1993
18spd "shimano"
..frame size was huge for 11 year old me
At that time these "bike-in-a-box" deals were all the rage. Basically thay were cheap chinese bikes that you had to assemble yourself. Kept breaking down all the time even thogh it was assempled by the shop
1995 Kona Fire Mountain
Best birthday present ever? My first proper bike, later customized with clubroost DH bars
Leter got a job and started saving money to put Bombers on it...
1998 Kona Cinder Cone
Bought new in 1999, traded the Fire Mountain to this one. I never had the original Indys-bought the bike upgraded with Marzocchi DH3. The forks had a 75mm longtravel kit and worked great! Also had dh bars on it and the rear rim was later swapped to a 521CD. Later sold to my girlfirend at the time.
1998 GT LTS3000
Bought the bike secondhand, swapped the indy XC Lt's right away to the DH3's off the kona. This bike was upgraded quite a lot.. had LX cranks, XTR rear der(still have it!) Syncros stem, x517 rear hoop with a loud hugi rear hub.. and Z1 Bam forks!! Sold to a friend as a bare frame.
1998,5 Kona Stinky 5
Again, bought secondhand as a frameset with 151 Boxxers.
RaceFace Turbine cranks, chainguide, Magura Gustaw M (f) and Hs-33 (r) brakes, Mavic 321cd/521cd wheels, thomson seatpost, azonic love saddle..
The paint was quite bad when I got it so painted it again myself. This one went to a "friend" as a frameset.. damn idiot broke it on a test ride.
200? Kuwahara DH
I think the same frames were sold in the UK as Muddy Fox. Basically most of the bits were from the stinky, except the brakes: Hayes mags /w razorrock levers. The Boxxer replaced by Monster T's. This was the bike that got me off mtbing for a few years. I moved from my hometown in lapland to the flatlands of Oulu. We really haven't got any hills to justify a DH bike and my kneecaps were also done by the low and laidback seating position. Sold this bike to happy new owner couple of years back
---present day
1999 Kona Calder, as seen in reader's bikes
Cycling is fun again with a more suitable bike to this place! Kneecaps still burn sometimes but a high seat and low enough gears make it tolerable