# Evolution of My Equipment



## EKram (Oct 30, 2020)

The following is probably " Greek" to younger riders.

Good thing I have ridden bikes without the latest technology but same formats as today-giving me a foundation of understanding of the newer stuff.

Back in the day. A Sears Free Spirit 10 speed. Got it used, no derailleurs. Call that SS.or maybe a fixie.
Added a rear derailleur. Downtube friction shifter.
Rode it on trails, gravel, and pavement. Call that psuedo MTB, Gravel, Road bikes.
Got a front derailleur and rode the same stuff day or night.
Light was a flashlight taped to the bar.
Rode a Mo-ped. Not an Ebike but same pedal assistance concept.
Had the best Diamondback had to offer MTB. Eventually put slicks on and rode it as a fitness bike

I evolved and have a solid 2014 Fuji that I use for pavement or gravel rides.
I have GPS instead of the peg on a spoke turning the oddometer clipped on the fork.
Measure HR with a chest strap.
I never had disc brakes till 7 years ago. Will never go back.
I have some great bike tools and decent repair skills.​


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## nOOky (May 13, 2008)

I worked a full time 40 hour a week job and took 16 credits full time in college, and I made it around town on an old Trek 500 road bike. I think it had 21 or 22mm tires I can't remember. This was in Minnesota in 1986, and the winters were brutal. If I would have had the fat bike I have now it would have been a lot better.


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## upstateSC-rider (Dec 25, 2003)

I used to put baseball cards on my seat stays with clothes pins then hit jumps and yard sale just like Evel Knievel but recently stopped doing that.
What were we talking about again?


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## ZX11 (Dec 24, 2020)

I started with a Big Wheel. Single speed with a Green Machine front wheel to improve traction. Pretty fast down hill due to low resistance zero pressure tires.


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## chazpat (Sep 23, 2006)

I think I started on a Sears Spyder, their copy of a Schwinn Stingray. Yeah, we rode trails with them. Then I got a Free Spirit 10 Speed; mine did have 2x5. Forward about a decade and a half and I got a Univega mtb. Interestingly, it was a rigid 21 speed and my newest bike is a rigid 11 speed. There were (and still are) various hardtails, full suspensions and road bikes between those two.


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## evasive (Feb 18, 2005)

I wrote a narrative post about basically this in the Passion thread ca 2013. 

I got a real BMX a KHS when most of my fiends were getting Huffy and Murray BSOs. Thought my bike sucked because it didn’t have a hand brake or foam pads on the bars. Ha. 

Got a Diamondback Ascent EX in the pre-suspension days, but rode it mostly on the road. There weren’t a lot of singletrack trails available to us then. I think the first time I rode a mountain bike on singletrack was in a national park across the street from our subdivision. 

Took a decade plus break, and bought a hard tail from the days I stopped riding. After a couple years I bought my first 29er, a XC hard tail. Took a trip to Moab with a mixed group and a good rider on a 1st gen Nomad blew my mind. I’ve wanted that class of bike, but in 29er, ever since. I had a first run WFO9, and a prototype Prime. I had a 5.5c, and I’m currently on a Titan. It feels like the bike I always wanted.


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## andy f (Jan 13, 2004)

I spent all of my paper route money building up a blinged out Redline MX-II one part at a time. 

My first MTB was a 1985 Mongoose ATB with Suntour Mountech parts followed by a Bridgestone MB-3 in 1988. I had the original dropper on that bike: A Hite-Rite! My first build where I selected all of the parts was a 1994 Dean Colonel Ti HT. I've mostly gone for smaller companies over the years. Ventana, Turner, Knolly, etc. but I currently have two Specialized bikes: A 2020 Enduro and a 2021 Epic Evo.


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## Xylx (Mar 18, 2005)

I keep a spreadsheet called "everybike." There's 30 on there over my 65 years. It evolved from stingrays to singlespeed Schwinns, then added derailleurs, then a real mountain bike in 1983 (Bianchi Grizzly). Evolution hit a dead end in the 90s with a Litespeed Obed full suspension. Still a great design although sold it long ago. Then I devolved into riding nothing but rigid fatbikes for years. And finally I'm now switching off between fatties (one SS, one 10 spd) for snow and trails and a nice Salsa carbon Horsethief for the rough rides. The Salsa is the peak of evolution for me. I mocked dropper posts for years. Then I got old.


