Bikes you really wanted but never owned.

I always wanted a Specialized FSR Elite. This was 1998/1999, there was one in the shop I worked at and I’d taken it for endless “test rides”.

(Pic nicked off Google images)

I could afford it (just) on the staff purchase but kept questioning myslef why, when I was an XCer at heart, did I want need what at the time was a massive amount of travel (about 4.5″).

Answer was I didn’t so I never quite got around to justifying the purchase.

[/url] Kona Hei Hei King Kahuna 19"[/url] by tokaschu[/url], on Flickr[/img]
Can I have one of these please mister.

Can’t remember the name, but a red and white Cannondale road bike (R- something?) from the late 80s or early 90s with what seemed at the time to be absolutely massive diameter tubes (although this was probably just because I only knew about steel bikes at that point.)

I really wanted a charge stove, and I still have an eBay alert for one. Looks perfect for my short commute to the ration and coming home the slightly longer way!

Specialized m700 – beast of the east

Kona Explosif

FTW- sinister splinter mx

Nisiki Alien.

Mantis Flying V.

Could never afford one though as most of my money was being spent on class A’s.

most of my money was being spent on class A’s

:swoons:

Christ its a long list

Zaskar
Mountain cycle
Rc200
Fat Chance Yo Eddy
ATX1
Klein altitude
Gt Lobo
Salsa alacarte…
Explosif or later on perhaps a hei hei
Always strangely liked the old Santa Cruz super8
Alpine stars chromega (?)

TBH if I hot to ride any of them now they’d turn out to be shite I’m sure, you know what they say, never meet your hero’s…

Trimble Bike

lots, this:

springs to mind for one.

De Kerf Team SL in tangerine

Can I have one of these please mister.
I know someone who has one of these in immaculate condition. Keep dropping hints that he needs to pass it on and get a more modern steed to pull the kiddie trailer.

I also have a mint 19inch RC300 in a box in my garage.

No idea why, looks like crap.

Kona Kula Primo. Yeti ARC and Cotic Soul.

Nishiki Alien, as above
Klein Attitude
Funk Estay bike
GT Xizang

I finally got around to Rocky Mountain ownership 4 or 5 years ago so that’s why they’re not on the list 🙂

I always wanted a Zaskar.

They were well beyond my spending powers when I bought my first MTB many years ago. I could afford to buy one now, but it wouldn’t be the same.

I’ve consigned that dream to the ‘Never meet you heroes’ pile.

Klein Attitude, in green:

But the bike I really lusted after was this:

Kona Cinder Cone from ~1993 with the titanium grey-forest green color fade scheme.

Kona Hei Hei Ti, both in around 16, 17″ both for fit and right proportions with the sloping down tube.

Orange Cotic Soul.

Current Ibis Mojo HD in white.

the ‘Never meet you heroes’ pile.

that’ll be the 1995 Trek Y22 and the Mk1 SC Nomad. Two bikes I coveted and the 2 worst Ive owned.

Have to agree wi Ben, i was just about to post a pic of a Doug Bradbury Manitou FS but he’s beat me to it, I had to settle for a set of Manitou 3 forks on my 94 Marin Indian Fire Trail, still got the forks and the frame still gets used daily 😀

I always wanted a Zaskar.

They were well beyond my spending powers when I bought my first MTB many years ago. I could afford to buy one now, but it wouldn’t be the same.

I’ve consigned that dream to the ‘Never meet you heroes’ pile

I still ride a 96 Zaskar and I can confirm, your fears are unfounded, it’s brilliant.

Definitely my forever bike, I absolutley love it, it’s been through so many incarnations.

For me, this:

I just want to hang it on the ceiling. still makes me swoon looking at it now.

Baack in the day. A Hutch Trick Star, in this Candy-apple red

More recently the GT Brian Lopes replica

Could I justify a 4X bike? What do you think

Raleigh Vektar

Raleigh Bomber

Raleigh Appalachian

Alpinestars Ti-Mega or Al-Mega

Mountain Cycle San Andreas

Yeti A.R.C

Klein Altitude/Mantra

Saw one of these at ‘Bike 99’ at the NEC and thought it was the coolest bike I’d ever seen

[/url]

It is a long and distinguished list.

Klein Attitude
Pace RC100
Pace RC200
One of those nice Raleighs like Tomac had.
An original Yeti ARC.
Fat Chance Yo Eddy
Turner Sultan

And I would quite like a custom Ti Enigma 29er & Road bike.

I wanted an Intense M1 SL, a GT Zaskar and a Pace RC200.

