Explain the UK scene, in your words, your history
- Thread starter jonnyboy666
- Start date
I had one copy of MBA, i read it repeatedly - my first cruel lesson in how much more bloody expensive stuff is in the UK than the US. And you're right it was all sunny and dusty, as opposed to wet and clay muddy!
I remember for some reason that the glue/print smelt different to the UK mags.......kind of pungent - funny what you remember.
It got soaked along with most of the rest of my old bike mags when our garage got flash flooded 4 or 5 years back. :cry:
I remember for some reason that the glue/print smelt different to the UK mags.......kind of pungent - funny what you remember.
It got soaked along with most of the rest of my old bike mags when our garage got flash flooded 4 or 5 years back. :cry:
My history echos some of the comments, here, really.
I'd always ridden bikes from the late 70s onwards. An older brother who was a keen cyclist was probably significant in that - and to this day he's twice the cyclist I'll ever be - living / cycling in places / continents / countries I'll be lucky to visit. And for all that, he is the least focused on brand or cost of bike - so long as it's solid and decent, and reasonably reliable, he just damn well rides them, no fuss, no muss.
Like many have commented, mid-to-late 80s I slowly became aware of this mountain bike crazy craze. At the age of 18, I got a purple mottled Mustang. I don't think I was under any illusions of it's status, but I guess at the time it seemed my entry into the world of mountain biking - and in fairness, it's where the thing started for me. I tinkered and upgraded a few bits before temporarily moving on to something slightly better.
In terms of magazines, I'd say from sometime around 88, I would have been reading MBUK. I may have bought the odd copy of other magazines, but MBUK was the only mag I regularly read.
My first real mtb I bought new in 91 - a Diamond Back Apex - for some reason, I've got in my head it cost £567. My choice of bike had been influenced by knowing somebody who had a reasonably decent Diamond Back, and reading encouraging reviews about the models I was interested in. I still have my clear, endearing memory of first riding it back from the bike shop, in light rain, the Smokes sounding like a Land Rover on the road.
I used it all the time, commuting to work, general out-and-about, and off-roading. It never missed a beat, wherever I went, and always reminded me what a good choice it was, for the type of cycling I did.
I didn't really do much in terms of upgrades. May have bought the odd lighter bit, here and there - stems, handlebars, seatposts, saddles, pedals. It got good maintenance, I seem to recall lots of cleaning of drivetrain bits, changing the wheel bearings a couple of times, as well as other bits and bobs.
I have to say, history nor aspirational bikes never really struck me at the time - nor now, really. I think BITD, the only real awareness I had of anything else I really wanted was a Pace.
The guys I cycled with, BITD, rode bikes like GTs or Marins, or the odd Raleigh or Kona, typically - again, mid-range, decent bikes, but truth be told, we didn't really talk or obsess about higher end stuff, really. It was good enough to have a decent enough bike, and just go out and ride. Perhaps that was an age thing. By the time I was hitting the trails with others, I was at least 20, and easily the youngest of the bunch.
Towards the mid 90s, my off-roading dropped off a little, knee problems didn't really help. Around 95, somebody had tried nicking my Apex whilst it was locked up outside a gym (have to say, I thought it was a tad bold, because as well as lifters, it was also a boxing gym). They didn't manage to break the lock, but they succeeded in bending the back wheel and the chain (due to how the lock was routed through the bike).
Anyhoo, that seemed about the right time to replace a few things, so it got some Campg rims on XT hubs, and a load of new drivetrain bits (chain, cassette, chainrings). About 2 weeks after getting it all fettled, and now running mainly road tyres, some scrote nicked it out of a garage of a house I was visiting. I was truly gutted. I guess because I used it to go everwhere, it was as much appendage as chunk of metal.
I replaced it with a 95 Apex - which to many may not reggae with their own, onwards and upwards philosophy to bike ownership, but for me, personally, I never really saw the point in buying a bike well beyond my abilities as a cyclist. Mid range was where I was at with cycling ability, and about right for the bike - least that was my philospohy (still is, for that matter). I suppose mountain biking, whilst one of my hobbies, was never a huge singular focus.
And as a replacement, I have to say, I was delighted. Frame seemed a step up, kit was still reasonable quality. Bike was reasonably light, and still retained that encouraging feel that my previous Apex did. I guess being at a point in my life where I was cycling less (and just about to start driving), I suspect I never quite got the same bond or connection I did with my first Apex.
