first mountain bike ? (Where does this dirt road go?)

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by StrandLeper, Dec 19, 2015.


As a former Amazon Associate I continue to get screwed trying to stay qualified as an Amazon Affiliate. So I quit!


Want to donate to imtbtrails?

  1. StrandLeper

    StrandLeper Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Timothy M. Ryan
    Current Bike:
    SC Bronson 1x/Pivot 429 1x xtr
    What was your first mountain bike? Mine was a Supergo Access. I went to a race at Mt. waterman in either the late 80s or early 90s. Couldn't believe what I saw. My friend was doing the DH. Hans Rey (in retrospect, it had to be him) was doing trials, jumping over a VW or some such thing. OMG!!! I did the drive to Santa Monica the next week right after work (2 hours) because I wanted to ride on the next weekend. Barely rolled in as the doors were locked and walked out $499 poorer, with a full XT Access and a massive smile. Unfortunately I was also at the very bottom rung of a very tall ladder professionally and did not have a moment to ride until 1999 when I moved to Yorba Linda and all of my neighbors rode. I always wanted to know the answer to the question "where does that sketchy dirt road go?" The folks on this forum answer that question in ways I never imagined.
     
    DangerDirtyD, abuck55, Mikie and 6 others like this.
  2. herzalot

    herzalot iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Chris
    Current Bike:
    2020 Revel Rail,Yeti SB 130 LR
    My first mt. bike was called a Santa Fe (1989). It had DX level components, Ritchey Z-Max tires and a bitchin' white splatter over black paint job. I think I bought a florescent green frame pump to give it that cool 80s look - and probably an equally hideous seat bag. It didn't take long for me to realize that mt. biking could be as fun as skiing - first singletrack in the woods had me hooked. I probably only rode that bike for a year or so before I upgraded to my Alpinestars Al-Mega DX. I entered a few XC races in 1992, but I was horrible.

    I've posted this pic before, but it's all I've got:
    Alpinestars.jpg
     
  3. pperrelle

    pperrelle iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Oracle, AZ
    Name:
    Paul
    Current Bike:
    Ripley V4 & Ripmo V2
    Funny, my first mountain bike was also a Supergo Access. I built it up from the frame and rode it for a couple of years. I ended up buying a Psycle Werks Wild Hare frame and swapping over the components to that. I don't have any pics of the Access, but here is the Psycle Werks.

    100_0574-M.jpg
     
    DangerDirtyD, Tedroy, abuck55 and 6 others like this.
  4. CarlS

    CarlS Member

    Location:
    Temecula, CA
    Name:
    Carl
    Current Bike:
    Walmart $50 special
    My first real mountain bike was back in 1990 0r 1991 Stumpjumper comp living as a ski bum in South Lake Tahoe. Just fell in love with shifting through the gears chasing after my buddies through the pine trees. I was hooked. It's funny Herzalot, we have very similar pasts.

    I was so stupid to let that bike go. After about 10 years or so I fell out of riding for a bit and it was in bad shape so I just gave it away to a friend at work. So dumb. I had replaced it with a 2000 Gary Fisher Mt. Tam with a 80 mm shock. and I still have that one hanging on the wall.

    DSC_0058.jpg
     
  5. gunga din

    gunga din Member

    Name:
    steve villmer
    mine was a 1985 blue rockhopper. u brake canti front deore componets think it was 499.00 paid for it with change I saved. think it still hanging in a garage somewhere
     
    abuck55, BeckTrex, herzalot and 3 others like this.
  6. Cougar

    Cougar Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Washington City, UT (near St. George)
    Name:
    Craig
    Current Bike:
    '14 Turner Burner
    2014 Rockhopper Comp 29.. I only started riding in Jan 2014 :) Got into the sport very late!
     
  7. mtnbikej

    mtnbikej J-Zilla

    Location:
    Orange
    Name:
    J
    Current Bike:
    SC Chameleon SS, SC Hightower
    My first bike was 1994 Giant Iguana....don't really remember much about it, except it was black with purple splash paint, and it was too big for me. Also the cantilever brakes sucked while riding up in Mammoth. Only had it about 6 months before it was stolen.

    My first real bike was a '96 GT Avalanche LE, upgraded to a Judy SL. LX/XT, first year for XT V-Brakes.....cost me $1400....I was hooked from then on.
     
