Top 10 All Time Great Bike Designs

[longun]

ritchey/fisher original frames( led ythe way)
specialised stumpjumper(first mass produced atb(
konas joe murray designed frames(never age and bang on geometry)
pace rc100/200(what needs saying here......really)
gt rts or/and lts(cutting edge)
mountain cycle san andreas(future technology)
gt zaskar (still going strong)
amp/mongoose (simple and elegant but worked,still emulated but tweaked)
turners 4 link frames (as above, love you mr horst)
trek 9000..........learn from your mistakes boy (were good, and still cut it but learned alot about shock placement and design)

thats my quick list,in no major order but the rts defined quality rear suspension.san an hand technology used now and the pace was just mind boglingly ahead of its time.

 

[big.eck]

the mountain cycle san andreas has to be in the top 10 pretty much every dh frame was based on it upto the the turn of the century .

 

[ededwards]

Interesting responses so far and agree that Cunningham/Ritchey/WTB should be added in. Not sure about the Stumpjumper though - important? Definitely a yes. But a great design? Isn't it a copy?

A few others:

- Bradbury Manitou (FS or hardtail)

- Proflex for XC FS

- Mike Burrows' compact road bike design, stiffer, lighter and reduced the number of sizes that needed to be produced

- Geoff Apps' Cleland

 

[Raging_Bulls]

IMO Francesco Quinn' early prototypes revolutionized the MTB genre by proving that you didn't need a double diamond frame.

The Quinn bikes really started that whole era of alternative frame designs.
Without the Quinns (and their offspring, the Sbikes), the Trek Y, C'Dale Raven etc probably wouldn't exist now. Every MTB would still have the same boring layout.

 

[jimo746]

- The "Boneshaker"
- Penny Farthing (ye olde 29'er).
- Schwinn ballon tyre cruisers (later became MTB's)
- Breezer No1(bringing things together)
- kestral carbon frames
- GT RTS (suspension, that works).
- Trimble
- trek OCLV
- Slingshot bikes.
- Cannondale ally frames

 

[yeti-man]

"10 great bike design" that had impact on the MTB genere

1. Schwin Excalibur
2. Early Ritchey/Mountain Bike/GF/Breezer/Cuninghams
3. Ross signature MTB (being the first factory MTB team)
4. Yeti FRO
5. Yeti C-26
6. Specialized M2
7. Miyata
8. Trek OCLV
9. GT titanium frames
10. Cannondale M series

 

[longun]

so hard for just 10!cant we make it 40-50 lol :roll:

 

[ridevintagemtb]

"10 great bike design" that had impact on the MTB genere

4. Yeti FRO
5. Yeti C-26

Remember, both of these bikes were simply copies of other designs with slight changes and Yeti decals on them.

 

[big.eck]

http://www.mountaincycle.com/historical/san-andreas

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Remember, both of these bikes were simply copies of other designs with slight changes and Yeti decals on them.

+1

We're talking about bikes that had an impact on the genre. The Yetis are usually just same old same old, abeit with a different bend here and a different diameter there.
Sorry, but even an Activator 2 had a bigger impact (especially if you dropped one ).