# How we used to ride.



## Globalti (23 Jan 2010)

Younger MTBers might not appreciate what we oldies went through as test mules for 20 years to bring them the comfortable, fine-tuned, lightweight and fashionable kit they can buy nowadays. Have a look at this:

http://www.mudintheblood.co.uk/hwutrhome.htm

NB: I still have thumbshifters on my MTB, even more amazing.... they're Suntour thumbshifters! Little beauties they are and they go for good money nowadays.


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## chillyuk (23 Jan 2010)

I have Shimano indexed front and rear thumb shifters on my Ridgeback hybrid. Although they work perfectly at present, the particular models are completely obsolete, so I was pleased to find a pair of new old stock shifters from the US on Ebay. They can go into my "just in case" spares stock.

A lot of us will remember when mountain bikes weren't even thought of. We did cross country on road bikes, maybe with the modification of some slightly heavier and chunkier tyres.


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## Muddyfox (23 Jan 2010)

chillyuk said:


> A lot of us will remember when mountain bikes weren't even thought of. We did cross country on road bikes, maybe with the modification of some slightly heavier and chunkier tyres.



Unfortunately im in that bracket 

Bombing through the local woods and doing jumps on my old 5 speed Raliegh Arena complete with drop bars 

Simon


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## Happiness Stan (23 Jan 2010)

What about the rear brake calipers mounted under the chain stays? 

Stroke of genius that.


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## patheticshark (23 Jan 2010)

awesome film:
http://www.klunkerz.com/


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## Debian (23 Jan 2010)

Good thread.

My first MTB, which I still own and use as a town hack, was a Peugeot something or other, can't remember the model but itis predominantly grey with orange and black flashes.

Anyway - steel frame (MangAlloy), no suspension, 21 speed friction shifters and useless cantilever brakes, whitewall tyres (still the originals but more dirty orangewall now ) with a slight tread and a centre slick section.

Mutts nuts when I bought it (early 90's).


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## Hacienda71 (23 Jan 2010)

I still have my old mtb from early 90's no suspension thumb shifters, state of the art at the time. I remember my mate getting roc shox for his GT we were in awe of it.


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## Norm (23 Jan 2010)

+1 to the last two. My Giant Coldrock now has Schwalbe City Jets, rack and mudguards and serves just fine as a town bike, thumbshifters, Biopace and all.  The pink and white colour scheme is... um... challenging, so the closest I'm going to come to posting a pic is...


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## lukesdad (23 Jan 2010)

Still use a friction shifter for the front on my race bike.


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## ufkacbln (23 Jan 2010)

Happiness Stan said:


> What about the rear brake calipers mounted under the chain stays?
> 
> Stroke of genius that.



Got one of the original Saracen Mountain bikes that had these.... so efficient that I had the brazings removed and "normal" Calipers put in place.


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## Globalti (24 Jan 2010)

Here y'are oldies, you'll enjoy this, I bought the first issue and it only lasted for about four:


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## Hacienda71 (25 Jan 2010)

Globalti said:


> Here y'are oldies, you'll enjoy this, I bought the first issue and it only lasted for about four:



Now that is proper mountain biking, No poncy suspension or disk brakes just a bloody strong frame and wheels and a nutter at the top of the hill


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## Globalti (25 Jan 2010)

I didn't get suspension forks until about 6 years ago and even they were second hand!


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## GilesM (25 Jan 2010)

chillyuk said:


> A lot of us will remember when mountain bikes weren't even thought of. We did cross country on road bikes, maybe with the modification of some slightly heavier and chunkier tyres.



I remember those days (Giles Old git) we refered to it as roughstuff, I went on a couple of weekends camping with the Roughstuff Fellowship (1980 ish), great fun, tea stops usually included a primus stove and freshly made tea somewhere in the middle of Exmoor, and just like mtb one of my mates fell off and broke his arm on the Long Mynd.

