HAMMERING priceless retro MTBs off-road. Will they survive?

[@oldshovel]

Love it. Most of these bikes I never see over here in North America. Awesome 🙌

[@red_dread]

I feel like a traitor for loving my Californian build more than the ones from down the road in Nottingham. But it is so good! Any time you're this side of the Atlantic, give us a shout. I have plenty of spares (including S-Works Dentist Bikes) you'd be welcome to ride with us.

[@christianluff]

Wow, this is big pimpin’ indeed. Vintage MTB royalty up in here. Superb video as always. Loving your attention to detail, hating my lazy approach of buying non period cheapo replacement parts :( x

[@JarosawTabor]

I always watch your videos with such envy for Klein / Marin / GT bikes and Schwinns:P It's so unfair hahahaha compared to i.eg. Poland.

[@billjameson1254]

Love this vid! Also love your restorations.

[@red_dread]

Thanks, stay tuned for plenty more in the pipeline.

[@JDWLW0]

Great to see so many classics ridden as they were intended. I always loved the yellow Orange Clockwork too. Almost bought one a few years back and regret it now.

[@red_dread]

I'm reliably told (by its owner) that the lemon colourway is incredibly rare. I personally love it, but I always was a sucker for neon yellow.

[@markk527]

Cool. I just started organizing a monthly vintage MTB group ride in Stuttgart, Germany. I hope we will see some similar nice bikes here.

[@red_dread]

Will you be sharing pics or videos anywhere online? I'd love to see them if so.

[@markk527]

@@red_dread sure. I'll send you a link after our next ride.

[@MrBird95]

Hey, I am from Stuttgart, is there any way of finding the group somewhere on Strava or similar?

[@markk527]

@@MrBird95 It seems that a link is detected as Spam. turmtrailsclassic rf gd separated by a dot schould do the trick.

[@markk527]

@@MrBird95 sorry I can't post a link. It is filtered, because YT thinks it's spam. Start is October 25th 6 pm at the TV Tower parking lot.

[@Jackerhack15]

Thanks for this video. Simply put, it just made me feel happy.

[@red_dread]

There are few greater joys than playing on bikes in the woods. Especially when you're overtaking e-bikes on a piece of 35-yr-old scaffolding.

[@Jackerhack15]

Hahaha scaffolding...superb. Here in Italy they refer to any old, heavy bikes as "cancelli" (gates). I've always quite liked that analogy.

[@red_dread]

Gates, bedsteads, tea-trolleys, steamrollers, anvils... I've ridden them all (and overtaken e-bikes)

[@10xZ00M]

Happy.....and sad, as I sold my Dawes Ascent (1990) just cos I wasn't using it! 😢

[@banzaigtti]

Bravo! Masterpiece theatre for retro MTB for sure! Unmatched on KZbin.

[@red_dread]

I agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly.

[@CleverSmart123]

Such cool bikes and fun tour!!

[@brendonoid6133]

This is the most entertaining video in your oeuvre. Thanks.

[@red_dread]

Thanks, it's one of my favourites too. Was a classic weekend, I hate not being able to do them more often but will persevere.

[@Speedscholars]

Absolutely love these videos! Raleigh Pro is a definite winner but the colour of your Marin is superb.

[@red_dread]

There’s no way my Marin would beat the Dyna-Tech Pro in any beauty pageant, but it certainly goes a lot faster!

[@leerichy6489]

I enjoyed it the first showing at 5 mins long, now the full film is even better 😅. I think it's great and I hope to see more like this. Well done you made me smile with this one.

[@red_dread]

Ugh, I'm sad anyone witnessed that corrupted file I uploaded in a hurry. I'm considering suing Apple. Glad the finished film is going down well.

[@tmayberry7559]

Dread it was a nice bit of film, a superb collection of bikes ( real ones not the trendy crap of today 😡😡) A superb bit of riding and of course none of them were a dogs breakfast 😊 Now it's time for a bit of cake and some savory sausage.😊 1000 cheers from across the pond

[@Bandyrobs1]

Great video as usual. Takes me back to my youth but wish I had kept all my old bikes. Just a ‘96 Scott Team which I know wouldn’t even make it to your channel but hey..I love it. Look forward to the next one.