All the same, it's served me well, and I still have it now (as well as another 95 Apex, a 91 Apex that I got a while back from somebody on here - which was truly a sentimental journey back to my roots - and a 91 Axis).
As to other bikes - be they high-end, or of US origin, or both - I never really had much feel for them. Nobody I cycled with had bikes like that, they were all, typically, mass-produced, decent, mid-to-higher range kit. Maybe it was the age I was at that point, or the age of the people I cycled with, but I don't recall much slathering at all on high-end stuff. For that matter, I'm not sure I recall seeing much, if any, out on the trails, really.
The first time I actually spoke to somebody in person, who owned something of that ilk, it was in 95, with somebody I met on holiday - he owned a Klein. I was vaguely aware of them, and their rough price-tag. But as much as I could surmise during the brief period I knew him, it seemed more of a trophy, than something that really got put to good use.
I suspect life from the 70s and early 80s stuck with me, where bikes were concerned. I always appreciated longevity - which was why I was never in a rush to change or upgrade bikes, really - or for that matter, to collect them. I guess some of the UK bikes strike a chord, because they remind me of the types of bikes I aspired to when I was a nipper. When we were kids, me and my brother always wanted 531 frame bikes.
I have to say - those that have mentioned the types of bikes and brands they were aware of being mainly influenced by LBSs, cycling buddies, and UK mags, definitely resonates for me. Having a very local bike shop being a large Raleigh shop, always had an influence for me, even if when I got hit by the mountain biking bug, it became a bit stale for me - that said, the more exciting LBS, with lots of bikes, glass cabinets with lovely parts in, and a great selection of bikes, disappeared when the mountain bike boom slowed (at a guess late 90s) - whereas the large, Raleigh bike shop is still open and shows no current signs of fading away.
I guess my interest in retrobike mainly started as I became more enthused about getting more opportuinity to use my bike again, after moving house a few years back, and getting more opportuinity to use it. Even now, though, it's not about some longing or crush on some exotic bike(s) from BITD, but more the memories and nostalgia of the types of bikes I saw and rode back then.
All the same, I know I can't go back, that was then, this is now. I guess my formative years still imprint, though, and my interests in longevity and having bikes that I can still use and enjoy, from decades ago, when cycling was a much bigger part of my life, is one of those rare, coinciding joys, that gives you pause and a little smile as I move into middle age.
I'd always ridden bikes from the late 70s onwards. An older brother who was a keen cyclist was probably significant in that - and to this day he's twice the cyclist I'll ever be - living / cycling in places / continents / countries I'll be lucky to visit. And for all that, he is the least focused on brand or cost of bike - so long as it's solid and decent, and reasonably reliable, he just damn well rides them, no fuss, no muss.
Like many have commented, mid-to-late 80s I slowly became aware of this mountain bike crazy craze. At the age of 18, I got a purple mottled Mustang. I don't think I was under any illusions of it's status, but I guess at the time it seemed my entry into the world of mountain biking - and in fairness, it's where the thing started for me. I tinkered and upgraded a few bits before temporarily moving on to something slightly better.
In terms of magazines, I'd say from sometime around 88, I would have been reading MBUK. I may have bought the odd copy of other magazines, but MBUK was the only mag I regularly read.
My first real mtb I bought new in 91 - a Diamond Back Apex - for some reason, I've got in my head it cost £567. My choice of bike had been influenced by knowing somebody who had a reasonably decent Diamond Back, and reading encouraging reviews about the models I was interested in. I still have my clear, endearing memory of first riding it back from the bike shop, in light rain, the Smokes sounding like a Land Rover on the road.
I used it all the time, commuting to work, general out-and-about, and off-roading. It never missed a beat, wherever I went, and always reminded me what a good choice it was, for the type of cycling I did.
I didn't really do much in terms of upgrades. May have bought the odd lighter bit, here and there - stems, handlebars, seatposts, saddles, pedals. It got good maintenance, I seem to recall lots of cleaning of drivetrain bits, changing the wheel bearings a couple of times, as well as other bits and bobs.
I have to say, history nor aspirational bikes never really struck me at the time - nor now, really. I think BITD, the only real awareness I had of anything else I really wanted was a Pace.
