R.I.P. - List your old bikes here! What did you start on? What bikes do you miss?

[thebush]

The only bike that I miss. This was few days before I put on the wheels that I had made for it.

[J_Sims]

that was a steep a$$ climb to take that pic... if it is where I think it is...

[Mudd]

Like my trike?

[thebush]

Originally Posted by J_Sims

that was a steep a$$ climb to take that pic... if it is where I think it is...

Yup. Potato Mtn. Isn't that a water cache for the CDF?

[ChariotsOfTires]

Originally Posted by LBmtb

Holy crap, you people have tons of bikes. My list is short -

Yeti 575
Trek 3700 (still have it)

Appreciate the short list, but I may have you beat.
Never owned a bike as a kid (rode my brothers) cause I skateboarded most of my life. Got into MTB about a year and a half ago.

My Only Bike:
2007 Specialized Rockhopper (HT)

[JoeTruth]

I haven't gone through many bikes. As a kid, I had a banana seat Schwinn and a Free Spirit ten speed (which got jacked!). In high school, no bikes; cars were cooler and got you to keg parties so much quicker.

In 92, scored a used Diamondback rigid 18 speed mountain bike (if you want to call it that). Didn't do much with it 'cept putz around.

1996, got serious and bought a brand spanking new Specialized Ground Control A1 Comp FS mountain bike with a Rockshock Quadra 21R fork with 60" of plush travel. At the time, it was the shiat for me and I thought I found the next best thing to sex. Obviously, very short lived high.

Different fork but exact same bike/frame. Love the rear F/S technology.....pause.....pause.....pause.......... not!


1998, I was itching for a new and improved bike as I was really getting into riding and mastering technical fire roads. Someone mentioned Ellsworth so I became an Ellsworth slut and bought an Ellsworth Truth. Still have it and love the ride. I'm slapping some discs on it soon and giving it to my son.

January of 2001. Just below Skyline Park on Mt. Wilson toll road.


SM-72 (Oct. 2000)


2001, I didn't learn my lesson and wanted more abuse from Tony E. so I bought the highly touted and elusive Id. Shorty after it's release and no thanks to Pete Fagarlin on MTBR, he broke the first generation and poorly designed rocker arms and everything went to hell. Boy did people jump on that band wagon. I called Ellsworth and they quickly swapped my extruded and non-reinforced rocker arms with ones that were. End of problem and another great all around bike. Still my current bike and will be until it breaks.

This was my preemptive strike to all the Ellsworth boo-birds. Mostly directed at my fellow socalmtb.com buddies. (I know, how immature!)...

[northshore]

I don't remember the exact model but I'll give this a go in order from a tyke until now:

-One of those plastic superman three wheel trikes that makes a boat load of noise. Boy does that thing tail slide like mad. I loved it as a kid!

-Red Wagon trike. I think my parents still have this bike!

-Unknown brand green banana seat, red tires, and a gold spreckled grame. It was the most embarrasing bike I ever road. Actually sold it for $20 bucks during a garage sale.

-Murray black BMX bike. It may not be a pro BMX bike but I loved it. It's probably the one bike that I put the most miles on. I road it from elementary school until sophmore year in high school. Absoutly loved hucking the crap out of it and doing skids all day long. Donated it to another kid.

-Road bike that looks like an American flag. I don't remember the brand name but this bike was short lived since it was a woman's frame and I taco'ed the front wheel and cracked the frame running into a brick wall. Long story. In the trash it went.

-'91 REI Novera Arriba mountain bike. My very first full rigid 8 speed v-brake MTB. I bought this from a neigbor that was moving for 100 bucks back in high school. I loved that bike since it was a tad small and highly nimble. I road this through college until I cracked the frame. Bummer since I wanted to convert it to a SS. In the trash it went.

-'01 Giant Warp DS2. GF's brother's old bike that was given to me for free. The frame took a beating but kept on ticking. Massive pedal bob and no rear lock out made it miserable for me. This bike was short lived since I parted it for my SS. The rest of the parts were sold to Jay.

-'07 Iron Horse MKIII Comp. I think I went through hell and back looking for a decent deal. Only the Performance store in Laguna had one in stock and refused to price match. The bike is still sitting in their racks the last time I visited. I ended up buying the bike from Trailhead Cycles in Oregon for a great price. I give much credit to Dino for all the help and to DWLink the most convincing link I have even ridden.

-'07 Marin B-17 SS build from parts swapped from the Giant, The Path, Adrenaline, and STR members. The whole point was to get stronger. It's going to be a painful journey!