[@red_dread]

I don't know why I'm so weirdly biased against bikes post-95. I have loads, but I just get more excited about the older stuff. I guess we all get nostalgic for whatever period our own childhoods fell into, and my personal obsession was at its most intense from '88-'95. Even though it was 98 onwards when I was working in bike shops and going well racing my S-Works M4. So I'll have to do a closer look at some of those "ugly era" late 90s bikes at some point!

[@Bandyrobs1]

@@red_dread Love the channel by the way.

[@dijevanja5039]

The brake squeek in the last second...priceless 😃

[@red_dread]

You're the first person to have noticed it! It was real, not dubbed in, and the perfect ending I thought.

[@samblenkharn8099]

I went to Kirroughtree about twenty years ago when trail centres were just becoming more numerous. Nice spot. Fair play to you all for taking those treasures out and getting some mud on the cogs and grit in the cables. Some fab bikes amongst that lot.

[@red_dread]

Kirroughtree is fabulous, one of the best. It was quiet when we were there, but the bikes did get some attention.

[@samblenkharn8099]

@@red_dread as is only right and proper

[@MrJasonodonnell]

What a great Video, Disappointed no one got hurt, That Raleigh is such a nice build.

[@red_dread]

Yes, amazing nobody copped an injury really. Next time...

[@jennibristol7720]

Thank you that’s a great end to my first day back at work after a week off :) another enjoyable and knowledgeable video. 😊

[@red_dread]

Got to put this head full of trivial knowledge to some use!

[@BikeShedBoy]

Just had one of my subscribers link me to this video and was a great watch. I was already subscribed, so happy days 👍

[@red_dread]

Thanks, have just subbed to yours too - I'll look forward to the Orange Prestige...

[@jacoblavinder3827]

Oh man the bicycles are awesome but I do love the vintage jerseys very much !!

[@red_dread]

Me too, although I must confess in my case the Team Z gear was modern replica. One of these boys bought the Raleigh skinsuit he once raced in, but mercifully spared us all from seeing it stretched to its limits on camera.

[@platypushatstand]

13:05 Your local chiropractor will love you long time.

[@red_dread]

Keeps me young and flexible. It's like riding a track bike on the trails.

[@74leogambo]

My favourite video so far, love it

[@red_dread]

Thanks, mine too! It might take me a while to come up with a better one I'm afraid.

[@austenmclean7588]

HUGE fan of Orange, especially the Aluminium 'O' having owned one and fully restored it to showroom condition. Those one piece Stalk stem/bars are 😍😍

[@red_dread]

I love the Stalks too, especially the negative-rise one! An insane idea by today's standards, but the aero look is so cool.

[@cosmicwav]

Nice too see the bikes getting dirt. I have to confess I hate getting my bikes full of mud, need to work on that 😂. Such colorfull bikes! lovely era.

[@red_dread]

There's different types of dirt. The black puddles of diesel and brake dust sludge I collect on the daily commute are a blight on my life. But Scottish mud and rain rinses straight off, so there's no excuses!

[@jasoncox5450]

Absolutely stunning bike collection 😛

[@8888swatt]

Brilliant collection. I have a 97 Kona Koa with DH3s, 7spd XT and thumbies. Crud Catcher. It is a bit of a mish-mash of all my favourite bits from the mid 90s but the key point is I have owned all the actual parts used at some point or since new. I love riding it and it is surprisingly good when ridden in a 90s way; the 3x7 drivetrain and air oil forks in particular.

[@red_dread]

Nothing wrong with riding a mish-mash, especially if every part has some historic or nostalgic significance to you. I'm just as much of a fan of some of my "dog's breakfast" builds as I am of my museum pieces. I love riding them all, you're right that you have to have your mind in 90s-mode in order to appreciate them.

[@hughjaars2285]

The Aztec squeal actually made our dog (half setter) look at me with her “that sounds like something I should be chasing” look

[@red_dread]

Aztec squeal delights me. It is something to be cherished. Glad your dog agrees.

[@127ibenedict]

Man I just love this channel. Thanks for showing bikes without the shameless sponsored consumerism to go with it.

[@red_dread]

I doubt anyone would sponsor my videos, I imagine the sarcasm and dad jokes wouldn't do much for brand equity.

