Kind of a spin-off from one of my replies in the Crooked Trail thread, but thinking back on my early days of riding off-road, I started thinking about the bikes I rode then (first a hand-me-down BCA Rocky, then a Haro Escape with a Girvin Flex-stem - both from my brother) and the bikes that were lust-worthy at the time.
The first one I remember *really* wanting was a Bridgestone MB-0 (Zip) ridden by a friend's college roommate. I remember being floored by how light it was, and the guy who rode it was like a machine - routinely riding 60 - 80 miles on it in day-long on/off-road epics (on knobbies, in cut-off jean shorts, with stops up on Tussey Mountain where he'd do bong hits somewhere in there almost without fail, lol. Umm... just say 'no', kids).
I never did score a Zip. By the time I'd saved enough for a new bike, it was 1994, the Zip was discontinued, and the times were 'a changing. For me, it came down to a decision between a steel (Prestige) Stumpjumper and the new metal matrix M2 Stumpjumper from Scooter's in Souderton. Weight-weenie was the order of the day, so I bought the M2. It was really light. It was also REALLY stiff.
In hindsight, I wish I bought the prestige one. If I had, I'd probably still have it hanging up in the garage somewhere.
The closest I ever got to a Zip was a Columbus-tubed Bianchi Denali RC that replaced the M2 a year later.
So anyway, what was the bike that *you* lusted after? Did you ever get one? Or did yours also get away? If you did get it, did it live up to your expectations? Thanks for playing! :beer: