1980's mountain bikes...

ChrisLS
ChrisLS Posts: 2,749
edited October 2011 in MTB general
...anyone ever own one? I had two, bought 'em when the were first produced, middle 80's, a Raleigh Maverick(weighed a ton) and a Raleigh Ozark(531 tubing, still weighed a ton), both built way before suspension was introduced...or are you too young to know what I'm on about... :?
...all the way...'til the wheels fall off and burn...
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Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    yep first one in '84.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • beski
    beski Posts: 542
    I'm still riding one! I commute on an old Specialised Hard Rock, I think It's 1989, might be 90 though. The CroMo frame is a bit rusty in places but its fine, being rigid for my commute on cycle paths etc
    Giant Defy 4 2014
    GT Avalanche Expert 2006
    Specialized Hardrock 1989
  • boyse7en
    boyse7en Posts: 59
    Still got mine - and riding it (I've put the baby carrier on the back for weekend jaunts with my daughter)

    Its a Marin Palisades, not sure of the year, but it was secondhand when I got it back in 1989. (someone may be able to identify year - it had matt grey paint with fluro yellow forks and bars)
    I've upgraded/replaced a few parts (saddle, bars, shifters and brakes) but it is still running the original 300LX crank (with Biopace rings) and rear mech.

    It was a replacement for a scaffold-tubing Hutchinson that I bought in 1988 and was subsequently nicked - at the time the Marin seemed a featherweight and, to be fair, it is still lighter than most of the sub £350 MTBs on sale now.
  • papasmurf.
    papasmurf. Posts: 2,382
    hehe you guys need to go to retro bike...we only deal with the future here...and the futures purple ano....oh wait..
    Meta5.5
    Duster
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    papasmurf. wrote:
    hehe you guys need to go to retro bike...we only deal with the future here...and the futures purple ano....oh wait..

    why? they are boring.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    Had a Muddy Fox Courier in the 80s 8) :lol:
  • ChrisLS
    ChrisLS Posts: 2,749
    Surf Matt...Muddy Fox Courier...white...wow that was the bike to have in the 80's... 8)
    ...all the way...'til the wheels fall off and burn...
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    Mine was white and purple- eyooooo!
    Funny oval chainrings too!
  • ExeterSimon
    ExeterSimon Posts: 830
    Mine was a Carrera of some sorts...all I can remember is that it was teal colour and I tore the chainset off trying to bunny hop a tree truck up Box Woods outside Bath.
    Whyte 905 (2009)
    Trek 1.5 (2009)
    Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp (2007)
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    Giant Super Sierra c.1988
    MS Racing CR1 c.1988
    Scott Super Evolution c.1989
    Bontrager Race Lite OR c.1990 (built by the man himself before he sold up to Trek)
    Give a home to a retired Greyhound. Tia Greyhound Rescue
    Help for Heroes
    JayPic
  • taliesyn
    taliesyn Posts: 87
    Yep, still have a recently refurbed '89 Diamondback Apex , which I originally bought in 1990 (from Beics Betws!) :D

    apex.jpg

    Still ride it on the roads and a few easy tracks just to remind me of my misspent youth (no technical stuff, as the standover height is a bit dodgy and I'm partial to unbruised nads - maybe I've shrunk in my old age!), but the Commencal gets to do the decent offroad stuff nowadays :D
  • AT4
    AT4 Posts: 22
    my 1st was a carrera krakatoa probably about 93/94
  • cee
    cee Posts: 4,553
    In 1984 I was riding a raleigh grifter. in red. Not really a mountain bike, but I reckon it would have been an awesome downhiller......
    Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.

    H.G. Wells.
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    taliesyn wrote:
    Yep, still have a recently refurbed '89 Diamondback Apex , which I originally bought in 1990 (from Beics Betws!) :D

    Not the dreaded BioPace chainrings? Lordy, how useless were they?? :lol:
    Give a home to a retired Greyhound. Tia Greyhound Rescue
    Help for Heroes
    JayPic
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    dave_hill wrote:
    taliesyn wrote:
    Yep, still have a recently refurbed '89 Diamondback Apex , which I originally bought in 1990 (from Beics Betws!) :D

    Not the dreaded BioPace chainrings? Lordy, how useless were they?? :lol:

    when i wore out the drive train on the Ridgeback it got kitted out with Shimano Exage LX kit.


    Mmmmm biopace, still fitted actually.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    Who remembers -

    Bullseye and Cook Bros cranks?
    Onza Porcupines, Farmer John and Farmer John's Cousin?
    Grafton Speed Controllers?
    SunTour groupsets (which were every bit as good as Shimano)?
    Roller-cam brakes?
    Purple anodised everything?
    Quad chainsets?
    Royce bottom brackets?
    Mavic Paris-Dakar hubs?
    Campagnolo Centaur?
    Flexstems?
    Give a home to a retired Greyhound. Tia Greyhound Rescue
    Help for Heroes
    JayPic
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    dave_hill wrote:
    Who remembers -

    sm31eg4.jpg
    dsc0487rl2.jpg

    the red P......

    will get a better pic later. :wink:
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • beski
    beski Posts: 542
    SunTour groupsets (which were every bit as good as Shimano)?