Hmm I’m over the retro thing, not that I dissaprove, I’m glad someone does retro. I currently have all the bikes I want, modern dh, am, steel hardtail, cargo bike, single speed, and racer. I do hanker after a fatbike and a modern bmx though…

GT STS

‘d have one now in an instant

RC200 – had a go on an earlyish one, and it was SOOOO fast. I’d still like to lay hands on one of the later red ano ones and build it up with rigids as light and as brutally quick as possible.

Intense Uzzi SLX. A mate had one when I had an SL. He then sold it and it was sat in Leisure Lakes for months, and eventually went for a song – could have been mine! (ended up with a Turner instead which I rode for 6 years, so not all bad)

I can just about afford one of these, but there’s no way I could justify it, though…

At the moment I reckon these look great:
Spin Spitfire

But I’ll never own one.

OK, not exactly complying with the thread as I do own one now, but it took 18 years!

Back in 1994/5 I was getting into mountain biking and reading magazines. Full sus had been around for a couple of years but a lot of them were ungainly boat anchors. Saw the Mongoose Amplifier in a mag and read about Brian Lopes and Leigh Donovan’s winning escapades on a similar bike and decided I wanted one. I never did as the frames were so expensive at the time.

Track to last summer and I happened to see an Amplifier 2 frame for sale on fleabay and won it cheaply. It was built up using some bits I had hanging around, a mixture of old and new so not historically accurate but built how I wanted. Pleased to own that frame after all those years.

A kid at school had a multi coloured luminous Cinelli hard tail in 1991. I always thought he’d nicked it as it was expensive at the time…
I love the look of the Ibis Mojo now and if I had space in the shed (or permission, or more money) I’d buy one tomorrow.

Nishiki Alien (with allen key to keep the estay tight!)
Funk estay
DeKerf
Mountain Goat

and of course an RC200

I rode them all (friends had them) apart from the mountain goat.

Ooh, that picture that Ben posted of the Manitou full-susser:

MTB Pro ran a test on a Mountain Goat variant of that with the same “forks as rear suspension” which I lusted after for years.
Mentally built it up many times, kept changing the spec as new bits came out of forks developed but they were always hung on that frame. SO wanted it.

Raleigh Chopper – my Dad got me a poor imitation instead where both the wheels were the same size!

Raleigh Winner racer – my Dad’s mate rescued me an abandoned Raleigh Sprint with a wonky frame from a bush instead.

Muddy Fox Courier early/mid 90s

Marin Muirwoods in flouro yellow – my Dad finally came up trumps with a brand new Marin Palisades Trail, which was a better spec, but the grey and flouro yellow didn’t look as good as the Muirwoods so I went with the blue.

Mid/late 90s Marin hardtails with subtle metallic finishes and anodised parts, a bit like that Manitou – at the time they were like the Apple of mtb styling.

Late 90s Marin Mt Vision Pro like Lazyboy – In order to justify spending a whopping £1000 on a Rift Zone I felt I had to start racing!

Late 90s Raleigh Team in the blue and yellow colours and those celeste green Michelin tyres like Barry Clarke – I’ve still got a team jersey he signed from just before the team briefly became Diamondback. As an aside the Chris King hubbed Bontrager gold rimmed wheelset was so desired then.

Early 00s Specialized FSR team issue in yellow with red forks – the rumour was you couldn’t buy the team issue because in lightening it they didn’t expect it to last more than a race season.

Early 00s Cannondale World Cup race replica hardtail in blue and white with Fatty Ultra fork and the original Crossmax with silver decals – I was vying for the Sport podium and one of my main rivals at Southern XC and Nationals had this beautiful bike and looked way more pro than me.

Currently considering carbon race dually 29er options which I may or may not be able to bring myself to buy.

Oh, the RTS – I’d forgotten that; definitely wanted one of those.

I came close to buying one of these in 1993 instead of the Kilauea I did buy:

geetee1972 – Member
Another vote for the Yo Eddy. The most aesthetically pleasing lines on a bike ever.

In thinking of having a custom hard tail made with modern geometry that pays homage to the tubes and lines of the Yo Eddy

I’ve been trying to pick up a tidy Yo Eddy for nearly a decade- it has to be in Aqua Fade though.

You need to contact IndyFab re a custom job – they started out with a couple of the original frame builders from Fat Chance IIRC.

Explosif
GT STS
Pace RC 200
Pace DPD – although I cant recall if it ever made production

There’s a woman I used to pass on the school run who had an almost mint, like showroom, RTS2, has a basket on the front. I’m pretty sure she has no idea of it’s significance.

rode an Explosif, so wanted to love it, but it was lifeless, such a disapointment.