The Outlier

I don't know the exact year that mountain bikes became popular, but the first mountain bike I ever saw (and owned) was a Western Flyer Grizzly. It was the epitome of generic, but back then I didn't know what generic was. Evidently Western Flyer bought up other bikes and put their name on them- at least that's what one expert told me. I can't even find a picture of it online to confirm its existence, but you can believe me that it existed. After ramping so many times, the handle bars caved in (That was probably the last time I ramped anything). It was then that I bought a Trek. But The black and green Western Flyer had served its purpose. It got me into biking and survived the Katy Trail in Missouri.

What was your first mountain bike?

roccobike

I still have my first mountain bike, a 1988 Nishiki Ariel. I bought it used in 2005 at a garage sale for $20. My intention was to ride it in the neighborhood, but after a few rides, we went to the local rails to trails, the gravel section of the American Tobacco Trail. After a couple rides on that trail, it was off to the local single track trail. The roots, logs and rocks did a job on my double fusion neck. I needed to trade the rigid fork for a sus fork which I did. Unfortunetly the mod changed the handling dramatically so I moved to an almost new Rockhopper. I still ride the old Nishiki on rails to trails where steering is not as critical. The steel frame makes for a nice ride.

Zephyr11

Huffy Ironman Walmart-special. Despite it's Ironman name (and the M-Dot on the downtube), it was a mountain bike (or mountain bike wannabe...). Its frame also said it was made of "titanium boron steel"...aka hi-ten.

If that doesn't count as a "mountain bike," then a Giant Rincon that I picked up in college.

joyota

Still have my first MTB but it's gone commuter, now. Like Rocco^, it too is a Nishiki. Mine was a birthday present in my teenage years though. I've had it for quite a while, now.



Nowadays it looks like this...still mostly original, too!

dminor 

This was my first 'mountain bike' - - took me up a few mountains in the day.

The Outlier

Anyone remember the Huffy White Heat? There were a lot of commercials about it on TV during cartoons. I wanted that bike. The problem was, it was still a Huffy. It looked cool though.

pyze-guy

Wicked Fat Chance. I wish i still owned it.

LesterOfPuppets

Cheepo Takara with steel rims, 3x5 setup

osco53

My 1st, looked just like this one
sold it long ago,

jbchybridrider 

My first bike was a Honda MR50, first mtb was a mid 80's Raleigh that I still have still ridable all original low end gear just missing the grips and original tires.

roccobike

I'd count it as a MTB! I came across one of these when I was flipping bikes. As I recall I donated it to the Peak Methodist church for their bike ministry. I worked on it and thought this was a pretty nice bike for a Huffy. The components were decent and the only problem with it was it was very heavy. Otherwise, it looked and rode like a pretty decent bike. Huffy did make some decent bikes that were comparable to LBS bikes and IMHO, this was one of them.

klmmicro

I had a 1986 Mongoose, black. Not sure the model. It was a radical departure at the time. All it really was? A road frame with a little additional support at the welds. Triple up forward, 6 in the rear. They put some wider 26" wheels on it and sold it as an off road cycle. I had it all the way up to 2009 when my daughter left it unlocked in a bad part of town. She called to ask for a ride home and I made her walk...I was a little peeved.

Dave Cutter

I am old enough that I was a mature adult before BMX and mountain bikes had been created or popularized. I found that 92 Fuji last year at a yard sale (for $20). I had thought a mountain bike might serve me well for a winter bike.

Daspydyr 

Norco Big Foot @1990. It was a blast.

scottsmith

a red & white 12-speed supercycle from the local, small-town hardware store in 1989 or 1990. The tires were smooth & fully rigid frame because I'd never seen or heard of knobby tires & suspension at that point. It was fun though!

Scott P

I had a 1991 Trek 820 I bought in college. I rode that thing until 2004. That was a solid bike. I think it is still out in my Dad's barn since I gave it to him after I bought my Gary Fisher.

Yamato72

Don't laugh:



I bought this at Sears in 2000 and within 2 years had replaced the wheels, BB, derailleurs and brakes/shifters with Deore LX. The only reason it has survived under my bulk all these years is because the frame is so heavy and tough. It's some kind of alloy. The fork is some kind of cheap, non-adjustable knock-off that has somehow held together all these years. I have kept it tuned up and ridden trails with it just about every year since 2000.

