What was your "retro epiphany"

[hamster]

Bought 2nd hand (90) Marin Palisades in 1991 just before the winter to stay fit for sailing (I raced seriously).

Rode it everywhere: Spain, Alps, Moab, the lengths of the Pacific coast of the USA plus lots of hacking around in NE England.

Got upgrade-itis and added a Pine Mountain at the end of 94. Strangely never quite liked it until I added some Z3's which sorted out the handling.

Commuted on the Palisades, rode the Pine, even when I lived in Singapore. Did more touring on each, depending on the terrain. Bought a 2nd hand Litespeed Catalyst road frame (94) and got into fast road bikes too.

Chas May repainted both in 2002. I've never seen a need to change much, and certainly see point in replacing either. I can't stand stickers (good for teenagers) and like individual understated paint jobs. Garage queens are not for me - a bike should be ridden and simple as a knife and fork. Just built up a singlespeed and I like the simplicity of the rigid fork and no gears.

Discovered retrobike some time in 2007. Suits my 40's grumpy old man demeanour. It's for grownups who don't believe that newest is best or everything the Shimano rep says...

 

[one-eyed_jim]

I've always ridden bikes, on road and off, for transport, pleasure, and sometimes for money. Coming back to the UK from a couple of years overseas in the late nineties, it seemed the best way to get a tough, versatile, affordable do-it-all bike was to get an early-nineties rigid mountain bike and adapt it. One thing led to another.

I think the defining retro moment for me was just a few weeks ago - putting the derailleurs back on my Stumpjumper after five years as a singlespeed, just so that I could have thumbshifters on the bars.

 

[guybe]

I bought a second hand 1991 Marin Bear Valley in 1993 and been into MTB ever since, I usually keep the bike for 2/3 years before trading a newer model with 94 and 96 Marin Nail Trail's and finally 98 Cannondale which I still own now, it's the longest I kept a bike which result me keeping it as I didnt like the latest bikes coming out with huge suspension forks, disc brakes and suspension frames, most of them were in black colour.

Then last year I was looking for info about old Marin's and found retrobike, after seeing so many pics of bikes, it was the old steel Kona's bikes caught my eye as the best looking retro bike which I made a single speed Kona for myself this year.

The best years of MTB's is the early 90's, the bikes were the best looking then, and the MTB racing on tv was good to watch.

 

[boy"O"boy]

Biked through university years ( except when my "O" was nicked ) on a '95 Kona Muni Mula which was bang up to date at the time. Work, mortgage, and restoring an old house took up my riding time and the Muni Mula was sold for funds. Brought a GT STS thermoplastic on a whim and hated it..... more years in the wilderness .......

fast forward to 2004 and start riding with a group of workmates. Sell STS and purchase a 'new' rig. Love riding big time again and enter d2d. Ride Mountain mayhem 2007 and see Retrobike stand. Memories come flooding back, I'm smitten. Now got several "O"s and enjoy nothing more than a rideout in Thetford with the RB crew.

Cheers all
boy"O"boy

 

[LeeDevelopment]

I never really got 'into' retro - I just kept bits and bobs across the years.....and eventually they became 'retro'.......I still think older stuff was much better aesthetically designed than the current crop of Taiwan mass production.

 

[sinnett177]

I got back into riding mountain bikes 3 years ago after giving up back in 1995. I'd been away racing twinshock motocross and loved the riding, racing and restoration part of the sport. After leaving the armed forces to settle with my now wife I gave up the motocross because of the cost, injuries and a struggle to find employment.

I needed something as a hobby and so bought a modern £300 Felt mtb and fell in love with the sport again, soon after i'd upgraded to a modern Rock Lobster and was enjoying that until the idea of owning an alpinestars came into my head. I'd had them BITD and loved the unique curves and stance of the bike. I started looking for images on google and found plenty, most of which from this site and the property of the likes of Mr. K and Bikehoarder. This is how by complete accident I found the site.

Soon after I'd sold the Rock Lobster off in bits and had no bike at all, just a collection of parts and an overdraft. It took me months to complete as it was a retro-modern build and I only just made the Peaks meet on my new alpinestars by literally a day.

In the 6 months i've known Retrobike i've completed 2 projects and nearly a third and got a spare alpinestars frame for a rainy day. Love the community feel of the site and the purpose it's brought to my spare time.

 

[Crayons]

I think I grew into retro if that makes sense. I carried on riding on a bike that was, as I saw it, perfectly serviceable – before long everyone was telling me that bikes retro :shock:

Found this place through a chance email exchange with a forum member who was selling an RC100 on ebay – he told me about the site

 

[REtrouble]

I'm another one who's recently found this site & was suprised & a little shocked to find I'm "retro", suppose that's good?
I thought I was just getting good value for money out of my bikes, still riding them 18 years later!

I bought a rather nasty Peogeot MTB in 89, can't even remember the model, a white thing with some light red & blue fecks on it? Soon realised there was better to be had, so got a 90 Marin bear valley, sold that to my boss in 92 & bought a Pine mountain, probably the fittest I've ever been at this time, used to do lots of off roading in the Lake District & even put some "city slickers" on it & rode it from the lakes to my sisters in London in two days! 320miles!. (IIRC I was on the bike 21 hours)
The PineMt got totalled when a blind old $%* in a Land Rover didn't see me, while my broken leg was healing I got the bear valley back off my boss & actually rode it with a pot on my leg, even a lake district pass!
Eventually got a Dawes frame & new rear wheel, put all the Pine Mountain bits on it.
Never really got back into it the same, the broken bones lay off coupled with a change of work & a move abroad.
Kept the Dawes & Bear Valley & have the twisted Pine frame as a wall hanging.
About three years ago I thought it's now or never regarding getting fit again, started riding the Dawes & Bear Valley, I looked at new bikes but nothing really appealed.
I found this site whilst serching for info about the Dawes frame.

Great site, some lovely bikes (not too sure about the "retroness" of a lot of them though?)

 

[barry2017]

My epiphany was finding this site.
I've owned lots of modern bikes, including an On One that was brilliant, but I always felt like I wasn't being myself, and it got used less and less. I've never had an interest in racing, or "extreme" off roading, and I feel that with everything designed now I'm supposed to aspire to that.
I kept going back to my touring bike, or my old, old Puegeot MTB. Fascinating company, they made some of the best and worst frames in the world depending on what you bought and when.
But here's the thing; I bent my mountain bike about a month ago, I put a wanted post for a new frame on the CTC forum for sale and wanted board, and someone pointed me to a post on the for sale board here.
What a revelation! All the good ideas in cycling that have been forgotten, wrapped up with a brilliant community. My new project arrives next week, and I am already planning project no. 2.
Thank you, Retrobike.

 

[RockyMountainHigh]

I've been racing off road for 31 years having started BMX'ing in 1977 and my first mountain bike race in the early 80's on a 24" BMX cruizer. But I was not "old school" as I always kept up to date bikes, pretty much getting a brand new ride every year. Last year I dug this old Yo Eddy I had kept for years out of my garage and built it up as a SS bike. After I rode it out on some sweet single track that I had labled as to easy/lame and not enough vertical on my late model Stumpjumper FSR it happend. I was as giddy and a four year old on Christmas day. The simplicty, the demand on your skills vs letting the technology do the work for you. I felt like I was in a time warp and I was a kid again cranking on my rigid hard tail single speed.

I've sold my late model bikes and the only suspension fork I have is an NOS Manitou 4 that's collecting dust since I don't really see the need for it anymore.