My bike history, thus far. Photo heavy.
ilovedirt
Posts: 5,798
I'm pretty bored and I thought you guys might find this interesting, so here goes.
When I was about 14 or 15 I got this Carrera Vulcan from Halfords for £200 brand new, used it a fair bit on some local loops and then got a bit bored of it. Got back into riding a few years later and upgraded the stock forks and brakes to what you see here. Was a good little bike for what I paid.
When I got back into riding, I decided I wanted a bigger bike for some of the 'downhill' trails at my local quarry etc and had always wanted a patriot. Picked this up complete for £420 I think it was.
it had a couple of changes to the spec in the time that I had it
I then got a Mongoose Ritual (again pretty cheap) as a bit of a play bike, mainly ridden on skate parks with the occasional street session. It had a few different builds and then got sold as there weren't any places to ride it when I moved to university.
I eventually got rid of my patriot (swapped it) for a Scott Genius, as it was a bit much for my riding, I was pretty awful and it was a big bike. It got built up with some parts from the patriot, this is how it looked in the end.
The Scott was nice, but it was a little small for me, so I got hold of a battered old Meta frame and stripped it. I stripped the BB soon after, so it was out of action for a while. I built this while I had a job before university, so it had a pretty good build on it.
When I moved to university (just over two years ago now), I had to keep my bike outside, so I built up this GT Aggressor hack bike on the cheap. Was actually a pretty capable bike given what it cost me (under £400 i believe)
University was where I really learnt to ride (and I still am learning). I quickly realised that keeping the bike outside wasn't doing it much good, so i kept it in my room. I decided I could then bring my nice bike up. I couldn't be bothered to get the meta frame fixed, so I sold it and bought a brand new 456.
After riding the student downhill champs in first year (where I did exceptionally badly, but had a lot of fun), I decided to get into downhill, so I bought a commencal mini DH frame and put a lot of the parts from the GT on it, the GT frame got sold.
It didn't take long to crack the commencal frame, so I got myself a 2008 patriot frame (always been an orange fan), which did me well for a while. I worked again the summer between first and second year, so this had a bit of a build transformation over the summer. It was a really nice bike in the end.
I then got a bit bored of riding a hardtail for XC and wanted a full sus, but couldn't really afford one, so I sold both the 456 and the orange so I could have one nice bike that could do everything. This was not quite a year ago. I ended up getting a Rocky Mountain Slayer, which was a pretty nice bike.
After riding a friend's 224 back to back with my slayer on some downhill tracks, I realised that it just didn't compare to a proper downhill bike, so this march, I bought an orange 223, which served me pretty well. This sae a few changes as well, it ended up being pretty nice to ride.
This summer, I decided that while the slayer was nice, the geometry just wasn't for me, and it was hard to keep maintained on a student budget, so I sold it and bought a Ragley Bagger. I still have this, and it's an incredible bike, it rides amazingly and can handle much more than I can throw at it! And before anyone mentions the forks/brakes, it was designed as a downhill hardtail optimised for big brakes and forks from 150-170mm. I ride this thing everywhere though. With sensible tyres, I can ride it anywhere anyone on an XC bike can.
This summer, I found that the 223 was cracked. Between twice/thrice weekly abuse, a couple of races and a fortnight in the alps, I think I finished it off. It did well for a nine year old frame though. It had to go, and I got an old Iron Horse Sunday on the cheap and built that up. It needs a new paint job really, and a bearing change, but I'm pretty happy with it. Already raced it once and it rides pretty sweet.
So there you have it, my bike history of the last four years or so. I think I have a bit of a problem...
Hope you guys enjoyed.
When I was about 14 or 15 I got this Carrera Vulcan from Halfords for £200 brand new, used it a fair bit on some local loops and then got a bit bored of it. Got back into riding a few years later and upgraded the stock forks and brakes to what you see here. Was a good little bike for what I paid.
When I got back into riding, I decided I wanted a bigger bike for some of the 'downhill' trails at my local quarry etc and had always wanted a patriot. Picked this up complete for £420 I think it was.
it had a couple of changes to the spec in the time that I had it
I then got a Mongoose Ritual (again pretty cheap) as a bit of a play bike, mainly ridden on skate parks with the occasional street session. It had a few different builds and then got sold as there weren't any places to ride it when I moved to university.
I eventually got rid of my patriot (swapped it) for a Scott Genius, as it was a bit much for my riding, I was pretty awful and it was a big bike. It got built up with some parts from the patriot, this is how it looked in the end.
The Scott was nice, but it was a little small for me, so I got hold of a battered old Meta frame and stripped it. I stripped the BB soon after, so it was out of action for a while. I built this while I had a job before university, so it had a pretty good build on it.
