Building and riding mountain bikes from the good old days

[choke]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

I was pointing out to "kids" who came on the scene after the advent of FS bikes that we didn't ride rigid bikes as aggressively as we did FS bikes on gnarly terrain once we had them.

Heh....it's been a long time since anyone called me a kid......and FWIW I purchased my first MTB in 1985. I suppose I should have used this instead of the one I did use since my sarcasm meter was high. I understand that newer MTBs are better but older ones were hardly "death traps".

[peanutgallery]

From what I remember, we had fun. I shudder at the thought of riding that stuff again, but it had style

Originally Posted by choke

It's a wonder that anyone who rode MTBs in the '80s/90s is still alive.

[jghall]

To this day I still regret selling my Fisher fillet brazed Mt. Tam. Gorgeous bike and a blast to ride.

[bigbill]

I started MTBing in 1987 with a Specialized Stumpjumper followed by a Raleigh Chill with XT parts (it was a deal). I was in the PNW so we had all kinds of factory guys from Raleigh and Norco. We progressed through all kinds of stuff like 140mm Tioga T-bone stems with bars just wide enough for the grips, brakes, and shifters, because that's what Tomac was doing. We were also doing cyclocross and if the trails were dry enough, we'd be on our cross bikes instead. Then I shifted over to road almost exclusively because of time constraints.

Now I have a Coconino Disc Dirt Road Racer and it's better than any MTB I had 87-91. I ride it on single track a few days a week. Rigid fork and all. I'm in NW Arizona these days, more opportunities off road than on. Once my house sells in TX, I'll get Garro to build me a nice 27.5 hardtail that will clear 3" tires with big knobs.

[Spaghetti Legs]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

Truth. when you are riding a rigid six-speed with a U-brake in trail hiking shoes and cat-eye toeclips there's a different level of skill involved from today's close your eyes point and shoot

That said, glad still alive and no longer riding those 32# beasts

Oh yeah! I did get a cool pair of Nike mtb shoes from the outlet in Gilroy. I rode mostly Presidio and Marin County, Mt Tam. I shudder to think now of some of the descents I made on my suspension-less GT Tequesta. I didn’t think it could get any better than v-brakes (you could actually stop!) and Rock Shox Judy forks.

On the other hand I don’t think a modern road bike has too much of an edge over a good 80’s race bike, except for better gearing availability.

[Ronsonic]

It's been a couple of years and a serious mountain bike upgrade since the last time I took the fenders off my '88 Fisher HKEK and rolled some knobbies off road.

That seems to happen at least once every five years, gonna have to do that again. It's always fun. I don't always hit the wilder trails. We'll see how insane I feel this time.

[witcombusa]

I don't have to 'build and refurbish', they're all still going from my beginnings in New England MTB riding in the early 80's...
'82 SJ, '89 SJ Team and '94 Gary Fischer
And yes there is a world of difference between those 12 years!

[NHAero]

I first rode "singletrack" in the early 70s in college and still have that bike, a late 60s Raleigh 20 folder. Sheldon Brown turned me on to riding these bikes on woods trails west of Boston, pointing out that the R20 had 20 inch wheels with steel rims and 36 spokes - hard to ruin one!

I bought a Trek MTB in the early 80s - don't recall the model number. It was almost $600, seemed like a fortune for a bike then. A real tank! I'm sure that bike is still going somewhere - I gave it to a college student in the late 90s.

I have my next two MTBs, a '96 Klein Pulse II, which wears studded tires and gets winter rides, and a '99 Litespeed Unicoi softtail which got converted to 1x10 and drop bars and Conti Speed King tires. It gets frequent rides that combine road and trails, an ideal bike for getting around on Martha's Vineyard.

The '13 Pivot 429 carbon FS 29er is a great ride for the older MTBer and it's what I pick for most of the all-trail riding, especially for 2-3 hours rides, because it's so much easier on the back!

A lot more difference across the years than comparing my '72 Bob Jackson with my '12 Anderson!

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by Ronsonic

It's been a couple of years and a serious mountain bike upgrade since the last time I took the fenders off my '88 Fisher HKEK and rolled some knobbies off road.



That seems to happen at least once every five years, gonna have to do that again. It's always fun. I don't always hit the wilder trails. We'll see how insane I feel this time.

I had the blue 88 HKEK since i couldn't afford the montare

[rwsaunders]

I’m currently working on bringing an ‘83 Stumpjumper Sport XT back to life...bullmoose bars, bi-plane fork and Shimano “deer head” drivetrain. Will post when finished.

[kokies]

I bought this one as is about 15 years ago.


I restored this about 5 years ago. It is a former Ringle show bike.


I am in the middle of restoring this one. The picture is how I bought it. This is another Ringle show bike. I bought both bikes from a former Ringle employee locally here in NJ. The frame has several cracks and will be going back to FTW this week, then off for new powder. Rebuild on the shocks and then reassembly.



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[avalonracing]

Kokies, you are doing the Lord's work.

[Exonerv]

I still think this old girl had a certain something.

[cmbicycles]

I'm still riding one of these, my only mountain bike. Not my actual bike, I "downgraded" wheels to regular spokes, have an older lefty, XT disc brakes, and 8s gripshift. I'm amazed I'm still alive. My 1st mtn bike was a rigid Head (tennis racquet maker) with elevated chainstays 1-1/4 head tube and no suspension. I bounced off the ground a lot easier back then.

[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by witcombusa

I don't have to 'build and refurbish', they're all still going from my beginnings in New England MTB riding in the early 80's...
'82 SJ, '89 SJ Team and '94 Gary Fischer
And yes there is a world of difference between those 12 years!

Back in 1989 I had an MB-3 and rode almost every Saturday morning with a pal who had a Stump just like yours except his didn't have drop bars. Very interesting contrast in geometry and handling Stumpy was slower to turn; more stable and easier to keep straight in deep sand and gravel. MB-3 quicker handling so more nimble on pavement and hardpack but the front wheel tended to be a little quick to follow ruts. The irony is that I preferred the Stumpy and my pal preferred my Bridgestone off-road. We swapped rides but never made a permanent swap because I also rode the MB-3 on pavement and it was a lot better there for me.