[Closed] On the other hand, The best bike you ever owned?

Raleigh activator. The dogs back then....

The one bike I won't ever sell . Have a spare frame in the loft just in case!
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Ibis Mojo. I've been riding this pesto coloured mother****** since 2007 and it still makes me smile and whoop!

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I'll NEVER sell or replace it.

Ellsworth Distance. Nice and long and quite slack for the times. Durability a bit suspect (I went through about 5 frames, all warrantied) but lovely to ride.

My current one.

Trek scratch, the only part from the original bike is the frame.

It fits me perfectly, can go a lot faster than I can and still climbs well despite 170mm travel!

'95. Marin. Steel.

Perfection. Love that bike!

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Had it a few years now, I had a period of about a year another bike but returned to it and sold the other bike. I just really, really get on with it.

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This:

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Utterly mindblowing bike. A triumph in suspension kinematics over wheelsize.

Kona explosif from 1999. I did absolutely ridiculous things on that bike considering it had 80mm travel and v-brakes. Ive been chasing that perfect blend ever since and never quite found it.

I need to balance out the Zesty hatred from the other thread so here's the best bike i've ever owned.

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I've only been mountain biking about 4 years but before buying my full sue I demoed loads of bikes and I can honestly say that I bought the right one. Therefore my Blur TRc which I still own, and probably will until I break it, is the best bike I've ever owned. Light, playful, pedals well and incredibly confidence inspiring. It can be used for anything I rekon if set up right, proper xc to light DH 😀

Jones. 3 years on the Ti sf, still get off it grinning, knowing there's nothing quite like it.

My road bike, it's an Ali frame with 105 5600 and fulcrum 5s but I am constantly impressed that I'm comfy on it (despite what people carp on about Ali frames) and it handles great

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If I could only have one bike it'd be this one.
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Perfect bike for the Chase sold it when I moved to the Lakes 🙁
[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/49/136528697_e82bd266a4_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/49/136528697_e82bd266a4_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/d4Ke4 ]DSC00450[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/22534490@N00/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr

Either my 12 year old merlin magia road bike ( merlin USA )
Or my 2003 enduro sx , still takes a beating and keeps going

'09 Giant Anthem Advanced.
Last of the true xc race type before they all became the Anthem X.
So quick & light, did so much on it & now kept purely to look at!

Postie, said it before and I'll say it again, that bike looks perfect. The angles are just right.

agree with that flash, if it was the blue ss bike. lovely looking bike.

My Pivot Mach 4, inspires and encourages me to ride places and things (up and down) that I never thought I could, then asks for more.

My brown/cream On One 456.

Brilliant frame that was £125. Decorated it with all sorts of bits, thrown it down all sorts of trails. Love it.

Just for Flash! In its coat of many colours 🙂

[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3123/2305449626_e3e28efaef_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3123/2305449626_e3e28efaef_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/4vJ2Ru ]DSC00114[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/22534490@N00/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr

[url= https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2304/2426004006_9be6dc921b_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2304/2426004006_9be6dc921b_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/4GnUth ]DSC00320[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/22534490@N00/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr

[url= https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6065/6046490737_42fd531de6_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6065/6046490737_42fd531de6_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/adiR3i ]P8153891[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/22534490@N00/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr

agree with that flash, if it was the blue ss bike. lovely looking bike.

I'd assumed it was the same bike.

Always looked "just right".

*Edit - See above!*

kinematics

kine****ingwhat?

Back to the OP. My Pompino.
Its in the shed loft. Probably will be for years. But I'll never lose it.

It made me who I am and was part of building my family.
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'Trusty Rusty' of course, here at Hamsterley in 1995ish...

[url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5579/14753111237_ab8bc435b9.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5579/14753111237_ab8bc435b9.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/otFxYR ]001 (2)[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/7904024@N08/ ]jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

& this September in Scotland...

[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3852/15312970195_e59c071571.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3852/15312970195_e59c071571.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/pk9Yxv ]Camban trip, Sept 2014 027[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/7904024@N08/ ]jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

Same bike only 'different'. Triggers brush to a new level but I'll never ever get rid of it.

Edit, I've still got (& use) the Buffalo windshirt in the 1st photo.

