1993 or 1994 I'm pretty sure. I was 13-14 saved up $500 for the down payment on $1500 CDN or so
Mongoose Iboc Pro mountain bike. All XT components, rapidfire shifters, 7005 aluminum frame, etc.
With my paper route money, I'd make about $200 a month or so to make the payments on the bike...
I was helping out at the bike shop for free as much as I could, learning as much as I could, and the
loan was of course no-interest and the bike was practically at cost.
I later added a bunch of stuff (the usual, flite seat, bar ends, brake lever extenders, fancy-this,
anodized-that, ti-whatever, etc). Then the shop bought me a Rock Shox mag 21 just in time for a race
in Hamilton, sort of as "payment".
Amazing bike, I really have to say! It's been through EVERYTHING. There's some nice chunks of
aluminum gone from the frame from random falls into rocks, etc. 10 years later, only 2 weeks ago
have I bought a new bike! The past few years, the bike has only been used for commuting (since I
don't do offroad anymore, due to knee surgury). Shifting is amazing, brakes are great (upgraded to
newer XTR cantis years ago). The only thing that wore out on the bike was the middle chain ring
(well, and several chains). The cassette is quite worn and could be replaced now. It was converted
into a more road-worthy ride last year by getting rid of a lot of stuff, and adding1.2" slicks at
90PSI, etc. I also stripped the pink/black paint off last year and it is now polished aluminum with
orange "mikebeauchamp.com" decals. I'm considering taking it to an auto place and doing a nice flaky
copper finish with white chunky decals.
The new bike is an entry level road bike (Iron Horse Triumph), aluminum frame, sora components,
mavic rims, etc. Just enough I could afford to get a "taste" of road bikes. So the old Mongoose is
going to be converted back to a more offroad bike, so I can get back into that lightly...
Mike
http://mikebeauchamp.com
"Q." <LostVideos-AT-hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > : How old were you when you got your first really nice bike and what was it?
>
> I've never had a REALLY nice bike, at least compared to most people. I've always had decent bikes
> though ... amazing how cheep good older stuff can be.
>
> I got my first bike at 3. The first bike I remember going nuts over was a sweet metallic blue 15
> speed road bike I got for my birthday when I was 12
> (1982). Almost too big for me but I grew into it quickly enough. I rode that bike into the ground
> for the next 4 years until I got my drivers license.
>
> Just a couple of months ago I got my first new bike since that one. A
mish
> mash of NOS parts. Basically put it together myself. MTB, Giant aluminum frame, dual suspension
> with Rock Shox Judy TT up front, Fox Vanilla RX in back, Deore and Alivio stuff. Nothing special
> but I like it, and the
whole
> thing cost about $400, which makes it the most expensive bike I've ever owned. Indeed, more
> expensive than all my other bikes combined (c:
>
> C.Q.C.