The guys I cycled with, BITD, rode bikes like GTs or Marins, or the odd Raleigh or Kona, typically - again, mid-range, decent bikes, but truth be told, we didn't really talk or obsess about higher end stuff, really. It was good enough to have a decent enough bike, and just go out and ride. Perhaps that was an age thing. By the time I was hitting the trails with others, I was at least 20, and easily the youngest of the bunch.
Towards the mid 90s, my off-roading dropped off a little, knee problems didn't really help. Around 95, somebody had tried nicking my Apex whilst it was locked up outside a gym (have to say, I thought it was a tad bold, because as well as lifters, it was also a boxing gym). They didn't manage to break the lock, but they succeeded in bending the back wheel and the chain (due to how the lock was routed through the bike).
Anyhoo, that seemed about the right time to replace a few things, so it got some Campg rims on XT hubs, and a load of new drivetrain bits (chain, cassette, chainrings). About 2 weeks after getting it all fettled, and now running mainly road tyres, some scrote nicked it out of a garage of a house I was visiting. I was truly gutted. I guess because I used it to go everwhere, it was as much appendage as chunk of metal.
I replaced it with a 95 Apex - which to many may not reggae with their own, onwards and upwards philosophy to bike ownership, but for me, personally, I never really saw the point in buying a bike well beyond my abilities as a cyclist. Mid range was where I was at with cycling ability, and about right for the bike - least that was my philospohy (still is, for that matter). I suppose mountain biking, whilst one of my hobbies, was never a huge singular focus.
And as a replacement, I have to say, I was delighted. Frame seemed a step up, kit was still reasonable quality. Bike was reasonably light, and still retained that encouraging feel that my previous Apex did. I guess being at a point in my life where I was cycling less (and just about to start driving), I suspect I never quite got the same bond or connection I did with my first Apex.
All the same, it's served me well, and I still have it now (as well as another 95 Apex, a 91 Apex that I got a while back from somebody on here - which was truly a sentimental journey back to my roots - and a 91 Axis).
As to other bikes - be they high-end, or of US origin, or both - I never really had much feel for them. Nobody I cycled with had bikes like that, they were all, typically, mass-produced, decent, mid-to-higher range kit. Maybe it was the age I was at that point, or the age of the people I cycled with, but I don't recall much slathering at all on high-end stuff. For that matter, I'm not sure I recall seeing much, if any, out on the trails, really.
The first time I actually spoke to somebody in person, who owned something of that ilk, it was in 95, with somebody I met on holiday - he owned a Klein. I was vaguely aware of them, and their rough price-tag. But as much as I could surmise during the brief period I knew him, it seemed more of a trophy, than something that really got put to good use.
I suspect life from the 70s and early 80s stuck with me, where bikes were concerned. I always appreciated longevity - which was why I was never in a rush to change or upgrade bikes, really - or for that matter, to collect them. I guess some of the UK bikes strike a chord, because they remind me of the types of bikes I aspired to when I was a nipper. When we were kids, me and my brother always wanted 531 frame bikes.
I have to say - those that have mentioned the types of bikes and brands they were aware of being mainly influenced by LBSs, cycling buddies, and UK mags, definitely resonates for me. Having a very local bike shop being a large Raleigh shop, always had an influence for me, even if when I got hit by the mountain biking bug, it became a bit stale for me - that said, the more exciting LBS, with lots of bikes, glass cabinets with lovely parts in, and a great selection of bikes, disappeared when the mountain bike boom slowed (at a guess late 90s) - whereas the large, Raleigh bike shop is still open and shows no current signs of fading away.
I guess my interest in retrobike mainly started as I became more enthused about getting more opportuinity to use my bike again, after moving house a few years back, and getting more opportuinity to use it. Even now, though, it's not about some longing or crush on some exotic bike(s) from BITD, but more the memories and nostalgia of the types of bikes I saw and rode back then.
All the same, I know I can't go back, that was then, this is now. I guess my formative years still imprint, though, and my interests in longevity and having bikes that I can still use and enjoy, from decades ago, when cycling was a much bigger part of my life, is one of those rare, coinciding joys, that gives you pause and a little smile as I move into middle age.
Good thread this one Jon, great idea.
Time warp back to 1990, I was 21 with hair down to my arse, I'd just finished Uni down in London and headed back up to live with my folks in Gods Country (North Yorkshire). Had started working so had a bit of money to blow on a bike.
