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I was riding my Condor Diablo. The same beastie, as it happens, that I rode into work on this morning 🙂
20 years ago....
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This morning.....
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Everyone had a Marin Pine Mountain at some point back in the day, for good reason too as they were a cracking bike with light tange tubing, my stem was 130mm if i remember right along with skinny cut down ultralight bars and manitou 2 forks with a whopping 40mm of saggy elastomer travel.
Road bikes and a ropey MTB that I used on cycle paths as that as off road
Marin Palisades with grey frame and yellow luminous fork.
Still have a '92 Orange Clockwork as my pub bike.
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Lots of Marins back in the day. Birthday money and paper round wages got me a second hand Palisades Trail my Mum spotted advertised in The Hull Daily Mail.
Vicky Gardener. Drifts off and gets stiffy.
My GT Timberline. It was metallic green then though, & had rigid forks. The RockShox Quadras came along later, & then came the respray, to try & make it look like a ball burnished Zaskar. 🙂
The decals are actually made from insulating tape...!!!
My brother has commuted on it for years. I've told him I want first refusal if he gets rid. Christ knows why... 🙂
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7128/7152504567_a761da13f8_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/takisawa2/7152504567/ ]IMAG0510[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/takisawa2/ ]pten2106[/url], on Flickr
I had not long since sold this beast:
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This pic's more recent than that, but I bought this bike in 91 I think. Still got it, it's my commuter now. (that's me up the back- my brothers up front on Halfords Sarcinz. Mine is a Carrera Krakatoa, ace thing.
[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6117/6224852810_f3a3c4495a_b.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/53860438@N06/6224852810/ ]Old school[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/53860438@N06/ ]Northwindlowlander[/url], on Flickr
Saracen Sahara Elite, and the wife on a Carrera Karakorum.Simple bikes which we had great times on. Both seem a world away from today's bikes.
love all the old marin pics i desperately wanted a palisades but couldn't really afford it...
i had a peugeot surfer, which was purple with yellow handle bars and a pink fork... can't find picture of it anywhere...
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7274/7846895692_f6fdf6d01c.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/fr0gd0g/7846895692/ ]Malverns "92[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/fr0gd0g/ ]Kerv F[/url], on Flickr
GT Zaskar. 😀
Great to see so many Marins
I still use my Bear Valley from 20 years back
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/high fives the GT brothers/
'91 Timberline. This one's not mine, it's the same but you'll have to imagine the seat at full hoist...
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STI100 gears, bio pace rings, the most astonishingly rigid hi tensile frame
Fisher CR-7, Pace Rc30's, Cooks Bros cranks and Ti bars, custom Steve Wade modded pace style flexstem, rolled ma40's, Magura hs33's with trimmed levers and roko lever skins.
Or maybe I'd just got my yo eddy with rc35s.
Some cheap crappy old Townsend ATB. Only had it for about 2 weeks though before it got nicked!!
Didn't have a bike for a few years after that though until the bro-in-law gave me his dyna-tech.
Probably a vitus 979, I thought I was Sean Kelly 😳
My first wife
CFH, I wish I had pictures! It was purple enamel on the funks then, not anodised. Remember being given the wrong size and cycling from market harborough to Nottingham with the forks on my back as they didn't fit the headtube when I went to build it up. Turns out the forks were fine. They'd given me a 20" instead of an 18" so it was back the following weekend on the train. Didn't fancy trying the ride with a frame on my back.
Some woman knocked me off my 1990 team Marin. It was the insurance money that paid for it.
A '91 Specialized Hardrock...T bone stem, Brahma bars, LX two finger brake levers, Ground control tyres (fitted after I found out why all my mates called Tioga Mud Dawgs "clog dogs")
Sold the bike to my brother when I moved to Germany in the mid 90's (and bought a Proflex 855... 8) )
a 'Probike' bought for £125.
Not a good bike at all. But made me swear to buy a decent one as soon as I had the cash!
