Mountain Biking - Curious about your first? MTB that is.

Was taking a trip down memory lane and thought I would throw this out. What was your first Mountain Bike?

Mine, well I got two one for me and my wife just after we got married. Hers was "misplaced" by the moving company during one of our many moves about 10 or 12 yrs ago.

1992 Univega Rover T 2.5 full rigid. I still have this bike today. I keep it at my mom and dads to ride when I am up visiting. The bike has a lot of miles on it and is still original except for tires and the shifters that I had to replace last year.

Whats your story?

I just started mountain biking last year, so my first mountain bike is out in the garage waiting patiently for all this snow to melt.

First one I rode on the trails was a 1998 Schwinn Frontier. First one I called my own was a 2001 GF Wahoo. It's sitting in the garage begging me to finish building my newest ride, a custom build based off of a 2008 KHS XCT 535 frame.

1991 Diamondback Ascent EX.

2005 Giant Boulder SE

TRASH

1990 Schwinn High Sierra. Had it for about 2yrs then sold it and moved to a Cannondale (when they still hand built them).

1990'ish Jazz Latitude that I got new when I was 11 or 12 I guess.

'92 Cannondale M400, I got that in '99, two years later I purchased a Cannondale F700sx and started racing.

I rode old schwinns, but my 1st mountain bike was an 84' Bridgestone MB-2. My oldest son recently returned the frame. It's been through hell, but that's what the 'Phoenix' is all about, right? Not my pictures, but 84 mb2 http://www.flickr.com/photos/51723163@N02/

1995 Trek 800 bought new.

In the early 1980s I was riding BMX bikes converted to 5-speeds, but didn't get much more technical than dirt fire roads.

In 1984 I got a real road bike and was distracted from the dirt for a while.

My first production mtb was a Diamondback Apex, bought new in 1987.

'07 Diamondback Response XE. (Noob)

Trial and error maintenance :crash: , sampling other bikes, and advancing my skills leaves the frame and handlebars the only original equipment on the bike today.

Yard sale Murray . . . heavy steel . . . with gumwall tires.

I fell in love with the first Hyperglide-equipped mountain bike I built as a rookie LBS employee, an '89 Schwinn Sierra Comp. It happened to be a 23-inch frame, pretty darn tall for me, but what did I know. I rode the South Hill bluff a ton with it, back before there was a golf course, a housing development, or many of the trails that are there today. In many cases I just bushwacked through the woods, to heck with trails. Good times :beer:

'96 Specialized Rockhopper. Favorite bike ever. It was used hard. Whatever broke, got upgraded. The frame finally started cracking around the headtube after twelve years.

My first mountain bike was a 2009 Specialized Rockhopper Comp. It's covered in fresh mud from today's ride.

. . . back before there was a golf course, a housing development, or many of the trails that are there today.I remember that - - vaguely. Used to be a pretty fun place to ride the dirt bike.

Started last year. I have a Raleigh Mojave 2.0 :( saving for a new one before summer starts.

2007 Specialized Rockhopper comp disc. Learned to ride and love mtn biking with it. Finally upgraded. Its long gone now.

Yard sale Murray . . . heavy steel . . . with gumwall tires.

w/ Dirt Bike bars :P

1995 Raleigh M-50, parents bought it new for me and i still own the frame and use it, it was my daily commuter up until Nov of last year. It currently a longtail utility bike.

I had wanted an MTB since they first began to sell in numbers in the mid-1980s and had rented a few, but it was 1989 before I could really afford my first- a Univega Alpina, 21 speed, full rigid. It had a weird paint scheme consisting of a dark gray background with red specks all over it, which I called "the bloody sneeze". I rode it frequently until the mid 1990s, when the lure of front suspension took over and I bought a Cannondale F700. the Alpina was given to a friend's son as payment for some help with my yard.

1992 Trek 930 Singletrack. It's still in the garage. Red w/purple lettering. What a combo!

1992 Peugeot "Rad"

Steel, and lots of it. No suspension, and in its later years no gears either. But it got me from A to B.

w/ Dirt Bike bars :PYeah, I think they were off an MX or YZ Yamaha. Had the levers set up moto too just so I would not confuse myself :lol:.

86ish GT karokaram. Bought it new for five hundy or so. I just gave it away this summer to a guy in NH, he freakens loves it as much as I did. It still had a farmer john tire in the back and a black strap on plastic bash guard on the bottom bracket. I'll try to dig up a pic.

Schwinn Paperboy Special in the @1966. I grew up at the foot of the South Mountains in S. Phoenix, AZ. Now its a MTBers destination. Back then we rode horse and jeep trails.
The tires on those beasts were so knarly we would run over Barrel cactus. Still had to avoid the Saguaro, jumping and other cacti.

First real MTB was a 1991 Norco Bigfoot! Loved that name, BIGFOOT, its was purple and green, lime green, groovy baby!

^^ Was it really . . . or is that just the colors you remember seeing?

http://www.pollsb.com/photos/o/15891-cheech_chong.jpg

Bought a new '92 Trek 6000, aluminum frame bonded joints. Sold it after a couple years as it was a little to big. Now have an '85 870, '93 930, and '97 6000.

