Double-E F
Gold Trader
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Raleigh Amazon followed by a GT Avalanche AL 
First MTB's
- Thread starter burkeredh
- Start date
Hotwheels.
Old School Grand Master
An ATB really so it doesn't strictly count, an Apollo Blizzard which promptly fell to bits, then a brief fling with a very forgettable Peugeot Alpina followed by the love of my life, a Diamond Back Ascent which as a lad I ran into the ground and eventually binned, and boy do I wish I hadn't.
jazzibizznizz
Retro Guru
Re:
My family had always been cyclists, fully paid up members of the Cyclists Touring Club, so it was with that kind of heritage that in 1987 I became the proud owner of a Dawes Cougar. I loved it, fully lugged Reynolds 531 frame and fork, indexed Shimano gears, really slack head and seat angles, massively long stays and wheelbase. No handling, and climbing was really sluggish but at least it cruised along comfortably and downhills were great. After a couple of years I sold that to my CDT teacher at school to buy my Overburys, which I've had ever since.
My family had always been cyclists, fully paid up members of the Cyclists Touring Club, so it was with that kind of heritage that in 1987 I became the proud owner of a Dawes Cougar. I loved it, fully lugged Reynolds 531 frame and fork, indexed Shimano gears, really slack head and seat angles, massively long stays and wheelbase. No handling, and climbing was really sluggish but at least it cruised along comfortably and downhills were great. After a couple of years I sold that to my CDT teacher at school to buy my Overburys, which I've had ever since.
Re:
I first learned on a BMX, but it wasn't until I got my first mountain bike that I really fell in love with cycling. I remember my Dad buying me a bright yellow bike that was pride and joy - I thought it was ace because it was a Peugeot and they made cars! No idea on the size but it was fairly tiny and have 12 gears. I must've been about 9 or 10 (so about 1990/91).
After that, I had a Professional Black Russian which was an odd ball. Very low and long compared to most MTBs of the time, I think it was a 14" frame with 24" wheels. I really wanted a Raleigh Activator or a Lizard like all my mates! It was similar to the bike in this pic, but the stickers were green and blue:
I think I outgrew that bike pretty quickly, as it was replaced after a summer or two with a bike that was handed down from my Uncle - a British Eagle Gritstone. This was a heavy beast but felt indestructible! I rode this through most of my late teens, mostly for bombing through local trails and forests. I still own the bike, but it was retired from active duty as I again inherited another bike from my Uncle that was a lot lighter! It sat in the bike store for about a decade since I last rode it, but has been retrieved recently and I'm thinking of resurrecting it for pure nostalgia. Along the way, various bits got added (and a few got nicked!) so its in a bit of a sorry state at the moment:
The replacement was another British Eagle bike, not sure which model as it had a respray at some point. Apparently it has a Reynolds 531 frame, and wears a Shimano Exage 500LX groupset with Biopace chainrings. Up until very recently, I'd been using this on some street tyres and with a pannier rack fitted to commute to work:
A few months back, I tracked down a retro bike locally, and snapped up a Shogun Trail Breaker 3. This was the bike that lead me to this site, as I was looking for some info and background on it. After a bit of tinkering to free up the shifters, this has been put into service as my new commuter, but its going to need a new BB pretty soon. Again its a Biopace-equipped bike, but with an Exage 300LX groupset. I don't have any current pictures of this one, but its very similar to another users bike (I've borrowed their pic):
I first learned on a BMX, but it wasn't until I got my first mountain bike that I really fell in love with cycling. I remember my Dad buying me a bright yellow bike that was pride and joy - I thought it was ace because it was a Peugeot and they made cars! No idea on the size but it was fairly tiny and have 12 gears. I must've been about 9 or 10 (so about 1990/91).
