1987...

Staabi

Retro Newbie
Hi,

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I started to ride Mountainbikes in January 1987. I would have never guessed where the Mountainbike would take me in my life (working in the bike industry since 1990, now as european product manager for a well known american company). The local bikeshops back then had two bikes on display I really admired. I just could not afford them. These were the top-of-the-line MTBs from Koga Miyata and Longus. With over 2000,- DM they were way out of my range. Bought an 849,-DM Kettler (and later a 1989 Koga RidgeRunner, a 1990 Yeti FRO - which I still own - and many more, but that's another story) Fast forward only 32years and I'm the lucky owner of both MTBs I dreamed of back in the day. Quite interesting how much the ride differs. The Ridge Runner is an aggressive NORBA style racer, the Longus is a comfortable tourer. Longus was the Mountainbike housebrand of german Shimano distributor Paul Lange GmbH from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. One of the first real Mountainbikes in Germany. This near mint top-of-the-line laste 1986 - 1987 Longus Competition Pro ist the latest addition to my "thumbshifter" fleet and actually fun to ride. Amazing how much Mtb technology evolved since then. A modern bike is like coming from a different planet compared to these. It was still fun in 1987 and founded my lifelong passion and profession.

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Happy trails! :)

Michael
 
Re:

Look at those old dogs! Great looking bikes and great story. Your mtb entry point precedes mine by a good 7 years and looking forward to your perspective.
 
Re:

What a nice pair! Both very cool in my opinion.

It's good to see that you have used Table Tops for the Longus - I'm thinking of adding these to a project of a similar year, as a rider...
 
Re: Re:

mynchiboy":2f0zdo54 said:
It's good to see that you have used Table Tops for the Longus - I'm thinking of adding these to a project of a similar year, as a rider...

Same here... I think they look good.
 
Re:

Beautiful bike and durable frame. Mine is blue and white frame and has a y stem (according to a 1987 survey, the same as me).
I turned him into a singlespeed and attended the European Championships and last year's World Championships with him.
Here is the link of mine, I hope the link works and I apologize in advance for grammatical errors. :mrgreen:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B76SWHsHHzl ... tive_share
 

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