Is there a retro full sus bike which can still cut it?

[typhoon]

Did have a 2006 Specialised FSR XC for a while, but found it really boring to ride...so sold it....but never will i get rid of my '99 Mount Vision, such a complete full-sus bike...a fantastic all-day xc machine and a great downhiller and freeride as well...i've yet to ride another that can do all so well; So yes...retro full-sus can and still does cut it with the millenium blandness that surrounds us

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[REKIBorter]

Agree with that :roll:

 

[andrewl]

Re: Old Skool Suss

Kona Stinky's were about mid 90's

Kona Stinky first appeared in late 98 for the 99 model year.

 

[Old Ned]

John, I spose its meant to lock out;

but the lateral flex in the swing-arm more than makes up for the bob
enough slagging, Its a modification of the Iron Horse Verlicchi design which won shit loads of downhill stuff BITD and I think it's still a great ride today.
Thoroughly recommend, if you can find one.
I'm running '95 3" marzocchi DH3s instead of the original '94 XC400s which makes things better and V's so it stops.

What pressure do you run your shocks at? I'm around 13.5 stone (should be about 2 stone lighter!!), any recommendations?

Mine could be available (frame, forks, seatpin, stem) if anyone's interested? I've hardly used it even though I've had it for donkey's years. It's almost identical to the one shown.

I've had an enquiry about price but have no idea. Can anyone help with a fair valuation?

 

[kingroon]

I rode an Intense Uzzi SL from 1997 until 2004 and this bike could absolutely still cut the mustard today - go for the coil shock and live with the bobbing... I still think air shocks are bobbins.

Oh yes, the Uzzi with the FSR set up.. Pretty hard to beat.. Here's my old one..

Pretty much unchanged design until the VPP model came out..

Mr Zero needs to get on here and talk about the AMP design..

 

[steveslow]

I had a '96 Proflex and it was total pony compared to my Trance. Travel was better when I swapped the elastomers for springs, but then it pogo'd horribly.

 

[crankhead]

I had a pearlescent white n yellow B17 that did me proud for years, until I drunkenly left it outside the takeaway while waiting for a ruby (most expensive tikka masala i ever had) last year.. Duh..

But I still have a Kona Sex Too frame sitting in my flat, eagerly awaiting a rebuild, only i'm about as efficient at bike mechanics as an ashtray on a dirtbike. I use it as a clothes hanger, but it will get sorted on of these days.. To todays standards, it only has a wee bit of suspension, but it rides sweet.

IMO, full suspension is cooshty, but high maintenance - more things to go wrong, and when you're as inept at maintaining bikes as i am... Considering i don't race downhill, i'd always go for hard-tail.. Hmm. But i always hankered after my mates Santa Cruz.. He lives in Vancouver now, say no more!!

 

[IbocProSX]

I'd have to say the Burner has to be the King of retro full sus, tweaked and developed yes, but if it actually goes back to 94 it must have been miles ahead of the rest back then. Respect.

I never owned one, but a mate in Scotland has an XCE and 6-pack and I get to enjoy his bikes when I'm over. As it happens I was over last Monday and had a very enjoyable 1and a half hours up on Kirkhill near Dyce, Aberdeen. Night-riding on unfamiliar terrain on a borrowed bike, the Turners are instant feel good rides that get me up and over anything on the climbs and keep me out of trouble on the descents, Biiiig smile.

As for my own rides, my first full sus was a Proflex 95 beast, green/blue frame and polished vectors with elastomer shocks like the contemporary 855. Though a nice bike it was thoroughly trumped by it's successor: The 1997 Santa Cruz Heckler. This for me was the watershed bike. The Vanilla R shock allowed to dial a firm XC ride with the rebound adjust. Then at the top open up the rebound and bomb down anything with confidence.

Here's a fuzzy (Digital!) picture of the 97 build with Pace RC36, SRAM 9.0 gears with LX drive, USE post, San marco Bontrager saddle, NC17 bar on Azonic ORC stem, Avid SD levers, Onza CWA's and HoLa brakes, Ritchey WCS hubs with DT revos on red Sun CR18's: 26 pounds fighting weight and BTW, picture taken at 6000+ft

Here it is evolved into more of a trail bike around 2000:

I needed nothing else for 8 some years, it acquired disc brakes in 2002 and two years ago I refurbished it proper with new powdercoat and damper. I still run it to this day, here it is in it's most current guise, and you can see I stayed true to some of my component choices from 1997:

Enjoy !!

 

[speedplay]

if my first gen. Marin mt Vision came up for sale, i wouldnt think twice about a re-buy, brilliant single pivot design/ ride

When were they first introduced?

I had a blue & white B17 which was fantastic, just too heavy as an all rounder. The Mount Vision would have been a much better bet.

What about when marin introduced the quake range of full sus?
People were raving about them then and the design hasnt changed much over the years.

 

[IbocProSX]

Marin Quake was part of a range of bikes including the Mount Vision that were similar across the range in suspension design. The Quake was the top end model with a spectacular monocoque front end, noisy too. They must have been 97-98 too as some of my mates rode those Marin bikes when my Heckler was fresh. The swing-arm was prone to cracking on them too, but Marin were good about warrantying them (there's another thread on cracking parts).

Enjoy