IdAngler

Novara makes some sweet bike, I heard Giant made their frames at some point, any info on that anyone? Check out this one I have , has a triangular downtube like a old bmx, great bike and decent components.

sirdonld

1987 Klein with softride suspension stem,1994 softride and 1997 Klein Some people love or hate the softride bike, I never had a problem riding it.

Bikedued

The Novara outback is a rebranded Centurion/Diamondback Mean Streak(or other similar model). They came with an identical frame and Superbe derailleurs as well. Nice bike!! I tend to like the DB better though, since it was black and silver.,,,,BD

Don't forget Bridgestone in the list. Here's my modded MB-2. Not a mountain bike anymore, I know. It's a handlebar and tire swap away though.

nfmisso

Cycle Pro Ram by Kuwahara - TIG welded Double butted Cr-Mo long wheel base.

Ciufalon

Maruishi made some nice bikes. This is my 1982 MountAce-15. Triple bottle cages and made of Ishiwata mtn. bike tubing with butted frame, fork, and stays. Not the lightest bike, but it works great for commuting, touring and generally getting around town. I am planning on doing a drop bar or trekking bar conversion to it soon.

davester

That's all very well and good, and they do make nice around town and gravel road bikes, but those of us who do actual mountain biking (i.e. rocky, tree-root-laden trails) understand that mountain biking without at least a front shock totally sucks to the point of ridiculousness. I put many miles on my 1987 Nishiki Ariel (since stolen) through the desert mountain ranges of western Nevada and Baja because that was all that was available at the time, but it was pretty punishing to ride in those situations.

What I really liked about the Ariel was that it was a lot lighter than many of the competing mountain bikes at the time, many of which were absurdly heavy (not a good thing when you have to carry your bike over impassable stretches of trail.

My wife currently has a Trek 970, which is also a very nice pre-shock mountain bike, though quite a bit newer than the Ariel.

jyl

Early nineties okay?

Bholio

I picked up a GT talera on craigslist a few years ago. Its the only old GT MTB I have seen without the distinctive extra triangle under the seat. It still has the GT badge at the back of the to tube however. I think it was late 80s. Predated bikepedia, so I don't know for sure. I really liked it, but had no real use for it, so I sold it. Was kinda beat up, which I liked. It also had biopace, which I never noticed while riding.


Although they we not quite 1980's I've always like the look of Cannondale headshock bikes. No idea if they were any good or not, but they look great to me. Very subtle, not like a regular shock.

(Not my bike!!)

One thing I have noticed in these old MTB pictures is how nice the gumwall tires look on a mountain bike.

kunsunoke 

The best of the non-suspension era came out in the late 80s. These consistently hold value, for good reason: (They were great bikes)

Boutique bikes for western USA conditions:
Klein (PacNW)
Yeti
Mantis
Steve Potts
Moots
Ventana
Mountain Goat
Ibis (Scot Nicol built; Mt. Trials are highly sought-after)
Salsa
Bontrager
Brodie (built for messy PacNW conditions)
Ritchey (particularly the P-23)
Fisher (prior to the Evolution headset fiasco)
Breezer
WTB
Santana tandems

Boutique - Eastern-specific:
Fat Chance (Wicked; YoEddy)
EWR
Brew
Independent Fabrication
Iglehart
One-Off
Ted Wojcik
Litespeed
Merlin

Big company bikes worth buying:
Bridgestone MB-0(zip) in good condition; MB-1; MB-2; MB-3 (MIJ only)
Cannondale Beast (particularly the 26/24 combos); M1000; M2000
Specialized Stumpjumper; S-works
Ross Mt. Whitney
Bianchi Grizzly; Ibex
Trek 950; 970; 7000; 8000
Miyata Evolution series
GT Zaskar; Xizang; Psyclone (basically anything made in SoCal and not Taiwan)
Schwinn Cimarron; King Sting; KOM; PDG/Paramount; anything built by Waterford Precision
Slingshot (it is an acquired taste, though - like stinky cheese)
Mongoose (pre-1985/MIJ)
Kuwahara (early '80s/MIJ)
Scott Pro Racing
Diamond Back Axis Ti; pre-1985 MIJ
Nishiki Alien / Alien ACX

