Did your dream bike live upto the hype ?

[M-Power]

What was your dream bike back in the day and when you finally got it, did it live upto your expectation ?

 

[k-rod]

I had an '89 Brodie Romax custom built for me by Paul Brodie back in '89 (Shimano MT-62 groupo), and after being totally re-built in 1999 (all the parts were completely worn out and battered by then); and then once again recently (this time more or less almost period correct with M-735 groupo) because all the working bits were again worn out and failing ...

I still have the bike, and absolutely love riding it - although being close to picture perfect and a bit of a collector's item, it is now relegated to gentle city bike-lane, pathway, and sea-wall riding only.

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

Hell. Yes.

1994 Lotus Monocoque.

I'll be buried with it.

 

[M-Power]

Re:

So far Bikes Living Up to the Hype are -


89 Brodie Romax - semi retired to Sunday rides.
94 Lotus Monocoque - taking it to the grave... !!!
90s Klein Attitude (Chehalis made ) light and nimble as remembered.
94 Breezer Lightening - “Ritchey slayer”
95 Marin Titanium - a great all rounder
Pace RC 100 - still doing it after all these years

 

[jimo746]

Re:

Klein Attitude - Yes! Just as quick, light and nimble as I remember from a brief test ride I had on one in the early 90's. . (When I couldn't afford one on paper round money ).

Orange Prestige (the bike I owned in the 90's) - No not how I remembered it. Too low, too narrow, I've been spoilt by too many modern bikes :roll:

 

[greencat]

As soon as I saw the Kirk Revolution bitd I knew I had to have one. Such a beautifully styled design - especially in black. Sadly, while I never noticed the notoriously flexi-frame, several frame breaks and replacements caused me to quickly fall out of love with it. It simply wasn't fit for purpose.

Some kind of titanium frame was next on my lust list. My first a Sunn Exact Ti was everything I hoped for - but sadly too small. The second, Van Nicholas, seemed to have none of the ride qualities titanium is known for. The third, an earlier incarnation of Wittson, was perfect - but only lasted just over a year (including a weld repair) before I gave up on it due to a second crack appearing. I still have the Van Nicholas, but it doesn't get ridden very often as I prefer my Charge Cooker for mountain biking, and have a bunch of scrapper bikes for shopping and hauling. If I was touring, I'd probably get the Van Nicholas out again.

 

[fearfactoryüberalles]

Breezer Lightning '94- yeah, sure. Shames Ritcheys into oblivion, and strong/dependable, too.

Marin Team Titanium '95 - a laid-back relax machine, not the racebred performance bike I guessed it'd be, but all the better for it.

Scott Pro Racing '95- overpriced run-of-the mill bike back in the days, a timeless classic now.

I got too many bikes admittedly and trying to do a curfew recently but to sell quite nice bikes just to make room/for the sake of it, (any kind of profiteering is impossible in most of the cases anyway) ehhh :facepalm: ...too weak to do it, I confess, I enjoy just to look at them and having them in my little collection :xmas-big-grin: .

 

[M-Power]

As soon as I saw the Kirk Revolution bitd I knew I had to have one. Such a beautifully styled design - especially in black. Sadly, while I never noticed the notoriously flexi-frame, several frame breaks and replacements caused me to quickly fall out of love with it. It simply wasn't fit for purpose.

Some kind of titanium frame was next on my lust list. My first a Sunn Exact Ti was everything I hoped for - but sadly too small. The second, Van Nicholas, seemed to have none of the ride qualities titanium is known for. The third, an earlier incarnation of Wittson, was perfect - but only lasted just over a year (including a weld repair) before I gave up on it due to a second crack appearing. I still have the Van Nicholas, but it doesn't get ridden very often as I prefer my Charge Cooker for mountain biking, and have a bunch of scrapper bikes for shopping and hauling. If I was touring, I'd probably get the Van Nicholas out again.

Im updating the ‘Stand Out’ bikes above. Not feeling it from you Greencat with your selections, so assume they didnt live upto the hype !

 

[greencat]

As soon as I saw the Kirk Revolution bitd I knew I had to have one. Such a beautifully styled design - especially in black. Sadly, while I never noticed the notoriously flexi-frame, several frame breaks and replacements caused me to quickly fall out of love with it. It simply wasn't fit for purpose.

Some kind of titanium frame was next on my lust list. My first a Sunn Exact Ti was everything I hoped for - but sadly too small. The second, Van Nicholas, seemed to have none of the ride qualities titanium is known for. The third, an earlier incarnation of Wittson, was perfect - but only lasted just over a year (including a weld repair) before I gave up on it due to a second crack appearing. I still have the Van Nicholas, but it doesn't get ridden very often as I prefer my Charge Cooker for mountain biking, and have a bunch of scrapper bikes for shopping and hauling. If I was touring, I'd probably get the Van Nicholas out again.

Im updating the ‘Stand Out’ bikes above. Not feeling it from you Greencat with your selections, so assume they didnt live upto the hype !

No, sadly not. I think my days of chasing exotica or being wed to mantra like "Steel is real", "Ti is for life" etc are over. My Charge Cooker 27.5+ wins no awards from anyone, but quietly and reliably gets the job done, have fun and allows me to keep improving my skills. It does help that it looks vaguely like my idea of a mountain bike unlike most other modern bikes.

 

[Thias]

Thats an interresting question! I don't remember me lusting over any bike more than the GT LTS Thermoplast. I bought one a few years ago, did a very crappy build because I could not afford a real build at that time. The dampener was shot so the ride wasn't too good. Now it sits in my basement with no parts on it. I am searching for "the perfect build", the perfect crank, perfect fork, perfect everything. I fear to mess it up and ruin my dream bike. So that doesn't get me anywhere. While most of my other builds come an go rather quickly. Now I have all the bikes I could ever imagine owning bitd. Several Kleins, Specialized FSR, GT-RTS, Ibis, Centurion Titanium - Been there, done that.
But with "the only one" dream bike, I'm totally stuck.

Isn't that funny?