My first mtb was in 1990, a fully rigid steel Saracen, I still see it as I gave it to a friend, still working well.


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## thegrumpybiker (26 Jan 2010)

Anyone remember the Raleigh Bomber from the early '80s? It probably qualifies as the UK's first MTB shaped object. From memory it looked like a beefier version of what the cool kids were doing at the time, putting big cowhorn bars on their racers. My schoolmate had one, it weighed a ton. Mind you so did he so it needed to. Gonna have to google for one now...


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## Debian (26 Jan 2010)

Globalti said:


> Here y'are oldies, you'll enjoy this, I bought the first issue and it only lasted for about four:



I recognize that, I bought it as well!!!


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## dan_bo (26 Jan 2010)

Globalti said:


> Here y'are oldies, you'll enjoy this, I bought the first issue and it only lasted for about four:



I've got that! and several copies of MTB Pro in the loft 


I bought an '89 stumpie team from a shop in Palo alto for............................................$35, just for the XT thumbies. Shipped it back home and commuted on it for three years as a singlespeed 'cos the thumbies were on my cannondale. Bargain.


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## dan_bo (26 Jan 2010)

Good to see mud in the blood back up as well!


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## Alan Whicker (26 Jan 2010)

Two of my mates had 80s Stumpies at college. They were convinced that the manufacturer was Stumpjumper and the model was 'Specialized'. 

My first MTB was a Claude Butler Xanthos in about 1995 - steel, rigid with canti brakes. Pretty heavy but it went up (and down) anything. It was completely indestructible. It's probably on bomb disposal duty in Afghanistan now.

I remember when my mate got one of the first Marin B17 full sussers. In our bit of the Pennines quite a few MTBrs thought suspension was for softies, and I was one of them until I took my super-stiff alu Hardrock down the cobbles at Ogden Water .


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## fido (27 Jan 2010)

My first "proper" MTB was a 1990/91 ish Kona Hahanna. As a particularly clumsy rider I was delighted with it's ability to smash through roots/kerbs/trees/walls without flinching.

I also used to be able to do most of my own servicing but hydraulics, suspension forks and cartridge bits & bobs give me a migraine.


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## Globalti (27 Jan 2010)

I will never be able to describe my feelings the first time I rode an MTB, it was a yellow and white Raleigh Maverick and after years away from cycling I was thrilled with the way it rode and handled. Years before, I had broken a couple of my 10 speeds riding cross country so this MTB did everything I had always wanted from a bike.

I had once even bolted a tiny chainring that I butchered off my brother's trike onto the inside of the chainrings on my 10 speed, changed the chain over by hand and ridden it up a steep hill, amazed at how breathless it made me.... until the steel ring collapsed under the strain!


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## dodgy (27 Jan 2010)

Another from the days of UK klunk here, too. I had a bright flouro pink MBK 'something or other', it had a bottom bracket mounted brake like someone elese mentioned! Not long ofter I got an aluminium frame (which was pretty advanced for the day) built up with a very early Shimano Deore groupset, Girvin Flexstem. I remember going up to the Lakes on holiday with a mate for a week of MTBing and camping. We met some other riders who were in awe of my flexstem  But we did some proper long MTBing up there, riding up Helvellyn etc. He had a Raleigh with Campagnolo groupset, very swish.
Happy days, makes me laugh when I hear people asking what bike they should buy to ride 'insert name of trail centre here' and will only 5 inches be enough


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## dodgy (27 Jan 2010)

I should also have added that that lot started a love affair with MTBing for me which lasted 20 years, it's only now that I've become just as, if not more interested in riding on the road. I can see the same essence that attracts me, to me, it's no different.


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## arallsopp (27 Jan 2010)

Still got my white / mauve muddy fox courier. Long been converted to a twinspeed (by means of dead rear derailleur) but still as bombproof as it ever was. Unfortunately, I'm not so robust, and am off uprights for the foreseeable (pending reincarnation).

