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Post Your Bike Journey


Johnny Lawless

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My MTB bike journey is a long and winding road starting in a small town where no one knew bikes could be used for anything other than transport...

 

In primary school I went through the typical growing up bikes, small Western Flyer BMX, then Bomber, then Avalance, and then Avalanche again, and then kind of lost interest in bikes as I was riding motorbikes more.

 

In 9th grade, a now-good-friend of mine (OjVJ on here) moved to town from Durban, and brought along his GT Dyno and he could do some lekker bunnyhops and wheelies which blew my mind. That kickstarted my venture into BMX.

 

I found an old chrome Mongoose Supercross BMX frame/fork hanging in the rafters in a lawnmower repairman's shop and resurrected it and rode that for a while.

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photo credit:internet

 

Then I was onto a huffy or the like, also built up from a frame hanging in the same gent's rafters.

 

Moved into the "big leagues" around standard 8 and bought a brand new Mosh Pro S 2racing BMX with a V brake on the rear - this thing was epic fun.

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photo credit:internet

 

Started studying and met DewaldSSS (posted above), he got me back into BMX-From the Mosh moved onto a Gary Fisher Mullet Dirt Jump BMX, weighed a ton but was flippen cool (for that time).

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photo credit:internet

 

The Gary Fisher made way for a Haro BMX that OJvJ (hub name) still uses as dog sled for his two pit bulls.

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photo credit:internet

 

Next was a Haro Escape Dirt Jump bike - stock off the shelf. What a fun bike used for street and a bit of park - and maualling inside the design building hallway is how I met Bos - he spotted me and was like: "lekker bike" so we became friends and he introduced me to dirt jumping.

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photo credit:internet

 

The Escape snapped, and a second - next generation - Escape was acquired and built from the frame up. Awesome bike - and for some reason still the only bike I could barspin.

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photo credit:internet

 

Bought a Giant AC 1 team issue in black and yellow with a Marzocchi Jnr T and an air shock rear. Dream bike on downhills, but could not even pedal on flats and forget about uphills - pushing was the only way to get up. Rode the first Urban Assault on this and a couple of the first Dirtopias and had an absolute blast.

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photo credit:internet

 

Bos then got me into trails and so I bought his old Raleigh RDS 9'0 frame and built that from scratch. Snapped the frame on the Burger MTB and got another to replace it.

 

Sold the Escape and bought a DK 26" dirt jump bike in it's place. What a rad machine.

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my bike

 

I was in the UK for a while and had two bikes. First a secondhand Brooklyn Machine Works steel hardtail - beat to crap by the previous owner. and then a GT jump bike.

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The GT at London Bank Skatepark

 

Out with the Raleigh and in with a Mongoose Teocali frame, also built from scratch.

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my actual bike

 

Around this time I also bought a Fuji track bike, turned it into a fixie and almost died in traffic. A couple of times.

 

Out with the DK, and in with an Octane 1, dream dirt jump machine. Every part was way too expensive but so good.

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my bike

 

Out with the Mongoose and in with a brand new 2011 Giant Trance Advanced (bought new in 2014) and that was flippen legendary.

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my bike

 

Nov 2016 saw the Trance go, to make space for the 2016 Trance Adv 27.5, bought as a complete and completely ripped apart, sold everything par the frame and then built from the ground up to be as awesome as it is now.

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Currently in my quiver I have the Trance and the Octane 1.

 

And that brings me to yesterday when I listed the Trance for sale and will also be listing the Octane 1 soon...

Jos I remember drooling/dreaming/staring at catalog pics of those Mosh BMX bikes.
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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm sometimes amazed/ashamed/embarrassed at just how hard the MTB bug bit and how quickly I felt the obsessive desire to upgrade my bike...justifiably so or, in most cases, not. 

 

So c'mon and show us your journey you addicts!!

 

#1 Silverback Sola 4 - Probably the 1st bike of many hubbers and with good reason...price, specs, looks. 

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#2 Santa Cruz Superlight 29 - Then still considered "boutique" in SA and that orange paint job was just too tempting to resist. I realized early on that it was about the descents for me and a hardtail just wasn't going to cut it.

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#3 Pyga OneTen 29 - Wanting a harder hitting trail bike but still a good all rounder it fit my riding like a glove...and still does. The 140 Pike makes up for the modest 110mm travel at the back. 

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#? What next - The carbon calls in my sleep and even more suspension travel most likely. 650b or 29? Your guess is as good as mine. 

