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Pictures of old and obscure suspension bikes

L

luelling

Guest
My old VR1 frame, no disc mounts and nice flexy stays when you pulled the rear brake on, not really made for the mr dirts and the other kit on the frame was pretty damn ghetto. Still wouldnt mind getting it back sometime.

My friend had one of those and he welded on disc mounts and upgraded the bushings/pivot assembly. The bike was awsome, I was bumbed when he sold it (wish I woudl have bought it)
 
L

luelling

Guest
posted for sheer awesomeness:

Damn!! this is the best thread ever!! I love seeing the crazy crap that has come and gone. I would try and huck this bike but I don't think I'm strong enough, it looks heavy as hell
 

Honus

Monkey
Jun 6, 2006
177
0
Boulder, CO
Boy does this thread bring back the memories! I worked in R&D at Onza in the early 90's- we used to see some pretty crazy stuff. I remember when Danny was faxed a photo of Phillipe Perakis crazy DH bike with a very different linkage fork with ATZ air shocks on it. I'm pretty sure he rode it at Mammoth in '94- anyone have a decent pic?

ATZ also had a linkage elastomer fork and rear end that was used on some of the Cilo bikes...

Anyone have pics of a RockShox LTD? I used to have some really great pics of the one that Tomac rode for a bit but I can't seem to find them...

I have tons of photos-
 

Jonny5

Monkey
Feb 13, 2007
502
0
I know this is old suspension designs, but has anyone got pics of sweet kids bikes? I remember a little 20" lawwill yeti with dho forks. Things like that..
 

stiksandstones

Turbo Monkey
May 21, 2002
5,078
25
Orange, Ca
I know this is old suspension designs, but has anyone got pics of sweet kids bikes? I remember a little 20" lawwill yeti with dho forks. Things like that..
Chuck Texeira at easton has made a few very trick mini mtb's, tricycles and the like. I do not have pics but his creations did make it into the mags in the mid 90's, pretty slick kiddy rides.
 

Sir_Crackien

Turbo Monkey
Feb 7, 2004
2,051
0
alex. va. usa.
not feel the hed?? they are still in bis. and their stuff is actually quite nice!

i find it interesting on how many thing we got right early on and then seemingly forgot about in dh. like light wheel and just looking damn cool.

i find too many of todays bike cookie cutter in shape/design idea. there seems to be less thinking outside of the box now-a-days
 

Honus

Monkey
Jun 6, 2006
177
0
Boulder, CO
I believe someone requested the Pong Cannondale? I saw this bike in person at Interbike way back when and heard Joe Montgomery swear up one side and down that other that they would produce it. The entire bike was machined from billet.
 

Honus

Monkey
Jun 6, 2006
177
0
Boulder, CO
Here's some more pics- first is the Scott and Kestrel bikes with variable leverage ratio depending on whether or not you were sitting on the saddle. I actually rode both of the Scott prototypes at Walker ranch with some of the Scott USA guys. The GT is the forerunner to the IT-1. I think it was shown at Interbike in '96 or '97.

Next are the Cannondales with another pic of the Fulcrum. I remember seeing this bike in person at Cactus Cup- probably in '97.

Next are some Foes bikes. I thought I had some pics of the leaf spring bike but I can't seem to find them.
 

Attachments

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,172
380
Roanoke, VA
The LTD year was '95, at least for Tomac. Distinctly remember him racing XC on it as his Giardia from the Hawaian Mtn Tour that year took him out of the running for the Olympic team. Worst freaking selection process ever. A guy has a bad season in '95, an then is clearly the strongest racer leading up to the olympics, and freaking Don Myrah gets selected over him...
11 years later and I am still pissed.
 

revmonkey

Monkey
Sep 6, 2005
129
0
ZYZZX Bullit by hanebrink, man I had that fork on a foes weasel with custer shock back in the day. Magura hs hydraulic rim brakes were the rage. :D
I was young and influenced! :shocked:
the one i have is on my bro's XC rocky mountain frame... most likely going to be taking it off that and putting it on my old hardrock frame soon.
 

Honus

Monkey
Jun 6, 2006
177
0
Boulder, CO
Yeah, pretty wild for sure. Probably could have sold a load of them in 1995.
That's funny as that's when I actually did the original design. Of course back then I was only manufacturing components......

I literally built this thing from leftover tubing and parts (it's a single speed) that I had in my garage. If I was to refine it I could make it a lot nicer/lighter. It does ride reasonably well for a hacked together bike and it's pretty stiff in torsion. You can also make a really small frame with this design.....:)
 

RhinofromWA

Brevity R Us
Aug 16, 2001
4,622
0
Lynnwood, WA
I believe someone requested the Pong Cannondale? I saw this bike in person at Interbike way back when and heard Joe Montgomery swear up one side and down that other that they would produce it. The entire bike was machined from billet.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

I for the life of me could not ever find a pic of that bike. :monkeydance:

Awsome
 

xy9ine

Turbo Monkey
Mar 22, 2004
2,940
353
vancouver eastside
speaking of the pong bike, i remember seeing this exotic polished aluminum cnc linkage fork @ interbike one year. really complex, but aesthtically neat. it may have been single sided - i recall a long sculpted one piece cnc fork leg extending from crown to axle pivot. anybody remember this?
 

Honus

Monkey
Jun 6, 2006
177
0
Boulder, CO
speaking of the pong bike, i remember seeing this exotic polished aluminum cnc linkage fork @ interbike one year. really complex, but aesthtically neat. it may have been single sided - i recall a long sculpted one piece cnc fork leg extending from crown to axle pivot. anybody remember this?
I know exactly which fork you are talking about- it was very curvy, CNC machined, single sided with a (I think) parallelogram linkage and an air shock. It was strictly a one off prototype.... I could have sworn I had a photo of it somewhere but I can't find it. If I could only recall who made it.....
 

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
I remember those. A guy I was racing xc with in Québec was sponsored by Liken and he kept snapping the frames in half. They were all made of "thermoplastic". They also made chainguides that had the reputation of derailing the chain more than actually keeping it on the chainring...:shocked:

what i want to see is a pic of the old bike Liken had, i saw it on their website a number of years ago, but it's otherwise an enigma to me.
 

DHS

Friendly Neighborhood Pool Boy
Apr 23, 2002
5,094
0
Sand, CA
honus, we need to get you a photobucket account. higher quality photos are better posted. not these tiny attachments. i'd love to have copies of the pics you're posting
 

Honus

Monkey
Jun 6, 2006
177
0
Boulder, CO
honus, we need to get you a photobucket account. higher quality photos are better posted. not these tiny attachments. i'd love to have copies of the pics you're posting
I hear you- I'll get on it. The problem is that many of these pics were taken off the net so they're as big as they're going to get. Kind of a bummer....
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,172
380
Roanoke, VA
the last bike that Honus posted (with suspend this on the toptube) is actually still in production as a schwinn comfort bike. It was designed by the same guys who do the bike design work for Thomson.