Which Mountain bike?

[Aled]

My new bike....specialised rockhopper

XXL frame....23"

[nft308]

Nice bike them aled i have a stumpjumper

[kas750]

what year Dawg is that mate? looks cool! .... XTR cranks, someone is doing alright for themselves

lol!...Its a 2008 as far as i can remember.The pedals are about 1996 ish.They are shimano DX spd..They are the best pedals i have ever used and i have had them on nearly all my bikes.I only live about a mile from Merlin Cycles so i bought the xtr groupset from there.It cost a fortune for the special tools to fit the xtr bottom bracket.
In the mid to late 90's i was really into cross country and my first proper bike was a zaskar le (remember those?) with very early xtr "v" brakes and rock shox judy forks.I then went on to build a couple of GT sts carbon fibre downhill bikes with hope disc brakes and xtr group sets.
Gt then lost there way a bit and i had a couple of trek x country full susp bikes.I have to say that trek bikes are pretty hard to beat for value.They are such a big concern that they have the buying power to spec good value bikes.
I then fancied a kona so customised the one in the pic.Its brill downhill but the geometry makes it a killer on the long uphills.Its a bit of a clunker to be honest but does look good.

[oveRSteer]

Oh yes I certainly remember the zaskar, the triple triangle still gets used today doesn't it??? I knew the pedals were dx cause of the colour .... Nerd! Hehe

I never managed to afford xtr parts, I had mainly lx bits but did have an xt front hub I blight from a friend.
Its crazy how far technology has moved on since I used to build bikes up years ago. I am glad most cranks and bb's are splined now as I used to round my tapered cranks off every couple of months

[GAZ W]

My old one which i built in about 2000 , went everywhere on this including the "coast to coast" sold it about a year ago and got a "roadie"

[Frosticles]

My new bike....specialised rockhopper

XXL frame....23"

Nice bike sir (Lose the gay mudflap though )

[taffr]

my stumpjumper way back in 1988 racing for the schmoos team on a full time basis, those were the days



we had a team van and raced all over europe, even venturing off to the world champs in 88,89, and 1990, i even had hair back then,



lots of old famous mountain bike peeps in this pic and some old skool rides



still racing to this day, my current ride is a trek 9.8 full carbon cross country bike







also do a little bit af cyclo cross in the winter, a very very tough sport and very very dirty









also been road racing since 1984 **** i'm getting old, check out the que of traffic in the pic, i'm getting really old

[kas750]

Brill pics and story Graham..You really were the boy...I really did just play at it!
How do you rate the carbon fibre bike??? My Gt's back in the 90's were a bit of a nightmare.It seemed then that it was an evolutionary dead end?

[Aled]

Nice bike sir (Lose the gay mudflap though )

And get covered in mud and spray all up my back each time ? Done that..... getting wiser in my old age

[taffr]

Brill pics and story Graham..You really were the boy...I really did just play at it!
How do you rate the carbon fibre bike??? My Gt's back in the 90's were a bit of a nightmare.It seemed then that it was an evolutionary dead end?

i've tried all sorts of different bikes over the years from full rigid bikes to full suspension bikes and nothing comes close to the carbon trek machine i've got now, i've got a carbon road bike too that i've had since 2004, 7 seasons and some serious millage on it and it still rides like new, plus you get the lifetime warranty so if it breaks you get an up to date and current replacement for free, no point getting a full suspension bike unless your doing lots of downhill stuff as they are too heavy and the loss of power to the rear wheel on the flat and uphill stuff is crazy, even with the modern lockout stuff, rigid frame and get fit, the only way, i worked on bikes right through the 1990's and there were some crazy designs back then, the full carbon Kestral bike and the kirk precision magnesium to name a few, trek have always taken the lead in carbon bike technology, once you've had one its difficult to go elsewhere

[oveRSteer]

Great pics Taff, that first one is great! I haven't seen a set of cantilevers for years

Coming from a BMX background my fave frame material is 4130 chromoly steel, however I'll be picking up another full susser soon cause I seem to be doing quite alot of the bumpy stuff lately and my lower back needs a rest, lol

Love how many MTBers we have on this forum

[mk1rally]

Blimey, some blast's from the past there. My first was a raliegh activator with their idea of suspension was a rubber bobbin in the frame! I had Rock hoppers after that and then a I drive 2.0 GT.

I was in the services when I was big into it, I raced for the Navy Xcountry and so managed to get some good jollys out of it. I remember the lads all being drafted out to the gulf in 1996 for another time and I didn't go with them first off as I was "bike training" in Cyprus. It consisted of a landy taking us up into the hills with the bike's in the Sankey on the back and us coming hurtling down back to the start. Downhilling without the climb...bliss. I joined them 2 weeks later after they had done the run up practice. That bike (Rock Hopper Comp A1) went to more war zones than anything I owned. I even got arrested in Doha, riding it out towards the desert. Apparently shorts and cycling out there was banned or something, never really did work out why!. Eventually got it back. I sold it to buy the I drive but kinda wished I still had it.

The only downside for riding for the Navy was the team colours were pink for a few years...not good for a Royal Marine and I got some serious ribbing over it.

Still ride when I get out, Got a 2008 Spec Enduro SL and my crap bike is a Apollo hardtail. Saying that, its a lovely frame geometery and climbs like a good en!! all alloy and shimano and a lot less painful on the pocket to get bits and if it gets nicked (I dont worry about it so much when its on the back of my van)

[Chesney]

I too am looking to upgrade my 13 year old diamond back

Looking to spend no more than £600, less if possible. What do you guys recommend. Will be more road than off road at first.

[Frosticles]

Rockrider 8.1 Simply the best you can buy spec wise for £499

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html

[Chesney]

got the chance of a trek 6500 (09) in excellent condition for £600 or less if i can chip him down. Any good?