Does anyone use older bikes to hack around trails?

Just wandering really, the majority that i ride with have nearly new bikes with all the flash kit etc (myslef included!)
The thing is, i am hitting hard times and in no way want to give up on the mtbing but i want to release money off my current bike and get one which is a bit older etc so i can carry on.

The older bikes, say upto 99-00 must be more than capable for a mere mortal like me to ride.

I also actually much preferred my 2005 rockhopper to the Scott i have at the moment so hopefully can bag one of those again.

I also like the look of the older Konas but i do like lightweight bikes so is there anything i should avoid due to being a fair bit weighty?

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/

’00 klein still does me proud when the going is right, stiff as hell and great fun with 80mm of travel and v brakes. it’s my bike for life bike

there’s a guy who rides with BrightonMTB every Thursday on a 20 year old rigid Pace frame with rigid forks of a similar vintage. He took the gears off recently when they died and the BB sounds like he’s got a large number of mice in severe pain in there.

Riding such patently unsuitable bike doesn’t seem to slow him down compared to those with bouncy forks etc, the git.

All of my bikes are older bikes. Older than a 2005 Rockhopper at any rate!

I use a 91 Cinder Cone for light xc around the New Forest and commuting. Lovely zingy steel 🙂

It doesn’t have to be older, just simpler. A cheap On-One hardtail frame or similar, with 9 speed gears and a rigid fork can be built up pretty cheaply, and with some big volume tyres, will let you tackle most of what you currently ride. This way you can still benefit from disc brakes without breakin the piggy bank, and it will cost next to nothing to run.

If you just want a cheaper Hack bike, just buy a cheap 2nd hand bike or lash one up out of spares from the shed…

No need to go hunting down some retro jewel you only get stuck spending a fortune on old kit that’s actually no better than current cheap kit, with prices driven up by nostalgia…

I like the idea that a 2005 Rockhopper is “old”… 😆

Yep, 97 Kona Explosif here, its great!

and old can be pimp too, the v brakes on my klein cost more than most disc brake setups, it’s X0 throughout, carbon bits and bobs etc

i’ll admit i spend more money on bits for it than my other bikes even though i ride it the least, it’s my special favourite, i’ll be buried with it 😀

I recently built up a 2002 Kona Lava Dome, it’s great fun on a budget.

’93 Klein as my only bike.

I sometimes take this out for an airing – it’s probably still more capable than I am……

The trails were exactly the same in the early 90s when people rode them on rigid steel bikes with canti brakes etc.
You might not go as fast but you can still have fun.

Muddyfoxcourier can be relied upon to regularly turn up for rides looking like this on a bike made in the 80’s.

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tim2[/url] by Jon Wyatt[/url], on Flickr

I race a 95 Diamondback. Fastest bike I own.

has he just caught his bits on the back of the saddle?

A friend of mine has a 2008 bike. That’s the newest in our group by a few years. Three are pre 2000.

have a ’96 Proflex that I have kept for sentimental reasons and it’s OK if you remember to ride it appropriately but realistically it is useless around modern techy trail centres except on any fireroad climbs which it absolutely murders.

Metal fatigue worries me

I built this up over the weekend – 10 year old frame, rest of it of various ages.

has he just caught his bits on the back of the saddle?

never understood that hanging off the back of the saddle thing, looks like a shortcut to pain if things go wrong!

My mate rides an old Raleigh M Trax with Vee brakes and cheapo Mz Comp Forks

He has a blast on it and is hard to keep up with unless it is really bumpy or techy . It first came out when his Epic got nicked just before we were all about to go on a trip to Afan.

The Epic got replaced with a Scott Spark. This also got nicked very soon after despite locks and various alarms.

In all cases, the scrotes left the Raleigh. he is so attatched to it now, that I doubt he will replace it!