After that, I had a Professional Black Russian which was an odd ball. Very low and long compared to most MTBs of the time, I think it was a 14" frame with 24" wheels. I really wanted a Raleigh Activator or a Lizard like all my mates! It was similar to the bike in this pic, but the stickers were green and blue:
I think I outgrew that bike pretty quickly, as it was replaced after a summer or two with a bike that was handed down from my Uncle - a British Eagle Gritstone. This was a heavy beast but felt indestructible! I rode this through most of my late teens, mostly for bombing through local trails and forests. I still own the bike, but it was retired from active duty as I again inherited another bike from my Uncle that was a lot lighter! It sat in the bike store for about a decade since I last rode it, but has been retrieved recently and I'm thinking of resurrecting it for pure nostalgia. Along the way, various bits got added (and a few got nicked!) so its in a bit of a sorry state at the moment:
The replacement was another British Eagle bike, not sure which model as it had a respray at some point. Apparently it has a Reynolds 531 frame, and wears a Shimano Exage 500LX groupset with Biopace chainrings. Up until very recently, I'd been using this on some street tyres and with a pannier rack fitted to commute to work:
A few months back, I tracked down a retro bike locally, and snapped up a Shogun Trail Breaker 3. This was the bike that lead me to this site, as I was looking for some info and background on it. After a bit of tinkering to free up the shifters, this has been put into service as my new commuter, but its going to need a new BB pretty soon. Again its a Biopace-equipped bike, but with an Exage 300LX groupset. I don't have any current pictures of this one, but its very similar to another users bike (I've borrowed their pic):
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Well I remember this thread, but seemingly I never posted in it, despite reading through and seeing a lot of bikes familiar from my youth.
In 1990, armed with my entire bank savings of £180, I went to Cliff Pratt in Hull. My mum bought her Raleigh Magnum there at the same time and I had eyes for the Raleigh Amazon (which my dad later bought) mainly for the underbar shifters, but at £200 it was beyond my budget. I was take by a £150 gloss black BSA ATB but was talked out of it (iirc it had caliper brakes) and so I chose the Raleigh Lizard for £165:
[picture unashamedly stolen from an image search]
Although at the time I prefered the colour scheme of the Amazon too, I did like the green and the thumbies turned out to be the better option (or the reason I still prefer thumbshifters).
It was heavy, but I didn't really find many places to do real mountainbiking, so it was mainly used as transport on the road and the odd bit of cross-country. I enjoyed riding it from where I lived in North Dorset down to Poole, but I didn't have the same love of exercise then as I do now, so it only got average use. It served me well for 5 years until I was old enough to get my first motorbike (50) and from that point until I bought my Karakoram Elite in 2009 I barely road a bike. The Lizard survived in good condition for a long time, being passed on to my Uncle, but eventually was in an accident that wrote it off. I did toy with the idea of getting another to relive it, but realised that was a bad idea - I'd love to have another frame (Raleigh?) repainted in that colour scheme in the future though, as I grew to love it.
In 1990, armed with my entire bank savings of £180, I went to Cliff Pratt in Hull. My mum bought her Raleigh Magnum there at the same time and I had eyes for the Raleigh Amazon (which my dad later bought) mainly for the underbar shifters, but at £200 it was beyond my budget. I was take by a £150 gloss black BSA ATB but was talked out of it (iirc it had caliper brakes) and so I chose the Raleigh Lizard for £165:
[picture unashamedly stolen from an image search]
Although at the time I prefered the colour scheme of the Amazon too, I did like the green and the thumbies turned out to be the better option (or the reason I still prefer thumbshifters).
It was heavy, but I didn't really find many places to do real mountainbiking, so it was mainly used as transport on the road and the odd bit of cross-country. I enjoyed riding it from where I lived in North Dorset down to Poole, but I didn't have the same love of exercise then as I do now, so it only got average use. It served me well for 5 years until I was old enough to get my first motorbike (50) and from that point until I bought my Karakoram Elite in 2009 I barely road a bike. The Lizard survived in good condition for a long time, being passed on to my Uncle, but eventually was in an accident that wrote it off. I did toy with the idea of getting another to relive it, but realised that was a bad idea - I'd love to have another frame (Raleigh?) repainted in that colour scheme in the future though, as I grew to love it.
Knightrider
Orange 🍊 Fan
I remember the Lizard well - one of my friends had one!
My first MTB was a Mongoose Alta - something like:
Very heavy, too big for me, got me through a year in the University MTB club before I replaced it with an Orange O2...
My first MTB was a Mongoose Alta - something like:
Very heavy, too big for me, got me through a year in the University MTB club before I replaced it with an Orange O2...