#4 YT Jeffsy 29 - And so I have a new member to add. Continuing along my ever increasing suspension travel journey I just could not resist YT's unbelievably rediculous deals that we are bombarded with in the classifieds :D One ride in and I'm in love. As great as the Pyga was this rear suspension on the Jeffsy not only keeps up with the Pike up front but actually feels like it surpasses it at times. 

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  • 7 months later...
  • 2 years later...

#4 YT Jeffsy 29 - And so I have a new member to add. Continuing along my ever increasing suspension travel journey I just could not resist YT's unbelievably rediculous deals that we are bombarded with in the classifieds :D One ride in and I'm in love. As great as the Pyga was this rear suspension on the Jeffsy not only keeps up with the Pike up front but actually feels like it surpasses it at times. 

 

#5 Specialized Enduro 29 Elite - And yet again....another increase in travel!? I was convinced I would not go for more travel than what the Jeffsy had (140/150) but here we are....and with a brand I never thought I would end up with (simply because I prefer something less common).

 

I had the Jeffsy for 3 years and loved everything about it but then the itch came knocking. I was never planning on  an enduro bike at all and still maintain that a trail bike is more than enough for 80% our trails. Soooo, yes this Enduro is complete overkill, both for our trails and my abilities, BUT herewith my reasoning:

 

1. It is very pretty....and carbon    ***ignore this reason

 

2. My main reason for not wanting an enduro bike was having something that climbs like a dog because I'm not the strongest climber to start with. Either my Jeffsy did not climb too great for a trail bike OR this spez climbs incredibly well for an enduro bike but I honestly find it easier

 

3. Another reasons for not wanting an enduro bike was dull/slow handling. This 2017 spez is NOT a slack and long bike compared to other enduro bikes by any stretch (*pun) but this is exactly what I like about it. In fact one review described is as more of an extremely long travel trail bike. It is still nimble and playful because of this geometry and that works lekker for my type of riding

 

4. I got it for a real good deal

 

Anyway, without further adieu here she is:

 

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PS, many of you will probably recognize it from about a month ago when it was advertised here on BikeHub

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Interesting journey. Let’s see if I can remember everything.

 

Started on a Western Flyer BMX

First big boy bike was a Nishiki Rockhopper that got stolen

 

Replaced that with a Nishiki Hardrock. Could have been the other way round.

 

This little Nishiki is what got me onto the local trails and dirt.

A friend gave me his Le Jeune Dirtbuster and that was where I started getting into trials and jumping. It eventually got a RST 381 fork and some v-brakes. This thing was a beast.

 

Adventure Sports Trading at the time imported a brand called Edge. I saved up my waiter tips and bought a frame and built over all the parts from the Le Jeune. This bike saw many xc races, trials, jumping, downhill etc. A true do-it-all until the morning I found a crack in the downtube. Sadness.

 

AST replaced the frame with a Wheeler 5900 frame. Was used for the same and it eventually had an RST 461 dual crown fork on it. This bike saw me win my class in downhill nationals. Loved that bike. Oh it also cracked and was replaced with a chromo Wheeler frame. Can’t remember the model number. Used it mostly for slalom racing and trials. Fun bike.

 

Then along came the chance to own my first dual susser. Giant ATX900 that was fully built for downhill. XTR, Formula brakes, Mozo DH forks, Big6 plates, etc. Proper machine. Yeah... frame cracked and giant refuses to honor the warranty. Had the frame welded and modified and it did a few more races.

 

Bought a Pacific Crit DHR8 frame and built up a beast with White Brother UD150 forks etc etc. Raced it for about a year before leaving DH racing.

 

Bought a Fuji Diamond Pro XC dual susser and rode that from 2004 to 2012. Nice little bike.

 

Built a 9kg Singular Swift SS. Loved it.

Bought a Fuji Feather Fixie

 

In 2012 I built my dream rig. Morewood Mbuzi. Fully kitted enduro machine.

Also bought an AM hardtail. Jamis Komodo. Super fun with 140mm Fox fork and a 150mm dropper. Lots of Hope and Renthal bits on there.

 

Donated the Fuji.

Sold the Fuji Feather

 

Bought my biking wet dream. Intense M9 with a dream build of parts.

 

Blew my back out completely and had to make some hard choices.

 

Sold the M9

Sold the Jamis

 

Rode the Morewood until about a month ago before building my Evil Following.

 

Wowza. I can remember this but nothing else important.

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- Plastic push bikes - apparently i went though 4.

- 2 bmx’s which i broke before 6

- On my 7th bday Circa 1989 i got one of those multicolor neon mtb’s (my first).

