MTB old school cool

[UKGTI]

another thread got me thinking. Post up some of the bikes you lusted after back in the day. I started mtb biking in 1990 at the age of 14 so lived through the entire anodized crazy design bike era. And I loved every minute of it.

White onza porcs, (these tires were the shiznit), an atac fork and a turbo saddle!

this bike is sic. I seriously lusted after it.

A breezer. Built by one of the guys who invented mtb, not Gary Fisher

Wow. Kevlar disc and everything. Rebadged Tioga fork. Those front tires sucked though!

Klein with oversized head tube. Nothing new under the sun. I remember these tubesets were so thin, you could pinch them with your fingers and had to be careful not to dent them.

ONZA Clipless pedals. My first clipless were onza. Rubber bushings instead of springs for retention. And they worked. I loved them. Then again, I loved most stuff onza made.

Don't know much about this one, but the fork is totally wrong. The kooka cranks are about 8 years before that fork!

Another cool yeti. I loved the "computer bent stays" (from their advertising!) This thing was the shizznit, but tough to get.

Mountain Goat. Jeff Lindsay I think. Man this one is old, I am pretty sure that is an RS1. Simple elegance

There are tons more, I will just leave it at that for now. This has got me all nostalgic. Anyone remember, DeKerf, Kestrel, Fat Chance, Cherry, Steelman, Ibis, Land Shark, etc, etc???

[eurowner]

Trimble is the zebra-rasta painted carbon bike, Bret Trimble from Kestral.

[UKGTI]

yea, I know what it is, just never had too much experience with them. Pretty cool though. Wasn't he known more for his tri bikes?

[fiatjeepdriver]

those bikes are great. if i had the money i would love to have a lot of these older mtbs

Quote, originally posted by UKGTI »

There are tons more, I will just leave it at that for now. This has got me all nostalgic. Anyone remember, DeKerf, Kestrel, Fat Chance, Cherry, Steelman, Ibis, Land Shark, etc, etc???

a land shark will be my next road bike or if i can find a slightly used mtb frame in my size that will be my next hard tail (they are made here so i see a lot of them, john has the coolest van i have ever seen too )


Modified by fiatjeepdriver at 1:13 AM 8-10-2007

[joe@vwvortex]

Quote, originally posted by UKGTI »

ONZA Clipless pedals. My first clipless were onza. Rubber bushings instead of springs for retention. And they worked. I loved them. Then again, I loved most stuff onza made.

Ah the Onzas - first clipless I had as well. Unfortunately the polymer bushings would get soft or hard depending on the weather - even though they had different durometers to choose from - you really couldn't change em during the ride.

Quote »

There are tons more, I will just leave it at that for now. This has got me all nostalgic. Anyone remember, DeKerf, Kestrel, Fat Chance, Cherry, Steelman, Ibis, Land Shark, etc, etc???

What about the original Bontragers and Rock Lobsters?

I didn't own a Steelman MTB but had two of his roadbikes. My wife also had an Ibis Ti roadbike.

I had a Fat Chance Monster Fat I got as a replacement frame when I cracked the headtube of an old Haro. That was by far the best fully rigid MTB I even owned. The only bad part was the damn integrated BB and when the cartridges went bad - it was near impossible to find replacements - especially after Fat City went under.

[UKGTI]

Do I remember Bontrager? I have three of them. Love them! My 1994 Bontrager Race. I have a Race Lite, but damaged it. Judy fork with Bontrager fork crown. I still ride this bike quite a bit.

[joe@vwvortex]

Quote, originally posted by UKGTI »

Do I remember Bontrager? I have three of them. Love them! My 1994 Bontrager Race. I have a Race Lite, but damaged it. Judy fork with Bontrager fork crown. I still ride this bike quite a bit.

Nice! I remember going down to Santa Cruz and seeing the Bont's and always lusted after them. I had that same fork crown on a Specialized "rockshox" on my Monster Fat.