It lives with my dad now, and he still takes her out from time to time. Triangle frame bag, cantis, elliptical chain rings, suntour shifters, ridgeback grips, little wheels to route the front brake cable down the stem, and (now removed) a neon disc for the rear wheel.

Wonder if I can get that disc on the SMGTe. Ah... the noise.


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## fossyant (28 Jan 2010)

I still use my Diamond Back (circa 92)..fortunately, Wills Wheels resprayed it a number of years ago from Marbled grey (gash) to blue......

Still does the business........... suspension is for nannies..........


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## Sheffield_Tiger (3 Feb 2010)

Flexstem! - ALWAYS wanted one of those (at school with a Saturday job, suspension was unaffordable)

Mountain LX thumbshifters were the dogs

And Ringle!


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## leyton condor (22 Feb 2010)

My only off road bike is a circa 92 Muddy Fox courier comp.
It weighs quite a bit but I could not part with it.
I generally use it at weekends when I'm with my 8 year old daughter and for commuting in the snow.
I am thinking of getting something from this millenium though. Considering a GT avalanche1.........or maybe I will give the MF a few more years.


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## Sheffield_Tiger (22 Feb 2010)

They forgot to mention the big Duracell lockable lights that were the alternative to the standard Ever Ready offerings that every man and his dog had.*

Anyone remember them?

They were about 6" across each way by 2.5" thick, looked like they were more at home on a quad bike, and locked to their brackets. I think each one took 17 D size batteries or something like that.

_*later, Ever Ready made versions in luminous green to match the trend of having similarly garish forks, remember those?_


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## bauldbairn (22 Feb 2010)

Globalti said:


> Younger MTBers might not appreciate what we oldies went through as test mules for 20 years to bring them the comfortable, fine-tuned, lightweight and fashionable kit they can buy nowadays. Have a look at this:http://www.mudintheblood.co.uk/hwutrhome.htm



Thanks Globalti very interesting link  - was only into "Racers" when everyone else I knew was either BMXing or MTBing. So I never knew how the progression in MTB design came about.


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## Stephenite (23 Feb 2010)

thegrumpybiker said:


> Anyone remember the Raleigh Bomber from the early '80s? It probably qualifies as the UK's first MTB shaped object. From memory it looked like a beefier version of what the cool kids were doing at the time, putting big cowhorn bars on their racers. My schoolmate had one, it weighed a ton. Mind you so did he so it needed to. Gonna have to google for one now...



I had one of these beauties. You're right, it did weigh a ton. I remember trying to go down a 2.5ft drop-off when the other lads were doing it on BMX's. I think it made a dent in the tarmac!

http://www.raleigh-bomber.co.uk/index.html - there were some for sale here last time i looked, but not now i'm afraid.


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## Debian (26 Feb 2010)

This was my first MTB. Still going strong as my town hack and still has the original tyres.

This pic is not of my actual bike but mine is identical and near enough in the same condition.


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## bauldbairn (26 Feb 2010)

Debian said:


> This was my first MTB. Still going strong as my town hack and still has the original tyres.



Nice bike! I like this retro MTB thread.
Makes it look like my mates £6K downhiller does all the work for him.

Nobody got a "Stump Jumper" then? Think I'd heard an original model was worth £20K(could've been $'s) - is that likely? 

Like the new signature Debian.


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## Debian (26 Feb 2010)

bauldbairn said:


> Nice bike! I like this retro MTB thread.
> Makes it look like my mates £6K downhiller does all the work for him.
> 
> Nobody got a "Stump Jumper" then? Think I'd heard an original model was worth £20K(could've been $'s) - is that likely?
> ...



