Moots

Moots is a pretty cool little cult outfit that invented the softtail concept. And until recently, still implemented it in what I thought was the best way. But now they've got a SID shock option, which is really pretty dumb. [edit] moots must be awesome, because they got rid of the SID shock on the softtails and wenrt back to the simple shock they had before. could they be the best bikes in the world? yes they could...

Psychlo X - Imagine the ride this bike has; titanium frame and inch of travel in the back. It must be nice to be rich.

YBBeat - If this isn't one of the nicest bikes I've even seen...

Mongoose

Mongoose is a company that went from having John Tomac race their titanium (actually a Merlin) bike, to selling bikes at Costco. Now I guess they're not all that bad, they still have titanium bikes, and still have superhero XC racers (Steve Larsen), but they'll always be tarnished by that somewhat.


NX 8.1 - I don't know what it is about Mongoose, but they haven't made a good looking bike in about 5 years. Sure there's more effort put into the finish on this bike than most, but it still looks like a department store bike. The Kore stem, goofy Tioga saddle, and really cheap cranks don't help much either.


NX 9.5 - This could well be a good bike. But it sure doesn't look like one.

Miyata

Miyata was a big player back in the day. They made their own tubesets, had the first DH world champion in Greg Herbold, and some fairly cool bikes. However, I think they just fell behind the times - never really got modern like pretty much everybody else did. And for some reason, I could never find any of the top-end ones here in Edmonton.



Elevation 12,000 - This bike really doesn't look all that different from a Jamis or a Rocky, but it must not have ridden as well. I think weight was a problem for starters, also, the pivot on the seat stays was never as active as the "Horst" pivot. And finally, I just don't think bonding carbon tubes to aluminum lugs was all that great an idea.

Merlin

Merlin was one of the first companies to really make titanium work as a frame material. Most titanium bikes from 1988 to 1992 were either Merlins or Litespeeds. They had a tremdous aura of mystery about them too, bike magazine would do stories about all the test projects they had, most of which were the product of Rob Vandermark's imagination. Rob's work can now be had from Seven Cycles.


Mountain - This looks like a fairly old frame, but titanium is pretty ageless, so expect to see them changing hands for lots on money well into the future.


XLM - A very nice Extra-Light Mountain that TeamCow spotted down in Canmore. I wouldn't be surprised if this bike was 21 pounds. And it's painfully expensive too.


Fat Beat - A couple of East Coast companies have tried Cannondale's HeadShok system, to poor results. This bike really looks wrong.

McMahon

McMahon is another titanium pioneer that made impossible expensive frames back in the day. They were also making their own suspension forks well after Rock Shox and Manitou made it rather pointless to do so.




Titanium - I got this great pic from a guy on MTBR, but I've lost his address, so he'll probably never see this. Oh well, it's a damn nice bike...

Marin

Marin is named for the county where mountain biking supposedly started. They've been in the production game for a long time, and seem to be still going strong today. [edit] after all these years, i'm quite surprised how sparse my marin entry was. they made some very nice steel and some of the first titanium bikes. but like old fishers, you just don't see any of them around.



Juniper Trail - This is a nice looking hardtail - white is always a good color choice.


Team - Marin has been quietly building some pretty nice bikes. I really like their new FS frame, and this hardtail is very nice. It's got that really cool Columbus tube set with some really weird tube shapes.

Mantis

At one time, Mantis was the ultimate cult bike. It had all the ingredients; eccentric founder that made bikes sporadically, cutting edge designs, mythical performace. MBA editor Richard Cunningham started Mantis, but eventually sold the operation. Now I think they're out of business.



Pro-Floater - This Pro-Floater is from the post Cunnigham Mantis, and you can tell by the square section tubing in the rear section. An excellent bike with minimal travel (by today's standards).



Valkyrie - I only vaguely recognize this name. But it sure is a beauty hey? Gotta love those 80's bikes!!

Manitou

Manitou's Doug Bradbury is a pioneer. One of the first to make aluminum work, and to push against the standards inherited from the roadbike world. He also was right behind Paul Turner's Rock Shox. Manitou frames are no longer made, though Bradbury works with John Tomac, so the Tomac hardtail is probably the modern equivalent of the Manitou hardtail.

HT - This pre-Answer Manitou is an important bike in the mountain bike world. This bike was most likely the inspiration for Easton's Elite tubeset, and therefore, the ancestor for nearly all current aluminum bikes. This frame (circa 1992) was way ahead of it's time - externally worked headtube, gussets on the top and down tube, square section rear-end, and the rear triangle was offset such that the rear wheel had no dish - Something that is now accomplished with offset rims.

And of course the fork; if you have an SX on your bike, this is it's great, great, great grand-daddy.

HT - A very nice, late-model Answer/Manitou Hardtail. Outstanding bike. It has a Jack-in-the-Box head attached to the seatstays somehow. Seems like a strange place for a mojo.



HT - This Manitou hardtail could sure use a better fork. Though it probably wouldn't climb so great with even an 80mm fork on it - the downside to so many great, older frames.




DH - This is what passed for a DH bike in about 1992. How do I know that? Because it says so right on the chainstay. About 2 inches of travel up front, and supposedly the same in the rear - but look at the wear on the rear stanchions, it could be even less. Right now, 2 inches isn't even an XC full suspension bike, but remember that a DH bike two years before this was a rigid hardtail with a Tioga disc wheel on the rear.


FS - This is the fully suspended Answer/Manitou frame. Just slap a fork on the back, you'll be fine! I'll bet it's on par with today's softtail bikes, for ride quality, but a bit heavier - probably make a decent race bike.

Litespeed

Litespeed is out of Tennessee and go way back in the history of titanium mountain bikes. Back in the day, probably 80% of the titanium frames out there were either made by Litespeed or Merlin - what it took to build one was pretty different from steel and aluminum, so only a couple companies could make them. Of course now, their much more common, but Litespeeds are still some of the best.



Obed - Litespeed has tried so many different rear suspension designs it would make your head spin. And none of them has really been good. Going with the AMP strut-style rear end seemed like a good idea, but it's so out of fashion now...




Ocoee - This is indeed a bizarre machine. The fork is weird enough on it's own, but then there's blue chainrings, and those cranks, I have no idea what they are. Or what they used to be before somebody with a drill-press got to them.



Unicoi - You can put Panaracers on anything and I'll like it... Seriously though, this Unicoi is outstanding, Marzocchi, Dean stem and I think Rhino cranks - very nice.


Tellico - As is having a CX bike isn't cool enough, imagine having a Litespeed CX bike. Top marks for the unusual set-up - XT brake/shifter pods instead of road STI levers. The road levers are damn expensive, plus the XT's are V-brake compatible. Serfas grips are a good choice too. [edit] after all these years, i see the truth; this is goofy. lose the WTB dirt drops and get some proper STI levers please.


Tanasi - Another Litespeed hardtail from their bewildering array of names. Whatever they're called, they're amazing bikes.

Lenz

I think Lenz (the man) is European, but I really don't know - their operation is centered in Colorado though. Starting with a DH bike, they've now grown to cover the full spectrum of "extreme" bikes - DH, freeride, and dual slalom. Lenz seems to favour the bottom bracket centered lower pivot, which has been problematic for other companies out there.



Pro Descender - The Lenz is one of the most moto-looking bikes out there. The swingarm really reminds me of a 250cc MX bike. And it's great to see somebody bringing back the late-80's practice of putting a sticker on every part on the bike...