[Closed] Twenty years ago....What were you riding?

Spesh Rockhopper:
Slowly upgraded until I sold the frame for a Rock Lobster.

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Nice clothing 🙂

[url= ]Kirk revolution[/url] Had it a couple of years, upgraded it a little, RF+, better tyres (where smoke/dart around then?), even got myself some nice wheels for it, LX parellax hubs with campy rims....just before it got nicked 🙁

hopefiendboy - Member

One of these, a retro halfords special:

Loved it, shimano SIS 15 speed and everything. Upgraded the centre ridge rear tyre to a farmer john for more gnarly trails...

Raleigh Dynatech Pro. Upgraded to SPD's, Flexstem, syncro's bar ends...
Wish I'd never sold it 🙁

GT Tequesta, a speckled pale blue colour. It was nicked along with two Spesh CrossRoads (I think) and replaced with a GT Karakorum which lives on, in the shed.

I was mostly doing my paper round on one of these: [img] [/img]

a steel Stumpjumper I brought back from the States, very nice bike let down by Judys, awful awful forks.

I had a Pacific Cycles 7005 alu elevated chainstay, rasta colours, Mag 21 with 1.25 steerer and 60mm long travel kit, XT thumbies, smoke & dart in 2.2", i rode in a pair of purple cut down Levi 501, AXO Pony boots, Power Straps and a huge bum bag 😀

20 years ago..... same trails as I ride now! On my newly acquired 92 Cinder Cone! Although back then I was on a Marin Bear Valley.
I'll never get bored with my local trails/ woods/ river/ farmlands. I've lived and ridden elsewhere but I've ended up where I started. The Alps were a highlight though...

I too must scan in some images somewhen.

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92 Explosif Pro like this. Got to test the Lawwill Leader forks for a couple of races but had to give them back to Kona 🙁

Following 3 seasons on Mongooses (Mongeese?) the kona was a revelation. Suntour microdrive too - compact chainsets are nothing new! Following season I got the explosif with the fluted downtube, kept that for 18 years!

that yours 40mpg? even got lever hingmys, dr dews?

Edit just googled it, Dr Dew brake lever extensions, from another [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/retro-types-brake-lever-extensions-for-bar-ends ]thread[/url] here

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Bought a Marin Bear Valley in 1987

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Not my pic

Anyone notice that the Konas are pretty much the only bikes from that era with the TTs sloping downward not upward? I snapped an Explosif trying to learn to DJ. And the RS Indys and killed the old Mavic rims as well that summer

Not my pic, but I was on something very much like it (the rad rat, yellow/pink monstrosity):

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my first MTB was a Raleigh Activator in 1994, i'm ashamed to say....well i had to start somewhere and besides it was a gift so wasn't my choice. it was too big for me but i still rode it (i even named it the Shaftivator)...although i did remove all the stickers so no-one would know what it was. i never took any pictures of it either as i was too embarrassed...and i dont want to offend anyone on here. i didnt have it for long though as i soon managed to save enough money to buy myself a brand new Marin Eldridge Grade 2 years later. oh how i miss that bike...some sticky fingered **** stole it ftom my house in 1998...i know who the culprits are but never had enough proof...one day i'll catch them out...

1992 - A Purple Fat Tubed Rigid 'Dale M500.

The bike that started the illness......:)

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Think I got this for my 12th Birthday (1990). Raleigh Mirage - 21 gears don't you know!

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Followed by this in '94. Kona Cinder Cone (although I had RS Mag21s on mine).
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Halcion days!

*Photos not mine.

Me riding my 1992 GT Tequesta in 1992

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Wonderful people at Retrobike found me a rusty pile of cack standing outside a cash converters in Bradford which I spent £40 on and then spent a few months restoring it to this to replicate that bike:

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Rode wonderfully!

Saracen tuff trax comp , then sold ton part fund a black kona cinder cone , complete with sun tour xcr drivetrain
My mate who was an apprentice plumber got an explosiv

The cinder cones still being ridden as a commuter / hillwalking bike by my Dad , he loves it

I shudder even thinking about the rides that I used to tackle on a fully rigid bike lol

*Reviews thread*

*Feels a warm glow*

Lovely, lovely stuff people! So many happy/scary/funny/brilliant etc memories!

🙂

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I was riding and selling these twenty years ago.

Full sus switchable on off, really light and stiff, way ahead of its time...

"Only" 13 years ago, my grandfather bought me a Scott taos (not original brakes):

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I still ride it today (after upgrading most parts), very nice bike although she can be a bitch on technical trails:

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I always lusted after a Kona but, although it shames me to say it, what I ended up with was an Emmelle Cheetah in a really horrible metallic lilac colour.

Not a great bike in any shape or form but had great fun ragging it rotten around the coastpath and mountains of N Wales with no regard to personal safety or access laws.