Well the little orange Tazer was so good I bought it twice 😳 but if I had to choose it'd have to be the lovely Hooker . . . hey, it's been 18 months now 😛

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that's sweet, essel.

Evil Sovereign

Cannondale scalpel 1 from 2012 - it was a rebuilt as a 1 x 10 with sram xx and quite a few weight weenie parts.
Awesome bike and its a keeper.

A strange one but I had a Beone team frame which I stripped the paint off - the frame was only 950 grams after a re spray of clear laquer. It's been a single speed for 4 years and over 12000 miles. It's a great frame and worth nothing but sutch an awesome bike to ride.

I also bilt up a weight weenie Dahon folding bike which has american Classic aero wheels and a full dura ace group set. Anyway, it's bee used for many longer road rides including a 126 miles rook of lake geneva. It is totally unique and rides well. Just a really enjoyable thing to take for a spin.

This old Klein was a cracker and did lots of action at Cannock Wyre Brenin Machynlleth. Totally overwhelmed Judy forks somewhere near Buttonoak circa 98

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Fully upgraded to Marzocchi forks and a single disc upfront for Alpine action
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Loved my Zesty. It would have been in my possession for a long time if it hadn't been nicked. Search online for it every day

My Salsa Mukluk, god she's so much fun to ride, to the point where I just can't get enough of her 😉 old pic, have changed a few bits and bobs but still the same bike, my absolute favourite, in love! <3
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2001 Litespeed Kitsuma, updated recently with a new fork (bought last year when you could still get straight 1 1/8" steerers relatively easily) and XT brakes.

Every time I ride it, which to be honest is mostly in the summer on nice days now (after all it is my 'best bike'), I realise how much I enjoy the whole experience* and why I bought it in the first place.

* the ride, the 'feel', it's lightness, the way it looks modern even though approaching 14 years old, the memories etc.

My Salsa Mukluk,

good god man! did you let your wife colourway your bike too!!! 😉

PS you appear to have let her fit a chainstay protector....to an SS. Have a word...

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Is this you?
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I never thought I'd even admit this to myself, let alone say it on a forum...but it has to be my 29er Stumpy Evo. This is my fifth fuss suss bike and my fourth Specialized, it just feels so damned right.

The frame that started it all for me hangs on the living room wall - a 2004 Enduro. I've covered some 12k miles on it, with four different forks, three drivetrains and two sets of wheels and I retired it back in 2012. Compared with the bike I replaced it with (a Camber), it felt flexy and squat prone to ride but I can't part with it.

Cannondale Prophet. Had many adventures on it in the 5 years I rode it, such a versatile bike.
I've recently moved on to something newer with more complicated suspension but I can't bring myself to let the Prophet go![URL= http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq245/SimonB_09/Image0110.jp g" target="_blank">http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq245/SimonB_09/Image0110.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

that's sweet, essel.

Cheers Stoner!
The only original parts of Trusty are the right hand seat & chainstays. It's a fillet brazed Tange Prestige frame & every other tube has been replaced never mind the other bits!

Triggers brush? This is waay beyond that!

Hah! Trigger's broom indeed.

Wouldnt it have been kinder to put the ol'girl down rather than replace both her hip joints?

1999 853 gun metal gray Kona explosif absolutely brilliant bike. I've still got it I would never sell it.

Ha! If/when she goes she'll be going on the living room wall!
Plenty miles in old Trusty yet, I know!

As mentioned in other thread- Alpine 160 with Marz 55Tis and CCDB.

[img][url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3591/3360080935_afc6d956b7_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3591/3360080935_afc6d956b7_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/67VhZV ]Orange ST4[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/88555557@N00/ ]matt_outandabout[/url], on Flickr[/img]
A fabulous thing.
Just enough cush on the seated, smaller stuff. Not so much that it was like a marshmallow to get the power down on.
Felt like it had a secret auto-switch to open up more travel at the back, just when you needed it.
By 'eck it were fast downhill on your average trail / rocky landrover track / red route / forest leckin' about singletrack.
I miss it.

My Norco Sight, such a capable bike and has me grinning from ear to ear. Never had a bad ride on it, it just wants to be opened up and ridden hard and fast (ooo errr missus). Recently upgraded the wheels and it feels a completely new bike.

My current one and first full suss. So stable and I feel like it gets me away with a lot of stupid things and scares the hell out of me without killing me!