    My old Hard Rock has still got the original Suntour groupset !, it's a tad worn but works ok for my commute
    Giant Defy 4 2014
    GT Avalanche Expert 2006
    Specialized Hardrock 1989
  • diamondback are not dead
    diamondback are not dead Posts: 117
    is that a motrobike or a push bike on top of that car??? oh lordy its a push bike! can't imagine its any good up hills!
    My Lady

    Daphne http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2097543/
  • toslow
    toslow Posts: 85
    I had a emmelle dolomite .
    It had 21 gears which i thought was an incredible amount for a bike as i had just retired my 10 speed raleigh road bike . Biggest problem was i think it weighed the same as a triumph dolomite .
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    toslow wrote:
    Biggest problem was i think it weighed the same as a triumph dolomite .

    ...and probably had similar performance and handling... :shock: !
    Give a home to a retired Greyhound. Tia Greyhound Rescue
    Help for Heroes
    JayPic
  • AllyT
    AllyT Posts: 7
    Nice looking ProFlex. Where did you get the springs? I've an 856 with collapsed elastomers.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    AllyT wrote:
    Nice looking ProFlex. Where did you get the springs? I've an 856 with collapsed elastomers.

    talk to http://www.rapiddescentscotland.co.uk/i ... sition=1:1
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • Cps
    Cps Posts: 356
    I had a peugot back then - shimano lx kit - wooah!

    As I remember Kleins and Pace were the bikes to desire, althouh I do remember a friend importing a real trick stumpjumper.

    Happy days - and not a suspension system in sight !!!
  • taliesyn
    taliesyn Posts: 87
    dave_hill wrote:
    taliesyn wrote:
    Yep, still have a recently refurbed '89 Diamondback Apex , which I originally bought in 1990 (from Beics Betws!) :D

    Not the dreaded BioPace chainrings? Lordy, how useless were they?? :lol:

    The very same :D
  • Rich Hcp
    Rich Hcp Posts: 1,355
    I had a Univega Alpina 507

    Still has original XT and chain.

    Did the South Downs Way on it last year, in the wet.

    Sold it to a mate at work who uses it to commute

    I love my Orange G3, but still miss the old Uni, saw it yesterday......
    Richard

    Giving it Large
  • idaviesmoore
    idaviesmoore Posts: 557
    dave_hill wrote:
    toslow wrote:
    Biggest problem was i think it weighed the same as a triumph dolomite .

    ...and probably had similar performance and handling... :shock: !

    :lol: Yeah, I had a Raleigh Discovery (c. 1988). It was made to celebrate said 4x4 and I think it had all the same attributes. Heavy as Jupiter, Cheap components, Sh?t gear action, poor image.

    I sold it to my brother in law after the BB snapped 3 months after I bought it and I bought a road bike instead. The Defender scarred me for life (in more ways than 1!)
    'How can an opinion be bullsh1t?' High Fidelity
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    taliesyn wrote:
    dave_hill wrote:
    taliesyn wrote:
    Yep, still have a recently refurbed '89 Diamondback Apex , which I originally bought in 1990 (from Beics Betws!) :D

    Not the dreaded BioPace chainrings? Lordy, how useless were they?? :lol:

    The very same :D

    The Courier has Suntour oval chainrings - they were terrible!
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    No quite '80s but 1991/2 - Rocky Mountain Experience. It's an Elevated Chain Stay / E-Stay bike - 7005 alu. Cost £1100, which was alot for a University student. Had Pace forks & flex stem until recently now has budget sus forks and a-head set (I was glad to see the back of the quill stem). The only original bit left is the synchros seat post. After 6months of use I put on (the then cutting edge) Magura hydraulic rim brakes, these are still on there and work perfectly despite never been serviced or bled! Gets used 5 days a week for commuting and still feels good! Use my full susser off road these days.

    Jesus that's 17 years of use! That must make me middle aged?
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • stu8975
    stu8975 Posts: 1,334
    My first jobbie was a Muddy Fox Courier Comp, Dark Grey/Black w/crack effect paintwork, dayglow yellow acc pack...ie..handlebar pad,frame bag/pad, and.......a muddy fox wheel disc with a fuggin hooooj paw print on it (i will dig out the pic)...look out tomac...im comin for ya...haha..it was the bees knees...til i bent the forks so bad it bent the bottom of the headtube out..Bummer
    ANTHEM X
    Youth

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