Half the stuff in this video is the same stuff that would have been on many teenagers wish lists in the 90's, including mine! Always dreamed of building a klein mantra (the carbon one, with a set of carbon girvin crosslinks and spinergy wheels of course!), and was lucky enough to be invited to a test ride of an early version of what became the PRST1.
I had similar pedals on my old Onza T-Pro in the early 2000s and still have scars dotted all over my shins and knees! Thankfully things have improved a lot since then
Good call - I was eating dinner and watching and forgot till now to chime in - the original shinburgers were cnc machined pedals with a slight concave and the black and veggie burger were cast versions with the veg burger being machined out for lighter weight Fun fact - they all feature bottle openers!!
That may happen within about 3 years. I found the Trust Message on Amazon, so the SECOND I can afford to, I am buying an alloy frame, and that fork. I already have enough parts to swap over from my current bike. I can guarantee several people are already starting to race on them.
Well, linkage forks don't have chance of winning races unless they've got enough budget to compete with big boys (Rockshox and Fox) on sponsoring top athletes and we all know that's not going to happen until those big boys make linkage forks. That's not to say linkage forks would win races anyhow but they might, maybe well get to see at some point. Somehow people seem not to understand that sponsored riders don't use what they think is best, they use what their sponsors want them to use. Ofc many times those products are tweaked a lot to suit the rider even if they seem like a product you could buy.
We're in times of super quality, which is great. But I remember the adventurous times of the 90's. I remember seeing the Slingshot for the first time when I was at the Cambria bike shop when they were still in a tiny shop in Cambria. It really was a time of exploration.
I think the AMP were a good candidate for your list. It has a linkage fork and the Horst-Link in the back. And there is a interesting story of Horst Leitner.
You are correct, GCN did a video on Lauf's headquarter and they emphasize that. And on that note their first fork as a 29er fork made for XC mountain bikes, not the gravel one.
What about AMP Research? I had a set of their F3-XC linkage forks back in the day .... crazy light for the time and worked really really well. Worst part of owning them was having to ship them to USA and back for servicing work, lol.
The weirdest bike I ever seen personally was a 2WD bike someone I met in the mid 90's had. It used a flex shaft from the rear wheel to the front wheel, but otherwise just looked like a regular 90's hardtail.
andrew laister I moved on to a 46 and now have a G-170, it’s very odd now going back to the Preston after that! Anyone would think I have a favourite brand 😝
There are two things ;) One: Carbon fiber leaf springs behave a bi different than steel, they can be designed with some dampening, that is why it is not always necessary to have a damper combined Two: I personally love Klein Mantra ;) it is not the greatest suspension, but the point there was: You sit, You have it super plush BUT the way you sit it makes the suspension compress when You push on the pedals, so when You really want to push (like going uphill) You get up and get 100% hardtail. That is what nowadays done by switching the damper off... In my opinion quite clever ;)
That 36" monster if run on the largest commercially available sprocket (58t, there might be bigger but I can't find it if it exists) and the smallest commercially available cog (8t, produced by Profile) would, if pedalled at 60rpm (1 crank a second), be doing 46.56mph (74.93km/h). That's a crazy beast.
Few odd shots missing. Cannondale lefty fork. GT's anti sag pedel hub that was a engineer masterpiece. A newer version of the Brooklyn linkbike is a freak in looks but a solid bike none the less. Specialized big-hit that came stock with 24" rear and 26" front wheel where 3rd party sold a 26" modkit to run a 26" on the rear aswell. Thats my two cents for contribution.
You need to look at the Mattel V-rroom Bicycle. It was a children's one speed bicycle, pre-bmx, that had rear spring shocks and the pivot up at the head tube. It was hard as hell to ride up a hill. The V-rroom motor was just a sound effect system. It only made the motor cycle sound. It was from Mattel and it was just a toy.
I took a test ride on the Whyte PRST-1 at the Sea Otter back in 2002. That front suspension worked amazingly well. It just gobbled up cross ruts that would have spit off the rider on a telescopic fork. Really wish I could have lived with one for long enough to dial in the spring rate and damping, explore it's limits and come to trust it completely. The back end (just a single-pivot type) wasn't at the same level, but a bike with that front grafted on to an Intense or Turner Horst-link rear would have been incredible.
Back in the 1990's, I rode a Klein Mantra (the yellow bike w/ the unified rear, and manitou fork) on trails on and near Winter Park, CO. The bike actually pedaled marvelously, exactly like you'd want a 'hardtail' with a little give in the rear. It also climbed especially well - probably it's best quality (especially in the mountains). As you can imagine, the great ride qualities I've described immediately went out the window when pointing the front tire downhill. On longer descents, this bike would beat the crap out of your legs - it got so bad that I'd find myself taking my feet off the pedals, and descend with no feet, just to give my legs a break from the relentless beating (at least the shock worked!)......Glad I got to actually thrash one of these bizarre bikes for a bit, and as I look back from today, I marvel at how bikes of today are literally a quantum level above, in all aspects of performance, than the early days machines......We are truly in the golden age of mtb, right now. Enjoy it folks!
First time watcher. Instant subscriber. Awesome channel! You missed the "Upside-down-bouncy-bike" I made in 1996 in my fathers garage in Eastern Passage Nova-Scotia Canada.