I actually still had the frame, converted to a singlespeed and covered in Hammerite until about a year ago.

robdob - Member
Me riding my 1992 GT Tequesta in 1992

Wonderful people at Retrobike found me a rusty pile of cack standing outside a cash converters in Bradford which I spent £40 on and then spent a few months restoring it to this to replicate that bike:

Rode wonderfully!

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My first "mountain bike" weighed a tonne and the brakes didnt work. I remember riding in the Purbecks and snapping the front brake cable on one down hill.
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Probally this , Ellis Briggs 653 custom built with lots of chrome

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A BMW R100RS.

Returned to cycling in '95 with a rigid steel Spesh Rockhopper.

Road bikes mainly

Robert Millar King of the Mountains as my Hack bike

A peugeot something or other - sold it as I was a student- as the "proper" bike.

Got a MTB around this time but used it for gentle off roading/commuting

My first "mountain bike" weighed a tonne and the brakes didnt work

A Peugeot Anaconda. Pink to green fade - mmmmmmmm

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not mine, pic from Retrobike.

Mine was nicked sadly and replaced with a pearlescent white British Eagle that I seem to remember was aluminium, but no idea what it was called.

D0NK - Member

"Your first bike was light and stopped properly and had tyres that gripped offroad? You've missed out on so many erm...fun(?)..experiences"

+1

I had not seen the light 20 years ago. I was still getting around town on my beloved Sun GT 10. I didn't buy a "mountain bike" until about 1997, and then it was a cacky Giant hybrid that cost less than a hundred quid which I used for offroad riding in the Surrey Hills for a couple of years. It was so bad it had panniers and put me off anything made by Giant for life!

What's with all the vile colours on many of the bikes on this thread?! Was everyone colour-blind in the 1980/1990's?!!

one of these...... (not this exact one, but just the same with Risse Racing Shock, and Manitou elastomer first gen fork) I used to secretly make brahhhhh motorbike noises when no-one was listening.

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Was everyone colour-blind in the 1980/1990's?!!

mega!

no idea behind the obsession with purple anodising tho, was that the cheapest/easiest type of ano?

robdob - Member
Me riding my 1992 GT Tequesta in 1992
Wonderful people at Retrobike found me a rusty pile of cack standing outside a cash converters in Bradford which I spent £40 on and then spent a few months restoring it to this to replicate that bike:
Rode wonderfully!

Where are you from then? 1st pic looks scarily like Southwell Minster school!

Got it in one!

[url=http:// https://picasaweb.google.com/108362158020243150744/Bike?authkey=Gv1sRgCJmbtrH494TesAE#5888333375448301282 ]My GT Timberline and here it is today, I got it second hand in '92 I think[/url]

[url=http:// https://picasaweb.google.com/108362158020243150744/Bike?authkey=Gv1sRgCJmbtrH494TesAE#5888333375448301282 ]My GT Timberline and here it is today, I got it second hand in '92 I think[/url]

[img]http:// https://picasaweb.google.com/108362158020243150744/Bike?authkey=Gv1sRgCJmbtrH494TesAE#5888333375448301282 [/img]

I'm sure in '93 I was going through a BMX revival phase so one of these Skyways:

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and a Marin palisades trail

Orange Clockwork

One of these:

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See what it says on the top tube there? "Team"! I could have been on the team with that bike. Practically the same thing as what Tim Gould was on. That guy was such a climbing god, especially doing it on a bike that weighed over two and a half stone...

Twenty years ago I was riding a woman who now sadly looks like she's wearing a fat suit. Facebook destroys happy memories.

I was on either an Orange Prestige or a Kona Explosif.

In 1993/4 I was the proud owner of a shiny Marin Rocky Ridge 😀 ahhh how I miss those Rockshox Quadra 21's and STX RC gears and brakes.

In 95 I upgraded to my 1st Stumpjumper, with Judy SL's and Mountain Speed springs instead of the Elastomer / Spring combo (Now that's fork technology progression!!!).

I also still have a Continental Traction Pro Dual stripe tire in the garage from back in the day 😆

In 1993 I had one of these.

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Had a '90 Marin Eldridge Grade (with scratch-proof grey paint), then saved all the summer of '93 for an Orange Clockwork LX. The frame is currently hung on the wall in the garage having split/cracked at the rear dropouts last year, having been my commuter bike for the last few years. A truly great bike.

[img] http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=87010 [/img]

I was riding a Dawes Lightning road bike, I didn't buy my first Mtb (Marin Palisades) till 94 as far as I know.

One of these fine steeds:

[img] http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=59240 [/img]

I rode it yesterday too

What was I riding 20 years ago?

Vicky. And very lovely she was too.

Oh what bike? I have no idea!

Marin Pine Mountain frame with RC35 forks

No pics tho

i had only just been born! This thread makes me feel very young indeed.

