Throwback Thursday: 22 Classic Mountain Bikes - IAA Mobility 2021

 If you haven't learned to ride on a bike from this era...you missed out some serious greatness. The hardware weights more than full bikes these days, the tires...2'' was huge, and they stems and bars are just ridiculous. Sorry but you missed out. Oh and dont forget the sound of a shopping cart being pushed down a staircase the entire ride. MISSED OUT!!!!

 suspension ALL sucked in the 80s, but all the rigid bikes during the 80s worked great for what they were. Trails back then were so mild back then, all basically smooth dirt fire roads, deer paths, and gravel roads. Funny how we thought we were hardcore doing down steep but smooth dirt roads HAHAHAHA. I have to admit though, Mountain Biking was awesome back then, just as awesome as it is now. Just a different kind of awesome, and much more tamer awesome.

 NOPE - you don't spec old-school Syncros components on a Specialized Stumpjumper. They had their house-brands and stuck to them. Also, zero excuses for a show bike with a flat tire. Back of the line for you Hot Chili.

 Evolution in action!
1979 - 1996: HA goes from 66 deg. to 71.5 deg.
1996 - 2021: HA goes from 71.5 deg. to 66 deg.

 MONSTER T what a fork !

 The Amp disc brakes weren't terrible - The feel and stopping power were actually pretty good until they overheated which of course they would do on a real descent. It helped that we had to stop every 2-3 minutes to shake out our hands anyway. They certainly felt and worked better than the cantilevers of the day, especially in the wet, again unless you were doing a big descent. I ran them for several years and put up with the drawbacks until the Hayes finally came out. Rim brakes were just terrible for MTB even 1990 MTB.

Still embarassed (ie I should have looked around and known better) that in 1999 I bought an Amp B5 to replace my cracked "Dagger" which was a boutique version of the Amp B3. I exploded the front fork on a 2' "huck" when we were learning "freeride". Bought a 2000 Specialized Enduro with 4" of travel and I remember riding it down a rocky local trail and thinking it was ridiculously plush and incredibly awesome. Which I guess it was - it survived about a hundred wheelie drops off a 4' platform in my backyard. It was eventually turned into a hillbilly hardtail commuter (shock replaced with a solid bar), and I gave it to my neighbor a few years ago who is still riding it.

And oh yea, sold that Amp B5 for $700 on ebay a few years ago. Rode it up and down the street before packing it up and was scared to death. Can't believe I rode it all over some of the same gnarly mountain trails I still ride today.

 Back then, these bikes were all dream bikes to me but I was just a kid mowing lawns to earn some cash to upgrade out of my Huffy.

 Had 3 of them Rocky RM7 , great bike , the bike was ready for anything . the Easton tubing was superb. Gt Zaskar, a great hard tail , loved the rear triangle, converted it for city riding, got stolen Scott Octane dh , first the yellow banana seat and this one , cracked the top tube and welding after 2 months. All of them were a bit heavy, but at the time i didn t care, i was fit and riding almost everyday.

 No Cannondale V bike ? Shame.
Or GT LTS ?
Lovely bikes. Ace to see the Zaskar

 Doubt this will get me anywhere, but does anyone know of a Specialized Epic Ultimate frame or complete bike for sale? I have the Carbon/Ti FSX fork in brand new condition and have been looking for the frame for ages!

 These are awesome! I love seeing where our sport came from. It's not quite old enough for this list but I ride a Cannondale Prophet that I modernized with a 27.5 conversion, 1x11, custom tuned shock etc. Not even the bearings are period correct but I like it. I know a new bike would blow it away but this is what I could afford at the time and I love tinkering so I went wild and got myself a well specced ride after a few years of digging through the couch for change and all that. I rode it a few days ago and it loves the rock soup and root salad that southeastern Pennsylvania has on offer. All smiles.

 Every once in a while I'll pull out my 93 Trek 990 and ride some easy flow trails. It has a Manitou 3 with 0" inches of travel. I tried to make it work but that's as good as it will be. It's a blast to ride just for shits and giggles. Back in the day it was the first real good mtb that I had. Still fun to ride. It still has the original smokes on it. Not from the factory but as replacement tires. Lots of fun and adventure's where had on that bike.

 Hydraulic disk brakes
Horste 4 bar rear suspension
Hydraulic damped air forks
That Marin is that carbon fiber tubes bonded to titanium lugs?
All existed more than 20 years ago.
Yes bikes are better . But it's decades of refinement not amazing new inventions that made mountain bikes what they are today. At least in the past parts could be swapped or fixed.

 Is it possible, that the Marin Muirwoods used the same frame, as the Scott Sawtooth from the same or similar year? I bought a Scott Sawtooth last year, and it's looks the same, brake mounting, the way the tubes connect at the seat tube, fork angle, if both was painted black, I couldn't tell the difference.

 Well, that Breezer is not a Breezer - its a typical entry level mid 80s Mountainbike, my guess from an italian brand. Otherwise, some really nice bikes in there.

Only the hose clamps on the nice anodized cranks make me cringe (note to myself: never give one of my classics to the IAA...)

 Those 80s frames are so clean! I still hate under-chainstay mounted u-brakes though, at least from a maintenance standpoint.