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## MTBmoose (Dec 31, 2003)

It all started for me with a Huffy banana seat bike. Then I saved up money from clearing driveways in the winter to buy a Schwinn Le Tour in high school. After that was stolen off my front porch in college, I bought a classic Japanese steel framed Lotus Classique. Wonderful bike, but terrible gearing for when I moved to eastern Washington. Discovered mountain biking and bought a Specialized FSR about 23 years ago. Rode the crap out of that bike for about 3 years before the frame broke. Got a replacement FSR frame in ugly white/yellow which I rode until it also broke. Replaced that with a Stumpjumper FSR and then progressed to a Santa Cruz Blur (the original), my first really nice mountain bike. Loved that bike. Still have the frame. Then a steady progression of mountain bikes over the next 10 or so years:

Santa Cruz Blur LT aluminum
Specialized Roubaix carbon road bike (2005...still have this one, great bike)
Niner RIP9 (gen 2) aluminum (frame eventually cracked)
Niner Jet9 carbon (gen 1, still have this one...fast bike, first of mine with carbon wheels)
Niner RIP9 aluminum (gen 3, still have this one, though it's out of commission, fork is toast)
Specialized Fatboy fatbike (winter snow riding)
Ibis Ripley (latest version, my current ride)
Can't seem to get enough riding in. Past two years I'm averaging a ride nearly every other day. Great stress reliever. Trails are exceptional in eastern Washington and the surrounding area and getting better all the time. Enjoying reading the retirement thread here as well.

MTBmoose


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## Rev Bubba (Jan 16, 2004)

Xylx said:


> I keep a spreadsheet called "everybike." There's 30 on there over my 65 years. It evolved from stingrays to singlespeed Schwinns, then added derailleurs, then a real mountain bike in 1983 (Bianchi Grizzly). Evolution hit a dead end in the 90s with a Litespeed Obed full suspension. Still a great design although sold it long ago. Then I devolved into riding nothing but rigid fatbikes for years. And finally I'm now switching off between fatties (one SS, one 10 spd) for snow and trails and a nice Salsa carbon Horsethief for the rough rides. The Salsa is the peak of evolution for me. I mocked dropper posts for years. Then I got old.


Interesting. I'm 71 and my "everybike" list only came out to 13 and I never seemed to have a shortage of bikes. Just a somewhat interesting side note to your post.


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## BigJZ74 (Jul 18, 2010)

As a kid my first bike as an Air Force brat was a Mongoose Blue Max which gpt me into BMX. Unfortunately it was lost during a move from Guam to Washington state in the early 80's. Then came a Huffy Stu Thomsen. Then came many lawns mowed on Base to get my first dream bike..for the love of 80's freestylin'...an 88' Haro Master. Times changed and bikes became football and I stopped riding until College when I got my 1st MTB a GT Ricochet in 1993 but not much for mountains in Southern New Jersey but a ton f huge staircases across campus. 16 yrs and a move to California led me to 2009 where I truly caught the bug and picked up a Kona Hoss.... the flood gates were opened...and adult money to burn lol. I'll rapid fire the rest starting with my first full sus a 2011 Trek Scratch Air 9 to 2015 Intense Tracer T275a to a 2017 Evil Insurgent to a 2018 Orbea Rallon (still have it) to a 2019 Commencal Meta HT, 2019 Evil Calling, 2020 Evil Wreckoning V3, 2020 Trek Rail 7 (first eMTB), to my newest 2021 Transition Spur.....now just wondering what I'll build next. Stable is now 3...kinda 4. The Rail for eMTB fun, The Rallon for the big rough days, and the Spur for everything else. The kinda 4 is my old Kona Hoss which I still have but relegated to trainer duty on my CycleOps Hammer. This list still has plenty of time to grow.


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