Another .GT Timberline here ...after snapping my Diamond back topanga ...loved that .GT
In 1992 I was still on my custom Alves, back then it was duck egg blue, the same colour as the soon to be launched bottom of the range Raleigh Maverick. It was built hy a hippy at the end of an unpaved road up near Elgin on the Moray coast.
I still have it. The last pesron to ride it was Jacquie Phelan, which was cool as it has a pair of Charlie's hubs. It had IRD ti forks, switchback brakes and seat post. Mr IRD was was pretty stoked to still see the parts were out on the trails.
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Tasty forks. What are they?
It had IRD ti forks
Sorry, should have read it in the first place 🙂
Still v. tasty.
My Dad leant me his Al Carter
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He still had the thing up til last year, when we had to abandon it in his sister's garage. What a heap o junk.
Got me hooked though
Just crying out for a kickstand to make it complete.What a heap o junk.
I'm pretty sure I'd just bent my Trek 930 and got a Dynatech MT-4 to put all the bits (Mavic cranks, Pace rings, Magura Hydrostops, onZa bar ends, USE post, Flite etc) on. So a bit like this:
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Actually, thinking about it, I'd had it a few months then, it was probably almost exactly 20 years ago that I raced it at a NEMBA at Lyme Park and bent the back end in the trials comp on account of being no good at trials. Raleigh mended it, which was nice, but not long after that I wrapped it around a gate above Hayfield. Bought a second-hand Cannondale frame to replace it, which I still have.
Either a Overbury's Pioneer that got knicked or the Kona Kileau in Navy blue that replaced it. Infact it was probably both as as it was the year of the theft.
Here is me on the Kona 94
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sneaking a go on my mates Explosif
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A mk1 Carrera Krakatoa with the black with yellow splatter that looked like a low-rent copy of a Kona paint job. I really wanted a Klein Attitude, Fisher CR7 or a Kona Explosif! I would have 'settled' for a Saracen Trekker or a Specialized Rockhopper though...
Resprayed Dawes Ascent, metallic burgundy, all parts gradually upgraded to decent level when I could afford - mostly DX.
Got some Mavic 230s which were ridiculously light, but quickly became apparent were not made of just any cheese, but brie....
I went through three bikes in quick succession around this time, so either a Raleigh Technium Chill, the same as Singlespeedstu's, or a 1991 Saracen Tufftrax comp that got nicked on my paper round, or the replacement; a 1990 pre elevated chain stay Alpinestars Al-Mega (had the black paint job XT frame but DX groupset)..bought secondhand from someone in Wales through the MBUK classifieds. I pimped it up with the obligatory white Onza Porcupines, USE seat post etc. and lots of anodised purple bits...I also remember desperately wanting to fit a Syncros 150mm/0 degree stem....
It was like this (Not mine:)
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Kona Explosif pro (yes pro,no expense spared in those racy 90s ) 😉
Saracen Tufftrax.
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6442883163_257443d604_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmygrainger/6442883163/ ]img050[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/jimmygrainger/ ]jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr
A 1990 Diamond Back Topanga, I was only 11/12yrs old 😯
[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6107/6333080648_30644a6033.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/phatmike/6333080648/ ]Diamondback Topanga[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/phatmike/ ]phatmike[/url], on Flickr
A Diamondback Ascent EX, in a strange but rather good swirly grey colour with LX groupset and Tioga finishing kit. Just seen one like it for sale on the internet for $500; mine went down the tip during a clearout although I did find the chainset and a few other bits in a box in the garage last week.
My first mountain bike - a 2nd hand bright red Trek Singletrack 930 bought from an auction, got a lot to answer for that bike has. 🙂
I was riding one of either a GT RTS-1, or my Mountain Cycle San Andreas.
Which one was dependant on the speed of either GT uk, or Mountain Cycle in the US to supply me with one of the many warrantee frames i had from them.
Mountain Cycles were quicker at doing it than Tim Flooks. So, i was more often riding the San Andreas. Great bike (or so i thought at the time)
A Townsend Smoky Bear...
It was truly dreadful but did get me around. I really wanted a Marin or an Orange, still have never owned either of those brands. One day I will.
is it too late to say "your mum"?