I’m still running a ’98 Kona Muni Mula, albeit as a rigid singlespeed… Still going strong!

never understood that hanging off the back of the saddle thing, looks like a shortcut to pain if things go wrong!

it used to be the only way to avoid going over the bars on anything pointing down.

I do it all the time (and with no unfortunate body/bike interfacing), but hopefully not with that pained expression…

Got a ’96 Scott Vail with a whopping 63mm of front suspension. Feels really strange riding that after the Cotic.
Still can’t decide whether to just bin it, or do a frame+fork swap to give it a new lease of life (still a few frames+forks out there that take v-brakes).

never understood that hanging off the back of the saddle thing, looks like a shortcut to pain if things go wrong!

Increase the steepness of things you’re riding down until understanding dawns on you. HTH.

I run my 1993 Orange Clockwork in retro single-speed guise when the trails are dry and dusty. Is great for carrying speed………..partly because 18yr old cantis are shit at stopping!

I wouldn’t call it retro but I bought an Inbred frame back in 2004 and I keep coming back to it despite subsequently buying a Flux and a Five.

The appeal to me is the ease of maintenance and the fun on the trails. OK I might not be able to keep up with mates on FS bikes while I’m on the Inbred, but it’s way more fun because there’s far less skill compensation.

I’m sure many of us could amaze ourselves at just what we could ride very rapidly on a hardtail if we put our minds to it!

I am 10 years behind on a 2001 Marin because my wages are also 10 years behind!

never understood that hanging off the back of the saddle thing, looks like a shortcut to pain if things go wrong!

Do you live in Norfolk?

yep, ride around easy and local stuff on a fully rigid bike. its not that old though, its a “pinnacle mean streak” from evans with 27 gears and disc brakes. A lack of suspension, square taper BB and cup & cone hubs means it costs little to run.

I dont mind running v-brakes to be honest, i know the 2005 rockhopper wasnt old, i just used it as an example because it is nicer than my 2011 Scott scale.

Can any bike be run on suspension forks and what year roughly did v-brakes take over from cantilevers (or is that a how long is a piece of string question)?

My ‘posh’ bike is a 2001 Superlight, buying a new bike won’t make me any better, and I’ve yet to ride anything I’d rather own. In fact my hack bike (commuter, child tower etc.) is about 10 years newer.

Lusted over a few Mojos and Sevens but until I snap it I can’t see myself buying anything else.

Just resurrected my old hardtail for family riding (can put a kiddy seat on it – normal FS can’t). Got it in the late ’90s NOS, and a little google reveals it dates from ’92 – a Raleigh Dyna-Tech MT5 frame (what the team riders used back then). ’97 XT gears and rear brake, early ’90s cranks. Very glad I’ve got it going again – is a very nice bike!

All my most-used bikes are getting on a bit now – my full suss bikes are all either 2003 (Epic) or 2004 (both my Enduros) and my most used hardtail is an early Soul which must be about the same age.

Modern bikes might be a bit lighter or more competent but I still have fun riding the old bikes I have.

I do the majority of my offroad riding on this:

It’s a POS but I can just jump on it and ride. I clean it, er, sometimes and oil it now and again. On proper ‘gnar’ stuff I get battered and mince but for the most part it does fine. I’d love to have a decent lightweight ‘Boutique bike’ but I can’t justify or afford one so cheap ‘n cheerful will do for me.
It stands me at easily sub £200.

Patriot LT 2000 – 6″ of bounce each end.

Increase the steepness of things you’re riding down until understanding dawns on you. HTH.

Never had the need to go that far, arse over the back of the sadddle aye, but completely off it, nah not for me, momentum and saddle down keeps you on the bike.. plus looking at that picture it’s hardly step, seems a bit like over kill for me.

Do you live in Norfolk?

eh?

I’ve just built up a ’99 heckler to hack around on using bits off my 2010 Trek and it’s a fantastic bike to ride.

Still take my 99 Kona Explosif out and about. V brake-tastic!