my mtb history, whats yours?

There was a post from some guy onhere about his 1st ever bike so I thought I’d post a pic of mine, then I thought I’d retrace my mtb steps so here goes

1990 Ridgeback 601LX. bent forks/ stem within the first 9 months of it’s life but it got me round the yorkshire moors and the peak district on a number of rides.

which led to a spangly new Scott Windriver (91), deore lx and free for a year courtesey of a local shop sponsorship scheme! Kept this for four years and rode it almost everyday. Upgrades included SPD’s and rockshox mag 21’s, remember those?

Followed by a Proflex beast. The naff maguras were ditched in favour of XT v-brakes and the gripshift for xt shifters. Raced for 3 years before a few years off regular mountain biking

returning to bikes my Orange zero was a peach and spent many weekends at trail centres chasing full sus bikes before I finally relented

and got my meta 5.5 which is just awesome. Three days in coed y brenin told me just what i’d been missing out on!

so what’s your history?

87 Tufftrax
88 Rockhopper Comp
89 Stumpjumper Comp
1990 Epic (canti’s)
1992 Prometheus (rode the Coloradoi trail on that bad-boy!)
1996 FSR (made new links to get 4″)
Then Ibis mojo, various Giants, Treks & Santa Cruz…
Now Nomad, Superlight & Shand custom hardtail.

any pics cynic? specially from the old days?

returning to bikes my Orange zero was a peach and spent many weekends at trail centres chasing full sus bikes before I finally relented

thats not a zero , a zero was a trials frame.

sub zero i think to give it it’s full title!

94/95 GT outpost which I bent!!

99 GT zaskar made me ride far too fast crashed alot! sold on due to having no money GUTTED!

Got a 2000 GT tempest frame and built that up to keep me going

Then got a Scott Genius MC 50 frame which I HATED sold that on very quickly

Again due to having no money bought a cheap kona roast HT frame on here an I still ride that now although it has been tricked out with posh shiny stuff. Best bike I’ve had.

82-89 various bmx’s
89 Alpinestars cromega DX e-stay (still got it in original spec)
91-02 various nicer bmx’s
02-03 bmx injuries, ouch
04 orange sub zero
08 on one 456 + road bike + bmx
in the pipe line cx bike for the winter

Crumbs – the bikes are floating in through the ether, emerging rose-tinted through the mists of time……

Lovely, bright yellow Muddy Fox Courier bought at Aberdeen’s police auctions (89/90?) – as above, forks bent within a few months.

Kona Lavadome (91?) took me all over Scotland and through the Pyrenees for a good few years…..

Brief ownership of super-niche Alpine Stars weird purple machine with very odd frame – my first ever suspension forks (RSTs!!)

….Swapped for a strangely un-stickered, non-branded, fully rigid, very shiny Carrera – purple and silver job, weighed almost nothing.

Chromoly Trek (can’t remember the model) bought second hand…

Sold it a few short years back to fund the purchase of a GT Zaskar ZUM (Zaskar Urban Machine) which lasted about two months before some twunt stole it (prompting expensive insurance).

Nearly there – almost forgot the Dawes Edge Pro hardtail which fell off my rack on the way back from Glentress (doh!).

Replaced with another GT – an i-Drive from Halfords this time – also stolen about two months back now.

And the current bike is a Boardman MB Pro (hardtail) which is just about the best thing in my life right now (excluding wife, dog, fully rigid Hahanna and favourite old metal Nikon bodies 😀 ).

khs
marin bear valley
marin pine mountain
santa cruz heckler
santa cruz bullit
turner xce
turner rfx
intense tracer
dialled PA
litespeed Kitsuma still got
cove g spot
giant trance
ellsworth moment
titus supermoto, still got
nicolai heluis cc
Yeti Asr sl just got

User-Removed…. HOW many of those bikes are from halfords?
Didnt you learn the first time?

Eeeerrr, three, now I look again. But that’s just the way my insurance company roll……. Besides, the Boardman fits the bill in an oustanding fashion – wouldn’t swap it for anything.

anyone got any pics of their old rides?

Some pics, not on digital though.

Well I can do a pic of my ‘new’ old ride…

Almost the same as the Lavadome (first proper mountain bike).

here’s mine from 2000 onwards

Emelle mtb
Giant While I lived in New Zealand
Trek zx8000 alu bonded frame. Still got frame now painted specialized Grabber Green!
First generation SC Heckler
Merlin Malt 1
Kona Cindercone (Steel)
Rocky Mountain Hammer ( my fav ride so far) and hopefully i will get it back one day.
Orange 5
OnOne Inbred

first was a black, heavy frame, no idea what exactly. built up with LX groupset, and some zocchi Z5 forks.

then i got a marin pine mountain (this is about 2003/2004 iirc). similar running gear, but zocchi marathons.

then that got rohloffed.

then i got a solitude custom frame (for rohloff), this is in 2006.

then…
on-one inbred 29 SS
then soma juice 29 SS
then genesis IO SS
then kona kula 29 (rohloff got put in this, solitude becomes SS)
then kona A SS
today solitude became double + bash geared.

currently got the 2 konas and the solitude.

