#Justsaying

[Iwasgoodonce]

I still have my first bike that actually wasn't 100mm too big. I really wouldn't part with it. Too many miles, too many memories. Also to the average kid on da street now it would be worth around £1.26

 

[Fudd]

My first MTB was a 89 Raleigh Mustang, the BSO of the time. I have never missed it nor do I have any desire to own another....

 

[elPedro666]

My first MTB was a 89 Raleigh Mustang, the BSO of the time. I have never missed it nor do I have any desire to own another....

Mine too, not 100% on the year but probably the same, the red SIS version It was massive and I raced under-12 cyclo-cross on it!

Would I have another, um ... why? Maybe if I didn't have a town bike it would be fun to have as a work donkey.

My second proper bike was a Raleigh Flyer, converted to race cx slightly more seriously (but still with sidepulls!) and I still have that after it's been around the family a bit - it's seven yards away in the hall set up a bit courierish for wazzing around town in the sunshine and I haven't the heart to part with it (at about the same value as Iwasgoodonce's).

 

[stevetait]

Funny what the thought has stimulated in folks.

I still own my first 3 bikes and the feelings that each evoke are different in many ways. Be it when I walk in my Dads garage to find (another!) My Raleigh Mustang in red with Farmer Johns on and the worlds heaviest bar ends, it still conjures up memories of clipstone back in the days (it still sits next to my brothers Lizard, Dads Trek 830 and Mum Giant Stonebreaker!).

The Ridgeback laiden with LX recreates that first feeling of suspension (RST upgraded to MAG 21'S) and the joy of blasting round the Diamond Back junior race at Bike Expo, Ally Pally. My Zaskar was the result of dreaming whilst heady after reading MBUK that month for the millionth time and saving hard to do the initial build and then upgrade it at every opportunity

For me...they are going nowhere and whilst I can undestand the feelings and memories these bikes bring about are for some the thing that really matters, there is nothing quite like having them in the flesh to be able to explore the familiar scratches and chips, the worn rear brake cable outer, that difficult bolt or adjuster...... perfrect

 

[Neil]

Stop.and.read.my.post. I didn't say that you don't like my view, I said you don't like others not sharing your view

Once you put your irritation aside, and lose the pedantry, you'll cut to the chase and realise that the allegation ends in the same way.

And it's not about liking / not liking your view, or liking / not liking others sharing (ie having the same as) my view (effectively flip sides of the same coin).

Don't make a meal out of it, sunshine.

And as to what I've said about your take, is not hubris in trying to tell you your own mind, or even specifics you've said purely in this thread, but mainly noting the contradiction - quite often, your perspective, here, is "it's all about the bike..." - but on this particular topic - when it would seem it doesn't quite suit, uncannily, "it's not about the bike..." - nothing wrong in me putting that in the background.

Foisting that observation, as some strawman inference from your words in purely this thread, is a bit, well, pedestrian, really. Cut and thrust, Pete, eh - if you wanna bicker, by all means, but at least do a half decent hatchet job.

For some, it seems, retrobike isn't so much about back in the day, it's about learned "refinement" - and so be it. But from where I'm sat, the grass roots of a hobby, pastime, enthusiasm, obsession, starts with the feelings and perspectives back then - not just what we'd like to disclose, or like it to have been, now - which is why I questioned what you'd have said then. That's the relevance, because what you thought then, and how you felt then, is the grass roots of it.

To me, that's key - that's where we started, and how did we feel then. It's not about celebration of things that didn't deserve celebration - after all, plenty may well look back and say "I thought bike X was crap them too..."

And fine, if you want, you can say back then it was more about the wind in your hair, and freedom, kilts or whatever else you want if you like - and that may truly be true for you - but then you were the one being defensive about what you'd have answered back then - and truth be told, you do seem to talk more about bikes, brands, quality, and exclusivity, than your claimed grass roots about freedom, the sun in your eyes, and a wild hair to just take off on a whim... I'm just saying (as the thread subject goes...)

As an example, there's nothing more cool than seeing your 6 year old kid, dance like a free thing at a wedding. It's the joy in his eye, the freedom, the knowledge that he's still young and free to do what he wants, because he's not learned to be aware, concerned or stifled by what others would think if they saw him.