I'd been buying MBI/MBUK for a year or so and had also flicked through Jeremy Ashcrofts new to the shelves, Mountain Bike Guide to The Lakes, Howgills and Dales. Now some of these routes looked cool (and bloody hard). Blokes on Peugeots and Saracens "riding" over seemingly impossible terrain. That's what I fancied doing. What could be better than getting out with a map and a bike and exploring.
I'd also started watching the racing on Eurosport...Tomac, Furtado, Gould, Overend, Hairball...the Kamikaze at Mammoth and also started buying MBA (when I could find it in the shops...usually in some back street newsagents, top shelf up by the porn!!!)
Ok time to get a bike...
Into York Cycleworks and bought a Trek 7000. Not sure why now as I'd really wanted a Cinder Cone or Explosif. The Trek was a solid bike, nothing special, apparently made of something called "aluminum".
A couple of years on and a mate of mine had started racing a tricked out Orange and one day dragged me through to Stif in Headingly. Now that was a proper bike shop, dripping in all the coolest stuff from the US. I started reading MBAction rather more than the Brit mags and realised it was time for a change. A new shop, Blossomgate Cycles in Ripon had started up and Mark the guy that ran it built me up a 93 Explosif with Manitou 3's and red ritcheys. Cool bike but after 6 months I hankered for something much more exotic. My dream frame, a Manitou HT was duly ordered along with a set of Grafton cranks to go on it. Can't remember how much this cost but it wasn't cheap. I still remember going through to the shop when it arrived and picking the bloody thing up and laughing
Mark took most of my earnings over the next couple of years, MBA became my bible..CNC was king, went on holidays to Moab and the Worlds in Vail in '94 .
On to 1997 ish - Still reading the mags but they seemed to be becoming less and less interesting (to me). Not exactly sure why. Racing didn't seem too exciting either, more professionals and most being won by faceless Euro roadies I'd never heard of. In fact at that time I was only reading the mags for the routes.......then I passed my motorcycle test, sold the Manitou and for the next 10 years, cycling for me was just a very occasional interest.
2007 and on whim bought a Scott Scale 30 to potter about on. Started hitting the trails around Aberdeen where I was living at the time.
2008 and I decided I'd see if I could locate an old Manitou, for nostalgias sake. Did a search on Google and this bloody site sprang up. My wallet has never recovered since.
Nothing much has changed for me, it's still about riding...getting out a map and exploring, it's why I started originally and what I still enjoy most now although I guess you could say the "MBA effect" can be seen in the bikes I've got now.
Hopefully this year I'll be out and about again on a Manitou HT, crackin'
Time warp back to 1990, I was 21 with hair down to my arse, I'd just finished Uni down in London and headed back up to live with my folks in Gods Country (North Yorkshire). Had started working so had a bit of money to blow on a bike.
I'd been buying MBI/MBUK for a year or so and had also flicked through Jeremy Ashcrofts new to the shelves, Mountain Bike Guide to The Lakes, Howgills and Dales. Now some of these routes looked cool (and bloody hard). Blokes on Peugeots and Saracens "riding" over seemingly impossible terrain. That's what I fancied doing. What could be better than getting out with a map and a bike and exploring.
I'd also started watching the racing on Eurosport...Tomac, Furtado, Gould, Overend, Hairball...the Kamikaze at Mammoth and also started buying MBA (when I could find it in the shops...usually in some back street newsagents, top shelf up by the porn!!!)
Ok time to get a bike...
Into York Cycleworks and bought a Trek 7000. Not sure why now as I'd really wanted a Cinder Cone or Explosif. The Trek was a solid bike, nothing special, apparently made of something called "aluminum".
A couple of years on and a mate of mine had started racing a tricked out Orange and one day dragged me through to Stif in Headingly. Now that was a proper bike shop, dripping in all the coolest stuff from the US. I started reading MBAction rather more than the Brit mags and realised it was time for a change. A new shop, Blossomgate Cycles in Ripon had started up and Mark the guy that ran it built me up a 93 Explosif with Manitou 3's and red ritcheys. Cool bike but after 6 months I hankered for something much more exotic. My dream frame, a Manitou HT was duly ordered along with a set of Grafton cranks to go on it. Can't remember how much this cost but it wasn't cheap. I still remember going through to the shop when it arrived and picking the bloody thing up and laughing
Mark took most of my earnings over the next couple of years, MBA became my bible..CNC was king, went on holidays to Moab and the Worlds in Vail in '94 .