One of these with white Scott Unishocks, Flexstem (overkill? . . . no change there then 😆 ) and purple bits 8)
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A bright orange GT Pantera AL
I saw it advertised in MBUK and had to have one, it replaced my Ridgeback ? Yellow and blue that was a few years old already,
Christ its been a long time,
An '89 Peugeot Laser ATB, frame size at least 4" bigger than I would choose nowadays and mahoosive red anodized bar-ends. I think I've still got the bar-ends somewhere... 8)
either a 5 Speed Racer or a 21 speed MBK Monaco in Bright neon green with index shifters that never indexed.
this one isn't mine but it was the same as my fine ride. i had to miss the school ski trip to get this. totally worth it!
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An '86 Rockhopper, which I stupidly sold in 1997. X28 rims, spesh sealed hubs, Deore groupset, alpine gearing, DX pedals and thumbies. Loved it to bits and rode it far more than anything since. Only mods were an Avocet computer, B66 saddle, Blumels mtn pump and guards, Tricross front tyre for comfort & Sedisport 6 speed chain with Suntour 6 speed cluster once the original 5 speed kit had died.
28lbs of rigid perfection.
A gt tequesta in "I'veeaten toothpaste and sicked it up on a frame blue'
one of these bad boys. got robbed on me paper round. but without shockos
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then I got an insurance raliegh amazon, thanks mum
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until I saved up glass collection money for this.
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untill that got robbed outside 6th form
I then threw myself into booze and chicks for a few years until I bought a 1998 kona cindercone, which is a triggers broom cotic soul now.
I was riding a rockhopper. In fact the very same rockhopper that I have just bought off of here. It's just as beautiful as I remember it 🙂
20 years ago I didn't have a mtb 🙁
Had one of these though:
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8)
i was riding one of these bad boys (NOT MY PHOTO) 😀 [img] 
[/img] i loved it 😀
EDIT up to that point i was riding a 1988 dawes ascent mountain bike.the eldridge grade felt like night had become day in comparison 😀
In '92 I just bought my first mountain bike, another Marin Eldridge Grade. Great bike, lasted for years and never broke. I never replaced the chainset either and it didn't seem to matter at all.
I think I was riding a Trek 8500 or 8700 hardtail, it had aluminium tubes glued to the lugs, black with a white splatter finish, rigid "big fork". I took it on the 'plane to Malaga, put it in the hold of the bus to Motril and rode it up into the Sierra Nevada to visit some friends living in a commune in Orgiva... only to find that they had gone back to England!
I was also reading magazines like this:
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Black Kona Cindercone. Pink Onza bar ends, pink pump, pink frame bag - what can I say, pink was in!
Still got it and still using the frame.
Either a Raleigh Discovery pimped out(in my mind anyway) with Continental Supercross tyres rather than the semi slicks it came with or a Marin Palisades Trail with the same tyres and purple bar ends on chopped down bars. Oh and a very flourescent corner frame bag thing to make carrying less painful. There seemed to be a lot of carrying in those days!
I was riding this 1988 Explosif, I still have it and ride it now.
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I'd love to know what Raleigh model it was- it had a Y-shaped seat stay rigid hardtail- any ideas?
Andy, I remember that Explosif when I first walked into a bike shop to get my first mountain bike , I think they were about £700 from memory? I baulked at the price and still spent twice my budget when I chose the Cindercone at £429, still have the receipt but not the bike!
A surfboard.
A '92 Palisades Trail, bought from Behind Bars in Abingdon. I really wanted a Cindercone (?) the one with the 18sp Suntour set up but couldn't afford it. Was a toss up between the Marin and a Lava Dome and the rapid fire shifters swung it. Sold it to a neighbour who's never ridden it. Still has the Onza bar ends and the DX chainset I upgraded to from biopace.
A raliegh marauder, heavy piece of ****! loved it though! 🙂
One like this...
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Carrera Kashmir. It had oval rings for blah blah blah. Is that bio-pace?
in 1992 I saved up loads of lawn mowing money and swapped an Emmelle Cougar (white and flouro yellow, i think) for a Marin Bobcat Trail:
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I was going to buy a shogun trail breaker, but I won a competition in PC Zone magazine.. the prize was a Creative Soundblaster 2, which I sold for £60 (a fortune!)