I'll never forget when I was at UCSB at the campus bikeshop in 1980 and Jay - one of the wrenches there had just received a new fillet brazed Ritchey MTB frame. It was truely awesome.

Unfortunately - my MTB buddies moved away and while the wife like to MTB ride - she's a beginner really so I spend most of my time on the road or on our Tandem. Not complaining - just miss MTB riding as much as I used to.

[F1_Fan]

One of the guys I worked with in a LBS had a Trimble MTB. That bike was so cool...

[M this 1!]

The Tomes replica bike was a Showa fork rebadged for Tioga.

Onza had multiple durometers for those pedals back then too. That skin colored Tioga Pyscho did suck! i always called it the Nazi tire since it reminded me of the Jewish skin lamp shades.......due to its color.

The Bontrager reminds me of what I didn't like about them since I'm 6'3" and their race lite didn't come long enough. Keith made me a custom 160mm stem!!!

Those were great days! I race Pro XC thru '99

'89-92 Marin Mtn Bikes
'93 Bontrager
'94-'96 Marin Mtn Bikes
'97 Bianchi Martini
'98-99 Santa Cruz Bikes

definitely saw alot of stuff come and go!!! Great way to spend my late teens and all of my twenties.

It is nice to have a life now though

[vagwhpt]

i have one of these frames NEVER used in my room collecting dust.....

one day i'll make it into something fun......

anyone want it..... PM me.....

[speedn16v]

The Amp Research B4 was the bike I lusted after. Remember, back then most dual suspension bikes weighed as much as my father's cast iron Schwinn that he had when he was a kid

Somewhere along the way, Mercedes slapped their name on them and ruined them before they went to making truck accessories

This picture was on my HD, stamped Feb. 26, 1996.

And here's my bike that has lasted me several cars. I need to get some pics of it all back together again. No name Tange Molly Steel steel frame, in Fauxtanium finish. All that is old is new again. I've been trying to find a solution to fix my collapsed Judy XC fork. So far a couple lost eBay auctions, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Dave.


Modified by speedn16v at 4:30 PM 8-11-2007

[speedn16v]

Not super old, but I just remembered this the other day. I was on vacation in D.C. when Princess Di died. Once cool thing I remembered about the trip was around the White House, the Secret Service had Carbon Trek Y bikes with the Presidential seal on them.

Best quick pic I could find:

Looking back at this thread makes me realize how much I hated threaded headsets

Dave.


Modified by speedn16v at 4:41 PM 8-11-2007

[UKGTI]

okay, here are some more.

The fork on this one doesn't quite match the frame as the SID came out later. Similar to a P23 but softail. The P23 was what Frischenecht (sp) raced. Too light for me. They had weight limits on the frames and at 185, I was pushing it.

first suspension design I rode. We had a demo at the shop I worked at and I took this out. I thought I could rail anything, but it was still like 6 years until I got my first full suspension.

ss klein. Don't know how they did this with the rear entry dropout that kleins had, must have got lucky on chain length. Still pretty sweet, but I hated those spinergys. More hype than performance. They were heavy and out of true.... but the shop I worked at sold tons.

Pretty sweet palmer here. I met him at Interbike in 97 right when he was kickin ass. Real nice guy despite the rep. Still have the autographed poster in my garage. Stared at this bike a lot as I was just getting into DH at this point.

Herbold madness. Man this guy had to put up with some junk. Look at all the Ringle and brake boosters. How many of us remember the hydraulic rim brakes? And that early chain tensioner. I remember trying all that stuff thinking there has to be a better way.

Last one for tonight. A Ti Bontrager. My buddy still has one of these. Kinda sacreligious as it was built by Sandvik and Keith was always a steel guy. Then again he makes everything now via trek.

[philchris]

Gone, but not forgotten ...