On to 1997 ish - Still reading the mags but they seemed to be becoming less and less interesting (to me). Not exactly sure why. Racing didn't seem too exciting either, more professionals and most being won by faceless Euro roadies I'd never heard of. In fact at that time I was only reading the mags for the routes.......then I passed my motorcycle test, sold the Manitou and for the next 10 years, cycling for me was just a very occasional interest.
2007 and on whim bought a Scott Scale 30 to potter about on. Started hitting the trails around Aberdeen where I was living at the time.
2008 and I decided I'd see if I could locate an old Manitou, for nostalgias sake. Did a search on Google and this bloody site sprang up. My wallet has never recovered since.
Nothing much has changed for me, it's still about riding...getting out a map and exploring, it's why I started originally and what I still enjoy most now although I guess you could say the "MBA effect" can be seen in the bikes I've got now.
Hopefully this year I'll be out and about again on a Manitou HT, crackin'
MikeD":356t925h said:It's desperately uncool, but I've always been a mag/history/tech geek. I was reading bike mags before I had a bike
That, essentially sums me up pretty well too...
However, I'm actually a cool MoFo so Mike, yer on yer own there lad...
BB
Started riding in 1989 when I bought a very nasty MTB on my year abroad in Normandy.
Nasty MTB was stolen just before I finished Uni in London in 1991 and was replaced with a not-quite-so-nasty Carerra Krakatoa 1990 model with full 300LX and a cromo seat tube!
Got the MTB bug real bad in a year spent riding in the Sheffield area, with odd small jobs and some dole scrounging while I waited to go to teacher training college in Manchester after initial visit to Denmark after graduation had been fruitless jobwise. Bike was gradually upgraded one bit at a time, financed by me selling most of my U2 and Goth record collections.
Started teacher training at Manchester Poly in 92-3 and fell in with the manchester Students MTB club - trips to Snowdonia, the black mountains,peak district twice a week, races etc etc..... Student loan paid for the Dave Yates and the Hope/Middleburn/Pace/USE/X-Lite stuff I had become addicted to thanks to my riding past Neil Waltons every day. Hated teaching and went to work in a bike shop where I fell in with other bikey types.
The early 90s in the UK were for many of us a time when we didn't have a huge amount of cash, and we needed to buy kit that would hold up to UK conditions without breaking. Rain didn't stop play in those days. You didn't have a road bike AND an MTB. The US stuff was pretty but not good value compared to the UK-made stuff. The Germans hadn't really started their ventures into CNC and weightweenyism by then. On reflection those are the best cycling years I ever had (and probably ever will have).
Nasty MTB was stolen just before I finished Uni in London in 1991 and was replaced with a not-quite-so-nasty Carerra Krakatoa 1990 model with full 300LX and a cromo seat tube!
Got the MTB bug real bad in a year spent riding in the Sheffield area, with odd small jobs and some dole scrounging while I waited to go to teacher training college in Manchester after initial visit to Denmark after graduation had been fruitless jobwise. Bike was gradually upgraded one bit at a time, financed by me selling most of my U2 and Goth record collections.
Started teacher training at Manchester Poly in 92-3 and fell in with the manchester Students MTB club - trips to Snowdonia, the black mountains,peak district twice a week, races etc etc..... Student loan paid for the Dave Yates and the Hope/Middleburn/Pace/USE/X-Lite stuff I had become addicted to thanks to my riding past Neil Waltons every day. Hated teaching and went to work in a bike shop where I fell in with other bikey types.
The early 90s in the UK were for many of us a time when we didn't have a huge amount of cash, and we needed to buy kit that would hold up to UK conditions without breaking. Rain didn't stop play in those days. You didn't have a road bike AND an MTB. The US stuff was pretty but not good value compared to the UK-made stuff. The Germans hadn't really started their ventures into CNC and weightweenyism by then. On reflection those are the best cycling years I ever had (and probably ever will have).
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The History:
My first BSO was a 'Greyhound City 5', some sort of bizarre 5 spd, single pivot u-brake, 21.1mm bull bar-ed pastiche of a mountain bike in late 1986.
Without wanting to appear to be seeking sympathy or being over dramatic, I'd experienced one of 'those' childhoods up to that point. Cycling was the greatest escape offered to me, and as soon as this rather quaint cro-mo framed 'he'll grow into it' sized bike appeared, escape I did. For up to 10 hours a day, or after school, I would cycle around the countryside.
