How big were those people

[reanimation]

After banging my head on a door frame in an old pub after a muddy free ride session that knackt me out i remembered that there used to be mainly a lot of small people in the olden days.

So why were they so big in the 80's and 90's! :shock:

Just looking at this makes my balls ache!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/muddy-fox-courier ... 05QQihZ010

So big its never been ridden!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Original-Muddy-Fo ... 13QQihZ001

 

[Augustus]

I know it must've been a carry over from the road frame thing.

My '87 Muddy Fox Courier was a 19.5in and I am at least three inches taller now than i was then and I only have a 17.5in now!

There weren't any options either. MF was 19.5/ 21.5/ 23.5in !!!

'Cept I do remember seeing a 17in or so (what may have been one off) Explorer in 1988 in Cycle Logical in London.

Cor I wanted that.

But then my friend at school had about a 16in Kili Flyer and that made my MF look ancient by comparison. :roll:

 

[Stick Legs]

The yellow one is a Courier Mega, Mega frame sizing!

I think it was just a hang over from raod bikes too.
I remember working in a bike shop and parents trying to buy that size bike for a 15 year old (who would, with 2 parents under 5'10, never ever grow into it). They used to think you were selling them a small frame so they would have to get another next year!

My wife's bike before her Kona NuNu (14") was a 22" Universal Monte Carlo Hybrid :shock:
She is 5'5" and I am 6'2" and I feel uncomfortable on it!

 

[street]

Yeah its definately the road bike influence. I seem to remember some head shaking at people riding "bikes that were too small for them" when MTB's first kicked off commercially, and I bet clueless bike sales people were as much to blame :roll:
Really big frames do make me chuckle though, dont know why

 

[95bonty]

experiences of a shorta$$

tell me about it, shops were all too keen to sell you the bike regardless of size for a long time...or at least had little no idea about sizing for mtbs.

my first "mountain bike" a Halfords Carrera Quattro 20" 1989
my first real mountainbike (frame only) an orange clockwork 19" from a reputable shop 1990?
my 2nd real mtb a 15" orange clockwork from the same shop, "oh yeah pretty funny you bought that 19" 1991/92

finally a small 15" c-t Bontrager race...1993 and then a race lite 15" 1995 and bikes that fit me! shame they are so damn hard to find in this size these days

 

[Rich]

Me too Street...big bikes look soooooo wrong!

Unles you're a giant, then I guess it's not as funny... :?

Rich

 

[john]

I still haven't grown into my first mtb, a 21" Raleigh Mirage purchased 17 odd years ago. Handy at keeping cows in fields though, it's a gate to say the least.

Was keen to get a saracen is a reasonable size from Noahs Ark. Was eventually over ruled and got the Raleigh from some real old time Ma and Pa bike shop in the wilderness who were utterly clueless. I'd imagine there's people on here with similar tales....

 

[terryhfs]

Yup, Some bikes were damned big...

I sometimes have a feeling not unlike vertigo when riding this. I wonder sometimes if the size of this frame led to my wife and I needing IVF to start a family :?

 

[andrewl]

Coming off a large road touring frame which I rode for most of the 80s and early 90s ("Santa" wouldn't get me a mountain bike and couldn't see the point in buying a BMX which I'd grow out of ), large MTB frames feel pretty natural to me.

Todays 5"-6" travel bikes even with funny curves and radically sloping top tubes don't have than much more standover than an old 21" rigid frame when you actually stand over them, but I suppose every mm counts

 

[reanimation]

The road influence is the only explaination. then teh stories of kids growing into em!

When i met the GF she had a 20/21" :?: £100 quid special Apollo! :roll:

realising this cluncker was a bit boyish and damned dangerous, we traded it in for a Raleigh Bob ATB


---
Feeling slightly nervous after enjoying BMX's and max sized 19" MTB's since teens, ,,

I have just ordered my new Revolution Courier race witha 20" frame after testing an 18" take me some getting used to big wheels and a big frame, mind i am 6'2 ish and this one just for the road.