Marmite King
Retro Guru
My first bike was a MK1 Chopper in a sort of mustard colour with a high back rest. I first got into mountain bikes back in early 80`s.
Ungrateful Bar**ards.
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jimihendrix
MacRetro Rider
Marmite King":1jdypnjw said:
I really wanted a Chopper in the late 70's but ended up with a thing called a Panther which was a Chopper copy, was ok but not the same.
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I had a second hand bmx followed by a second hand racer when I was pre-teens. Then I got the mtb bug and was dangerously close to getting an Apollo Blizzard from Halfords 'cos it looked like an mtb and I liked the colour 
Luckily I had to save most of the money myself (paper round and 'mum, can I have the next 3 years worth of Xmas and Bday money in a lump sum?' 
) so by the time I could actually afford a bike I had an idea of what was ok and set my hear\d on an '89 Tufftrax. 
Luckily I had to save most of the money myself (paper round and 'mum, can I have the next 3 years worth of Xmas and Bday money in a lump sum?' ) so by the time I could actually afford a bike I had an idea of what was ok and set my hear\d on an '89 Tufftrax. My first MTB was a Peugeot Black Rock (1990?) bought for me to replace a 2nd hand huge great big gate of a Raleigh Sensor road bike I was give.
With a 500LX rear mech I was the daddy, because none of my mates had actually seen Deore kit, let alone were rich enough to afford it.
Unlike the Peugeot Team Replicas, this wasn't indestructable and I broke a seat stay after about 3 years.
Peugeot replaced it under warranty, much to my amazement, and gave me a far nicer frame made out of oversize Columbus tubing.
This must have been pretty thin wall tubing because I remember it made a lovely pinging noise as stones bounced off the down tube.
Some git stole it when I was at uni in Sheffield in 96.
I'd love to know what that frame was though, as I'd love to recreate it.
[before this...
I had my sisters bike, which my dad cut and brazed to give it a proper top tube, rode the wheels off of that everywhere until I was about 8 when I got a bmx.
That was a crap fad that didn't last with me though and then I didn't ride until I was given that huge road bike when I was 12.
]
With a 500LX rear mech I was the daddy, because none of my mates had actually seen Deore kit, let alone were rich enough to afford it.
Unlike the Peugeot Team Replicas, this wasn't indestructable and I broke a seat stay after about 3 years.
Peugeot replaced it under warranty, much to my amazement, and gave me a far nicer frame made out of oversize Columbus tubing.
This must have been pretty thin wall tubing because I remember it made a lovely pinging noise as stones bounced off the down tube.
Some git stole it when I was at uni in Sheffield in 96.
I'd love to know what that frame was though, as I'd love to recreate it.
[before this...
I had my sisters bike, which my dad cut and brazed to give it a proper top tube, rode the wheels off of that everywhere until I was about 8 when I got a bmx.
That was a crap fad that didn't last with me though and then I didn't ride until I was given that huge road bike when I was 12.
]
kaytronika
Retrobike Rider
I say my first MTB was the Timberline... But there were two bikes before that which masqueraded under the guise of a MTB
The first was a blue Appollo Kalamunda from Halfords.. It had calliper brakes and steel wheels. It also had it's own gravitational pull... I could put items in orbit around it. Add to that 10 gears, but only the rear mech indexed.
After a while I started to consider using the bike to explore a bit and pestered my parents for birthday money. I bought a Falcon Arctic Fox in white with 18 Dual SIS trigger gears, an Altus C10 drivetrain and cheap cantilevers. One of it's first rides was also my first trip to the top of Rivington Pike... I rode it down the Land Rover track. Who needs long travel full suspension?
I upgraded that bike with better tyres (Panracer Smoke/Dart) and a Zoom Brahma Bar. It's where I learned about the mechanics of bikes.
I PX'd that for my GT Timberline FS.
Prior to the Appollo I'd had a Falcon Olympic Winner '88 10 speed 'racer'
I put the rear mech in to the back wheel :shock:
Actually... I could go further back... a blue and yellow 'BMX RMX 16' and even further back... a Vivi kids bike with stabilisers and a fixed wheel. Literally every bike I've owned.
The first was a blue Appollo Kalamunda from Halfords.. It had calliper brakes and steel wheels. It also had it's own gravitational pull... I could put items in orbit around it. Add to that 10 gears, but only the rear mech indexed.
After a while I started to consider using the bike to explore a bit and pestered my parents for birthday money. I bought a Falcon Arctic Fox in white with 18 Dual SIS trigger gears, an Altus C10 drivetrain and cheap cantilevers. One of it's first rides was also my first trip to the top of Rivington Pike... I rode it down the Land Rover track. Who needs long travel full suspension?
I upgraded that bike with better tyres (Panracer Smoke/Dart) and a Zoom Brahma Bar. It's where I learned about the mechanics of bikes.
I PX'd that for my GT Timberline FS.
Prior to the Appollo I'd had a Falcon Olympic Winner '88 10 speed 'racer'
I put the rear mech in to the back wheel :shock:
Actually... I could go further back... a blue and yellow 'BMX RMX 16' and even further back... a Vivi kids bike with stabilisers and a fixed wheel. Literally every bike I've owned.
SnappyJon
Retro Newbie
My first 'MTB' was a Raleigh Grifter (does that count?!? :? ), back at the beginning of the eighties.
It taught me a very important lesson.
Don't use your shoe as an impromptu 'brake' jammed on the back wheel - just buy new pads, 'cause brake pads are a lot cheaper than shoes to replace.
It taught me a very important lesson.
Don't use your shoe as an impromptu 'brake' jammed on the back wheel - just buy new pads, 'cause brake pads are a lot cheaper than shoes to replace.