Ta for the sig thumbs up! It had been a very bad week when I wrote it, still like it though 

It's time I stripped and rebuilt the Peugeot I think, I'm getting to like it again, and to think I nearly gave it away a couple of years back  

I don't know what it is about it exactly but it seems to have been built by the same firm that did Stonehenge; original tyres, original chain, cassette, chainrings, derailleurs and pedals, little bit of rust on the chromey bits but not much. In fact all that's ever been changed on it is the rear axle and bearings, inner tubes, cables and brake blocks. It just seems to go on for ever.


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## bauldbairn (27 Feb 2010)

Debian said:


> I don't know what it is about it exactly but it seems to have been built by the same firm that did Stonehenge; original tyres, original chain, cassette, chainrings, derailleurs and pedals, little bit of rust on the chromey bits but not much. In fact all that's ever been changed on it is the rear axle and bearings, inner tubes, cables and brake blocks. It just seems to go on for ever.



I had a Raleigh Europa five speed "Racer" drop handlebar road bike back in the 80's - the only things I changed where the rear tyre, inner tubes, handlebar tape, brake blocks, cotterpins and greased the bearings/axles. That was in 8 years riding. Yeah they don't make them like they used to.


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## Sheffield_Tiger (27 Feb 2010)

bauldbairn said:


> the only things I changed where the rear tyre, inner tubes, handlebar tape, brake blocks, cotterpins and greased the bearings/axles.



I notice you never changed gear!


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## bonk man (27 Feb 2010)

bauldbairn said:


> Nice bike! I like this retro MTB thread.
> Makes it look like my mates £6K downhiller does all the work for him.
> 
> Nobody got a "Stump Jumper" then? Think I'd heard an original model was worth £20K(could've been $'s) - is that likely?
> ...



Ha ha ha .... guess what I dragged out of a skip today,,, oh yes, prepare to get jealous..
Early Stump Jumper, with lots of original bits LX plus some retro purple stuff .. now working.. oh yes... dunno if it is worth 20k but it is well nice to ride.. 
Original tyres with little wear, probably only clocked about 800 miles or so on the road.


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## Cubist (27 Feb 2010)

Late eighties Emelle? Now no longer mine, but here it is before I sold it!


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## bonk man (27 Feb 2010)

I had a Karakoram with a similar paint job to that Emmelle but in purple. 

My first proper mountain bike [ as opposed to a thing we built with a motor bike front wheel, chopper back wheel, mega wide bars and a bad off road attitude ] was one of those dodgy Peugeot 15 gear things that was huge and unwieldy. 
I don't have any pics of it but I was rather fond of the stupid thing.


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## Debian (27 Feb 2010)

bonk man said:


> I had a Karakoram with a similar paint job to that Emmelle but in purple.
> 
> My first proper mountain bike [ as opposed to a thing we built with a motor bike front wheel, chopper back wheel, mega wide bars and a bad off road attitude ] was one of those *dodgy Peugeot 15 gear things* that was huge and unwieldy.
> I don't have any pics of it but I was rather fond of the stupid thing.



Like mine?

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=1142487&postcount=31


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## bonk man (27 Feb 2010)

It was a red and white one, I have just found a grainy pic of it, if I can get a good image I will post it.. a bit of photo shopping to do on it.


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## Sheffield_Tiger (27 Feb 2010)

Anyone else used to drool over roller-cam systems in the "Freewheel" catalogue?

And look longingly at adverts for the Suntour B.E.A.S.T?


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## bonk man (27 Feb 2010)

I will dig out the old Freewheel catalogue [ 1984 I think ] and have a laugh at the daft old bikes  Revell ... whooop whoooop with Biopace ...  excellent


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## bauldbairn (28 Feb 2010)

Sheffield_Tiger said:


> I notice you never changed gear!