When I moved to university (just over two years ago now), I had to keep my bike outside, so I built up this GT Aggressor hack bike on the cheap. Was actually a pretty capable bike given what it cost me (under £400 i believe)
University was where I really learnt to ride (and I still am learning). I quickly realised that keeping the bike outside wasn't doing it much good, so i kept it in my room. I decided I could then bring my nice bike up. I couldn't be bothered to get the meta frame fixed, so I sold it and bought a brand new 456.
After riding the student downhill champs in first year (where I did exceptionally badly, but had a lot of fun), I decided to get into downhill, so I bought a commencal mini DH frame and put a lot of the parts from the GT on it, the GT frame got sold.
It didn't take long to crack the commencal frame, so I got myself a 2008 patriot frame (always been an orange fan), which did me well for a while. I worked again the summer between first and second year, so this had a bit of a build transformation over the summer. It was a really nice bike in the end.
I then got a bit bored of riding a hardtail for XC and wanted a full sus, but couldn't really afford one, so I sold both the 456 and the orange so I could have one nice bike that could do everything. This was not quite a year ago. I ended up getting a Rocky Mountain Slayer, which was a pretty nice bike.
After riding a friend's 224 back to back with my slayer on some downhill tracks, I realised that it just didn't compare to a proper downhill bike, so this march, I bought an orange 223, which served me pretty well. This sae a few changes as well, it ended up being pretty nice to ride.
This summer, I decided that while the slayer was nice, the geometry just wasn't for me, and it was hard to keep maintained on a student budget, so I sold it and bought a Ragley Bagger. I still have this, and it's an incredible bike, it rides amazingly and can handle much more than I can throw at it! And before anyone mentions the forks/brakes, it was designed as a downhill hardtail optimised for big brakes and forks from 150-170mm. I ride this thing everywhere though. With sensible tyres, I can ride it anywhere anyone on an XC bike can.
This summer, I found that the 223 was cracked. Between twice/thrice weekly abuse, a couple of races and a fortnight in the alps, I think I finished it off. It did well for a nine year old frame though. It had to go, and I got an old Iron Horse Sunday on the cheap and built that up. It needs a new paint job really, and a bearing change, but I'm pretty happy with it. Already raced it once and it rides pretty sweet.
So there you have it, my bike history of the last four years or so. I think I have a bit of a problem...
Hope you guys enjoyed.
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Comments
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Awesome post!
My history isn't as varied0 -
I remember commenting on that orange patriot that was a while back..
I might do the same post all previous bikes had a few now lol0 -
Lol yeah, I've had quite a few different bikes. I quite enjoy new bikes, makes riding a bit more interesting sometimes.0
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urrm, wow!!!Cube Analog 2012 with various upgrades.0
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All those bikes in 4 years on a student budget? When I were a student I lived on gravel and rode my brothers old racer and bald tyres and worn brake pads, had holes in all my clothes, couldn't stretch to a hair cut and had to sneak into the lecturers lounge to use their photocopier as I couldn't afford the one at the library.
Kids these days.
Nice bikes though.
Except the Bagger - f*** they are ugly.Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0 -
I mostly managed to pay for them through summer work, wheeling and dealing a little (mostly bikes and guitars), christmas/birthday money, and I get a huge student loan because my parents are pretty poor
Yeah, the Bagger is a bit of a marmite bike, it's grown on me, still does look a bit odd though. Best hardtail I've ever ridden though!0 -
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I'm open to tips on how you managed that!! I've just started uni!0
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Haha like I said, working and a bit of wheeling and dealing. And overdraft.0
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Awesome post. Nice variety of bikes. Kinda puts my bike history to shame haha.0
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Loving the Vulcan, 2006/7 at a guess as my 2006 Kraken was in near enough the same colour scheme prior to my attention (see link in sig) - quick pic
Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
I have the exact same vulcan, couldn't tell you the year of it though!0
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Pretty crazy Head Angle on the Bagger especially for a HT and it looks slacker on the second picture. I would be afraid of the Headtube snapping!0
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The year is in the frame number.....pretty sure the grey on grey is 06/07 only.Greer_ wrote:I have the exact same vulcan, couldn't tell you the year of it though!Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
It's a pretty burly build, pretty thick steel tubing, and as i said, it was designed for big forks and to be ridden hard. I certainly don't think I could push its limits.oxocube1 wrote:Pretty crazy Head Angle on the Bagger especially for a HT and it looks slacker on the second picture. I would be afraid of the Headtube snapping!
And I think the Carrera was an '060