 My first better bike was in 1990. My first good bike was in 1993. It's been crazy ever since. So much of that stuff brings back memories. I guess I should rebuild that 1998 Marzocchi I have and put it back on its original bike.

 I don't know what or where this is/was (IAA?) but some bikes are in a quite poor condition or just not worth showing. There's some good ones in there as well and thanks for sharing anyway, yes we love the MTB history and there's plenty of awesome vintage bikes out there.

 These bikes are the reason why most riders over 40 you see on the trail corner in the back seat a bit.

 Done a couple of restomods the last 18 months. Older frames and just put the together with newer parts, but try and keep to spirit of the bike. Tend to go for 2000 onwards frames as from about then onwards manufacturers tended to fit disc mounts. Currently running a 1x11 2009 kona four deluxe Nissan SE. Hardest thing was getting the paint matches.

 Stumpjumper equals history - made me laugh. Specialized purchased 4 bikes from Gary Fisher's Mountain Bikes Company to evaluate (copy) for overseas production. Sensing something may be up, Gary Fisher sent them 4 bikes that had incorrect fork geometry. The Fisher Mountain Bikes were copied by Specialized, including the incorrect fork geometry.

 Ah yes, the "Lightweight, Strong or Actually Works... pick one" era. Everything was light, barely anything worked, and everything always broke. It's awesome to see the old steeds because nothing looks like this anymore, and they're seriously cool. But it also makes me grateful for me 150mm 29er that climbs better than the XC bikes here, and descends better than the DH bikes.

 My first adult sized MTB was an 86' Stumpjumper complete with Hite-Rite and god awful U-brakes under the chain stays lol. Absolutely terrible. It felt terrifyingly fast (to my 13 year old brain) and it would not slow down at all if there was an ounce of water on the ground lol

 Fact: the two sons of the guy who started Corratec, went on to create the ill fated Sick Bicycles, who famously went on to not set the MTB world alight. You can see the bat shit lineage*





*citation needed

 Not a single Santa Cruz in there? I need to pull my '96 Heckler frame down from the rafters and build it up with all the old parts. Cooks Brothers cranks and a Judy!

 I don’t understand how the rear brake works on the 1993 Manitou FS since there’s a pivot between the axle and the rim break on the seat stay. Perhaps the brake didn’t really work?

 Loved me some bar ends back in the day! Club Roost were my favorite but then I recall those crazy torso-puncturing XYZ bars that came stock on my Cannondale Delta V 1500 ("Headshock" anyone?!)

 Good times! I still have a hard time getting my head around bikes from the 2000s being vintage, though! Seems like just yesterday I was in the LBS buying my scuba yellow Heckler.

 Those were the days! Had a 88 Wicked Fat Chance. Still one of my favorites.

 No proflex or trek Y bikes. LOL! My buddy raced for Klein back in the day and I always drooled on his Rascal.

 How many brands did Verlicchi make their frames for? Sintesi, Iron Horse, Carraro, Kona. Any otters?

 My first bike was a Stumpjumper, and I think it might have been a 1981 model. Surprised at the slack headtube.

 Some of those bikes are still cooler then some of the nEw bikes

 These "vintage bike articles" need some Schwinn Homegrowns in the mix!!! Those bass boat paint jobs where f**king awesome.

 Trips me out to look at all these long ass stems we used to ride back in the day. Bet it would feel quite strange steering one of these nowadays compared to modern bikes.

 I'm pretty pumped that bmx was in its glory days when mtb first came about. None of those glorified dirt roadies excite me in the least.

 Just as Newton discovered gravity, and Tacoma narrows revealed the phenomenon of harmonic resonance, in 1992 Carraro discovered pedal kickback for the first time

 Someone get that Carrero an idler pulley!

 Mech on that Manitou is a Proshift, not a Paul

 memories! damn those odyssey black widow pedals on the manitou fs...still have nasty scars on my shins from them

 Some beauties there but I'd choose the Epic Ultimate.

 This makes me want to get into collecting old mtbs. Beautiful history right here.

 I am excited that Outside is slowly converting Pinkbike into a full retro bike site. All we need now is a paywall and Levy riding these things in full lycra.

 Why did they ruin all the 'gravel' bikes at the start of this article with flat bars?

 Ahh. When $3,000 made you feel like a baller!

 That amp fork was so loose - it lost more parts on a ride than a head with dandruff in the head wind

 Great gallery. One correction: Joe Breeze, not Joe Breezer.

 Awesome, we are old

 Shout out to super monster T 300 mm travel I used to have one on a santa cruz super 8

 Love this old stuff!
m.pinkbike.com/photo/20240703
A mix of old and new.

 That Manitou FS still fills my heart with desire. Maybe that's because I never actually rode it.... Never meet your heros!

 so good. love these.

 I don't think the cranks on the 1981 SJ are period correct

 Some incredible bikes there.

 how do you get that scott genius pull shock serviced?

 Where's mah Girvin fork?

 YES.

 The name is Joe Breeze, not Joe Breezer… c’mon…

 漂亮！

 Man, those old URT's were ALL Pogo, talk about misleading marketing!

 So terrible!

 So. Much. Bike. Porn.