[BeantownRider]

My addiction started in '01.

--00 Gary Fisher Big Sur stock, beat on it pretty hard, lots of crashes and OTBs still can't believe some of the stuff I used to do to it
--01 K2 Disco Monkey (swapped the parts from the GF which was later rebuilt and given to my brother for xmas), not a bad bike, but basically a pogo stick with the noleen shock
--03 Iron Hrose SGS Expert (swapped the parts from the K2, sold the K2 to a friend) this bike has recently died in a horrific speed bump bunny hop accident in an HB parking lot. It lived through many incarnations and the only stock part left at the time of death was the headset, RIP.
--03 Jamis Komodo sa-weet hardtail with an adjustable travel Manitou Nixon this bike got me riding xc again because I could clean hills that would bust my lungs on the SGS
--04 Gary Fisher Supercaliber 29er, Big Wheels!
--04/05 Mountain Cycle Fury (swapped the parts from the Komodo, sold the Komodo to another friend) still riding this bike, only original parts are the front derailer and the front wheel
--07 Vassago Bandersnatch (swapped parts from the GF) bought this about 9 months ago still beating the crap out of it but have given it much love in the parts department
--Rebuilt the GF 29er with spare parts in my garage as a cross bike with 1.5" knobbies and a 36/48 crank, it's a rocketship, still need to get it dirty though.

So I've been lucky to keep my old bikes/frames in the family where I can keep an eye on them and initiate further mtb addictions in my friends. I recently rode the Big Sur when I was home for xmas and it felt like an old baseball glove.

[gregOREO]

hmmmm i think i only have one since i started in sep 07
Giant reign 2

[Abui]

Originally Posted by OMR

Nancy has finally put her foot down and said no more bikes until you start selling the ones you don’t ride! Now, what to do? What to do?

Ride them all and buy another.

[bighit8]

My most missed bikes are an ELF ( remember them) BMX bike and my Ironhorse G spot.

[bighit8]

I also remember having a redline fixie(model?)that I rode at the church/k track in Tacoma Wa. It was called that because it was in the church parking lot and across the street from K-Mart.I used to do my paper route to.

[kbteachme]

Before 1998 I had a lot of beach cruisers with surfboard racks.
1998/99 - Kona Kilauea - Great chromo hard tail and I miss it!
2000 - Kona Manomano - Full suspension XC and it was a great bike for its time.
2001 - Kona King Kahuna - Nice XC frame, but some cheapy parts really made this bike sub par.
2003 - Kona Dawg Primo - Great all around XC/all mountain bike with good parts.
2004 - Ellsworth ID - Great XC/all mountain bike, but with a high BB.
2005 - Turner 5 Spot - Great XC/all mountain bike.
2006 - Turner 6 Pack/RFX - Great all mountain bike. It takes a beating and keeps on ticking. I think this was the strongest bike frame I had. It climbed like a goat!
2008 - Several Ventanaramas - 29er Fleet. I'm pretty happy right now.

[El Salt]

My first mountain bike...

Summer '85

Raleigh Technium Aluminum Mountain Bike
18 Speeds - BioPace Rings
Shimano Deore

Looked like this (not my photograph).

Who would of thought that 23 years later I'd love mountain biking more than ever. Boy have we come a long way.

[art23rockpile]

My offroad bikes:

1. (1985) Schwinn beach cruiser (with 'balloon' tires, drum brakes, 2x5 Suntour drivetrain)

2. (1986) Klein 'Mountain Klein'

3. (1989) Klein 'Attitude' (w/early WTB/Cunningham Grease Guard hubs headset and Rollercam brakes, Cook Bros cranks, Bontrager Switchblade fork, Interloc seatpost and stem)... this bike I miss the most

4. (1995) Klein 'Rascal'

5. (0 eight) Yeti '575'

In 1991 I had a deposit down on a Cunningham 'Indian' frameset. He only did 10 bikes a year (a total of 135 or so overall). His bikes were works of art... he was further ahead of his time than ANY other bike-maker. I'm told that Cunninghams sell for 5 figures nowadays... on the rare occasions when one is offered for sale.

[Zippy]

-1988? Bulk store bike "TrailRidge" complete with thumb shifters, splatter paint and biopace chain rings.
-Early '90's ricochet
-'99 GT Zaskar that I still have and was my primary bike until November '06.
-07 KHS XC Team
-05 KHS Softtail Team (swapped XC Team components)

[ericfoltz]

Hmmm...