  8. UPSed

    UPSed iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Simi Valley
    Name:
    Ed
    Current Bike:
    Niner Jet 9 RDO
    My first MTB was a 1990 Raleigh Technium Chill with DX level components and cantilever brakes. I paid $800 for it! I put several thousand miles on it the first year on fire roads and pavement then got busy road racing motorcycles and working two jobs. It hung in the rafters for five or six years before I brought it back to life. Once I decided I was going to keep riding I bought a 1998 Raleigh M800 and sold the Chill for $100 to a friend. Wish I would have kept it. It would have made a great SS.Image0221.jpgThis is exactly what mine looked like.
     
    abuck55, BeckTrex, Oaken and 3 others like this.
  9. Cyclotourist

    Cyclotourist iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Redlands
    Name:
    David
    Current Bike:
    Don't fence me in!
    I bought my first MTB in '94... graduation present to myself! It was a Bridgestone MB2. Purchased at Beverly Hills Bike Shop (great shop!). It was a close out, as B'Stone was leaving the NA market and blowing out their stock on hand. A size too small, but that's what they had! Lugged steel with a Mag 21 fork. That bike climbed like nothing else! Got out of riding trails for a while, then got the 29er bug. Ended up selling it for about what I paid, but still miss it!
    2863214487_1718948df5_o.jpg
     
    BeckTrex, herzalot, Oaken and 2 others like this.
  10. Daddy Dirtbag

    Daddy Dirtbag Member

    Location:
    Castaic
    Name:
    Jeff Johansen
    Current Bike:
    2016 Trek Stache 9 29+
    A red steel 1996 GT Outpost. Soon put a 1997 Judy XC on it along with XT shifters and v-brakes, and eventually replaced everything on it except for the front derailleur. I still have it hanging in the garage, and it's ready to ride as is. I'm giving it to my son in a couple days for him to commute to work on down in RSM.

    I also have a 1991 GT Backwoods that a co-worker gave me a while back when he bought a new bike. It has that cool splatter paint job that was the in thing back then. Weighs a ton, but makes a fine casual paseo-pounder when I feel like going retro.
     
    abuck55, BeckTrex and StrandLeper like this.
  11. DangerDirtyD

    DangerDirtyD iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    CA
    Name:
    Chicken Nugget
    Current Bike:
    2018 Guerrilla Gravity SMASH
    Black 20" rigid Huffy 5 speed (sorry no photo). One time I sprayed the tires with WD-40, lit them on fire, and got about 50' before they blew and I ate Sh!t. Then was a 24" Huffy Dr. Shock 18-speed with a spring loaded fork! image.jpeg I thought I was the coolest kid on the block! Those bikes were used only to chase after the ice cream man. I didn't ride trails until 1997 on my 45-lb. 26" Next steel hard tail with a 4" double crown fork and sloping top tube. image.jpg I still have the plastic bottle cage from that rig.
     
  12. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    In 1992 I bought a 1992 Metallic Green Stumpjumper Comp. In the exact colors below... BUT! With the latest in technology! A Manitou elastomer front fork. Yeah, I was a bad azz. Mine had indexed shifting. I actually still have it up in the rafters of my shop...
    image.jpeg

    image.jpeg
     
    abuck55, CarlS, StrandLeper and 4 others like this.
  13. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    Sorry for the double tap...
    But to answer the 2nd part of that question, I can't help but think that all core mountain bikers driving down "any road" USA can't help themselves when they see a piece of dirt road or trail off in the distance, and NOT fantasize about what adventure it could lead them to...

    Cathy and I do that all the time still....:)
     
  14. MCB2K

    MCB2K Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Castle Rock, CO
    Name:
    Brian Kiggins
    Current Bike:
    Santa Cruz Tallboy LTc
    I had a circa 1990 Haro... don't recall the model. Pearlescent White... gorgeous paint.

    In 1992, my roommate in El Segundo left the garage door open one day when she was home for lunch... my Haro found a new owner. :(

    I owned a late 90's Trek 8000... it was completely upgraded over the course of a year to full XT.

    My first FS was a RM ETSX... I broke it, then later broke the warranty replacement.
     
    abuck55, Oaken, StrandLeper and 4 others like this.
  15. ridinrox

    ridinrox Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Fullerton
    Name:
    Roxanne
    Current Bike:
    '16 Giant Trance Advance
    My kids laugh at me bc I'm always scouting trails when I drive then fantasizing about them....
     
    abuck55, Danimal, StrandLeper and 2 others like this.
  16. Tom the Bomb

    Tom the Bomb iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Fallbrook, Ca.
    Name:
    Thomas Cosgrove
    Current Bike:
    21 SSSSSSSSSlash!
    When I was a kid I was more of an urban assault rider. We played tag on bikes at the local high schools. Huffy, Montgomery Wards bannana seat stingray with super trick suspension sissy bar. In 85 bought an OG Cycle hybrid type bike that I rode for about 6 years . First trip to Mammoth in 91 rented a bike and was on the trails for 6 hours. Hooked baby! came back and rode the OG in Marshall cnyn crashed and went out anf bought A Mongoose with rock shock 3 in. travel elastomer fork Rode that till I sold it3 years later. Thats my story and am sticking to it!
     
  17. HBkites

    HBkites Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Huntington Beach
    Name:
    Sharone
    Current Bike:
    Why S7, Revel Rascal, Spark RC
    My first MTB was a Fuji. I bought it in 1992 as a graduation present to myself.
    At the time I knew that I will not be a pro triathlete, and I wanted to have more fun on a bike.
    I can remember the model of that steel beast, but it had Girvin Flex stem:
    n_girvin_stem.jpg

    I took it up to the pacific northwest with me , and discovered MTBing on the windless days at the Colombia River Gorge.
     