The first muddy ride all but destroyed the mudguards and rack. Chen Shen tyres soon gave away to Farmer Johns and as the newly discovered world of the 'local bike shop' revealed the horror that I was riding, the TY-22 rear mech gave way to Ron Kitchen's finest Suntour XCD rear mech and frame mount.
Lacking in mechanical knowledge and physical strength, anything broken or loose was reluctantly fixed by an elusive father or bodged to the best of my Lego trained abilities.
Remember that phrase earlier? 'He'll grow into it' - the shops way of disposing of all those gated 23" frames to unsuspecting parents repeated a thousand times over. By sheer chance, the stupidly oversized bike for a skinny 13 year old actually turned out to be a quite useful 18" frame for an oversized spotty 15 year old. Lack of income and 'this will never do' turned it into a resprayed gothic horror of a bike by 1989. A pastiche of the Marin Zolatones and fluorescent schemes of that era. I really did grow into it - by 1989 'mountain bikes' were to be seen a plenty in the school bike sheds with the rich kids getting the cream of what was available from 'Solec Cycles' or 'Richardsons' - Ralieghs, Treks and Saracens aplenty. Then there were the Konas, they were the cool cats along with the GTs and the git with the early Clockwork and, holy of holy - DX! The real yobs ran stolen Cannondale frames with their exotic oversized tubing. BMXs never stood a chance.
My sad looking bike got a kicking to death sometime in the summer of '89 and much to my surprise, I discovered cycle insurance and it was insured/ replaced. After one badly installed gear cable too many, I'd had enough. My stupid looking bike of barely 3 years (it seemed a lifetime back then) gave way to Shimano's finest 21spd 200 GS, cromo frame and £299 price tag. The Farmer Johns found a new home and the cycling became more adventurous. Their thrumming to be heard throughout the local bridlepaths, new towns and villages were discovered, even the exotica of Cambridge was accessible with hours spent looking at early Pace, Hope and expensive high end exotica. Teenage porn!
Those troubled teenage years involved a nasty courtcase, the jailing of a parent and a full blown break down for yours truly as life dealt its worst at just the wrong time for an emerging adult.
Luckily cycling kept me sane and new friends kept me busy with rides, cycle repairs and upgrades. My Bickerton Mean Green evolved into a capable machine with Tioga Trail Dawgs, car-boot sale 300LX and XT components from a friendly Tesco workmates. I was also the local mechanic everyone turned to and I even restored my first retrobike for a friend.
The path was set, whatever else life had to throw at me, cycling was the escape. Compensation meant a mediocre Claud Butler gave way to a Zaskar and the rest is history.
The Scene:
Only 2nd hand MBUK gave hint at what was going on out there, hours spent in the bath reading of trails, rides and new equipment. Brands such as Zinn, Nishiki and Cannondale drew my attention, my mates had the box tubing e-stay Saracen with the dark matter Maguras, a very early orange fade Clockwork, GT Tequesta with its never working X-Press shifters, GT Karakoram, splatter paint madness! The oft seen from a distance Lycra clad racers were just legends and myths. Mentioned in hushed tones riding Kona and, only seen once, Retrobike spot of 1990, an Off-Road Toad. Only when the newly built Hinchingbrooke Park held one of the early MTB races did we see what mountain biking was supposed to be about. Our dress code was jeans and t-shirts, theirs was Bell helmets and brightly coloured lycra. Our bikes where hotch-potched hand me downs or lucky shiny bikes from well-off parents, theirs were the high end top of the range that we would just never afford.
We were surrounded by Claud Butlers, Trek, Saracen, GT, Marin and Raleigh.
A touch of cynicism crept in, some of us entered races and were moderately successful, the rest of us carried on the jeans and t-shirts route. Bikes were often stolen with the insurance replacements getting more and more exotic along with the higher and higher priced Kryptonite U-brakes.
My compensation arrived and I could have bought absolutely anything - and what did I buy? A bloody Zaskar, no high end steel, no early full suspension designs, a bloody aluminium bully boy bike.
That bike is still with me, surviving theft, sea water, floods and crashes. Friends have come and gone. The horrors of childhood are just that, late blossoming adulthood brought its own adventures and trials but I think I owe that bike my life.
My first BSO was a 'Greyhound City 5', some sort of bizarre 5 spd, single pivot u-brake, 21.1mm bull bar-ed pastiche of a mountain bike in late 1986.