I rode a DG BMX bike all through HS.

First MTB was late '80s Diamondback Apex.

'92 DB Axis TT - I still ride this bike. The components have changed but this is still the best bike I've ever owned. Raced it from '92-98.

'97 started racing DH so I bought one of Brian Lopes' Mongoose rigs off him. Actually a Nicolai with Mongoose stickers. Frame is hanging in the garage.

'06 Mongoose Teocali Super - Great trail bike. Rode all over the country on this frame.

'07 Mongoose Teocali Super - Warranty replacement for the '06. Good bike but I started looking for something a little more endurance oriented. Frame is for sale.

'07 Mongoose Bosberg Carbon Roadie - Don't have much experience with road bikes but I like this one. Nice and light and I don't seem to get passed very often.

'08 BMC Trailfox 02 - Absolutely love this bike.

[Marshall Willanholly]

These are all sequential. I've never had more than one bike until recently (2005) as the addiction has grown exponentially.

-First bike: Red Schwinn Stingray, first with a banana seat and ape hangers, then converted to more bmx style.
-Stroker II bmx bike
-Redline bmx bike (stolen I was one sad little kid for a long time. All the money I made mowing lawns went into that bike. To this day I believe there's a special place in hell for bike thieves.)
-DiamondBack bmx bike
-Univega road bike

Then onto mountain bikes:

-1989 Specialized Hardrock. I got it for riding between the music department and upper campus at CSULB. One day a friend and I decided to attempt our first off-road ride. Went to El Morro and I almost passed out by the time I got to the bottom of I Think I Can. Hard to believe I was ever that out of shape. Too many hours in the practice room and meals from 7-Eleven I guess...
-1992 Gary Fisher Supercaliber (day-glo yellow, remember those days?). Came with a rigid fork and thumbshifters. I eventually added a Manitou 2. You can see it in the lower left of this photo


-1994 Specialized S-Works M2 hardtail. No pics. Never really enjoyed this bike.

-1996/97 Mantis Screaming V


-2004 Turner 5spot. Started out red, ended up gray.




-2005 Turner 6pack. This bike went through numerous incarnations. 6Pack, 5Pack, Push rockers, you name it...
When I first got it:


Ready for my first trip to Whistler:


5pack (5spot rear end, 6Pack front triangle)


Final, and I think my favorite, configuration. 6pack/RFX front triangle, 5Spot seat stays, RFX chainstays, Push rockers.


Uzzi VPX


Current bikes: Iron Horse Sunday, IH 6point, Black Cat 29 singlespeed.

I have to say, I don't think I miss any of my old bikes. I really enjoyed almost all of them when I had them, but I also have a good time trying new bikes. I seem to be on a two-year cycle(), although I think my custom 29er is going to stick around a lot longer than that. Maybe how incredibly bummed I was as a little kid when my Redline was stolen has kept me from developing any deep emotional ties to subsequent bikes. At any rate, I'd rather have fond memories of the rides and the people I was with than which bike I was riding.

[Greengiant]

Originally Posted by OMR

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I was there when bikes were first invented… but that’s another story… Got into mountain biking in the early 80’s with a Specialized Stump Jumper.. weighed a ton and had cool bull moose handle bars and was indestructible… later handed off to wife while I purchased a shiny red Diamondback Apex (wow, 6 speeds!). That lasted 2 years and passed off to wife when I ordered a custom Salsa from Pacific Coast Cycles in Carlsbad. I gave this to myself at Christmas that year. My wife was very surprised. That’s when I discovered that she would never notice a new bike in the garage and I could always cover by saying that it was a “loaner” I was just trying out. I managed to squeeze a pink Klein into the garage. Next came a custom built 1991 American Classic all aluminum frame that I raced on for many years complete with a cool Monolith suspension fork. Discovering suspension, I then had Richard Cunningham make me a custom Mantis Pro Floater with an ActionTec fork in 1993. That’s when I started adding the cool looking purple components (Grafton/Ringle). Next came the Santa Cruz Blur after passing the Mantis off again to my wife. I loved the VPP technology so much I had to have an Intense 5.5 with a Pike for my full cush bike… the garage was starting to get crowded and my wife was starting to notice. The last one has been the Curtlo 29 with an Action Tec 2” fork set up as a single speed… bought in 2006 and way too much fun. Nancy has finally put her foot down and said no more bikes until you start selling the ones you don’t ride! Now, what to do? What to do?[/SIZE][/FONT]

What about that Chuck hardtail that was out around the mid to late 90's?