    StrandLeper, Mikie and herzalot like this.
  18. Voodoo Tom

    Voodoo Tom MTB Addict

    Location:
    Castaic
    Name:
    Tom Kokkinakis
    Current Bike:
    Mango one, black one, Ti one
    Oh my that pic brings back nightmares. I machined tons of those billet fork crowns and lower dropouts in the early 90's.
     
  19. rojomas

    rojomas Member

    Location:
    Kookamongus
    Name:
    Oxx
    Current Bike:
    Carbon Intense Tracer 275
    I gotta say, my first Mountain bike wasn't a Mountain bike at all. I was 12 and it was a sweet, chrome and gold Webco BMX bike.
    Growing up in Glendora I spent many days exploring the surrounding hills and mountains on that bike. I even rode that bike from Glendora to Crystal Lake up Hwy 39. Granted I hitched a ride for the last 5 miles to the top but I still road most of the way up and all the way back home. That has to be the longest ride that I have ever done, still to this day. Back in 1979, Mountain biking was still in it's infancy and I had never heard of a mountain bike but I remember longing for a bike that was like a BMX bike with gears. Unfortunately, having been pioneered by roadies, mountain bikes back then with their stupidly long stems, hipster narrow bars and stupid ass XC geometry, they were more like road bikes made for the dirt. It wasn't till the late 90's early 2000's that mountain bikes finally started to be more of what I envisioned a MTB should be.
     
    Tom the Bomb and StrandLeper like this.
  20. Doc Holliday

    Doc Holliday Member

    Location:
    Costa Mesa
    Name:
    Jeff
    Current Bike:
    SC Bronson v2
    My first was a Marin of some sort in '88. Casually rode that until '93. Next up was a 1993 GT All Terra Timberline. Thing must have weighed 100 lbs but it was fun.
     
    StrandLeper likes this.
  21. knucklebuster

    knucklebuster Well-Known Member

    Location:
    34.2295° N, 117.2257° W
    Name:
    Dave
    Current Bike:
    Guerrilla Gravity Megatrail
    I still have the saddle from my first mountbike:
    IMAG1367.jpg
    IMAG1370.jpg

    First bike, GT RTS Team w/mag21 fork. Killer 2 inches of travel and even room for a bottle cage! (and same saddle). Still don't know what the susp is classified as, very high single pivot? Standover wasn't too confidence inspiring....
    mtb gt rts.jpg
     
    Mikie, Tom the Bomb, HBkites and 3 others like this.
  22. egress

    egress Newbie with Hope!

    Name:
    Eric G
    This is my second mountain bike -- 1992 C'dale M700. I had a used Cannondale SM500 or something shortly before I bought this bike and cracked the frame. So C'Dale gave me a frame credit and I ended up with this. At some point I put a Manitou 2 front fork on it, but switched back to the original fork a couple of years ago. The Nuke Proof ti wheelset is still rolling and I'm sure I have a box full of Onza pedals and spare parts too. I may take this out on the next Reseda to the Sea ride.

    IMG_3920.JPG

    IMG_3921.JPG
     
    Faust29, Mikie, abuck55 and 5 others like this.
  23. herzalot

    herzalot iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Chris
    Current Bike:
    2020 Revel Rail,Yeti SB 130 LR
    Nice to see some new names posting on IMTB! Welcome and thanks for jumping in, egress. No need to live up to your handle, though. Stick with us - we be a friendly bunch!
     
    Mikie, abuck55 and egress like this.
  24. StrandLeper

    StrandLeper Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Timothy M. Ryan
    Current Bike:
    SC Bronson 1x/Pivot 429 1x xtr
    OMG Egress!!!! That bike is beautiful!!!!!
     
    Mikie, abuck55 and egress like this.
  25. Danimal

    Danimal iMTB Addict

    Location:
    Mission Viejo
    Name:
    Dan
    Current Bike:
    Epic Evo
    My first Mtn bike was a Bianchi in about 92. Black w/ sun tour components. Rode in Baldy and Cucamonga canyon as I lived right there.
    Otherwise any trail I could find. Stopped riding after a couple years then in '99 bought a Specialized M2 hardtail. Riding ever since!
     
  26. Tedroy

    Tedroy Member

    Location:
    Pasadena
    Name:
    Ted Knecht
    Current Bike:
    2015 Turner Flux LG
    Psycle Werks Wild Hare was a Turner fore runner.
    A Pre-Turner!
     
    StrandLeper, Mikie and Cyclotourist like this.
  27. Louis Zegarra

    Louis Zegarra Member

    Location:
    Eastvale
    Name:
    LouisZ
    Current Bike:
    Giant Stance
    I think that is a clear sign. Just recently I started to catch myself looking at hills for trails, like hidden treasures among the tall grass.
     
Loading...


As a former Amazon Associate I continue to get screwed trying to stay qualified as an Amazon Affiliate. So I quit!


Want to donate to imtbtrails?