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MY GOD MAN...... are you trying to make STW implode?

My Niner.

1998 Specialized Rockhopper..

currently sat in bits upstairs awaiting a powdercoat (undecided on the colour though!) as its looking a bit worse for wear after 16 years.. 😀

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Best.
Bike.
EVER.

I love all my bikes, wouldn't keep them if I didn't. But this one's the keeper, had it for most of my riding life

[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3916/14330091232_fb3f68afcf_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3916/14330091232_fb3f68afcf_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/nQisSu ]IMG_2742[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/53860438@N06/ ]Northwindlowlander[/url], on Flickr

Very different from how it started out- more travels, more slacks, more carbons, less paint. Er, technically not the same bike at all because of all the replacement parts, I think maybe there's 100 grams or so of the first build left, and that includes the frame. Basically, some of the pivot hardware 😆

Stumpy FSR circa '07 or my Orange P7 circa '04. Loved both bikes and miss them both. Also love my Charge Cooker but need to get away on decent trails to give it a proper run in.

2003 Marin Wildcat Trail hardtail. Bought at university, ignited my love of mountain biking. Its had 3 sets of forks, been singlespeed, survived a million crashes. Not built up as its at my parents but will be again. I remember reading a guy on bikemagic had a custom Ti frame built to the exact geometry of the same frame. I would be very tempted to do something similar if it ever breaks.

I'm also developing some serious love for my old but new too me charge duster frame. SS and rigid and way more fun than it has any right to be.

good god man! did you let your wife colourway your bike too!!!

PS you appear to have let her fit a chainstay protector....to an SS.

...and put the rotors on backwards, which is more of a concern.

Im a serial bike buyer, but my fave trail bike was a Commencal Super 4. And I would love another. There must be some unsold ones hanging about in an Andorran warehouse.....

Curtis SuperX a 21st birthday present from my parents. It looks a bit tatty round the edges and needs a respray but nothing else I have ridden compares to it flies out of corners.

[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3887/15033354650_3b46094237_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3887/15033354650_3b46094237_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/oUrSzQ ]Sunshine[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/16949733@N00/ ]Mike Smith 79[/url], on Flickr
the current one, light enough, strong enough, tough enough, great design just does everything I ask of it. Before that all my bikes felt too much of a compromise with longer forks than recommended or built burly or too light etc.

My.Santa Cruz Chameleon. Until I broke it. Great fun to ride.

Probably this, more smiles per mile than any other bike I've owned.
(Currently with me on a 5 month trip round Australia)

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I really miss the Sanderson Life which was nicked a few years ago, and which really got me into the whole thing. I agree with Northwind in that if I don't love a bike I don't keep it. That said, I've loved the numerous Cotics I've owned, but haven't got one now. So, the best bike I've ever owned must be my Kinesis Sync.

Mine has to be without doubt my Commencal Meta AM29. Despite the fact I've thought about selling it more than once. It's immensely capable, fast, agile and brilliant at battering through stuff I couldn't ride on 90% of bikes. I'm not the greatest rider ever and as a skills compensator it's exceptional.

I have 2 - A Trek Remedy and Ragley Blue Pig. Both are brilliant to ride and so very fast!. Sold the Blue Pig to fund a Banshee Paradox 29er which i am now selling to fund a new Blue Pig. It was an experiment I felt I had to try and am happy to go back. I still have the trek, at first I didn't think I would like it as it was a from a big manufacturer and I was always into Santa Cruzes or Oranges but I am glad to be proved very wrong!

Through rose tinted glasses it would be my Trek Y22.. Just because I loved the way it looked. In reality it was probably my Orange ST4, went uphill very well and came down hill quicker than a dose of the tex ritters! Was immensely quick through flat singletrack aswell.

I did however learn and push it more than I have ever done before on the Orange 5 I had.. Bit of a slog going uphill but really nice to fling down the other side.

I have had 3 Cotic Souls though and the current frame is in it's 3rd stint under my ownership. So I guess the Soul must be up there aswell. Just feels right for the riding I do and love the way it looks and handles.

Ideally I'd have an ST4 and the Soul.. But I can't justify both.

So to sum up.... I have no idea which one I like(d) the most... Sorry!

