How did you get in to MTB

themountie

Senior Retro Guru
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Hi guys for a bit of fun how did you get in to MTBS

since I was little I always rode a bike my first was a red Raleigh with a basket on the front , well it was the early 80's lol then progressed to my Raleigh burner, My nan then bought me a early copy of MBUK I think It was and looking though the mag I was hooked on it,

I have my nan to thank for my obsession for these two wheeled machines :roll: and yes shes still with us shes 95
 
cant fully remember haha

always liked bikes, had hand me down shopper type things when i was small but we couldnt afford a mtb/atb until 1989 i think, it was a christmas present and i had little else to go with it but i didnt care :)

watched it on telly and due to living on the edge of dartmoor and the coast saw loadsa raleighs, tushingtons etc and one pace which blew my mind!!!!

after that christmas all i did was ride, until it was stolen on my paper round :( and replaced by something equally shit but it was mine. around 92 i started racing at newnham proper and the bug never left. sold, stole, traded my way up to a shop framed 531 thing with bits and bobs and i adored it. then i swapped it and some paint money for a sarecen andes fs.............the rest is history haha

i could go on for ages about BITD :)
 
As I can't drive and hate public transport then no other option but buy a bike and mtb is the best option. Except when I found a lady with a car who then could taxi me (and the mtb) to race meetings and generally around.
 
I used to ride a Raleigh Bomber to school, not sure if thats even classed as an mtb!? before that i rode racers, with a whopping 12 gears :D and most had cow horns fitted :D I then just progressed from there really, i did get into bmx for a few years but usually had an mtb for treks around the local woods, until '93 when i got my first Kona :cool: thread here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=362041

Mark
 
Went to University and lived in the US and got the bug there in 1991. First bike was a Giant Boulder with Profile & Zoom aftermarket bits, Panaracer Smokes & Darts...those were the days!
 
Re:

One Christmas my brother was bought a GT Outpost - red, splatter paint... and wow... bar ends. Must have been '91, come to think of it. Spoiled the Christmas of the rest of the juvenile population of our neighbourhood, who quickly grasped the difference between Maverick / Activator / Lizard BSOs and a real mountain bike.

I was bought a Dawes Ultra - which, to the uninitiated, was a road bike.

Both bikes were a surprise, but I couldn't hide my disappointment. Ungrateful brat, I know..

Anyway, from then on I read my bro's MBUKs religiously, MTB-less, until Christmas '95.. when Santa kindly brought me a brand new Marin Pine Mountain.

Still have a '95 Pine Mountain in the collection - but sadly only the forks were off the original bike :roll:
 
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It started as a kid. I originally rode BMX but saw a mountain bike I liked when I was 13 (A BSO emelle but when you're a kid disc brakes and full suspension seem like the coolest things ever). Never stopped riding it until I turned 16 and was diagnosed with an illness which forced me to stop riding. The next 7 years were hell. Cue a few years ago I decided to try and get back into it picking up an old cheap Apollo and building a carrera which was given to me in the meantime. Sort of spiraled out of control after that and here I am today with an expensive addiction :LOL:
 
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I'm going to make a massive leap based on the fact that this is a retro site and assume that most of us are in the same boat.

That is that we grew up with it as they became more and more popular, diversified and specialised. Probably had a 'racer' first of all, probably got a cheapo BMX when they were 'in' and then moved into mountain biking because cycling on roads was boring....

Dabbled with entering small competions (Kidland Killer and Keilder Classic) and realised very shortly afterwards that I was in no way fit enough (or brave enough) to compete when the guy that won the sport category crossed the line at the same time as me - despite him doing two laps to my one.

Had crap bikes, got slightly better ones when I started to work. Had them stolen. Bought new ones. Used to do it a lot, now hardly ever venture off road.
 
Back in 1997 I found myself living in Mesa Arizona (USA for my friends on the other side of the pond ;-) ). I needed a good bike for getting around. My brother's friend sold me 95 GT Tempest for a good price. I didn't know anything about bikes but I had a roommate who was into biking and he liked the GT. My roommate took me biking at South Mountain (Near Phoenix) and the rest is history. I've lived all over the Rocky Mountain region and have biked in Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and now in Missouri. It's like a bad habit I've formed with a 20 year addiction. I trade in vintage parts like a meth addict lol. MUST HAVE M900 PARTS.
 
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