[MikeD]

What bike did you always want, never got, and in retrospect are super-happy about that?

For me, it's Ellsworth. Since the moment I laid eyes on the poorly-printed black silhoutte of the Dare with a dual crown fork and that white ELLSWORTH in the back of MBA at one of the big mail-order retailers of 1999ish, I was smitten. Anodization. Oh, the anodization!

Thankfully I got a Turner RFX and all was well. I even once tried getting a Turner downtube logo made in the Ellsworth font. So edgy.

What else? Karpiels, etc? Let it all hang out.

 

[Nick]

waaaay back in the day I wanted a Klein Mantra, mostly because cool paint. I had no idea ....

 

[mandown]

24 Porn King. Loved the look of the frame in photos. I’m sure the geometry would’ve been a nightmare. My buddy got a Le Toy and I couldn’t ride that thing at all. I also wasn’t a dirt jump guy so that wasn’t really a surprise.

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

Pro-Flex

Alsop

Girvin Flex stems

 

[MikeD]

waaaay back in the day I wanted a Klein Mantra, mostly because cool paint. I had no idea ....

As is the way of all Kleins.

My brother had bought an old Klein road bike, threaded headset and all, and informed me they were simply the world's best bikes and used aerospace paint or some shit, and so I was immediately convinced.

There's a carbon Mantra for like $900 on FB marketplace I actually can't stop looking at. (Seems to have sold; can't find pics)

 

[MikeD]

Pro-Flex

Also a full thermoplastic, including Spin tri-spoke wheels, all-XTR and carbon, Proflex on FB marketplace. For $1500. But it is pretty cool.

 

[sunringlerider]

Foes zigzag
Intense M1

I wanted those so bad.

 

[mandown]

Always was curious about this beast. Never thought it was a good idea but I still couldn’t help but wonder if it rode well enough to justify looking like whatever the hell this looks like, and worth the risk of getting your dangling bits caught in the suspension. I did end up with a Nicolai but not this monstrosity.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

SPV Manitou Dorado

 

[kidwoo]

Now I want a porn king

 

[jstuhlman]

yeah, kleins, ellsworths, probably the cannondale flying-V and trek Y bikes...

 

[MikeD]

Foes zigzag
Intense M1

I wanted those so bad.

The 4x bikes we all tried to use and love as trail machines...generally didn't do it as well as things that followed but short-travel slack bikes foretold a bit of the future there. Despite the BMXy short lengths...

The M1 was never a machine I would have thought anyone would actually be glad they never bought, though...I mean, they're Intenses, so...there's that to regret...but the M1 was always a really worthy bike among its contemporaries AFAIK...

 

[MikeD]

Always was curious about this beast. Never thought it was a good idea but I still couldn’t wonder if it rode well enough to justify looking like whatever the hell this looks like, and worth the risk of getting your dangling bits caught in the suspension. I did end up with a Nicolai but not this monstrosity.
View attachment 171259

I forgot about those. My Nicolai experience was awesome hard tails...and @BMXman's 800-lb Nucleon lol.

 

[MikeD]

SPV Manitou Dorado

SPV ANYTHING. The service guys were so relieved when I started asking them to send TPC+ dampers to replace my three-times-busted SPV and SPV+ stuff.

Course we all actually had those; they weren't something we dreamed about and never got. Living nightmares.

 

[MikeD]

Now I want a porn king

To be fair, you were probably googling that term just before I posted this thread anyhow.

 

[Jm_]

M1 for sure.

 

[MikeD]

M1 for sure.

Why glad you never had one? Apparently I missed some common flaw...?

 

[iRider]

Always was curious about this beast. Never thought it was a good idea but I still couldn’t help but wonder if it rode well enough to justify looking like whatever the hell this looks like, and worth the risk of getting your dangling bits caught in the suspension. I did end up with a Nicolai but not this monstrosity.
View attachment 171259

They rode well for the time. And are indestructable!

 

[iRider]

This:

 

[Adventurous]

BMW Racelink. Would still rock one.

 

[MikeD]

Is that a Mountain Cycle? I was sooooo close to a San Andreas. And I owned a hardtail of theirs...stiff, handled amazingly... I don't think I'd have regretted the San Andreas.

The Shockwave was hideous tho.

 

[mandown]

BMW Racelink. Would still rock one.

I got to pedal one around at Whistler, just on the pavement by the lift. It was really nice.

 

[sunringlerider]

The 4x bikes we all tried to use and love as trail machines...generally didn't do it as well as things that followed but short-travel slack bikes foretold a bit of the future there. Despite the BMXy short lengths...

The M1 was never a machine I would have thought anyone would actually be glad they never bought, though...I mean, they're Intenses, so...there's that to regret...but the M1 was always a really worthy bike among its contemporaries AFAIK...

