What mountain bikes did you own BITD?

[dirttorpedo]

The discussion of crap brands that made good bikes got me thinking about this. I saw my first mountain bike at Caps when shopping for a bike to use as a commuter when I started university. I couldn't afford one then and bought a Norco road bike used and rode it hard for a couple of years. I was always looking enviously at the guys who could afford mountain bikes. My brother decided to buy a mountain bike and asked me to find him a used one at a decent price. I got him an 88 Ritchey Force at the local consignment place. He let me ride it that summer because he was working out of town. I was smitten and wanted my own.

The next year I decided to buy one myself. After testing a number of bikes (GT Tequesta, Kona Lava Dome, etc.) I bought a Rockymountain Fusion (basically the same bike as my brother's Ritchey). So my bikes before I became a collector were:

89 Rockymountain Fusion (sold)

1991 Stumpjumper FS (sold)

1997 Norco Sasquatch (with Bomber Z5 upgrade) - (sold)

2004 Kona Scrap (stripped and gifted frame to friend)

2005 Kona Stinky Deelux (Frame bought used and built with Kona Scrap parts) - (Sold)

It was about this time that the twins arrived and I didn't have the time to mountain bike. As well mountain biking became so focused on downhill fall line riding / free riding that I was getting hurt a lot or breaking bike components so often that I sold my bike.

Then a number of years later I started building old steel or aluminum hardtails into commuters. Buying old mountain bikes became a bit of a habit and here I am.

So what was your bike progression?

 

[racefaceec90]

1988 dawes ascent got for my birthday 1988 my first mtb
1992 marin eldridge grade
1994 specialized stumpjumper m2 (purple green with direct drive fork and first gen xt)
1998 marin mount vision xt (the original full ball burnish finish one with the mk 1 rear suspension stays)
have had more since then but these are the retro timeline ones

i also had a raleigh elan road bike (the mint green one my first road bike).

 

[swannymere]

From Memory

1989-1992 Kona's Cinder Cone's x 3, 2 x Fire Mountain blue splatters, 1 x Specialized M2 S-works (best bike i'd ridden until recently), 1994 AMP B3 (Looks great but bloody awful), 2000 DiamondBack cant remember which as it was a cheap pub bike.

 

[Markybeau]

1986 Raleigh Maverick (stolen)
1987 Raleigh Montage
1988/89 Raleigh Thunder Road
1990.5 Pacific Super XT (stolen)
1994-98 Townsend something or other covered in Hammerite. (Couldn't give it away)
1998 Orange Clockwork 10th Anniversary

 

[Once A Hero]

Most can be seen via the links in my sig;

1989 Townsend 2000 - well I had to start somewhere, right?
1990 MuddyFox Adventurer
1991 Offroad ProFlex 550
1992 Marin Indian Fire Trail
1992 Trek 8000
1993 KHS Montana Team
1993 Specialized Stumpjumper FS
1994 Specialized Stumpjumper
1995 Giant Cadex CFM-1
1996 Giant ATX 990
1997 Giant ATX 990D

 

[2manyoranges]

1987 Raleigh mustang (borrowed)
1987 Dawes Ranger (sold 1989)
1989 cannondale sm400 (stolen)
1989 Marin palisades (sold 1994)
1990 Marin Rocky Ridge (sold 1994)
1990 Bontrager Race OR (sold 2021)
1990 Klein pinnacle (sold 1994)
1992 Marin Team Ti (sold 2021)
1993 Amp b3 (sold 2021)
1993 Proflex 853 (sold 2020)
1995 Orange c16r (sold 2021)
1996 Orange P7 (sold 2021)
1996 Orange P7 (sold 2022)
2008 1990s Orange P7 nickel
Then wonderful modern goodness
Cotic Stanton Transition Ragley Canyon

 

[MatBH5]

Bought new in ‘92

 

[grahame]

I've only ever sold two mountainbikes:
1991 Marin Bear Valley - sold to fund the purchase of my first Breezer (the '92 Storm)
1994 Kona Kilauea with MX500 forks (bought as a staff deal when I was working at John's Bikes in Bath) - I just couldn't get on with the geometry and the "in house" brakes were useless, so when a colleague (at my next job) offered me more than I'd paid for it, it went.
Everything else from the era that I've owned is in my profile below.

 

[slackboy]

1987? Raleigh Mustang
1989 specialized hard rock
1990 specialized stumpjumper comp
1990 alpine stars cro-mega
1991 Raleigh blue ridge
1998 specialized rockhopper

Nothing special. Stumpy and cro-mega were stolen quite quickly and the blueridge was a distress purchase from a mate so I had a bike for uni. Can't remember what happened to that, but it must have been stolen too.

 

[Vesatoro]

1990 Nopsa Monterra ATB (crap and heavy)
1991 Scott Montana
1994 Cannondale M600 (was stolen)
1998 Cannondale F2000
.
.
.
2018 Giant Trance
And lots of vintage Cannondales