Fat City Cycles - Team Fat Chance Yo Eddy

Ibis - Ti Mojo

Mantis Bicycles - Flying V

[speedn16v]

First mountain bike that Just about all members of the family shared. Never did any really hardcore rides with it. Still in my parents basement:

Circa late '80's Raleigh. Sportin a BioPace crankset I brought this to school with me, and a friend crashed it when he didn't tighten the quick release properly. It now has a chromed fork on it since the original got tweaked in the crash.

I can't find a picture of my younger brother's bike, that pre-dates the Internet. It's a '80's Trek 8500 with the aluminum tubes bonded to the frame with investment cast lugs. Paint is an appropriate splash brush job. He outgrew the frame, and moved the componets to a SuperGo aluminum frame.

Dave.

[travisorus rex]

I wasn't far behind. I started in about 1990 at the age of ten and raced competitively for a few years. Unfortunately, a badly broken wrist/arm has since killed all motivation to get back on the bike.
Klein Mantra

My first real MTB, Trek 8700. Picture courtesy of a fellow Vortexer. Unfortunately, This one is dead. Actually, a friend of mine owns the company that made the carbon fiber tubes for it. It was stolen out of my garage.

Trek 9800, my favorite of all my bikes. My friend that made the 8700 frames, actually had tubes made for this bike as well. Before Trek decided to go through a different supplier of tubes, they gave him the first prototype of this frame. It collected dust for a while before I talked him out of it. My frame was partially destroyed in a house fire.

GT STS

Spin wheels and Spengle (Porsche bike that I lusted after forever) wheels

Lastly, does anyone remember the the bikes that claimed to be the first active full suspension that would never lock out the rear end while under power? I can't remember the name of the company but their frames had a wierd linkage underneath the BB.


Modified by travisorus rex at 11:26 AM 8-12-2007

[Beau]

I had one of these...

Along with-

American Comp Lite
American ELF
Mantis Pro Floater
Ritchey
And many, many others...

I wish I still had them all!

Some others I have...

Straight eight-

1983 Schwinn Sidewinder-

199- Kona Fire Mountain-

Modified by beau_layman at 5:19 PM 8-12-2007

[M this 1!]

looks like it's got the old Bioring sticker on the Kona big chainring

[UKGTI]

Biopace. One of shimano's few failures.

[fiatjeepdriver]

Quote, originally posted by UKGTI »

Biopace. One of shimano's few failures.

i rock a bike with biopace. every time i take my dad out on the trails i ride it and he gets the nicer bike.

[FreeRideJunkie]

Quote, originally posted by speedn16v »

The Amp Research B4 was the bike I lusted after. Remember, back then most dual suspension bikes weighed as much as my father's cast iron Schwinn that he had when he was a kid Somewhere along the way, Mercedes slapped their name on them and ruined them before they went to making truck accessories Modified by speedn16v at 4:30 PM 8-11-2007

I hate that bike with a fiery passion. Haha We had on in our shop..... the way the disk adapter works is a flange is bolted to the original spoke holes with 3 little bolts. The spokes are then laced to that flange and the rotors are attached. It takes it from 18 contact points (spokes) and brings it down to 3 (those wimpy bolts). It's a death trap. The way the front suspension is designed, if you hit the front brake you go through about 70% of the travel...... It was interesting.

[speedn16v]

Quote, originally posted by FreeRideJunkie »

I hate that bike with a fiery passion. Haha We had on in our shop..... the way the disk adapter works is a flange is bolted to the original spoke holes with 3 little bolts. The spokes are then laced to that flange and the rotors are attached. It takes it from 18 contact points (spokes) and brings it down to 3 (those wimpy bolts). It's a death trap. The way the front suspension is designed, if you hit the front brake you go through about 70% of the travel...... It was interesting.

Ah, was the early days of DS and disk brakes.

BTW, I'm about 2 blocks from your shop. I was in there about 3 times the Sat. before the LATE ride trying to get my bike back together (see pic above). I want that LeMond Poprad disc that's hanging when you walk in the front door.