Ones to avoid:
Haro (particularly elevated chainstay or weird geometry models - they weigh too much and they ride like ****e)
Alpinestars (elevated chainstays; wretched ride)
Any mountain bike made with carbon fiber (even Trek OCLV) - dead-feeling, and prone to crush failures
Ritchey P-21s (unless they've been babied)
Cannondales with cantilevered dropouts (they were prone to ugly failures - if it wasn't the drops, then the frame itself often suffered beer-can twist/tear syndrome).
late-80s Italian boutique bikes with bad/heavy/stupid-looking Campagnolo groups
Allsop Beam MTB
Any Taiwanese steel bike made with "OS" tubing
Fisher "Evolution" headset bikes

El Segundo

I have owned this 1988 Diamond Back Ascent EX since new. A few upgrades along the way but always nice reliable ride. The U brake can be finicky to service but works well and kinda makes the rear triangle look clean. Bike is now used primarily around town and riding rail trails.
B

Bikedued

I had a Haro Escape that was light as heck, and rode like a full suspension, even with only a front suspension fork. One of the bent top tube models. Wish I could have kept it actually. An awesome bike...IMHO of course.




Just picked up this one on Saturday. I guess it could be called weird geometry, with the 26/24 wheel mix. I like the way it rides, honestly I do. Very predictable. A one year only 85 SM600 model, and one Cannondale nerds like me search for. My buddy has had one for about 5 years, and has kind of ribbed me about it. His is more original, but oh well. I can buy some Suntour XC and repaint it.



And my 88 M1000. I owned it, sold it, bought it back, and turned it into a touring bike. Now it's a mountain bike again. Not to be sold again....



92 M500 Gary Bar lightweight. 23 pounds IIRC with tubeless tires and the whole shebang. The front has gone flat, so I need to re-seal it.

orangeology

1981 Stumpjumper, found in the original poster


late 80'ish Parkre Catalyst, work-in-progress


did someone say Waterford mtb?

Spaghetti Legs 

A GT Tequesta was the first bike I ever bought in 1988, maybe '89.. Ex age mountain group. It was my boon companion for many years, rode pretty hard and unfortunately the frame was accidentally left behind in the attic of the house we sold a few years ago. It had the rear brakes mounted down low on the chainstays, which is a pretty dumb idea for a mountain bike, but seems to have caught on now for time trial bikes.

The fork still lives on a 3 wheel downhill racer cart I made for my kids.

John E

I am glad a few folks have spoken up for the higher-end Schwinns. Mombat has a top-of-the-line Project KOM-10 Team Issue very similar to mine, except that mine has a SunTour RollerCam in front, instead of a cantilever. About 2000 of these bikes were made in 1988 and 1989, in Greenville MS. This is not only my offroad and foul weather bike, but also my shopping errand runner and first choice on national holiday rides and parades -- red, white, and blue, and I even bought mine from a San Diego firefighter.

Bikedued

Definitely a high end Schwinn fan too. I have the obligatory black chrome High Sierra with XT and roller cam brakes.,,,,BD

70sSanO

Everyone has their favorite era.

For me the 90's were the golden era for mountain bikes; like the 80's were for road bikes, especially mid to late 80's.

My mountain bikes are recent frame up builds from the 90's. Steel frame hard tails with front suspension. One is a 1995 Trek 970 with OXIII tubing and the other is a 1992ish Serotta T-Max with Columbus Max tubing (was a repaint and incorrect decals). They both sport slightly later Marzocchi oil bath suspension forks. The Serotta is a real hoot to ride.

FWIW...



John

clubman 

Rocky Mountain and Brodie (north of the border)

cyclotoine

Don't forget Off Road Toad.

clubman 

I did but I can't say I've ever met one in person. Another very small maker was Douglas. My first Mudsucker in 87.

LeicaLad 

There are some very nice bikes in this thread, but this batch particularly stand out to me. Thanks for the photos.

AND, as they've been mentioned but I don't see any photos, I guess I'll have to add a couple Ritchey bikes to the mix.


Here is my 1981 Ritchey. The photo is from April 1982 near Chiangmai, Thailand.



This is a 1984 Team Competition. It’s nice, but not quite as nice as the ’81. imho.



Maybe this image is more flattering.

Melissa Davis

it was the GT Zaskar.