I rode, customized, painted that bike until i was about 12. I later broke it at the headtube lol.

- times were rough with my mom being a single parent so for a while i was bikeless...though her brother passed away in a car accident and I then inherited his Le Turbo road bike. I road it everywhere...took me about a year to figure out how a quick release worked too haha.

- my sister then got a red Haro Mtb...which she obviously never used, so that bacame my n+1 at about 15. I broke that bike a year later too Being silly on the way home from school lol.

- My absent father then thought He’d try and be a good person and bought me one of my cousins old avalanche mtb’s. He’s still a ****. I broke that bike at the headtube at 17 jumping a ramp me and my friends built in the veld behind my grandma’s house haha. Was a nice bike at the time though. Had purple bling. Soooo 90s.

- so i then bought a Avalanche scirocco myself around 17/18 and started riding alot more. I remember it costing about R1000...which was crazy for me lol. Got my first ‘shock’ for it a few months later fir about R600. I was the business now haha. I road 28km to school and back already for the most part of my high school years so exploring pretoria for about 70-80km on a day was nothing unheard of really. Plus...we were in a bike gang And my friends all lived out far out of way. so it rocked lol.

- around this time my n+1 roadbike gets stolen out of the garage at my grandma’s house. Miffed. I liked going fast...especially in GP winters on the way to school in -6 degrees lol.

-first year out of school i sell the scirocco to a gardener for more than I bought it and buy me some fancy mongoose mtb I saved up for. I remember it costing around R5k. Two months salary haha. I puked in my mouth a little.

- 2 years later that became a Trek 6500. I got sales-talked into this one though and it was a size too small for me. I obviously rode it less. It was a lekker bike though. First disc brake bike, rockshox, xt, etc.

- i then went to university and stopped riding for about 5 years..obviously. My mother inherited the bike and used it well. Got her into cycling for life.

- after uni (2009 ish) i had to sell my car (1983 mk1 golf gti ????????)to settle my uni debt. Had some cash left over and bought a cannondale trail SL1 hardtail. That got a lefty later.

- rode that for many years. Life happened and i got fat and rode less and less over the next few years.

-moved to CT In 2015, lost about 25-30kg using that old crappy cannondale again.

About 2/3 years ago a built that Cotic BFE and got back into doing silly stuff on bikes.

- then my wife decided she wanted to ride too and cruising along dirt roads on a 160mm hardtail seemed wrong (and uncomfortable), although I did do a CTCT on it lol.

- sold the Cotic and built my Soma Valhallen, which is my current bike. And in gravel grinder mode for now with a rigid fork for the riding we do. Its a mild trail geo bike so i might still throw a 140mm fork on it For some trail riding later....

- and Get a gravel bike next probably

Edited by morneS555
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1990 - Swart skopfietse

1992 - Pink kiddies BMX

1994 -  My first real BMX, a red one at age 6. Did the 21km Simonsvlei Prettrap on it in '94.

1996 - Haro Adventure. Did a few local races with my dad.

1999 - Peugeot Airwolf. First bike with a shock fork. Did the Burger Sanlam 55km on this bike at age 12 in 2000, and then basically stopped cycling.

In high school I just used this bike to commute to rugby or cricket practice.

2008 - Silverback Oakland in my second year at Stellenbosch to commute to class.. Started using it ones or twice a week to do G-spot. Bike got stolen one morning while in class.

2009 - Schwinn Mesa Comp. First bike I had with disc brakes. Didn't last long, month or two, also got stolen while in class. Walked for a few years.

2012 - Merida Big Nine 500. My first 29er. Only did around 500km on it and stopped cycling when I moved to Keimoes/Upington for work. Started getting fat.

2014 - Convinced myself a new bike will get me back into riding. Bought the 2014 Merida Big Nine 500. I did not use it at all. Got fatter.

2017 - Moved back to Paarl. Finally realized at 125,1kg I'll have to do something or I'll die of fatness! Got back into cycling around July 2017. First time I properly got bit by the cycling bug. November 2017 bought a secondhand 2014 Scott Spark 940.

2018 - Scott Spark RC900 Pro. This is still my main bike.

2018 - Briefly owned a Canondale CAAD X gravelbike for a month. Didn't like it at all.

2019 - Got a Scott Addict 30 roadbike in December to try and get used to road races before my first Argus in 2020.

2020 - Sub 3'd my first attempt at an Argus and lost a total of 40kg since 2017. Currently looking for a new road- and mountainbike to reward myself for achieving this goal haha.

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