My bike ownership phases:
Raleigh Marauder
GT Outpost
Diamondback Apex
Scott Endorphin
Scott Endorphin and Zeus road bike
Scott Endorphin, Zeus road bike and Kona Humu 7
Santa Cruz Superlight, Zeus road bike and Kona Humu 7
Santa Cruz Blur, Zeus road bike and Kona Humu 7
Santa Cruz Blur and Wilier Lavaredo road bike
Santa Cruz Blur
Santa Cruz Blur and Kona Explosif
On One Inbred 456 and Kona Explosif
On One Inbred 456
On One Inbred 456 and (reunited with) Diamondback Apex!

This is interesting; starting with bikes I owned after riding BMX and borowing mountainbikes:
I have given them a rating from * to *****

GT Karakoram (U-brake one) **
GT Avalanche (Respray, Ringle, Ti-Flexstem, Pace forks, CQP, etc) ***

Orange Aluminium Elite (frame gifted by Orange, full XTR) ****

Orange Clockwork (Which I nickel plated and anodised everything purple) ***

S Bike *
Cove Hummer (this is 1996, I have a feeling it was the first one in the UK) ***
Pace RC200F6 **
Pace RC200F8 (Disc) ***

Pace RC200F8 (Team) ****

Pace RC200F8 (Grey XTR/Crossmax) ****

GT STS ****
Funny little hardtail *****

Trek 8900 ****

The First Bike I made (which I broke in the University Car Park) *

Orange Patriot (Magura Forks & Brakes) **
Orange Patriot (DH build) ***

Rocky Mountain Switch **

Orange Patriot (Custom Flames, Shiver SC, Race Face) *****

Litespeed Owl Hollow FS ****

Flameboy (the second bike I drew and had made in China)

Pace RC250T (Street Build) ***

Orange 223 ****

Orange Patriot 7+ ***

Specialized Pitch *****

88 – Raleigh Mustang
89 – Raleigh Lizard
89 – Al Carter DX
91 – Ridgeback 603
94 – Parkpre something
95 – Saracen Tuftrax
97 – Diamond Back Topanga
99 – GT Backwoods
then no biking until…

03 – Spesh Epic
and in random order since then
Giant VT
Giant Trance
Orange 5
Stumpy fsr
Yeti 575
Cove Handjob
GT Avalanche
Litespeed something
Giant NRS Composite

current bikes…

On One456 (now missus bike)
Scott Spark
Felt Virtue

’97 Rockhopper
Scoot Octane FX3 (MBR test bike – cheers Brant :wink:)
’05 FSR XC Pro
’06 Inbred
’08 Uncle John

Still using the last 3. The Octane frame is in terrahawk’s underground lair. The Rockhopper has been sold on about 4 times but is still going strong.

Carrera Krakatoa (1998 ish)
Raleigh Montane x2 (both got stolen)
GT Timberline ( old steel framed grey speckled paintwork)
GT Pantera with RS Quadra 21’s (Nasty fork lol)
GT ZaskarLE (1999) frame set ended up with mainly XTR and Pace EVOII forks.
SC Superlight
SC Superlight (New design frame as old one cracked)
And have now resurected the Zaskar and it flies :o)

Flamejob’s Pace just gave me the horn. That would have been from about the time I had my Endorphin.

Just noticed a mistake in my list, sorry it was late when I posted. I didn’t get the Blur until after I’d sold the Wilier so it should read:
Raleigh Marauder
GT Outpost
Diamondback Apex
Scott Endorphin
Scott Endorphin and Zeus road bike
Scott Endorphin, Zeus road bike and Kona Humu 7
Santa Cruz Superlight, Zeus road bike and Kona Humu 7
Santa Cruz Superlight and Wilier Lavaredo road bike
Santa Cruz Blur
Santa Cruz Blur and Kona Explosif
On One Inbred 456 and Kona Explosif
On One Inbred 456
On One Inbred 456 and (reunited with) Diamondback Apex!

Jeebus. I had one of those pro-flex bikes circa 1997. I didn’t realise it at the time though as it was given to me by the father of my then girlfriend.

willej – Member
Flamejob’s Pace just gave me the horn. That would have been from about the time I had my Endorphin.

I assume you mean the grey one? I loved that bike ;(

Don’t you think it is funny that we mostly seem to do things in waves, me with Oranges and Paces, twonks GTs and SCs, willej Scott SC, On One etc ??

