Evenin' all, s'pose I'd better make my excuses for being here so here goes...
Midlife crisis or whatever...it's been 17 years (active 1982 to 1996) since I last threw a leg over a 20" with any intention of riding it. My 3yr old just started riding a "big boy bike...with pedals" (last bit is important to him! lol) so I bought him a baby Haro
for doing so well (early 4th b'day present).
After a couple of trips, I figured small wheels would look a lot less pedo than following him around the park on an old Marin.
...and maybe I can teach him a few old school tricks to embarrass himself with.
Over the years my bike history is:
Raleigh Burner, Super Burner, Curtis, Torker, Firebird (Curtis & DP were race f&f sets), Haro Master, Quadangle, Dyno Compe and finally another Haro Master (sold it for £50!!!
) and spent a small fortune on parts etc.!
Shameful thing is, I took the easy way back in and bought me a 30th anniversary Ripper. I wanted one when I bought my Quad, but a mate got one and I wanted to be different so it was like a red rag this time around! (I'm about to see whether I made the right choice)
Nice and shiny as it was, everything bar the f&f was unfamiliar so went about making it my own.
Found some 7X rims on Differentpath (top bloke!!), a pair of Shimano hubs on fleabay and rediscovered the joy of wheel building and replaced the Tuff's with a pair of allows. Next up some Haro bars with A'me tri grips and tech 77 levers. A Kashimax aero (for discomfort!), Redline cranks, Hutch pedals (already bitten my shins) and added an Odyssey detangler...everything I had and loved on the last Haro
Since then I've felt dirty; couldn't find an affordable Haro master (sorry but I do love them!) but hope to redeem myself by having bought a rust bucket (think it's a early Mongoose Villain) to do up and play with as well.
So that's my story, and this is me on the PK in the sun:
Had a laugh, can actually do a lot more than I thought I would be capable of but I'm so rusty and clumsy it'll be a while before I venture out of the garden for more than a ride in the park with Poops!
Anyways, that was longer than anticipated!
I'll mostly be browsing for inspiration (you guys have some amazing bikes!), and I sincerely doubt the [whatever it is] I've bought will be the last of it so you can expect a load of daft/random questions from me!
Be gentle, I have a lot to catch up on.
