Hello there,
Not had a retro mtb for some time, but I've finally got one that I've been searching for for some time. It's not a particularly great one, but some back story might help explain.
Back in 1992 I had a Grifter. It was my first bike. Dad used to take me out on the disused railway line behind our house. I rode, he jogged. Then he had to run. Then he had to sprint. Then he got tired of trying to keep up and decided to buy a bike. He bought a British Eagle Zigzag - cheap spec, Reynolds 500 tubing. Nothing fancy but it did the job.
He joined a local MTB club and started to ride an awful lot, upgrading bits as they inevitably wore out. Very quickly, the questionable lilac paint scheme earned the Zigzag the nickname 'The Purple People Eater.' Soon, no original parts remained.
In 1995 dad upgraded significantly to a GT Xizang and mum used the People Eater occasionally. It languished at the back of the shed until I went to university and didn't want to take my own Zaskar, so it was dragged out and put back into action on a daily basis. After university I used it as my daily commuter. It had been through no end of spec upgrades and changes, from classic early nineties through to single speed mtb, fixed gear commuter, etc. Dad had already put a few thousand miles on this frameset, and I put a few more on - when the bottom bracket shell disintegrated we got together and added it up at somewhere over 10,000 miles.
I stripped it down, stored the parts and thought to keep an eye out for another.
So here it is. A lucky spot on eBay and fairly local pickup left me a meagre £16 poorer but a very happy chappy!
Not had a retro mtb for some time, but I've finally got one that I've been searching for for some time. It's not a particularly great one, but some back story might help explain.
Back in 1992 I had a Grifter. It was my first bike. Dad used to take me out on the disused railway line behind our house. I rode, he jogged. Then he had to run. Then he had to sprint. Then he got tired of trying to keep up and decided to buy a bike. He bought a British Eagle Zigzag - cheap spec, Reynolds 500 tubing. Nothing fancy but it did the job.
He joined a local MTB club and started to ride an awful lot, upgrading bits as they inevitably wore out. Very quickly, the questionable lilac paint scheme earned the Zigzag the nickname 'The Purple People Eater.' Soon, no original parts remained.
In 1995 dad upgraded significantly to a GT Xizang and mum used the People Eater occasionally. It languished at the back of the shed until I went to university and didn't want to take my own Zaskar, so it was dragged out and put back into action on a daily basis. After university I used it as my daily commuter. It had been through no end of spec upgrades and changes, from classic early nineties through to single speed mtb, fixed gear commuter, etc. Dad had already put a few thousand miles on this frameset, and I put a few more on - when the bottom bracket shell disintegrated we got together and added it up at somewhere over 10,000 miles.
I stripped it down, stored the parts and thought to keep an eye out for another.
So here it is. A lucky spot on eBay and fairly local pickup left me a meagre £16 poorer but a very happy chappy!
