Retro MTBs

[So]

I've got a Chas Roberts White Spider and an Orange O2 in the shed, which I haven't used for years. I had assumed they'd be virtually valueless. But I've just looked on Ebay and it seems that some 90s bikes are taking on a cult status and are worth a few quid.

Is this a recent thing and is it likely to continue? I want to know if I can plan my retirement based upon the value.

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fathomfive said:

I've got 3 of them (arranged here in the "where the f**k did I put the bike stands when I moved home" formation):

1998 Orange O2
1998/9 Klein Pulse Race
And a lovely, made-in-Chehalis Klein Attitude Race.

All pretty lovely to ride. The Attitude especially.

My O2 is black like that and, coincidentally my Roberts is the same colour as your blue one.

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g7jhp said:

I've been using my 1991 Marin Muirwoods on family bike rides since lockdown. Usually only used as an occasional commuter to the station.

They were a very cool bike in the day. Still are actually.

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V1nce Fox said:

Some bikes command premiums, but all are considered properly cool now (fwiw). Something late 80s, very early 90s with amber walls gets proper points.

I see the Roberts Dogs Bollx seem to be up for good money, but I haven't seen a White Spider.

An interesting fact is that some sponsored riders rode White Spiders painted in their sponsor's colours. The Peugeot chap in the 90s being one.

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MBeemerman said:

Yes they do stretch you out a bit !

It was the 90s. Back then, cross country was the main MTB "thing". Added to which the stretched out look was fashionable. I had a 150mm stem on one of my already long bikes.

[So]

It's amusing to see so many big frames.

I used to buy 19s in the early 1990s (I was 5ft 10) but after a few years learned that life was just better with 17s.

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aberdeeneuan said:

I lusted after my mates Clockwork Orange, loved those bikes. My other mate had a Marin Muirwoods, loved seeing the colours of the one earlier. What was the difference between the yellow and the orange ones, completely forgotten.

.

The fluo yellow were Muirwoods, the orange ones were Eldridge Grade.

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d8mok said:

Did someone say retro bikes...

I’ll only post the ones I class as keepers. As it’d take too long for all the ones I’ve had recently.

Built this last year



To sit with my



And owned from new



And the mbuk Zaskar



Oh and my sts lobo which is now sold

I always wondered about the GTs. Was the top triangle solving a problem that did not exist?

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Gompo said:

Some amazing bikes being posted, the Litespeed, Yeti and the Chas Roberts, along with all the Zaskars. Dream bikes; I'm going to get my lowly Pantera out this week.

So said:

I always wondered about the GTs. Was the top triangle solving a problem that did not exist?

Evolved said:

Just a marketing ploy, but more importantly it’s a brand statement more than anything. Instantly tell it’s a GT with the triangle cross over. Always looked looked.

I think for a while GT suggested that it made for a stiffer frame; I don't think that was ever proved; I like the design but it's more awkward to clean!

I do remember an Apollo (Halfords special) that had the triple triangle design from the 90s; I dont think the top tube pierced the seat tube though.

I think it was one of those things that was just a marketing cue, but without any actual practical merit.

Does anyone remember the Marin model with box section frame? Another form over function design.

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Bacon Is Proof said:

feef said:

I may be due a parrot, but didn't the colours change year to year?

Hmm, possibly.
I know the Eldridge was solid yellow with red graphics before they started using zolotone grey (late 80s? The red from this period was the Palisades, my mate has one) the '92 with the coded rear triangle was red and then they changed to two tone grey on the frames with coloured components for '93 (another friend has one), still red.
A google search shows a lot of resprays and that very few people know what year their bike was!

The Palisades went green for the zolotone era and I remember this as that was the bike that we all lusted after as young teens as it seemed cheap enough to be in reach.

I may be missing the odd year, been a lot of beers between then and now!

They may have.

The 1990 or 91 was grey with orange stem and forks.

The 1992 was black with an orange rear triangle and stem (I think).

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V1nce Fox said:

Brads67 said:

Yeh, folk know I do up old bikes. I used to do a lot and give them to local kids with no bike. Now they just assume I want there old bike out the shed ! lol.

It's actually a pretty cool old thing, not sure about the battering dildos on the front mind.

Wish people left stuff like that for me.

I'm looking for an old racer frame of some sort atm, must be steel, 60s-70s-80s, 19-21", proper back of the garage barn find type st. Literally just need frame and forks. Want to make a road fixie, I've got everything except the frame.

Amount of stuff I've been offered in the past or seen thrown away, but can I find one cheap anywhere now? Can I fk.

Surely until you've got the frame you won't know if you've got everything else?

On a few occasions I thought I had all the parts and bought a frame. By the time I then bought the parts that weren't the right fit I could have bought a whole bike!

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Brads67 said:

Freebie now fettled a bit and thoroughly cleaned and reworked.

Your decking is quite something isn't it Brads. We've discussed your roping before, but I didn't appreciate the sheer heft of the installation, replete with bhudist shrine and hot tub.

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Well, enthused by all the talk about retro bikes, I am going to break the White Spider in an hour or so and go for a ride.

I am going to imagine I am as slim and fit as I was in the 90s.

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TonyG2003 said:

To the OP. I’d put the Chas Roberts up on eBay and RetroBike and you may get some takers if it has plenty of original parts. Retro on the RetroBike forum is “pre-1997” (don’t ask me why that date!) and the O2 is probably old/not retro so you may not get as much for it.

Not a chance! I did think about doing that and buying something more modern, but have changed my mind.

I’ve taken it out this morning for the first time in years. Some lube and air and it rode as well as it did when I built it in 1998.

It rides silently and smoothly over ever the nastiest ruts, which is a function of its handmade steel frame.

It was built for me my the great man himself, to my exact measurements. Having put on my Pace Raceware jacket this morning I find that I am exactly the same size as I was then.

It would be like selling a Savile Row suit to buy one from Next.

Edited by So on Friday 15th May 11:43

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Gareth1974 said:

Put the original WTB Velociraptor tyres back on the bike today. Nice amber sidewalls.

Snap.

I have a small size that I used to use for bump and jump stuff.

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V1nce Fox said:

Currently building a single speed frankenbike out of an old Townsend mtb that was on it's way to the skip. I need help.

A Townsend! That was my first MTB. It will have weighed more than the skip.

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Squadrone Rosso said:

My 1990 Claud Butler Vantage. Did some serious stuff on this back in my 20s.

Still in really good original condition. Only non original parts are the rims & tyres.

Thought it was the dogs with the aluminium frame.

I took one of those to Tarifa with me in 1993, for the purposes of weaving dangerously back from the bars in the evening.

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CharlieAlphaMike said:

Here's mine. Currently stripped down for a full and well deserved service:

Do I recall that they were frame only and you had to build them?

[Louis Balfour]

My son has started to use the Roberts and I am pleased, to be honest. I would rather that it got used than festered in the bike shed.

He also appreciates the lines of a 90s MTB and has taken some snaps.

[Louis Balfour]

Sisu9 said:

That Stumpjumper is a handsome bike. Something about how the frame builders introduced the top bar rise around the mid-late 90's that make the bikes of that era look so right.

The sloping top tube. Yes, that is the point when MTBs became good looking and it has moved on to road bikes now as well.