Your First Proper MTB

BloggingFit

So what was your first and the one MTB that got you hooked?

Mines was an LX equipped 1992 Kona Lava Dome.



This was an absolute pig to ride and traded in after a month for a Spesh Rockhopper Comp.



Ran this for a couple of years before upgrading to first gen S-Works steel and then S-Works M2 frames.

warpcow

After a series of Raleighs, and similar, my first 'real' MTB was a Balance AL350 in 1995 . This isn't my pic, but it was basically the same except the fork I had was a Marzocchi XC600 made of finest Italian spaghetti.



I honestly don't rmember much about how it rode apart from being much happier when I changed it for a Kona Lavadome in 1997. It gave me some scars I still have from my first visit in the Alps though.

cooldad

This I think - a Daewoo Genius

The frame is still in the shed somewhere, this is after it was single speeded and frankenbiked by my son. Nice light stiff frame that actually rode really well, feeling linke a big BMX bike.

Ferrals

My first that I really used as a mountain bike was a Saracen Sahara Limited edition from the early nineties. I can't find it in the Saracen Catalogues but found an image on retrobike:



I knackered the forks and replaced them with a pair of answer manitous which were my pride and joy and looked like:


and here is a pic of me in action at one of the old x-lite races in Matchams Park in the new forest. The spectator clothing probably gives away the era!

oodboo

My first proper mtb was a Carerra Katalyst. Not mine but looked just like this:



That evolved over time into much nicer Orange Prestige, the stem is the only part still in use from the Carerra. This one was mine, photo taken when I was doing the C2C:

JBA

My first MTB was a 1988 Saracen Tufftrax, bought from Schmoo's in Swansea for £299.
It was a great bike and served me well for 3 years.
18 speed Shimano Exage group set.
Biopace chainset (which I am convinced contributed to my knackered knees).
Chainstay-mounted rear U brake.

I sold it to my ex-brother-in-law to get the cash to finish the build of a Saracen Kili Flyer Comp. Keep thinking I should get in touch with him and see if he still has it. I would love to get it back and use as a hack bike.

lawman

My first proper mtb was a Claud Butler Cape Wrath 8)



Looked similar to that, but think I had the previous years bike with cable disc rather than Hayes hydro's. Was a cracking starter bike, was great for a couple of years until I got my Kinesis.

kajjal

Early 1990's rigid GT Outpost , 3x 7 , with cantilever brakes. Great bike for Real off road riding except the brakes which were next to useless and made it a downhill ride of terror, accelerating fast with the brakes full on.

me-109

Gary Fisher Montare, circa 1991, with elevated rear stays (e-stay) supposed to avoid chainsuck and chainslap. The design was crap and the frame snapped above the bottom bracket. Returned (complete) to the shop as a warranty claim which took forever to pursue with lots of fobbing off. The shop went bust leaving me with nothing. Trek bought out Fishers and denied all responsibility for any of the warranty stuff so I was 500 quid out of pocket. I swore I'd never buy a Trek in response to their shoddy treatment - and haven't so far.

Not mine, but looked something like this, but without the silly bar ends:

Ferrals

such a daft design!

Mattharrier

What exactly constitutes a "proper" MTB?

Ferrals

I guessed the first bike that you used properly and regularly for a mtb style purpose. When I had my saracen above I used it for everything, long xc rides, races, dirt jumping, we'd even try and emulate hans ray and the two martins/Martyn's at trials.

BloggingFit

Mattharrier wrote:

What exactly constitutes a "proper" MTB?

See first line of the thread...

In other words not your standard teenage issue £100 Raleigh.

dj58

1987 Muddy Fox Explorer 19", Tange PG lugged frame, rigid fork with 1" headset. 18sp 48/38/28 sugino oval chainset 13/30T freewheel, Suntour derailleurs, thumb shifters/brake levers, front Suntour canti-brake, rear chainstay mounted suntour roller cam (rim crusher) brake, colour Lemon Silk.

Had the original frame replaced under warranty due to BB threads being out of tolerance and BB's failing prematurely. Had two sets of wheels, originals for commuting with 1.5" road tyres and a set of hand built 36H specialized cartridge bearing hubs and Mavic Rando grey hard anodised M4's/Ground Controls, absolute PITA to get tyres on/off IIRC.

Still have it in bits in boxes in the loft/garage.
Not mine but similar http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... 1&t=242795

Followed that with a 1992 Kona Explosif Pro with Pace RC35 Fork.

JodyP

BloggingFit wrote:

In other words not your standard teenage issue £100 Raleigh.

I almost got a Raleigh Activator (mk1). Probably wouldn't have got into MTBing if I followed through with the Christmas purchase. I instead talked my parents into chipping a little extra in for a GT Talera. Great bike for a base model but ended up snapping the frame at the steerer tube.

cooldad

I remember those days ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Mine was a Carlton racing bike - mid late 70s.

Just used to roll the bars upside down.

But my no stretch of the imagination was it a mountain bike.

We also used to take kiddies bikes and play BMX, before BMX had reached South Africa - we read about it in surfing magazines - kind of like Klunkers on little bikes. Motorcross bikes had just started having layed down shocks and I remember cutting the seat stays at the top, bending them down and bolting them lower down the seat tube.

Wasn't great for structural integrity, but looked really cool to a teenager.

BloggingFit

Few of used to take road bikes off-road as they had gears and I doubt CX would have been around at the time.