Without wanting to appear to be seeking sympathy or being over dramatic, I'd experienced one of 'those' childhoods up to that point. Cycling was the greatest escape offered to me, and as soon as this rather quaint cro-mo framed 'he'll grow into it' sized bike appeared, escape I did. For up to 10 hours a day, or after school, I would cycle around the countryside.
The first muddy ride all but destroyed the mudguards and rack. Chen Shen tyres soon gave away to Farmer Johns and as the newly discovered world of the 'local bike shop' revealed the horror that I was riding, the TY-22 rear mech gave way to Ron Kitchen's finest Suntour XCD rear mech and frame mount.
Lacking in mechanical knowledge and physical strength, anything broken or loose was reluctantly fixed by an elusive father or bodged to the best of my Lego trained abilities.
Remember that phrase earlier? 'He'll grow into it' - the shops way of disposing of all those gated 23" frames to unsuspecting parents repeated a thousand times over. By sheer chance, the stupidly oversized bike for a skinny 13 year old actually turned out to be a quite useful 18" frame for an oversized spotty 15 year old. Lack of income and 'this will never do' turned it into a resprayed gothic horror of a bike by 1989. A pastiche of the Marin Zolatones and fluorescent schemes of that era. I really did grow into it - by 1989 'mountain bikes' were to be seen a plenty in the school bike sheds with the rich kids getting the cream of what was available from 'Solec Cycles' or 'Richardsons' - Ralieghs, Treks and Saracens aplenty. Then there were the Konas, they were the cool cats along with the GTs and the git with the early Clockwork and, holy of holy - DX! The real yobs ran stolen Cannondale frames with their exotic oversized tubing. BMXs never stood a chance.
My sad looking bike got a kicking to death sometime in the summer of '89 and much to my surprise, I discovered cycle insurance and it was insured/ replaced. After one badly installed gear cable too many, I'd had enough. My stupid looking bike of barely 3 years (it seemed a lifetime back then) gave way to Shimano's finest 21spd 200 GS, cromo frame and £299 price tag. The Farmer Johns found a new home and the cycling became more adventurous. Their thrumming to be heard throughout the local bridlepaths, new towns and villages were discovered, even the exotica of Cambridge was accessible with hours spent looking at early Pace, Hope and expensive high end exotica. Teenage porn!
Those troubled teenage years involved a nasty courtcase, the jailing of a parent and a full blown break down for yours truly as life dealt its worst at just the wrong time for an emerging adult.
Luckily cycling kept me sane and new friends kept me busy with rides, cycle repairs and upgrades. My Bickerton Mean Green evolved into a capable machine with Tioga Trail Dawgs, car-boot sale 300LX and XT components from a friendly Tesco workmates. I was also the local mechanic everyone turned to and I even restored my first retrobike for a friend.
The path was set, whatever else life had to throw at me, cycling was the escape. Compensation meant a mediocre Claud Butler gave way to a Zaskar and the rest is history.
The Scene:
Only 2nd hand MBUK gave hint at what was going on out there, hours spent in the bath reading of trails, rides and new equipment. Brands such as Zinn, Nishiki and Cannondale drew my attention, my mates had the box tubing e-stay Saracen with the dark matter Maguras, a very early orange fade Clockwork, GT Tequesta with its never working X-Press shifters, GT Karakoram, splatter paint madness! The oft seen from a distance Lycra clad racers were just legends and myths. Mentioned in hushed tones riding Kona and, only seen once, Retrobike spot of 1990, an Off-Road Toad. Only when the newly built Hinchingbrooke Park held one of the early MTB races did we see what mountain biking was supposed to be about. Our dress code was jeans and t-shirts, theirs was Bell helmets and brightly coloured lycra. Our bikes where hotch-potched hand me downs or lucky shiny bikes from well-off parents, theirs were the high end top of the range that we would just never afford.
We were surrounded by Claud Butlers, Trek, Saracen, GT, Marin and Raleigh.
A touch of cynicism crept in, some of us entered races and were moderately successful, the rest of us carried on the jeans and t-shirts route. Bikes were often stolen with the insurance replacements getting more and more exotic along with the higher and higher priced Kryptonite U-brakes.
My compensation arrived and I could have bought absolutely anything - and what did I buy? A bloody Zaskar, no high end steel, no early full suspension designs, a bloody aluminium bully boy bike.