More the fact that I am glad I did not over extend myself to purchase them in the early 2000s. I was a broke af college kid with 2 jobs trying to pay for school.
I wanted them so bad, but couldn’t fund them at the point. I just continued race and ride my clappedout shit hard.
Makes me appreciate my stable of current bikes much more.

 

[MikeD]

More the fact that I am glad I did not over extend myself to purchase them in the early 2000s. I was a broke af college kid with 2 jobs trying to pay for school.
I wanted them so bad, but couldn’t fund them at the point. I just continued race and ride my clappedout shit hard.
Makes me appreciate my stable of current bikes much more.

That's my Balfa BB7, then...

 

[iRider]

Is that a Mountain Cycle? I was sooooo close to a San Andreas. And I owned a hardtail of theirs...stiff, handled amazingly... I don't think I'd have regretted the San Andreas.

The Shockwave was hideous tho.

It is a Crosstrac Sonoma. When bikes had 3" of travel they went 4"+ on both ends with homemade suspension bits. Was a cool concept, but because the geometry was fairly similar to a standard hardtail at the time, they bottomed out the chainrings, their suspension bits were super unreliable and also other bearings and such were not dimensioned right (can you say flexy?). A San Andreas was solid in comparison.
I had seen them in MBA and always wanted one (poor student, so no chance). One guy locally imported one from the US. Saw him riding it a couple of times and every time he had a new horror story. I think he shortly after switched to a GT RTS, which manifested his bad taste in bikes.

 

[kidwoo]

Why glad you never had one? Apparently I missed some common flaw...?

More than one!

 

[iRider]

Is that a Mountain Cycle? I was sooooo close to a San Andreas. And I owned a hardtail of theirs...stiff, handled amazingly... I don't think I'd have regretted the San Andreas.

The Shockwave was hideous tho.

I would rock a latest generation Shockwave. Short shocked they had a fairly good geo and suspension, minus the short TT.

 

[MikeD]

GT RTS, which manifested his bad taste in bikes.

Those and AMPs were available so cheap (again, back of MBA) when I started biking, from a few sources...even then they were outdated and unwanted. Almost had one or both of them

 

[MikeD]

More than one!

You mean aside from their owners?

 

[kidwoo]

You mean aside from their owners?

that's the biggest one, yes


Never met a single M1 that didn't crack at the headtube or snap chainstays after a good year of legit riding

 

[iRider]

More than one!

Which bike at the time didn't?

 

[kidwoo]

Which bike at the time didn't?

the rest of them (cept iron horse)

I never broke a chainstay on a dh bike

 

[iRider]

that's the biggest one, yes


Never met a single M1 that didn't crack at the headtube or snap chainstays after a good year of legit riding

Crack at the HT was early generations, fixed later. Chainstays were an issue they never really solved. Most of the time it was because folks used QR rear hubs that allowed for too much flex. Thru axles solved it.

 

[kidwoo]

Dude I live in california. The things were everywhere. The headtubes were not just a first gen thing and it wasn't just QRs that led to broken chainstays.

I was constantly not riding with friends as they dealt with their fucked up M1s.

 

[Adventurous]

I got to pedal one around at Whistler, just on the pavement by the lift. It was really nice.

I have little rational reason for wanting one. They were heavy and expensive. But oh so unique. Steel was real back then.

That's my Balfa BB7, then...

Still remember having to pause mid-trail so a friend could tighten pivots and linkages before hitting a drop. More than once. Neat looking bikes if you didn't mind carrying a bottle of loctite with you at all times.

 

[iRider]

the rest of them (cept iron horse)

I never broke a chainstay on a dh bike

Weren't you on a DHR at the time? Single pivots do not count.

 

[iRider]

Dude I live in california. The things were everywhere. The headtubes were not just a first gen thing and it wasn't just QRs that led to broken chainstays.

I was constantly not riding with friends as they dealt with their fucked up M1s.

I believe you, but it is still surprising how many badly beaten but not cracked M1s are floating around in the used market then.

 

[kidwoo]

Weren't you on a DHR at the time? Single pivots do not count.

Karpiels, specializedeses, and yes turners

Stop dancing around. M1s broke. Frequently. The existence of a few that were babied doesn't negate what I said "a year of legit riding"

 

[Sandwich]

BMW Racelink. Would still rock one.

I owned one, AMA.
Heavy, short, the most awkward geometry possible. Broke in the same spot over time. Great suspension in an era where suspension sucked, well surpassed but almost anything these days.

For me, LTS DH, Foes F1 wet one, Ibis Szazbo, Proflex 957 (though I still search for one). Outland VPP and VPP6. I am happy trying out weird shit (it's one of my favorite things about mountain biking) so there hasn't been much I really wanted that I missed out on...although @MikeD I too wanted an El Sworth Dare with a UD150 fork because Bike mag.

 

[MikeD]

I never bought an Intense because I couldn't afford the matching gloves, myself, much less the TLD custom lid.