The feeling of your first "real" mountain bike…

Here it is…my first “Back in the day…” post. In these posts we will be looking back to the days of old. For all of us active mountain bikers who have been in the sport for a long time, it will be nostalgic. For those of you just getting into the sport, you too will have memories like this to look back on. This will probably end up being one of my favorite sections of this site. Shoot me an email if you guys think of any other subjects that will go along with this section. I always like to hear ideas and suggestions.

Do you remember the feeling you had when you rode your first “real” mountain bike? I remember it vividly. First, the bike was a Raleigh M80 that I received as a Christmas present in 1995. With a mix of Alivio and STX-RC components…I thought I was in heaven. Even better, the front fork was upgrade from a Rock Shox Quadra 5 to a Rock Shox Quadra 21R. With this bike, I was ready for the big time. Off the bat, the geometry felt much faster. Especially in those days, the angles were steep and the stems were long. The dampening was handled by elastomer’s that you had to grease on a regular basis. Changing the stiffness of the compression was achieved by switching out the different colored elastomer bumpers. Wow, things were simple back then. I also think it weighed twice as much as what is considered cross country these days. That was back when they thought making steel tubing as large as aluminum tubing was a good thing. It’s funny to look back at now because of how far things have come. I sometimes wonder how we even rode that stuff.

Here is a picture of the bike in it’s last build stage. I have actually given it to my brother using parts out of the usual parts bin to get it rolling.

Over the years I owned the bike, there were several things that got upgraded in my usual fashion. So here’s a list:

  • Rear Derailleur went from a STX-RC to a XT
  • Alivo cantilever brakes with the Avid Triangle got replaced with XT v-brakes
  • Stock generic stem changed to a 130mm Control Tech that was BRIGHT YELLOW!
  • Cage pedals got thrown away for some Onza Clipless
  • Stock tires in for WTB Velociraptors
  • Huge red bar ends

I rode the wheels off of this bike for a long time. Most of the rides were at Sope Creek. This was back in the days where there was no speed limit and most of the trails were still open to bikes. We used to ride that place all of the time. It was our little a-line. I can remember thinking about how much air I thought I was catching running down the left side of the fork in the back. I could have sworn I was going over 50 mph because that is really what it felt like. The funny part is that I wouldn’t catch myself dead riding tires that skinny ever again…and I considered those huge back then.

One of my favorite rides was Conyers right after they opened it to the public. As you can see in the pictures, they used to make you register and wear numbers back in those days. I remember seeing deer jumping the orange fences they had set up for the Olympics. That coarse was incredible, but from what I hear, unsustainable for regular use. That is why it is the trail that it is today. There was one section that had a bail out that seemed to be a vertical downhill with a sharp left hand turn at the bottom. Just enough to get the heart really pumping. It was also the first time I had ever ridden on granite.

I got a lot of really good use out of that bike. It was also what started the sickness for me. Once I took a ride on a “real” mountain bike, I was hooked. Still to this day, every time I get on a new bike, I get that same feeling I did back then. When I see people getting into the sport for the first time, it brings me back to those days and reminds me how much I enjoyed those beginning stages of my riding. It was also a time that I actually kept a bike more than a year!

Now the bikes are much more complicated and use specific but that same heart and enthusiasm is still there. The same reason I rode back then is the same reason I ride today…I just love it. Hopefully that will never change and I don’t think that it will. Everyday I remind myself how great it is to have a hobby like this one. Someday I hope to pass along this same love and passion (ok…obsession) to the kids I plan on having one day. I guess by then, they will be riding 26 lbs. 8″ travel bikes or something else crazy like that and look at my pictures from now and ask….”dad…how did you ride that thing?”

Saris Super Clamp Bike Rack ReviewTrek Bikes NewsMain 00 00 33 18cycplus 2C0239 08 13 56 16

Leave a Comment

Related Posts

Copy link
Powered by Social Snap