Flashback

[Schecky]

This is my first 'real' mountain bike.
A ‘89 or ‘90 Diamond Back Topanga.
It is completely original, with the exception of the tires/tubes, clips, chain & grips.
The specs:
CroMoly steel 21” frame & fork. 1" headtube with a no-name headset
Avenir seat/post/q-release/stem/bar
Shimano Exage 300 LX 21 speed drive train with STI shifters
Shimano brakes
Shimano Biopace-SG cranks (“for thin chains”)
No name wheels (rocking the reflectors and spoke protector!)


I had been tooling around on an old Raleigh or something and then it was stolen. No great loss.
I went to Buena Park Schwinn and bought this as a replacement. I was a revelation. A bike that fit! That steel ride! The bug had bit.
I rode it at Carbon Canyon, the Loop, Silverado and at El Moro a bit. Mostly, I used it as a commuter.
I had been driving a '66 Mustang and it decided to die on me, so I started riding to work. 15 miles a day. I found that it took only 5 minutes more to ride to work than it did to drive. If I really cranked it, I could beat the drive time. The tires (Farmer John’s nephew) had a raised central bead that made road riding easy.
I loved it, so I sold the stang and I went carless for about a year. On my days off I would ride road centuries for fun or hit the hills with by bud on his neon green MTB.
Back then, I lubed the drive train with WD-40 and had no idea that there were shorts with a chamois (shows you what I knew.) I wish I had known about the racing at Big Bear then.
My fitness level and metabolism were up there. I ate whole loves of bread from the bakery at work for lunch - I could literally eat anything and not gain weight.
Eventually, a new truck, marriage and children put biking on the back burner and I didn’t ride for years.
In 2000, I started getting geared up for a Mt. Gorgonio backpack trip and decided to ride to get back in shape. I broke out the white horse and rode at Chino after work with my backpack partners.
I had forgotten how much I loved biking. The bug bit again.
I started riding regularly, and hitting new trails. After a forearm killing decent down Rock-It I decided it was time for suspension. I went home and told Mrs Schecky that it was time for a new bike.
I bought a softtail with a nice Zoke and sold this one to my old roommate. I saw no reason for more than one bike…..
It took a while to get used to round chainrings.
It's escalated from there.
My bud recently moved to a place with no storage, so he gave this back to me. I was happier to have it back than I expected.
I’m going to take it out soon, after it gets some new cables.

So that’s my trip down memory lane. Thanks for reading.
I’d love to hear how the rest of you got into MTBing.

[tkblazer]

sweet story doood, i wish i still had my first mtb. it was a 90-91 rocky mountain that i used to ride whiting when i was a kid

[Pho'dUp]

Wow, let's see...

Cantilever brakes, quill stem, 7-speed drivetrain, old SIS shifters.. I'm guessing flat bar too. Yep that's a classic.

I had Diamond Back Apex that was black but with red, white, blue paint specs a la Jackson Pollack. I tried to SSpeed it for awhile but it flexed too much and pulled chains apart. It's now my friend's grocery getter in SF.

I love it when old bikes don't die. Nice to see an old friend is back in your stable.

Carl

[mytrustysteed]

sweet old school bio-pace chain ring!

Farmer johns were the shite before Smokes came out. And suspension? Isn't that when you bend your knees and try to fly through the rock garden on Rock-it? hahahaha the good old days.

[SAR_boats]

My first was an early Trek with a rattle can green paint job, SIS deraillers, center pull brakes, cromo no-name wheels. $10 at a garage sale and it was all down hill (pun intended) from there.