I have very fond memories of most of my old bikes but my current 2012 NP Mega is my all time favourite as I custom built it down to each individual bolt.

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Excuse the cable holocaust.

I've still got my mid 90s Kona Explosif, which must say something about it. I've made it into a single speed and it remains a lot of fun. Other than that it has to be my Dialled Alpine. If ever I am going somewhere I haven't ridden before it is the bike of choice, as it is so confidence inspiring.

it's this for me, my Yeti Bigtop... it's fast, light and is more capable than i think a hardtail should be. it's the only 29er i've ridden, the only thing i'd change is possibly a fork upgrade, but i love this bike, make no mistake, it'll be mine for a very, very long time...

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I've loved all my previous bikes, but my current Spitty is by far my favourite. It's just so right and I can ride everything I want on it. The only bike I regret selling was my Stiffee as it was the best bike I've had bar the Spitty.

My current Five is probably on paper and in reality the best bike I've ever owned. Its got a load of nice stuff on it and its as good as the hype suggested it would be but it feels a bit like its 'just a bike'. Doesn't stop me having fun on it etc and its a giggle to ride.

So that means its down to my mk1 Chameleon really. Bought when my GT Zaskar was nicked when I was about 18 from Stif who did a completely custom build on it complete with the first set of 5" Z1 BAMs in the country. It was so different to anything else out there at the time and it rode absolutely brilliantly. Hope C2 up front, XT V out back, XT/LX gears, Bonty finishing kit and D521 CD rims. Was an ace all rounder and I was devasted when that was nicked too less than a year later.

Oddly I built up pretty much the same bike again a few years back and it was crap. Guess I've got used to better suspension, better gears, brakes and bloody massive bars.

Close call between the Kona Explosif 650b and the Stooge in SS guise.
They are very different but both incredibly fun. This time of year I think the Stooge gets it. Simple build, rigid & ss, means I can ride silently and trouble free and put it away until the next ride.

Similarly my ASR5 is the best bike I've had, and all round I love it.

However, my Enigma Ego 26 is such a well, "enigma" in the way it can swoop through summer singletrack, race XC courses and somehow also handle off big rocks in a 100mm XC guide that despite an emotional attachment, its the one bike I'd keep.

mk2 inbred. Did everything, geared hardtail, rigid commuter, trailer wagon and best of all - rigid singlespeed. Rode it until it was battered and rusty then gave it to a mate.

Planet-X Jack Flash, bought from £28. When built properly with rigid or light ish forks, 1x drive chain and reasonable wheels is was the most fun bike I have ever owned, like a bog BMX. Sadly, I decided to spoil it by adding biker forks and heavier wheels in the hope of building a mini-DH bike. Then I hated it and sold it.

That or my Orbea roadie. Faster than I ever will be and fits me like a glove.

Still this, still going
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My first full sus, Rocky Mountain Instinct is a close second. That bike was so fast... and it could go all day.. (or maybe that was down to me being rather fitter back then)
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For me, the best bike I had would be a toss up between my MK1 Soul with 100mm float's or my Cannondale Prophet with a set of 140mm Pikes.

My mk1 Chameleon. 14.5", v-brake, singlespeed, plush 80mm Marzocchi oil forks on the front.

The phrase "hooligan hardtail" never made sense to me until I rode that bike. It just begged to be hopped and launched off every single curb, wall, bump, hillock and speedbump in site.

My 2003 Turner 5 spot - I rode that thing for 8 years all across UK, Europe, Oz, NZ, US & Canada. It took everything in its stride. Built with Marzocchi Z1s, XT, Chris King and Magura Louise brakes I hardly changed anything in those 8 years - just consumables.

My 2011 5 spot is a real improvement, I love it but I still haven't got the same affection for it as the old one.

I would say my old Santa Cruz Blur 4X.

That thing was great fun. I think I had that bike for 5 years 🙂

Tempted to get a little Blur TR to razz around on for the winter.

1993 Marin Palisades Trail.
Lovely bike, fitted perfectly and handled well, light and tough.

I'd have one today with wider bars & discs.

My Giant Propel race bike. I can honestly say that it makes more than the most of my modest skills.

Off road, the list is short, but I prefer my Genesis IO to the Kona Unit it replaced.

My tallboy, i liked my previous one but this one is fantastic.