It's that sort of insight that I find most refreshing - and yes, from you too - what you actually enjoyed and thought was good back then, rather than what you've learned to appreciate over time - which comes back to why I asked what you'd say then. To me, that's much more interesting - not as some kind of trap, merely because it smacks of a more natural, less evolved / contrived / conditioned response.

I'm sure plenty had great experiences on their first proper mountain bike - I suspect many aspired to more - but all the same, one thing I'd like to think about this place is many enjoyed the hell out of their first true mountain bike - and even now, can still see that.

And yes, I also think there will be some who'll say "It was crap, I thought it was crap then, too..."

Seventeenthly, Carrie Fisher was bang tidy in Star Wars. But as an adult, I know she was much hotter in Return of the Jedi.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Stop.and.read.my.post. I didn't say that you don't like my view, I said you don't like others not sharing your view

Once you put your irritation aside, and lose the pedantry, you'll cut to the chase and realise that the allegation ends in the same way.

And it's not about liking / not liking your view, or liking / not liking others sharing (ie having the same as) my view (effectively flip sides of the same coin).

Don't make a meal out of it, sunshine.

And as to what I've said about your take, is not hubris in trying to tell you your own mind, or even specifics you've said purely in this thread, but mainly noting the contradiction - quite often, your perspective, here, is "it's all about the bike..." - but on this particular topic - when it would seem it doesn't quite suit, uncannily, "it's not about the bike..." - nothing wrong in me putting that in the background.

Foisting that observation, as some strawman inference from your words in purely this thread, is a bit, well, pedestrian, really. Cut and thrust, Pete, eh - if you wanna bicker, by all means, but at least do a half decent hatchet job.

For some, it seems, retrobike isn't so much about back in the day, it's about learned "refinement" - and so be it. But from where I'm sat, the grass roots of a hobby, pastime, enthusiasm, obsession, starts with the feelings and perspectives back then - not just what we'd like to disclose, or like it to have been, now - which is why I questioned what you'd have said then. That's the relevance, because what you thought then, and how you felt then, is the grass roots of it.

To me, that's key - that's where we started, and how did we feel then. It's not about celebration of things that didn't deserve celebration - after all, plenty may well look back and say "I thought bike X was crap them too..."

And fine, if you want, you can say back then it was more about the wind in your hair, and freedom, kilts or whatever else you want if you like - and that may truly be true for you - but then you were the one being defensive about what you'd have answered back then - and truth be told, you do seem to talk more about bikes, brands, quality, and exclusivity, than your claimed grass roots about freedom, the sun in your eyes, and a wild hair to just take off on a whim... I'm just saying (as the thread subject goes...)

As an example, there's nothing more cool than seeing your 6 year old kid, dance like a free thing at a wedding. It's the joy in his eye, the freedom, the knowledge that he's still young and free to do what he wants, because he's not learned to be aware, concerned or stifled by what others would think if they saw him.

It's that sort of insight that I find most refreshing - and yes, from you too - what you actually enjoyed and thought was good back then, rather than what you've learned to appreciate over time - which comes back to why I asked what you'd say then. To me, that's much more interesting - not as some kind of trap, merely because it smacks of a more natural, less evolved / contrived / conditioned response.

I'm sure plenty had great experiences on their first proper mountain bike - I suspect many aspired to more - but all the same, one thing I'd like to think about this place is many enjoyed the hell out of their first true mountain bike - and even now, can still see that.

And yes, I also think there will be some who'll say "It was crap, I thought it was crap then, too..."

Seventeenthly, Carrie Fisher was bang tidy in Star Wars. But as an adult, I know she was much hotter in Return of the Jedi.

Spring seems to be here. Perfect riding weather.

 

[stevetait]

 

[elPedro666]

 

[petitpal]

Can I borrow that monkey's gun? I think I might want to shoot myself...

 

[Neil]

Can I borrow that monkey's gun? I think I might want to shoot myself...

"Never send a man to do a monkey's job..."

Can I have your bikes when it's done - you won't be needing them?




Was that too soon?