1993 - bought my first MTB as moved to an area with great rides out of the door - was a Diamond Back Sorrento - so nothing special - passed a guy riding one a few weeks back and felt bit ooh

[img] http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=196544 [/img]

Loved this bike went everywhere on it. I remember it was very light for the time.

I was riding a Dawes Roughtrade in 1993 ,I still have it in the garage.If I bothered with a new cassette,chain and freehub body it would be ridable

One of these in white:

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one of these:
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Like an E-stay bike, but the designer got the concept wrong...

Except it was branded a Puch, not Bianchi. And I repainted it, by hand, very, very badly.
Luckily it got stolen and a replacement Saracen was bought by the insurance company.

In the interests of history and bad taste (at times!) - 20 odd years ago I was riding the Fisher Celerity on the left (the HUGE Dawes was my dad's)and apolgies for the poor quality pics but they are just scans.

We start in 1990:
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Then it progressed (?) to:
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It then ended up like this for a while (I did mention bad taste, right?!)
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The Celerity took a break for a while when I then rode this until I took a break from mtbing and when I started again I cracked the head tube on it! (As seen and mentioned on the previous page of this thread)
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Finally, the Celerity came out of retirement and lives on it's best guise yet:

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Marin Palisades Trail in blue bought new sometime in the mid/late 80's when I was a teenager.

I actually wanted the flouro yellow Muirwoods which was cheaper, but they were out of stock or something so my dad upgraded me since he'd promised me the bike for ages. I spent so long trying to decide between the light grey frame with flouro yellow fork and stickers or the all blue with white stickers. Went with the blue in the end because the washed out grey wasn't nearly so cool as the darker greys and metallics that came later. I never fancied the paint splatter and fade jobs that were otherwise so common.

The thing is though, despite the mtb name, I had no idea that off road trails existed, or even bridleways for that matter. I grew up in central London, and the bikes were cool due to the cycle courier, muddy fox, flouro yellow thing. Still I did discover cheeky paths hidden in the shrubberies in Battersea Park! And I loved riding along the Thames towards Richmond.

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red universal sierra 24" wheel.

20 years ago I was on a Spesh Stumpjumper like this one. I bought it in September 1992, and it was about this time in 1993 that I bought a pair of Pace RC35 forks for it. God I loved that bike.

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I remember that green Stumpy Mr Yetiman 8) It was lovely.

In 1993 I had one of these with Manitou 3 forks.

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Lovely bike to ride but it broke... just like the two 1992 Blizzards I had before it 🙄

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&

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Followed by my mum coming back from a car boot one day with one of these:

[img] http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=73770 [/img]

[img] [/img]One like this (still got the bike too)

raleigh apex, it's still in my dad's shed...

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Lethal in a cross wind!

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Must dig out proper old pics of it.

Still in the garage, soon to be put on the turbo.

It was called a Kobra that's all i remember. It was blue, and cost 130 pounds.

The sofa. With Stella contact points.

A Kiss Miami Deep Thought. It was an offshoot of Muddy Fox in some description. Tange Infiniti tubing, the same as the Orange Clockwork at the time, Suntour XC Ltd group set, Suntour hubs and Araya rims. It had a lovely cracked yellow on salmon paintjob. I saved half the money from my paper round and my parents paid the rest, it was a toss up between a neon yellow Marin Bolinas Ridge or the Kiss Miami, which had miles better kit and frame. My parents were reluctant to spend so much money on a bike as my hobbies never lasted more than a month, 22 years later I'm still in love with bikes. The internet throws up next to no information on the brand but I rode it into the ground. Me and my friends also launched a mountain bike team 'Team Crud' 😀

Proflex 853 here.

20 years ago from next month or so I'd have replaced my Raleigh Amazon with a Raleigh M-Trax 500 I think it was, like this one here anyway. ooh titanium.

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Orange/white fade Orange Clockwork for me 8)

https://picasaweb.google.com/108362158020243150744/Bike?authkey=Gv1sRgCJmbtrH494TesAE

20 years ago.... Cannondale M800 replacing the woefully inadiquate Offroad Pro-Flex 750

[url= http://s21.postimg.org/yn0bd9mvn/Proflex_and_Dale.jp g" target="_blank">http://s21.postimg.org/yn0bd9mvn/Proflex_and_Dale.jp g"/> [/img]

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20 Years ago I was riding this...
[URL= http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a85/Mikey-S13/CIMG3732.jp g" target="_blank">http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a85/Mikey-S13/CIMG3732.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
And about to buy this...
[URL= http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a85/Mikey-S13/06092011209.jp g" target="_blank">http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a85/Mikey-S13/06092011209.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
And still own them both 😀

this

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and clearly not the only one on here that was, although this has had some work done to it, I like having semi-working brakes these days.