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## Matty (1 Mar 2010)

arallsopp said:


> Still got my white / mauve muddy fox courier. Long been converted to a twinspeed (by means of dead rear derailleur) but still as bombproof as it ever was. Unfortunately, I'm not so robust, and am off uprights for the foreseeable (pending reincarnation).
> 
> It lives with my dad now, and he still takes her out from time to time. Triangle frame bag, cantis, elliptical chain rings, suntour shifters, ridgeback grips, little wheels to route the front brake cable down the stem, and (now removed) a neon disc for the rear wheel.
> 
> Wonder if I can get that disc on the SMGTe. Ah... the noise.



Jealous. Always wanted one of these. Rear disc is essential (daft/silly etc.)


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## Hilldodger (1 Mar 2010)

thegrumpybiker said:


> Anyone remember the Raleigh Bomber from the early '80s? It probably qualifies as the UK's first MTB shaped object.



Yep, got two in my collection Plus a 1983 Muddy Fox, a 1984 Dawes Countryman and a similar age Raleigh Maverick.

My new commuting bike is an all original 1986 Raleigh mountain bike which we had donated for recycling.


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## palinurus (1 Mar 2010)

First bike I spent any serious money on (i.e. the first one that didn't come out of the Marshall Ward catalogue) was one of these, from Bob Addy's.


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## Kirstie (6 Mar 2010)

OMG Biopace! Remember that?
My first MTB was a 1992 Shogun Prairie Breaker but it's long since gone and I have no pics of it. I always coveted a Kona Hahanna but never had the money in those days as I was a student...


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## Flying_Monkey (9 Mar 2010)

Like some others, I used to have a Muddy Fox courier... it got stolen in Oxford (still vying bike theft capital of the UK, along with Cambridge...)


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## bonk man (9 Mar 2010)

couple of pics,, 
this one is my 1st mountain bike, suitably up a mountain, er , well up the top of the Worcestershire Beacon 1300 ft ... some sort of Peugeot, don't know what model. I actually raced this beast.. 
[ATTACH=full]181562[/ATTACH]

And this one.. 
[ATTACH=full]181563[/ATTACH]
just after a really muddy race at Eastnor, 4 laps with the alligators in the woods.. 
The bike is a Karakoram,, you cannot really see it but the rear rim has split, I managed to finish the event, many only managed 3 laps. 
Decent if heavy bike, got a few top tens in local events riding this thing. I still have the squeaky horn that is attached to the bars, it annoyed many riders in Sports category as I went past on the hills Last outing for the hooter was last years Marin Rough ride

This one , though you cannot see the actual bike is an early Cannodale M1000 at Eastnor 24hr a couple of years ago.
[ATTACH=full]181564[/ATTACH]
Now sold as too big for me.. good bike though.


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## dodgy (9 Mar 2010)

Tinker, is that you?


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## longers (9 Mar 2010)

Cubist said:


>



It's been fitted with mudguards and was used for a couple of weeks for the mile round trip for him to get to work while the gas board dug up the road. 

I had to have words about the state of the chain.


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## Cubist (10 Mar 2010)

Glad he's using it. It was great on the towpaths and so on, but I only rode it "proper" off road occasionally, and the last time I did I remember dropping down a mile long rutted farm driveway and not being able to focus 'cos my eyeballs were jiggling. Give me plush forks any day!


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## guitarpete247 (6 Apr 2010)

Still got and use Biopace chainset. Read Sheldon Brown's article on Biopace before you diss them. Mine is 22 years old on an "88 Tufftrax.




Still riding it today. Only bits changed from when I bought it are bar ends added and new pedals (not on this photo).


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## BADGER.BRAD (18 Apr 2010)

My first MTB ( or tracker as we called them) was a Triumph racer converted to single speed, some wide cow horn bars fitted and my local bike shop did what I can only imagine now were cheap cyclocross tyres. Everyone had one but as I remember we weren’t to see Real MTBs till a while later. The Raleigh bomber was the first I saw anywhere near an MTB. The real good bikes had a sturmey archer hub gear but most bikes had the derailleur removed as they generally ended up bent and the chain just ran on the best gear for all round stuff. This was the early 80's. Now I feel like a right old git!


