What is THE MTB holy grail and what is YOUR holy grail

[B3]

Mine would have to be a pro-floater.

My personnel holy grail? AMP discs, the grail is looking easier to find :roll:

 

[retrobikeguy]

MTB Holy Grail..... Doug Bradbury built Manitou FS or HT
Mine...... RC 100
Both sets of builders were trying to engineer the complete package but eventually had to conform to the standards of the day

Lot of begging if you really wanted it

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-1...102952142QQcategoryZ98083QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[retroking#1]

... That's why its the Holy Grail....Unobtainable

 

[cannondale king]

the repak any day of the week

my personnel grail is was the klien pulse pro always wanted one it drove me crazy but got one now so has to be the repak

 

[Lid]

Think of it this way: A bike that was the Concord of its time and yet.....17 years later is still.........YES still being made and sold today:

Moots YBB-Sl

 

[holden]

MTB Holy Grail..... Doug Bradbury built Manitou FS or HT

the last ebay bradbury manitou frame went for $2425 and $205 for the fork but the condition was very nice. that was in late 2005. if the current one were in better condition and in my size, i'd certainly bid on it.

my holy grails:
http://www.firstflightbikes.com/1988_Cunningham.htm
http://www.firstflightbikes.com/1993_Fat_Chance_Ti.htm (i'd lose that fork though)

 

[hollister]

personal grails

my sig

 

[andrewl]

What do you consider to be THE MTB Holy Grail?
Second question, what is YOUR holy grail.

The two aren't necessarily the same...

That's a great question, and something I've thought much about in recent months

On one hand I'd say the bike itself is somewhat irrelevant as it is just the tool I use to get out and enjoy life - views for tops of mountains, frosty mornings in the sun etc, but as there is a bike slant to it I'd better stick to the topic.

THE MTB Holy grail - This is a real tough one. To be honest Repack means nothing to me. The bikes and racing there in my opinion is no different to the off road racing that my dad and his friends did back in the mid 60s on converted road touring bikes (i.e. fat tyres, some gears and curved flat bars). And I'm sure similar things were happening in other parts of the world including the US before then too. While the bikes from that era do have some wonderful adaptation and customising they really do nothing for me. When Repack is mentioned in current mags there seems to be more alpha male chest beating than anything else..

Similarly other than the paint job why would you want a Klein? Maybe the poor ride was a contibuting factor to the Trek buyout?

Fat's, the first Kestral FS bike, Pro Flex and maybe something more obscure like the Decender could all be considered potential candidates for the holy grail but their influence on overall mtb design and culture I'm unsure about.

Thus after a lot of thought I'd say that the holy grail is the original Turner Burner. The fact that the basic suspension design has been copied by so many manufacturers now, is probably sign of how good it is.

My Holy Grail - Other than the original Turner Burner (see 95 and 96 examples below), my personal holy grail is the 1997 Kona King Kahuna. Yes a Kona.... but this is my holy grail for the following reasons:

Titanium - likely to be around when I'm gone,
Marzocchi Bomber Z1 - The first real suspension fork, beautifully made, bullet proof in design and operation and makes everything prior just feel like spongy unreliable rubbish.
M950 XTR - A huge leap forward over M900/M910 and includes brakes that really work and are still among the best rim brakes today.
Its a Kona - geometry is totally sorted and being relatively common its means everyone has a reasonable chance of owning one in the right frame size.

As a complete package its got everything you want and it just works.

 

[messiah]

My Holy Grail - Would be to get one of my old bikes back. Preferably one of the 92 or 93 Rocky Mountain Blizzards that I broke, or one of the Trek 9900 Pro Issue OCLV's. These were the frames I raced back in the day and although I broke them they have enough sentimental value that I would like one of them... even as wall art. As far as I know one of the OCLV's was repaired and was being ridden by a Trek employee (the brake boss had snapped off). I think the other OCLV was a rightoff since the bottom bracket tube fell out. The Blizzard is a possible as I sold it on after it was repaired... but I have not seen the person I sold it to for 15 years The bike that replaced the OCLV is the 1995 Kona Explosif I still have

THE MTB Holy grail - I have no idea? I am fussed not?

 

[scant]

MTB Holy Grail..... Doug Bradbury built Manitou FS or HT

the last ebay bradbury manitou frame went for $2425 and $205 for the fork but the condition was very nice. that was in late 2005. if the current one were in better condition and in my size, i'd certainly bid on it.

)

gareths gonna be pissed when he sees those prices ;D

turner seems like a funny choice to me (hell its a personal thing so go for your life!) as most of the ground work for that design was horst AMP design a few years earlier. I'm not knocking turner. far from it, they got it right the first time & proved bushes can work

too many holy grails for me