That bike is still with me, surviving theft, sea water, floods and crashes. Friends have come and gone. The horrors of childhood are just that, late blossoming adulthood brought its own adventures and trials but I think I owe that bike my life.
Neil G
Old School Grand Master
Started around 1988 with a Raleigh Montage with no idea what was going on in the world of MTBs. Brought my first MBUK (one with clockwork on the front) in 1989 and then spent a long time lusting after Fisher CR7s and wanting to upgrade to a Raleigh Mirage because it had better parts on it!
Got my first real MTB (a Muddy Fox Courier Comp) in 1990 and then got into racing most weekends, lusting after Klein Attitudes, Yeti FROs and Rocky Mountains in the local bikeshop and just riding at every chance. Time was also spent going out getting some air as there was no DH or 'slopestyle; categories back then, you just raced or went out and rode off stuff on whatever you could afford bike wise! I think MBA had something to do with this as there was always more coverage on what they called 'hammerheads' in that magazine!
Went to BC on holiday in the early 90s and ended up bringing a Rocky Mountain Summit bike back which kind of kicked off my fondness of the brand. In the summer of 1993 though I got a chance to build my dream bike so the Hei Hei was oredered complete with Tioga Disc Drive....now that did turn some heads at the races!
Drifted out of MTB in the mid 90s as I go into BMX which really was what I was looking for....bikes which didn't fall apart and were actually made to jump. Ended up spending a lot of time using a shovel building trails as well as riding which was rewarding but also had it's downsides with quite a few spots getting ploughed by the council
Fast forward to 2011 and my bike collection still contains that same Hei Hei and a rocky mountain, I'm still mountainbiking and riding BMX. Life is good
Got my first real MTB (a Muddy Fox Courier Comp) in 1990 and then got into racing most weekends, lusting after Klein Attitudes, Yeti FROs and Rocky Mountains in the local bikeshop and just riding at every chance. Time was also spent going out getting some air as there was no DH or 'slopestyle; categories back then, you just raced or went out and rode off stuff on whatever you could afford bike wise! I think MBA had something to do with this as there was always more coverage on what they called 'hammerheads' in that magazine!
Went to BC on holiday in the early 90s and ended up bringing a Rocky Mountain Summit bike back which kind of kicked off my fondness of the brand. In the summer of 1993 though I got a chance to build my dream bike so the Hei Hei was oredered complete with Tioga Disc Drive....now that did turn some heads at the races!
Drifted out of MTB in the mid 90s as I go into BMX which really was what I was looking for....bikes which didn't fall apart and were actually made to jump. Ended up spending a lot of time using a shovel building trails as well as riding which was rewarding but also had it's downsides with quite a few spots getting ploughed by the council
Fast forward to 2011 and my bike collection still contains that same Hei Hei and a rocky mountain, I'm still mountainbiking and riding BMX. Life is good
In 1989 I just wanted something that would keep me a bit fitter in the sled dog racing off-season (ie, the summer) so I bought myself a mountain bike, some Taiwanese-welded thing in a rather cool "Pistachio with yellow spatter" colour scheme (it's still lying in my shed somewhere ). :roll:
A guy I worked with at the time (who was 15 years younger than me and already had a mtb) was heard to remark that "I don't know why he's bought one of those, he's a bit old for it" That was like a red rag to a bull, as far as I was concerned, so I got fit enough to kick him and his mate's asses and then decided to do a bit of racing. In my first race I finished dead last (but at least I finished, unlike about 30% of the entry), in the next 5th overall and for the next two or three years I was usually getting top 4 placings.
Then I just decided that I'd had enough of racing (apart from a few outings in the Manx E2E and a couple of Manx Championship rounds) and since then I've just ridden how I ride now - long days out in the hills and mountains, mixed with technical stuff in the woods and valleys nearer home.
A guy I worked with at the time (who was 15 years younger than me and already had a mtb) was heard to remark that "I don't know why he's bought one of those, he's a bit old for it" That was like a red rag to a bull, as far as I was concerned, so I got fit enough to kick him and his mate's asses and then decided to do a bit of racing. In my first race I finished dead last (but at least I finished, unlike about 30% of the entry), in the next 5th overall and for the next two or three years I was usually getting top 4 placings.
Then I just decided that I'd had enough of racing (apart from a few outings in the Manx E2E and a couple of Manx Championship rounds) and since then I've just ridden how I ride now - long days out in the hills and mountains, mixed with technical stuff in the woods and valleys nearer home.