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## palinurus (18 Apr 2010)

BADGER.BRAD said:


> My first MTB ( or tracker as we called them)



Trackers! yup we did that too.


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## madguern (18 Apr 2010)

Weird because in pub the other night talking to my mate about tracker bikes. Thread brings back memories, first mountain bike was a falcon , conned on that one. Then and MBK purple and white thing. Both great bikes though, just at the wrong time for me as discovered drinking ! So ended up with an early rear suspension bike that had no known name ! It was like riding a steel girder with a bouncy back end. That ended my love affair with bikes for a while. Plus lived in a flat up 3 flights of stairs and had to carry the girder after each ride.

Had to wait a few years for my Marin and it had proper front suspension and indexed gears and was really light !


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## Hacienda71 (18 Apr 2010)

palinurus said:


> Trackers! yup we did that too.



We did too. Must have been a countrywide phenomenon. Rocket seat by iscaselle.


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## jay clock (18 Apr 2010)

> Bombing through the local woods and doing jumps on my old 5 speed


5 speed? What is wrong with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed? With motocross handlebars?!


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## hotmetal (2 May 2010)

palinurus said:


> First bike I spent any serious money on (i.e. the first one that didn't come out of the Marshall Ward catalogue) was one of these, from Bob Addy's.



Ha! I used to live in Watford and remember Bob Addy. IIRC he was a miserable old git of a roadie who hated MTBs but sold them cos everyone wanted one. He sold me my first MTB, a Saracen Ltd Edn, powdercoated black Tange steel frame, LX groupset, Biopace c/r and that odd 'U-brake' under the chainstays/BB. As MTBs were new then, he sold me a frame according to road sizes. How many trees did I crash into? Still, it gave me the bug and I sold it and bought a 2nd hand 1988 Cannondale SM800 for the same as the Saracen cost new. The 'Dale is still in my garage with CityJets on as a town hack. It is still a truly great bike, albeit a bit knackered. It still shifts as well as my 2006 Jekyll which has SRAM X0 on it! The old 'Dale was rigid as standard, with a 24" rear wheel and 26" front (which made finding decent back tyres tricky by 1995). I stuck some early RockShox on it, but wish I'd kept it standard now. It had XT thumbies (6 speed), a Flexstem, Suntour Rollercam rear brake (awesome stoppers pre-V). The Mavic 'Paris-Gao-Dakar' hubs and BB have never needed adjustment even after 20+ years of abuse and being hit by a Rover 827!!! 
I'll see if I can find some pix.

I do remember the old Raleigh Arena ('racer') and the shortie mudguards, cowhorn handlebars etc. I think that's why Raleigh invented the Bomber. Everyone was making their own anyway. We used to go down the "Death Track" through the trees in Oxhey Park (Palinurus may know it) on 'racers' that we converted into what we called 'trackers' by the addition of cowhorns and replacing the rear wheel with one off a Grifter, which meant building your own bracket to fit the rear (side-pull) caliper. Oh, the fun. Oh, the hideous injuries!


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## hotmetal (2 May 2010)

*My 1988 Cannondale*

Note the old "Station House" Cannondale logo, the 24" rear wheel, the Rollercam rear brake and the Flexstem. And the "Mint Sauce" stickers that came free with early issues of MBUK (I think). Mint sauce was so cult at the time.


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## palinurus (2 May 2010)

hotmetal said:


> We used to go down the "Death Track" through the trees in Oxhey Park (Palinurus may know it)



I still ride over there- it's one of my regular cyclocross drill areas. Practicing transitions on the grassy bits and using the lumpy bits in the trees for run-ups and descending practice.


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## palinurus (2 May 2010)

hotmetal said:


> Ha! I used to live in Watford and remember Bob Addy. IIRC he was a miserable old git of a roadie who hated MTBs





He's still about.

http://www.hemelcycling.org.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=842


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## hotmetal (2 May 2010)

palinurus said:


> He's still about.



