nicked aswell :/

Rich YES crud claw! how could I forget that

I actually miss Gripshift, i always liked it

solid Answer attack alu stem. pink brake lever grips-WTF? My lovely Grafton speed controls…. the ever so cr4p Tioga disc drive, cleverly sold to a German over 4 months of MBUK back page classified adverts…. 😯
Umma Gumma tyres… http://www.snakebite.fotopic.net/p1082172.html

TURBO GEL SADDLES!!!

Thread Closed!

Did you have anything back then that you would still ride today, ignoring the nostalgic retro-cool factor?

I reckon my old Kona Fire Mountain from 1992 would be a good ride still. My Orange P7 (one of the very first) was also quite good to ride on non techie stuff, as you could really get power down and cover some ground. Really good riding position for hammering the pedals – it'd have made a better 'hybrid' than my actual hybrid.

My first proper off-road bike (Marin Bear Valley) was one of only two in the range available in UK, and one of three possible brands totaling seven models in all. I didn't see ANYONE else riding a trail for at least a year, and when i rode it on the road, everyone asked "why my bike looked like that".

1987, a good year for bad frame colours, and bad flouro clothing borrowed from the roadies. Things have, fortunately, come a long way.

Singletrack was a relative novelty, probably the biggest difference. Lots of cheeky footpath riding.

You could get grips for your brake levers.

I had some of those, in 'rad' blue, obviously.
Married up with an ano red crud claw, which is still kicking around somewhere.

My old steel spesh rockhopper was great! even with the oval chainrings

brake boosters…I have an anno blue one somewhere….

oh, and Tange Prestige. My new frame is also Tange…. as was my first clockwork.

Tiger6791 – Member
What about those things that fitted into the rear cassette to scrape the muck out, Crudcatcher made them
still got my purple metallic one!

Crud Claw? 😉

Just in time! 😉