It is wearing cruiser tires in this pic because I put 700 miles on it this summer training for a bike tour before I saved enough money for a road bike. I would like to put knobbies back on it this fall and have a little bit more fun on the trails before I (hopefully) get a decent MTB next spring.

Repack Rider

I built this one myself in 1977.

turky lurkey

My first mountain bike was a Huffy Stone Mountain, I don't know what happened to it.
I actually came really close to buying another one for $15 last week. I had visions of equipping it with some old Shimano Deore components and Araya wheels, fortunately the impulse passed before I pulled the trigger on that one.

The following is not mine but mine was just like it:


https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7377/8...e62bc978_z.jpg

turky lurkey

Pretty cool! Those must have been fun times. One of my favorite parts of the Klunkerz movie was when you were talking about the house you guys had with bike parts all over the place. My wife heard that part and said "Girls still don't understand". We live in a small apartment and I usually have some kind of bike restoration/modification project going on in the kitchen and it drives her a bit nuts having the bike parts, tools, and grease all over the place. She gets extra concerned when my 18 month old son gets involved. He likes to work on the bikes too, he helps by sticking his fingers in the grease can or grabbing the dirty chain and spreading the mess all over. Fortunately she is reasonably understanding about it.

skol

90 or 91 Cannondale SM1000 - still have it and raced it a couple years back in a local event. Converted it to a 1x8 using Suntour XC Pro thumbies. I also striped the paint off and called it the Silver Bullet.

Parrothead1

Alright, as bad as this sounds, my first one was bought off some dude that lived in a trailer down in tampa, he rebuilt bikes and sold them on the side of the road in his front yard, paid $25.00 many moons ago. Road the piss out of it, Take my word for it, I got my money out of it, but that's a story for another time and place. The first one I can count as a real MTB was a Schwinn High Plains that my uncle loaned to me(someone with a master key ie: bolt cutters decided they liked it more that I did) I do miss that bike. Actually got a speeding ticket on Indian Rocks Beach Florida with that bike(don't ask). Now I got a vintage DB Ascent and loving it. Can't wait to get more active in the sport, got to rebuild the machine slowly(meaning Me
) before I get to excited. Pushing 50 sucks. Love it here.

BrenGun

Technically my second... a 1991 Trek 6000 that I picked up for $50 at a bike swap complete with the Onza bar ends. It now has a pair of Shimano M520 clipless pedals. But my first was also a 1991 Specialized Rockhopper in blue. Then I lost it in a house fire. Oddly enough I also found its twin, same year, same color 'Hopper at the same bike swap! Pretty cool, huh?

Wooden Tiger

My first mountain bike was a 2010 GT Avalanche 1.0. It was a great bike, and I miss it a lot. It met an untimely demise when my car was hit from the rear. My wife and I both lost our bikes. I had an Avalanche 1.0 and she had an Avalanche 3.0 (disc brakes).

I now have a Cannondale Flash Alloy 2, which is the better bike, but my GT never missed a beat. There are a lot of things I liked about that GT that I like(d) that the Cannondale doesn't provide. I'd have loved to have an opportunity to ride both, my C-dale and my old GT back to back, just to see which one I'd take home.

Here's what's left of the GTs.


Here's what it used to look like...

BBRider

My first was a 830 Trek hybrid back in the 90's. I had two sets of wheels and rims. Knobbies for trails and slicks for pavement. I rode the crap out of that bike for a few years, then got distracted, can't recall by what, and stopped riding. I still have it, but sadly I let it sit out in the desert for the last ten years. I thought about restoring when I decided to get back to biking about a month ago. The frame is nearly perfect and all the components still function. The tires, seat, and grips are shot to hell. The LBS quoted me about $250 to restore it. Maybe someday. It deserves it, even if doing so makes no financial sense.

My second mountain bike is the Specialized Hardrock that I bought just a couple of weeks ago. Getting back in the saddle after all these years, and with SEVERAL extra pounds has been challenging, but rewarding.