The good old days

[mikethebike234]

back in my late teens I had weird oversize dikwiel homejob with a sturmey archer 3 speed one drunken day my cuz rode it into his swimming pool and out again, never gave hassles or missed a beat for another 3 years despite not being serviced I just put motor car oil in the 3 speed every now and then...sadly it got stolen. It was a mad contraption and musta weighed nearly 20 kgs of all my bikes that and the cruiser were my favourites. but I must say there is a lot to be said for disc brakes they are truly a revelation. Those old cantilever and caliper brakes were dreadful and ceased to function entirely as soon as there was anything resembling moisture in the air....made going down tokai on a rainy day um interesting espescially when all you were wearing was a pair of jeans, a t shirt and a backpack full of empty beer cans.... he he

Edited March 6, 2014 by mikethebike234

[deanbean]

My first bike, Diamondback Topanga was a heavy lump of iron. My second bike, a Trek 5000, brilliant bike, I've recently redone tge bike for my daughter with XT parts. They last forever.

My present bikes, were bought as frames, and I've built them up with SLX and X7/X9 parts, they are bulletproof. I expect them to last, so build them with the most durable bits.

[Shebeen]

got to remember that this is a different kettle of fish for roadbikes and mtbs. 90's style steel mtbs needed to be bullet proof in order to handle the abuse, hence they were damn heavy. A modern day sub 8kg carbon hardtail probably has more in common with a 90's roadbike than a 90's mtb.

 

 

'97 Nishiki Nebraska........

slight diversion, but is this the reason silverback has a nAbraska in their line up?

[Delgado]

Back when I started mountain biking, let me think, it was back in '94, I rode my bike everyday. I washed it once a week, polished it up to a shine, lubed the chain and off I went. Maybe once a year I'd put new brake pads and tyres on.

 

Every two years or so I'd get a brand new steed, my pride and joy.

 

You know what is strange, I don't recall ever having broken components, broken frames or broken spokes, not even worn out cassettes.

 

At some point I stopped riding when other sports took my interest, but have since returned to the 'trusty' old bike.

 

Problem is, these days the bikes don't seem as reliable as they use to?

It's a good week if I can get through five days of riding without braking something.

Its called designed obsolescence mate.........

[Stretch]

My 15 year old haro still has the original drive train!!

[Spokey]

I started mountain biking about 87/88. My first MTB was a YAKOTA, not much to break. No front suspension, no back suspension, probably 36 spoke wheels and Deore, I'm not sure there were any other groupos.

 

My first full suser was an OFFROAD. Garvin (I think) flexi stem and another polymer at the back, probably gave 2cm travel. All steel, Tange I think, so probably weighed 15kg. Not much to break, had until a couple of years ago, then gave it away, sadly.

 

Girvin Flexstem it is, I laughed I when I saw that, not much good hey! I still have mine on my 1989 Claud Butler Shaman, rigid forks, Reynolds tubes. Cycled UK to Cape Town via Norway in 1992/3, only broke one rim, all the original XT still going strong.

All my bikes are now XT equipped for the drive train, big fan!

[PhilipV]

I started with a 1999 Trek 800. That thing broke a lot.

nowadays I ride a SS Merida, and a carbon dual sus. they don't really brake anymore, and I don't replace parts until I can afford it. Maybe I am just a smoother, more forgiving rider now.