Retro MTBs

[blaine54]

The Lobo and Intense were the game changers imho. Some of the kit in the early 90's at the Grundigs was so out there. One of the guys we got friendly with from the states in 94, had a 6 inch prototype which was sponsored by Kawasaki and suspended with industrial size elastic bands. It was good times and we picked up some bits and pieces like the first grip shifts, v brakes and some very well put together Sachs hydraulic brakes. The tracks were brutal though, I had a lovely pair of GT bear trap pedals that lasted half a run .



Memory is going as well, that's my RTS propped up against the Orion and again on the floor, so I was floating on 1.25 inches of plushness at Cap dial lol

[graeme4130]

blaine54 said:

The Lobo and Intense were the game changers imho. Some of the kit in the early 90's at the Grundigs was so out there. One of the guys we got friendly with from the states in 94, had a 6 inch prototype which was sponsored by Kawasaki and suspended with industrial size elastic bands. It was good times and we picked up some bits and pieces like the first grip shifts, v brakes and some very well put together Sachs hydraulic brakes. The tracks were brutal though, I had a lovely pair of GT bear trap pedals that lasted half a run .



Memory is going as well, that's my RTS propped up against the Orion and again on the floor, so I was floating on 1.25 inches of plushness at Cap dial lol

The lobo was a monster. I remember the dh team guys bikes (peaty etc iirc) were an aluminium frame with carbon stickers over it as GT couldn't get the top and down tubes to stay in the metal lugs so they stickered the team bikes up to look like the ones they were about to sell
I was riding for the GT bmx team at the time and we occasionally got roped into to doing jump box/qtr shows at the races
That was before I found downhill for myself. I did race once back then, for a bet, but it was a completely foreign game to bmx and I got annihilated by pretty much everyone at the time as I just couldn't ride the bike

[d8mok]

I had a RTS-3 back in 1995. It was awful but still loads better than my old raleigh activator II.

[wilbo83]

Just stumbled upon this thread, growing up in the 80s and 90s, there are so many familar bikes on here. I used to love watching Hans Rey, Ashton and Hawyes jump around and trying to recreate their tricks! My first real bike was a Diamond Back Sorrento, followed by a Scott Tacana and then a Onza T-Rex. The Tacana unfortunately got stolen but I have always had my eye out for another and recently purchased one on ebay, although it needed a lot of TLC. o after new wheels, tyres, bars, stem, pedals, seat post and saddle below is the current result:




Next up is a new FSA headset and hopefully some Bomber Z1's, for that real retro feel!

Edited by wilbo83 on Thursday 7th August 13:28

[HereBeMonsters]

d8mok said:

I had a RTS-3 back in 1995. It was awful but still loads better than my old raleigh activator II.

Ah yes, the Activator II. I'm sure my hardtail at the time had more flex in the metal than the rear travel on those!

[jamieandthemagic]

Might be selling this bad boy if anyone's interested?

jamieandthemagic said:

Anyone else got a thing for retro bike?

These are my two, ones a more modern frame but with some choice retro parts. The others just out and out retro single speed.

[gazza285]

Thread resurrection?

[HereBeMonsters]

[Claret Badger]

Just stumbled across this thread. Some great bikes on here. LOVE that Yeti Ultimate!

Here is my Manitou FS. You will all be shocked to hear that it eventually cracked at the headtube :-( On the look out for an old Klein now. Another itch which needs scratching!

[d8mok]

Mentioned it on another thread at the time but managed to get a STS Lobo last summer. All standard apart from saddle and tyres. Love a good retro bike

[Shinysideup]

Just noticed this thread. I have a few retro builds ongoing at the moment.

Intense M1 2002


Specialized S-Works DH 2001


Giant ATX2 DH 1999


Turner DHR 2004


Foes DHS Mono 2004


Yeti DH9 2003


Various forks for all these frames


Should keep me busy over the next year

Edited by Shinysideup on Wednesday 11th January 19:54

[AlmostUseful]

You're a hero to me, shinysideup, I've never gellednwith modern geometry on bikes, much preferring the way things were from about 2000-2003.

Love that intense, and those forks - damn!

[Shinysideup]

AlmostUseful said:

You're a hero to me, shinysideup, I've never gellednwith modern geometry on bikes, much preferring the way things were from about 2000-2003.

Love that intense, and those forks - damn!

Thanks! I have a couple of modern bikes aswell and have had to adapt riding style a fair bit due to the modern geo.
Pedal strikes have become more of a thing due to uber low BBs (and probably my average skillz at fault too)
One thing i do like is the trend for longer frames, being 6'4" i like the longer reach these days.

[davidc1]

I have a cannondale f500 2001 which is hanging in my garage. Hardly ever used and all original.i will sell it I think , as running out of room , unless it goes n the loft!

[Pablo16v]

Shinysideup said:

AlmostUseful said:

You're a hero to me, shinysideup, I've never gellednwith modern geometry on bikes, much preferring the way things were from about 2000-2003.

Love that intense, and those forks - damn!

Thanks! I have a couple of modern bikes aswell and have had to adapt riding style a fair bit due to the modern geo.
Pedal strikes have become more of a thing due to uber low BBs (and probably my average skillz at fault too)
One thing i do like is the trend for longer frames, being 6'4" i like the longer reach these days.

I'm with you on that. I was always between L & XL but most XL's back in the day were massive gates so I was always making do with large frames. Nowadays there's a huge choice of frames which actually fit me.

[Podie]

Surely for retro you want a Raleigh Lizard? or perhaps even a Muddy Fox?

[Steamer]

Podie said:

Surely for retro you want a Raleigh Lizard? or perhaps even a Muddy Fox?

Now you are talking!

..Although it was the Raleigh Mustang that was popular round our way. The Muddy Fox paint jobs ruled! Crackle paint finish on a Pathfinder or Courier Comp IIRC.

[PH5121]

Muddy Fox Pathfinder - my first mountain bike love, it was a 1990 model with a frame the size of a farm gate (about 23 inches) and a stem that was far too long. That is the only bike I have ever sold, and I wish I had kept it.

I still have my 1996 Trek ZX7000, 1996 Marin Team FRS and even my 'new' bike is a vintage 2005 Marin Wolf Ridge.

I still kick myself for not getting an Orange 5 when I got the Marin in 2005. The Orange was £600 more, and 12 years late I still lust after them, but now they are further out of my reach budget wise.

[sawman]

been rolling around on this for the last year or so - late '90s chromoloy stumpy (mostly)

[anonymous-user]

Steamer said:

Now you are talking!

..Although it was the Raleigh Mustang that was popular round our way. The Muddy Fox paint jobs ruled! Crackle paint finish on a Pathfinder or Courier Comp IIRC.

I've got a 1988 Raleigh Memphis. It was the one between the Maverick and Montage. It has the 18 speed Suntour Indexed gears , and Ovaltech Chain rings. It was quite a good spec, although still featured the heavier ATT23, steel frame.

I got it for Christmas when I was 13 years old, I sometimes cycled to school, then latterly college on it. Is largely original and due to it's sentimental value, is one of my most highly prized possessions. I took it out a few months ago, and it still rides really well.