Personal Unicorn bikes (What's yours?)

[firedfromthecircus]

For me, while there are many bikes I lusted after BITD, a Cleland Aventura is the one bike I never thought I'd be able to own.

In my mind the place this has in British off road cycling history is unmatched.

And I feel very lucky to have my own. :mrgreen:

 

[Coleman]

I'd really like a 1990(?) Diamond Back Axis the lime green/splatter one.

 

[Neil]

I'd really like a 1990(?) Diamond Back Axis the lime green/splatter one.

1991 Axis Team.

 

[Mahoney1978]

Very pertinent question for me. My unicorn is the second MTB I owned (well first really, as the other was a Raleigh Lizard!).... Raleigh DynaTech Sentinel.

And, the dream should become reality in October. I fly home (from NZ) and plan on fitting this frame on the flight back with me and I can't wait.

I have broken the frame once, sold the bike twice and yet it looks like 'its coming home'. It's nothing special in terms of frame or parts, but it means the world to me. A lot of nostalgia but also it will finally get the treatment a teenager couldn't give it BITD in terms of parts I would have loved to put on it, will now be put on it.

Being a Raleigh fan boy... Two others unicorns stand out and they are the Decade and the Tomac Signature, but I'll settle for my little green and silver, bottom of the line DynaTech.

 

[spatuluk]

I don't have a revised unicorn, so all I have is what I wanted when I was a kid in the 90s. Well, I say kid.. I was 20 in 1994! :roll:

From what I can recall, I really wanted a '95 Saracen Tufftrax, or a '96 Protrax. I liked the design of Saracens, and the colours of those models were ace - nothing else really seemed to compare.

I couldn't afford anything, though, and was restricted to getting my parents to buy me a bike via a catalogue, which only sold averagey bikes. I ended up with a £225 Claud Butler of some kind. I must find out what it was..

Anyway, I'm still on the lookout for those two bikes. There's a good looking Protrax in London at the mo, but funds, distance, and having just bought 2 other bikes mean I probably won't buy it, or else the wife will kill me!

 

[marge602]

Any proper Bontrager. Race, Race Lite or Ti, doesn't matter to me. I had a Privateer in the late 90's which was brilliant, but have wanted a real one since I first read about them in MBUK all those years ago. Keith's way of going about things has always appealed to me.

Regards

Marge

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

For me, while there are many bikes I lusted after BITD, a Cleland Aventura is the one bike I never thought I'd be able to own.

In my mind the place this has in British off road cycling history is unmatched.

And I feel very lucky to have my own. :mrgreen:

Your Cleland is an especially fine and original example. And as a superb example of the first off-road bicycles to be made and marketed in Europe is indeed a significant piece of off-road cycling history. Its history and advanced design would make it worthy for inclusion in any cycling museum.

I have recently acquired the 1982 700c wheeled Cleland Range-Rider that you posted a picture of at the top of your post. It is my latest restoration project.

 

[Mofofo]

My graal, but not sure it was really produced : SantaCruz Tazmon carbon :

 

[shogun700]

I live in the northeastern USA and I covet those Clelands so badly, I can't imagine what it would take to find one here or get one sent over...maybe someday.

A couple years back I responded to a local Craigslist ad for a Santana Moda, and as soon as I saw the bike I fell in love. Fillet-brazed Columbus Nivacrom tubing and massive chainstays really appealed to me, and for steel the stuff is impressively light and stiff (and thin!) The one I looked at was too small, a little faded, and had a small ding in the top tube, so I had to pass, but I knew I had to have one. The big problem was size-I need a large frame and Santana only made these for a few years, and not all are fillet brazed.

Shockingly, a nearly NOS example went up on US ebay about 5 months after I started looking-I would have missed it if not for the eagle-eyed ebayers here at Retrobike. I was the only bidder on the auction (to my great surprise....I sold the NOS XTR M950 group that was on it for more than I paid for the whole bike) and the Moda was mine!

I'm currently switching a few parts around (got a perforated Flite Ti saddle in gray, and a King/Mavic Sunset wheelset to mount yet) but this is it:



I stare at this one a lot, the frame is very, very finely made and the ride is amazing.

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

Love the awesome 'sculptural' fillet brazing on your Santana Moda.

I live in the northeastern USA and I covet those Clelands so badly, I can't imagine what it would take to find one here or get one sent over...maybe someday.

The black Cleland now owned by Firedfromthecircus was originally bought in 1983 by an American serviceman stationed in England. Apparently he took it round on US aircraft carriers the and various postings before returning selling it in England. Despite a Cleland Advert being published in an addition of the Fat Tire Flyer I don't know of any other Clelands that were bought by Americans. Though Joe Breeze has had a ride on one of mine.