'89/'90 Giant Sedona. White,steel, 21 speed. Still has original Biopace cranks. Bought it new. Ride it weekly when weather permits.

my first mtb was a 94 raliegh (m80?) hardtail, ridigid fork.188889
then I upgraded to a GT RTS 188882
and this is my current trek zx 6000188885
but most of my riding time is spent on this beauty188888

1992 Mongoose Alta. it was serving as a citybike,/commuter until last summer, when i finally replaced it. donated it to my nephew.
http://kevrider.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Roadie-Rides/grafitti-ride-001/140040138_ECMHn-S.jpg

Back in 1980 or 81 I bought a Huffy Colorado Mt. Cruiser from Parkers Bike and Skate shop in Piqua Ohio and rode it for a few years but nothging hard core. Mostly dirt roads going between the farm fields of Ohio. Then I got a Raleigh Elkhorn in 84 and took it to Germany and hit some real trails. Three years of riding there I never saw another rider out in the woods.

Started out with a modified late 'thirties Schwinn.

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp271/repackrider/Miscellaneous%20images/ckrepack76.jpg

Moved up to the Breezer in 1978.

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp271/repackrider/Miscellaneous%20images/Repack3.jpg

Now I ride this.

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp271/repackrider/Miscellaneous%20images/rumblefish.jpg

^ Wow, how do you follow that?

My first "MTB" was a Huffy from x-mart that actually lived through a Lot of abuse. My first actual MTB is a 94 Giant Yukon. Just started getting into MTBing it this past summer and my first nicer MTB will hopefully be decided in the next month or so.

1989 Specialized Hard Rock Comp. Probably weighed 35 lbs.

We destroyed so many men's Schwinns, I'm surprised there are any left around here. Nice vintage pictures Repack.

My 1st was a Schwinn that someone threw in the trash. I don't have pictures and it was stolen ~6 months after I got it trail worthy in ~1979 : / I messed with 10 speeds and BMX for a while...

This was my main ride in the '90's (FS folding MTB) and still serves as a rainy day commuter or errand runner (only ride I put fenders on). Kids are fascinated by this one much more that either of my 29er's- go figure eheheh.

189452

My first mtb was a '90 Giant Sedona ATX that I got from a long gone bike shop in VB, VA. Steel frame, rigid fork, 7-speed shimano push/push shifters with Biopace crankset. I rode that thing all over, not just on singletrack. It went through several upgrades up til '98 when I finally bought a new Stumpy to replace it. I gave it away to a college buddy who wanted to get into mountain biking.

Started off with a Speci Hardrock, which later got upgraded to a Speci Rockhopper. Currently on a FS Scott Spark, which is a lot easier on my old bones.

i started out on a $155 bike from toy-r-us that i got when i was in second grade. i think it was one of those no-name brand frame but it was cool for me. it was a 6 speed bike that worked good. to this day i still have the bike and it is still stock and in excellent condition. it has all the original parts down to the original brake pads and tire. i don't remember there being a spot of rust on the bike but it has been about a year since i have been up to my grand parents to fill up the tires and take it for a ride. in a 2-3 years i plan on giving it to my nephew but i will definitely have to replace the brake pads and tires on it.

My very first bike was a completely-rubbish supermarket "mountain" bike with as-good-as-non-existent brakes and heavier than a car, but I rode it for my first year like a bat out of ahem until it was trashed. Must have replaced that the BB at least once a month :S
My first half-decent bike was a race-geometry unbranded alu Wheeler, rigid at first, and then with the space-age looking Marzocchi Mach 5 forks - 2 whole inches of rubber bumper suspension! :D

My first was a 94 GT Outpost. Still have it at my parents house in the barn.

First mountain bike was a "Bristol" u brake and all - late 80s - don't know where it came from or much about it, but my dad still has it in his garage in CA. First mountain bike I actually took on trails was a Barracuda A2X (I think) only had it for a couple months when I upgraded(?) to a Caloi. That was about 17 years ago.

Mine was a 1989 Rocky Mountain Stratos rigid, 7000 series bare aluminium frame.
I can't even find a picture on the Web!! I think they sent 5 to Germany that year.
The last time I rode it was about a week ago in -15C temps, did about 18 miles
on hard pack snow and paths full of frozen footprints (talk about teeth rattling).
I love the people who say aluminuim has a 5-10 year life span, HA!

I will have to upload a picture, it will probably be the only picture on the entire Web
but I will have to shine it up first, it stills gets to a mirror like shine when I polish it.

My first bike that I actually used to mountain bike was a Royce Union pile of supermarket crap but it got me on the trails. My first real bike was a 2002 Trek 4500. From that I graduated to a 2003 KHS Team Soft Tail which served me until yesterday. Now I have me a 2011 Stumpjumper Comp 29er.

Mine was a 1986 Trek 830 antelope. Friction shifters, cantilevers, bolt-on wheels, avocet saddle, no suspension. I just sold it last year at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome swap meet. I even won an amateur cross-country race back in '94 with it.

I have been curious about MTB for a number of years but couldn't justify getting involved. Forced myself into the first step by finding a NOS year old bike at LBS and purchased it in 1998. I have ridden it on the road more than off. I may have as much as 1500 miles on it. Recently upbraded the fork with a 2003 Marathon SL. OK so here are the before and after shots. The before does not include the original tires which are on the after.
189931
189932

HEY SJX, what do you think of the difference in the geometry with the SUSP fork lifting you up a few inches? Do you notice much difference in the turns?

JS12, which Spark did you get. I picked up a 20 last November and was amazed.

What you see is without weight. Once I am on it it sinks low enough (15% of travel) that I don't notice a difference. I am using a 3:1 ration of pressure per comments on this forum. I just installed it and haven't really tried it out.

Originally, before I know what I was doing, I didn't have any rebound pressure and it was not good from a handling perspective. My rebound pressure effectivly sets the compression once I am on it and I can control intial setting. I imagine the fine tuning will allow me to set it up for good all around handling by finding the right pressures to meet all requirements.