Dave
Can I just add that I still use the shop where I bought that Ascent EX. Bought about five more bikes from them since then!
Cindercone 1990:
[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6183/6066749720_5d97cdd53f_b.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/37390545@N06/6066749720/ ]Coed_Y_Brenin_Aug1990[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/37390545@N06/ ]franklini10[/url], on Flickr
Rascal a little later:
[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6083/6035216266_29b37bf0c6.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/37390545@N06/6035216266/ ]n759618369_674274_5040[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/37390545@N06/ ]franklini10[/url], on Flickr
No idea what it was called, and no pics, but it was a beach cruiser type mtb. 3 tubes in the top tube, a middle thick one and two thinner ones each side, all curved. High riser type bars with black foam covering them.
Heavy as anything, but still rode everywhere.
Started on a Carrera Krakatoa - Yellow/black with rear U brake under the chainstay. Broke two of those, got a full refund.
Bought Kona Fire Mountain, wrote that off crashing into a car.
Bought Kona Cinder Cone and raced it to mid-table mediocrity through '92 and '93
[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3310/3281576791_4c29e12d07.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardkenny/3281576791/ ]BMBF1993[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/richardkenny/ ]richardkenny[/url], on Flickr
One of these (but not that one).
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It broke.
Muddy Fox Courier for me until it got nicked with another bike it was locked to in Canterbury in 1995 🙁
One of these:
I remember picking it coz of the black rims
20 years ago this Christmas I got my MTB - I went to the local Raleigh dealership with my mum and dad to look at a Montage, and one of the lads who worked there asked quietly if we'd be interested in a second hand bike. Popped over to his house later that day to be met by a 17" 1989 Rockhopper Comp with Deore gears, Farmer John's Cousin tyres, a Turbo Saddle, 150mm Salsa stem complete with little roller and some ridiculously narrow bars (am guessing 450mm max) which we picked up for £350.
I was the envy of the entire school as everyone else was rolling around on Emmelles, Al Carters and Raleighs. I raced it regularly in the Leisure Lakes series.
It was very sadly stolen a year later but the insurance coughed up and I got a very nice GT Zaskar for which I saved up for 6 months and bought some Rock Shox Mag 20s.
Tho
Already progressed from an MBK Aventure (flouro wagon), MS Racing Cromo LX then a 1990 Cinder Cone.
Pretty sure I was on my '91 GT Zaskar LE, rigid forks, U brake rear, 261 ceramics on Pace hubs and a pair of AT4 pro bars, a bike a regret selling but then it just funded the next great one, a custom Fuquay.
This was about 20 years ago. Haro Sport painted blue and black with hammerite using a toothbrush. I have a another pic somewhere of it with me riding a miniramp while dressed as elvis 😐
I think around that time I had a Claud Butler something mtb (it began with V). It was metallic pink and it broke.
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Dawes tracker
Biopace rings
Onza porc tyres
Fluoro pads and frame bags of every description
Sharkfin chainstay protector
Rode like a psychadelic anvil, was secretly jealous of my mates peugeot sahara
psychedelic anvil
🙂 Band name manqué!
Green Halfords own brand "Apollo" something bought with saving up from a paper round. Made from pure mild steel I'm sure- weighed a ton! Rode it into the ground, including riding Sheffield to Whitby one weekend. Gave it to a mate once I could afford "suspension" (RST elastomer forks) on a Giant ATX (about 5 or 6 years later). Worst decision I ever made as he let it turn to rust!
A 1991 GT Outpost, that I bought off my brother.
The same amount of suspension as my current bike but with about 20 more gears.
I had just got one of these and was loving it. Filet brazed Tange Prestige!
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17.5" Alpine Stars Al-Mega DX - I remember fitting a 145mm stem, which took some sourcing in those pre-internet days since the headset was 1 1/4".
Like this, but this pic is somebody else's:
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Would've been about 3 so probably a play trike thing.