Get the feeling I’ve kept my bikes for too long! When ownership overlapped I could never bring myself to ride my older of the bikes as the newer one were always a step up.

a raleigh for 50 quid in 1988
alpine stars around about £400
then a diamond back apex full xt rigid
p7 with girvin forks
new p7 with rockshox
new p7 with pace forks
pace rc200 with pace and xt new in 1997 ish
specialized stumpjumper 2006
scott scale 30 in 2008
scott scale 10 in 2009

looking back worse decision was the girvin forks, and fondest memory alpine stars is deeply missed

95 Marin Palisades Trail
97 Specialized Rockhopper
99 GT LTS 2000
03 Klein Attitude Comp
06 Specialized Enduro

Don’t plan on changing the Enduro anytime soon cos I still love it every time I ride

God there’s some history here. And some people who’ve been riding a long time (and should probably know better)

This one flamejob:

Yes, agree about the waves/phases. You can see in my history that it also correlates to my financial status and willingness to use credit ;o)

94 Marin Palisades Trail
95 Marin Pine Mountain
97 Mt Vision (still have the frame)
98 Mt Vision Pro
99 Mt Vision Pro
01 Mt Vision Pro
Whyte PRST-1
Whyte PRST-4
05 Whyte 19 SS (still have)
06 Whyte 19 Race (still have)
06 Whyte E-5 (still have)
09 Whyte 19 Ti SS (still have)

Emelle Cheetah (skipped after years of doing my paper round it was dead)
Iron horse flagstaff (snapped headtube off)
Marin B17 (snapped into 5 bits, warrentied and sold)
Spesh hardrock (still got)
Coyote DH3 (sold)
DMR trailstar (snapped headtube off)
Dawes Oxide (sold)
Mr Big ST10 (still got)
Kona Mcrae SS (still got )
Gary fisher Rig SS (still got)
Santa Cruz heckler (sold)
Merida FLX 3500D

Lots of these overlapped each other

Mongoose Zero G SX 1998
On-One Inbred s/s 2000
Gary Fisher Sugar
Giant XTC self build
1992 Kona Fire Mountain retro build project
Giant NRS Carbon Comp
Giant Trance1 self build
On-One 853 geared Inbred
Nicolai Argon singlespeed (still own)
Giant XTC self build (still own)

Dibbs, do you work for Marin/ATB Sales? If not that’s some serious brand loyalty!

My 1st off road bike was back in the early 70s it wasnt a mountain bike because there wasnt such a thing those days but a gang of us used to make bikes to ride on the rough

Mine was a 3 speed 24 inch wheel frame with everything unnecessary hacksawed off and filed down to save weight. It had handlebars off a motorbike trials bike, handlebar grips made out of inner tube wired on and a brooks saddle off my dads bike. Our next door neighbour had a garage and we used to do his garden in return for getting frames brazed back together which was a pretty common job. He even made me a set of forks with straight legs and an offset crown which took a 26 inch wheel.

88 MBK falcone
91 dawes something or other
94 Specialized Stumpy stolen in 99 replaced by a
99 Specialized Stumpy mangled in a accident replaced by a
99 Marin Mount Vision still going (just)
03 GT I-Drive sold after 2 weeks at a vast loss
06 On-One Scandal

My mountain bike history is pretty much as follows:
1992-2000 Marin Bear Valley (until stolen)
2000-2004 GT Avalanche which was upgarded over time (until stolen)
2004-2009 Cove Stiffee (until stolen)
2009 Cove Stiffee mark 2

Can you tell I am a cheap skate.

Forgot the Carver 96’er.

85-88 Muddy Fox Bigfoot. Got Nicked.
88-90 Muddy Fox Courier in white with lilac fade, chainstay mounted u-brake, indexed thumbies and 24 Carat gold inlay in the outer chainring. Got Nicked.
90-Present Giant Coldrock. In bits outside awaiting rebuild as electic bike.
93-97 Dynatech Mt4000ti in lurvelly pearlescent purple. Downtube snapped 2 years after crash at Malverns ’95.
97-02 Kona Manomano. In bits outside awaiting retro re-build
02-present Kona Stinky. Still loving every minute I ride this.

86 – Rockhopper
88 – Roberts white spider frame built up with components off the Rockhopper. Frame now rusty and hanging on a nail in the garage.
98 – Marin East Peak – still in the garage needing new cables.
3 Children came along including twins and it didn’t get that much use. In fact bar the headset and pedals it is totally original.
06- Thorn Catalyst. Bought as an on road commuter but decided to try it out off road last year and now commute off road and use it as my only bike.

So only 3 bikes and 1 frame in 23 years. 2011 will be 25 years since I bought my first mountain bike and I plan to buy something new to celebrate that. At the moment the favourite is a Van Nicholas Zion Rohloff frame and I’ll use most of the parts from the Catalyst for it to start. Of course I’m open to other suggestions as to what to get but somehow Ti seems the appropriate way to celebrate a silver jubilee.

GT outpost (made of iron, lead and other very heavy metals)
GT Avalance 1.0
Gary Fisher Fat Possum LX
Yeti 575 ’07 (snapped going “up-hill”)
Yeti 575 ’08
This last one is the best bike I’ve ever ridden except maybe amn intense I borrowed off a mate for a day. Love it.