Thinking back I realise that my bikes were 1990 models.

VWsurfbum

I had a Ridgeback 601, which from memory had white forks not grey like below, Far cooler than all my mates on raliegh Lizards or Diamondbacks

Mattharrier

BloggingFit wrote:

Mattharrier wrote:

What exactly constitutes a "proper" MTB?

See first line of the thread...

In other words not your standard teenage issue £100 Raleigh.

In that case, it would be my current Rockrider 8.0. Completely standard at the moment, although I plan to change the pedals, and try a wider bar/shorter stem.

robertpb

My first MTB was a 1985 Dawes Ranger which Geoff Apps sent drawings to Dawes in the early 80's and they poached his design, his bike was a Range Rider.

The frame on the Dawes was wrecked by a lad who worked for me and the frame was replaced with a 16" from Covent Garden Cycles, I still have the bike.

My second was a built in 1987 to my design and is a one off, 14" frame 24" wheels cost close to £1,500.00, I still have that.

Twelly

Not quite as old as some of the relics in this thread but I had a 2005 Saracen Xcell when I was a teenager, just because the more your top tube sloped, the cooler you were. First bike I actually used for 'mountain biking' was my 2004 Mongoose Wing Pro. 8 speed Deore, RS Judy, RST shock, 100mm front and back. Shockingly bad bike.

russyh

Mine was around 1993 Muddy Fox, cant remember the exact model it was black and yellow. Sued to spend hours up Bredon hill on it as a kid. Then changed to a forest green GT Outpost in about 1995 again spent as much time as i could up Leckhapton hill and Bredon. I loved it, funnily enough it never hurt to climb back then or fall off. My firend had a purple Gary Fisher Tassajara with Manitou's and my other pals of the time all seemed to have Marins of various types.

lostboysaint

1989 MBK something or other. Rigid, 1" quill type headset. Shimano something or other groupset, slowly upgraded as the bits wore out, Flyte titanium rip-off saddle. I'll see if I can find a pick somewhere!

Beardface

Mine was a 1997 Kona Lava Dome that I got second hand from a mate.. this bike truly gave me the cycling bug at 13. I changed the bars to bright yellow Club Roost go fast bars and put a bright blue X-Lite Kevlar saddle on it too. I rode that thing for years, until I snapped the frame. I will own another like it one day when I have a bit more space.

Ricksflynn

I had a GT Arrowhead in metallic red! I absolutely loved it. I would post a picture but it won't let me off my phone.

That was the bike that got me into it all, it came after my old Pepsi branded bike was stolen! Haha!

My dad recently told me that he got rid of the frame after a clear out of the cellar which upset me as it would have been nice to restore to former glories.

Maro

Saracen Rufftrax Pro, from around 1997, £230. I can't find a piccy anywhere. It was a purply blue colour with yellow SR Suntour forks, plastic V brakes and (I think) shimano SIS gears. At 5'8" now I wouldn't even think about having a 19"frame but whan I was 14 years old that's what I wanted haha.

warpcow

Stav wrote:

Mine was a 1997 Kona Lava Dome that I got second hand from a mate.. this bike truly gave me the cycling bug at 13. I changed the bars to bright yellow Club Roost go fast bars and put a bright blue X-Lite Kevlar saddle on it too. I rode that thing for years, until I snapped the frame. I will own another like it one day when I have a bit more space.

I'd always thought my Lava Dome was a 97, but it's different to that. Turns out mine is probably a 98, but I'm 99.999% certain I bought it in about September 97, so I guess it's MY98. I still ride mine almost every day as a commuter, but feel a little guilty sometimes at the abuse/lack of love I give it now. Frame and seatpost is all that's left of the original.

The Rookie

Not really my first mountain bike, but when I was 8 I had a Puch single speed steel framed bike on largish volume tyres and my mates and I would take it all over the local hills on the footpaths and sheep/cattle tracks, more off roading than on for sure, of course in 1974 there wasn't really a mountain bike as such, but i do recall my Dad making me wash it everytime it was muddy before it was allowed in the garage including the one memorable OTB into circa 24" of deep mud, I guess the wheels were probably 24".

Next mountain bike came erm....34 years later, although my Raleigh 'racer' did see quite a lot off offroad action as the tyres were circa 38mm.

rampage7110

alpinestars CR-D30

Mattharrier

The Rookie wrote:

Not really my first mountain bike, but when I was 8 I had a Puch single speed steel framed bike on largish volume tyres and my mates and I would take it all over the local hills on the footpaths and sheep/cattle tracks

In a similar vein, the first bike I ever did any off roading with was my Raleigh Tomahawk (the Chopper's little brother). Sturmey Archer 3 speed and mag wheels, it was completely unsuited for, well, pretty much any kind of riding, but on the old rough ground by the park (which contained what would now probably be called a pump track of sorts), we used to race each other - racers, Choppers, Grifters, BMXs, whatever we had at the time. This was also pre-mountain bike, of course. The Tomahawk was ludicrously heavy, but the mag wheels gave me a speed advantage downhill.

felix.london

Not exactly true because I built up a Raleigh something or other which got me hooked. Changing square taper BB's and f.ing around with canti brakes and quill stems got me hooked. Then after a year or so razzing that around town and Hampstead Heath I pursuaded my parents to get me the Ridgeback for my 16th birthday I guess?...15th? dunno - when did that model come out?...I got mine the year after that