DxMachina
Dirt Disciple
Hi all
For a while I've been trying to remember my first MTB, which was a gift from my parents in (I think) 1990 but might have been a 1989 model. Can anyone help from this indistinct recollection of details?
Things I am sure about - it was a Shimano 18-speed (3x6) and it was bought from Halfords. It had lever changers not twist grips, straight black handlebars, gumwall tyres on 26" rims, and it had caliper brakes not Vs or cantilevers. No suspension - neither nose nor tail. It was definitely a Raleigh
Reasonably sure it was bought in November 1990.
The paint pattern is the thing that sticks most strongly in my mind.. I think it had a multicoloured green paint job with a repeating diamond or triangle pattern on the top bar, because in my somewhat wavy memory I think I recall thinking of it as lizard scales or overlapping leaves. It was mostly dark greens with lighter notes, and I can state that for sure because one of the welds cracked after a few years, and when it was rewelded my dad repainted over the weld with Humbrol enamel in British Rail Brunswick Green because it was the nearest colour his model-making toolkit had to the bikes frame colours.
I can't remember the model name - but this is consistent - in 1998 I bought a Raleigh Max aero and had to look at hundreds of photos of old yellow MTBs to identify that model recently when I set out to buy myself another one.
Grateful for any feedback from Raleigh lovers who are either older or who have better memory than I do!
Thanks
For a while I've been trying to remember my first MTB, which was a gift from my parents in (I think) 1990 but might have been a 1989 model. Can anyone help from this indistinct recollection of details?
Things I am sure about - it was a Shimano 18-speed (3x6) and it was bought from Halfords. It had lever changers not twist grips, straight black handlebars, gumwall tyres on 26" rims, and it had caliper brakes not Vs or cantilevers. No suspension - neither nose nor tail. It was definitely a Raleigh
Reasonably sure it was bought in November 1990.
The paint pattern is the thing that sticks most strongly in my mind.. I think it had a multicoloured green paint job with a repeating diamond or triangle pattern on the top bar, because in my somewhat wavy memory I think I recall thinking of it as lizard scales or overlapping leaves. It was mostly dark greens with lighter notes, and I can state that for sure because one of the welds cracked after a few years, and when it was rewelded my dad repainted over the weld with Humbrol enamel in British Rail Brunswick Green because it was the nearest colour his model-making toolkit had to the bikes frame colours.
I can't remember the model name - but this is consistent - in 1998 I bought a Raleigh Max aero and had to look at hundreds of photos of old yellow MTBs to identify that model recently when I set out to buy myself another one.
Grateful for any feedback from Raleigh lovers who are either older or who have better memory than I do!
Thanks
