What's your favourite bit of retro MTB technology?

How about the shark fin?

yep had one of those as well and biopoace chainrings 😀 I also loved the onza porcupine and ritchey megabite tyre combo as came in a massive 2.1" size for the front ant the porc sounded like a tractor when riding on the road

I also had one of these in black with flouro bits It got nicked and I'm still gutted

Magura Hydro Brakes

Toeclips and straps for me. Resisted spds for ages and despite using spds for 5 or 6 years I'm still not as confident on the 'silly steep' downs as I was with Mt. Christophe clips and straps. There's also something fantastically functional and purposeful about them

Last time I was in Stafford they still had an XT shark fin in Henry Burton's museum of cycling. Like to think it was ironic but not sure…

Third eye chain watcher(?) was good too. Something to keep your chain from overshooting granny ring if you were too retarded to adjust your mech

I have a sharkfin and hite-rite fitted to my '92 Breezer storm! And now skinwall tyres.

Magura Hydro Brakes

Still going strong – have them on both my singlespeeds:

Mid-90s Racelines – polished silver, with trick after-market CNC levers.

25th Anniversary Racelines, with red anodised CNC braces and levers.

In the dry they are the best brakes in the world – but discs are better when it's wet, just not as cool 8)

Browning Electronic Accushift Shifting Technology (BEAST)

(bought 4 sets when they were selling them off at 10% of original rrp – tried one set and couldn't see how it was supposed to work, mixing close tolerances with bendy plastic bits

Tangent should be on this retro thread he loves purple.

The Bullet Brothers chain tensioner.

ransos, I'm loving your bike! Fantastic effort

Thanks! If you head over to retrobike, they're having a bit of a Breezer orgy at the moment. Joe Breeze has even posted some pictures!

I've got a shark fin on my 456.

Evolution headsets! Just coming nicely back into fashion for my 1990 Aluminium Orange.

I was still using until about 2 years ago a Hypercracker for removing cassettes, which I must have got back in about '93. It has only been the newer Hope hubs that it has failed to fit.
I now have the proper tools for the job and have to say that they are far easier. It was a right faff getting the wheel back in with the hypercracker in place and managing to get the chain and cranks in a good place to apply the pressure to undo the lockring.

The Kona Impact headset was also a great invention as it was an old style headset you could do up with just an allen key.

Always wanted these

I've got one of these in my attic – brand new in its box. 16 gears on a single chainring.

Maybe I should combine it with my Rohloff hub to get 16X14 gears = umpteen brassillion. That would make for a spectacular defection from single speed.

Mmmm, I can see another Frankenbike coming up…

BTW also got most of a Browning auto trans.

elliptic – Member

Wedge packs that you put in the join of the seat and top tube

I had one of those!

On my pearly white Courier for shouldering it up stupidly steep hills on Lakes epics.

[misty-eyed] Those were the days… [/misty-eyed]
one of these tool kits on my MF courier which i thought was so cool with plastic rear wheel disc!, i had bio pace chainrings too and afyer market wheelset which had suntour large flange hubs… a sought after rariety by the retro brigade nowadays..

I have a hite rite, sharks fin and tooth, chainstay U brake and biopace rings all fitted to the same bike 🙂

Nobody has mentioned the Cog Hog yet – turns a non-Shadow rear mech into something that shifts considerably bettetangan it did. Mine has been on three bikes and is sitting in my parts box awaiting its next use.

I always wanted one of the XTR satellite shifters, although they actually looked awful when fitted, and I'm not sure they were that useful!

Always wanted, but never owned, some Kona – I think they were called Dr Dews, brake lever extensions, they pointed forwards from your existing levers. The idea was that you could still use your brakes, whilst on you bar ends!

Top Left

The Ginger one – beat me to it. I use my Hypercracker pretty regularly and find it very easy to use. So, it's officially ace. ;0)

Oh god, on my old Raleigh I had a Girvin Flexstem and a DCD. Then on my Kona I had the afformentioned Onza elastomer pedals (that were utter, utter junk).

XTR satellite shifters

I've honestly always thought these were an April Fool. They were real? Scout's honour?

2retro4u
Marin County, Cali

2retro4u
Marin County, Cali

2retro4u
Marin County, Cali

2retro4u
Marin County, Cali

Fibreglass X-frames

Brilliant set of posts Repack Rider!

I always fancied one of those Tioga solid rear wheels that Tomic sported for a season or 3.

This is mean guys! I still have thumb shifters, sharkfin, flex stem, and seatpost pump on my Stumpjumper !!! Ok its a Touring bike now but still does the odd bridle path…. And I still have the Biopace rings it came with. 😳

Specialized Ground Control
Best tyre ever!

Girvin forks – I love them 🙂

Raleigh Dynatech M-Trax Diablo DX

Steel and Ti in a perfect heavy harmony.. still wanted one

I still have one of the Frames.

Specialized Ground Control
Best tyre ever!

+1

With an Extreme or More Extreme on the back.

second the ground controls has anyone tried to pertition specialized to remake some i would love a couple of sets.
thwang