Dave.

[FreeRideJunkie]

I was confused at first.... you must be talking about J&R in Lombard.... I have been living in Champaign for a while now and working at Champaign Cycle. That Lemond is a sweet bike though.

[doubleblackdymond]

I had a 1991 Fisher RS-1 Mert Lawill designed FS. It didn't have the Mert fork, but just as well

Old school mechanical disk and everything, it would only shift in friction thanks to the meshing of a Campy freewheel and Shimano XT thumbies.

[doubleblackdymond]

[VR6JetPilot]

man, these bikes brings back some memories.
i used to dream of owning the yeti arc.

and i use to run those onza porcs.......after the first ride, 1/2 of the tread would be gone!

[UKGTI]

Quote, originally posted by VR6JetPilot »

man, these bikes brings back some memories. i used to dream of owning the yeti arc. and i use to run those onza porcs.......after the first ride, 1/2 of the tread would be gone!

ha, they were like pencil erasers!

[VR6JetPilot]

LOL....exactly!

just for kicks here's my old manitou...

[Beau]

Hahahaha...I had one of those Manitou's as well. I cracked the sht out of the rear though. So sad...

[VR6JetPilot]

my buddy bought mine for his wife.
she was hit by a car.
she's fine. the bike......not so much.

[andylyco]

I was riding in Brian Head, UT 2 weekends ago and a guy from my church rolls up with this bike!
I was joking with him about how I remember it for sale way back in the day, and he mentioned that he bought it brand new while he was still in college!

Does anyone have pics of that Cannondale/CODA bike from the mid-late 90's?
It looked like a sideways cross- had 4 points- 1 to the headset, 1 to the BB, 1 to the seat, and 1 to the back wheel.
I think the front suspension arm went backwards then forwards, like this: <
It was a "concept" bike that never made it to production, and I never heard about anyone riding it, but it looked cool...

[DonL]

Quote, originally posted by UKGTI »

okay, here are some more. Herbold madness. Man this guy had to put up with some junk. Look at all the Ringle and brake boosters. How many of us remember the hydraulic rim brakes?

I started mountain biking around 20 years ago. I still remember my first bike, an 18-speed Miyata, "spline triple-butted" tubing, and ancient Grip Shift. I also had a set of friction shifters on it for a while.

So, yeah, I remember Magura hydro rim brakes.

I also remember Bio-Pace, Hite-Rites, original Manitou shocks, 1" threaded headsets, Ringle QRs, Onza pedals (I used the black rubber inserts and loved those pedals.), Suntour and Campy ATB components, Mountain Tamer Quads, Grip Shift Bass Worms, Browning Auto Shifters, Moots Mounts, Bontrager BERTs, Paul's Moon Units cable hangers, Trek's DS-2 and DDS-3 forks, and Profile "aero" ATB bars.

Truth be told, I'm still quite happy with some of the classic stuff.

My rigid smooth trail/street bike is a Cali-built GT Xizang running XC Pro thumbies with Shimano 8-spd stuff.

My regular hardtail is a Steve Potts-built WTB Phoenix with older 8-spd Deore XT stuff and XT thumbies using the mystery click for all 8 gears and a Rock Shox Judy.

[speedn16v]

I just won an Ebay auction for a Judy XC to replace my current one. This one has the coil springs in it, so hopefully I'll get some use out of it.

Dave.

[DonL]

Quote, originally posted by speedn16v »

T I've been trying to find a solution to fix my collapsed Judy XC fork. So far a couple lost eBay auctions, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Dave.

Have you looked into things like the Englund Total Air Cartridges? Englund stopped making them a few years ago, but you might still find one around. Risse also makes some replacement cartridges for the Rock Shox.

[DonL]

Quote, originally posted by UKGTI »

Biopace. One of shimano's few failures.

Yeah, and don't forget their funky air shifters from a decade or so ago.