Crikey! And he doesn't look any different after 20 years. Pretty impressive. Never realised he was quite in that league. Fair play.


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## Zoiders (2 May 2010)

Retro MTBs are a growing subculture.

Fortunately the late 80s early 90s MTB kit is not.

I am (thank god) young enough to have missed that shamefull episode in dayglow polkadot lycra and mullet hair cuts.


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## paddy01 (3 May 2010)

Halcion days indeed. My MTB life ended somewhere around 1996 when girls / beer and cars suddenly became a whole lot more important than cross country racing through gorse bushes on a wet sunday morning. I didn't ride anything again for a good 10 years or more.

First 'proper' MTB was a Raleigh of some description, Suntour thumb shifters as I recall. It was far too big for me (bought off a mate) and despite what I recall as fantastically skinny tubing, probably weighed more than I did at the time.

Next up would have been a 1993 Giant Cadex CFM-3 and I'll be blowed if I can remember what happened to that, I think I sold it to fund the next purchase which was..

.. a 1995 Klein Fervor (pre-Trek) which I built up from the frame / forks / mission control stem using a mix of XT / XTR and raced for a local shop team for a couple of years until I faded out of riding all together.

At one point I sold it to a mate who then proceeded to leave it in his back garden for 3 years until I bought it back off him. I resurrected it about 3 years ago and did some MTB'ing on it but these days I'm a road rider for preference and the Klein was converted to single speed beach cruising / leisure rides with the wife and cycle plus train commuting duties.

Unfortunately the Mission Control stem/bar combo snapped due to fatigue and the frame as a whole is looking pretty battered these days as it's taken it's fair share of abuse over the years, and the BB is in a right state (not a simple fix as they're sealed klein units).

So yesterday it was dropped into my LBS as a bare frame for them to remove the BB and see if there's anything they can do with it, once it's out the frame will go off to the powder coaters for a blast and coating then it'll be put back together, and will I'm sure continue to give sterling service.


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## Mad Doug Biker (3 May 2010)

Hacienda71 said:


> Now that is proper mountain biking, No poncy suspension or disk brakes just a bloody strong frame and wheels and a nutter at the top of the hill



Why do you think I refer to my battered old Raleigh Max Ogre (not a 'real MTB, I admit) as 'The Tank'? 

All the previous descriptions of bombproof bikes being built by the same firm that made Stonehenge and which are probably now in Afghanistan performing bomb disposal duty, really does describe the Max Ogre to a tee!

It's only of 1996 vintage though, so nothing too old yet, but at least it weighs more than it's worth, that much I am certain of!


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## Mad Doug Biker (3 May 2010)

My big brother had the black version. Still has them somewhere, I'm sure.



Sheffield_Tiger said:


> They forgot to mention the big Duracell lockable lights that were the alternative to the standard Ever Ready offerings that every man and his dog had.*
> 
> Anyone remember them?
> 
> ...


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## stewlewis (9 May 2010)

Great bunch of folks over here:

www.retrobike.co.uk

Loads of memories, rides, days out and bit's to empty your wallet.


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## ultraviolet (10 May 2010)

its strange i think, i've just gone to a full-sus from a fully rigid bike and i've realized that its boring. most of my MTB's since the early 80's have been rigid and every trail was a challenge, why would you want to smooth-out the bumps when riding off-road? modern technology has spoilt some my enjoyment i think


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## Globalti (11 May 2010)

Wait a few months and all the repair bills for those highly stressed pivots and shock absorbers will start mounting up......


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## dan_bo (11 May 2010)

Globalti said:


> Wait a few months and all the repair bills for those highly stressed pivots and shock absorbers will start mounting up......



Yeah too right.

Put this together at the weekend and forgot how much fun mountain biking can be. Sooooo direct. Soooooo quick. Soo easy to get air. Loved it.


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