Great to see the WHYTE PRESTON I had one and it weighed in at 28lbs it was actually toooo good you felt like you were riding a very light sofa. Sold it and got an early Orange Patriot which weigned 36lbs with triple clamp forks and that was awesome downhill
FYI, Joe from Brooklyn Machine Works is still making bikes today. I own one of his bikes - their track bike known as the Gangsta - and yes Doddy, they are practically bombproof, but now a lot lighter.
A brand with a lot of history and a great story. They are incredibly collectable and parts go for a lot of money on that big online auction website! Did you hear about the BMW X Supreme bike selling for over $47k last year? 😳
@@gmbntech Yes I did Doddy. And yes I know, their stuff on eBay is ridiculously overpriced. BMW pedals for $1250? That's absurd!! FWIW, I get offers for my current Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta Track V2 at least once a week. One was as high as 4 grand. Nope. She's not going anywhere.
We walked into a bike shop to buy bikes for my wife and myself in the early 2000s. Being a vintage motocross fan and not into push bikes at all i was shocked that all the rear suspension designs were ripped off the major motocross brands of the early 80s. I was pointing to a rear suspension setup and talking to my wife about it when the salesman came over and started telling us how brilliant this rear suspension was. I pointed out it was a 20 year old design, had a falling rate, never really worked that well and the manufacturer would abandon it soon, which they did. The brooklyn in this video from 1997 looks like a yamaha monocross design from the early 70s, the Lawill leader fork looks like something you would see on a cub from the 60s, why is MTB tech so far behind.
Had a Whyte PRST-1....crashed it harder than Windows 95 whilst mesmerising over the fork linkage on a trail at Afan Argoed when I should have been looking where I was going. Capable bike though.
I'm fairly new to the MTB world and I'm trying to learn as much information that I can. @1:19 Doddy said "Now you might also have noticed it's got an incredibly high rear pivot on there and there's no idler wheel with the chain going over that and know what that means don't you"? made it sound like he was about to explain it, only he didn't. Can anybody else explain what happens when a Bike has a high pivot but no idler wheel?
I want to stand up for the Slingshot. I rode one on a fairly tough course and found it to be a very good climber, a decent dual suspension bike, and handled very well. The climbing was a unique inch worm action with very good results. Always regretted not buying one.
My 1992 Kirk Revolution magnesium framed experiment was freaky enough for me... the lateral flex at the BB/headtube when you got out the saddle was frightening....
I've had a few old Klein bikes including a couple Mantras. The worst thing about them wasn't that the suspension stopped working when out of the saddle, that I could deal with. The worst was how it would fold up and shorten its wheelbase when using front brakes!
Those style bikes basically gave no suspension at the pedals. Riding off the saddle over bumps was harsher than a hard tail because the weight and flex dampens the bumps to the feet somewhat, but these pivoted the bump right to your feet
That Whyte linkage fork has benefits in that shock. Don't like Fox Floats?* chuck in the shock of your choice without changing the geometry. *Who actually dislikes Fox Floats? Are they on crack?
There is still dozens out there to mention. So will we be seeing part 2 coming soon? Love to see KHS Dominatrix, Haro Sonix and Rotec RL9 in this line up.
I got out of the bike industry in 1993, I didn't come back till almost 2003. Honestly.. That was ten years I am glad I missed. Even from 2003 to about 2007 it was a bit retarded as well.
What about the muddy fox rock n roll? I never owned one but a mate of mine had the frame stored in his granny's....he wanted to build it back up with modern parts (20 years ago) shimano lx v brakes eventually moving to hope... xt drive train rockshox judy forks trans x bars and stem ..it was at that moment I found out how mountain bikes healed the soul...at the same time we discovered Mbuk magazine.....love you guys..... dan and Oliver cardiff
Im looking at my prst1 right now. Its brakes need seeing too but we are in lockdown so it will hav too wait. Not rode it for years but i just cant get rid of it. I loved being asked about it when out on the trails around rivington pike
I would love one of the Trust forks on my Chromag Rootdown. I suspect that a linkage fork would be amazing on a hardtail, since your traction and control is even more heavily reliant on the front wheel suspension than on a full sus. With the back wheel naturally bouncing around a bit more, you really want that front wheel glued to the ground. Plus, my bike is green, and the Trust fork would make it look like a praying mantis on the hunt
Im really considering getting myself Lauf TR fork next year. I kinda like the concept, the price holds me back. I did not had chance to try one, and it's a big money to give for something I might not absolutely like on the trail.
I this times it was super awesome to see in catalogs what is new and what happens. Now it looks the same sounds the same has the same price tags... The Bike world is really boring like insta channels.
I have ridden the Muddy Fox. It was not good. You said it went on sale but as I understood it only a few prototype exist though I may have been misinformed. Also ridden the Klein. Again not too my liking but then I did have a Stumpjumper FS Pro and did not even find that anywhere near as good as a hardtail.
The Trust Performance Message is available on Amazon.com for $1,915. A bit pricey, but honestly, I wanna put it on the $200 alloy frame I'm lookin at. Ive already got a bike with parts I can just swap on over, but without a tapered headset. Why not just buy a frame for a 150mm linkage fork?