[@platypushatstand]

01:22 You forgot to mention that Specialized bottle cage! Mine has done sterling service on numerous MTBs since the 80s. I’m just about to fit my black one to a Ryder Innovation adapter to fit the main frame tube of my Brompton, so I can carry a Zefal Magnum bottle. Also, if the owner is running ceramic rims and I take that to mean ceramic rim brake surfaces and his blocks aren’t ceramic-rim compatible then he may experience many speed-induced NDEs prior to crashing…

[@red_dread]

Two excellent observations. The Specialized bottle cage was a very early object of desire to us as kids, the rider has done very well to source an original. It's in better nick than my equivalent aged Camelbak which disintegrated into a powdery glue on contact with rain. As for the ceramic rims, yes we did know that you need compatible brake blocks, but no we didn't care and just ran the original Suntour XC-Pro ones that came out of the box. On the basis that XC-Pro cantis never work regardless.

[@mechatakoyakisan]

Fun video and commentary is top notch 😂

[@red_dread]

Most kind, I enjoy the documenting almost as much as I enjoy the riding.

[@biscuitdingus]

Love seeing these rides actually get ridden. I know we all have different values in this hobby, but i always feel like its quite a shame to have a super cool vintage bike that just sits around all day. Every so often i take my 1989 muddy fox pathfinder, all original catalogue accessories and all, and send it through my local mtb park. I figure if i crack the wheel disc, i can fix a wheel disc.

[@red_dread]

Oof, you've got the wheel disc? Damn. I'm guessing it won't last forever, but agree it would be criminal to let it turn to dust in some cellar. Or you could sell it for ££££

[@jonmiller4330]

This is a great video. Your US viewers need the diversion. Can we please have a new one soon?

[@red_dread]

Thanks, yes it has been a while. Now it's not quite so freezing out, it's about time I took on another project...

[@Mafacracer]

Great video, agree the Dyna Tech in the classic paint scheme was a deserving winner. The Suntour Xc Pro groupset looked immaculate! Very jealous as I only own a NOS pair of the champagne gold brake levers.

[@red_dread]

This guy has boxes and boxes of NOS XC-Pro, it's about time some of it got ridden! I have the champagne brakes too, you can see them on the red bike. They look and feel stunning, and weigh very little, but they are noticeably less effective than equivalent Shimano.

[@koganmb]

Rode my Bridgestone MB-2 with Manitou 3 and Scott AT-3LF bars the other day. Pretty much thought I was going to die for most of it! But had a great time doing it!

[@red_dread]

I've never ridden those early Manitous but I believe they're not the most effective. I lived on Scott AT-3s for pretty much the whole of the 90s though, loved them. Still got my original bar, albeit suspiciously slightly crooked. The gunmetal paint is horrifically chewed off from over-zealous installation of lever clamps, damn it.

[@TheRampax]

Very good video. It's funny seeing what an aggressive position those old bikes had. You and that Orange guy had almost flat backs, like you were doing a road TT. If I sat on your bike, I think I would need a pilates class before I could reach the bars!

[@red_dread]

I can't believe how many years I spent off-road tottering on what felt like a track bike. It's amazing I didn't crash more. On the other hand, it was a good way to develop skills.

[@MatthewLister]

Mad! The cartel rolling deep, on this one 🤘😎

[@platypushatstand]

03:13 From an engineering standpoint (I have a BTEC HND in Aerospace Engineering) - aluminium does not crack - it catastrophically fails. Hence, all those pictures of kids in MBUK, circa early Easton 70 bars, with missing teeth, bleeding lips/nose/face. Conversely, steel will crack and then the crack ‘propagates’ (engineering term) into a hairline that ‘suggests’ you might want to change said part. I had a mate with an Alu O and full Deore XT (he kept it under his bed), he was track standing outside my window at uni for 45 minutes while we chatted, very impressive. Less impressive when he went to ride away and fell over into a small puddle whilst clipped into spuds, and because he was wearing grey sweat pants, he looked like he just pissed himself, which is what everyone nearly did laughing at his predicament.

[@red_dread]

I'm certainly no materials scientist but I have seen similar observations. Same with Carbon (I'm expecting my early Pace fork to do an OceanGate Titan any day now). An exception seems to be when manufacturers tinkered with the make-up of the alloy, such as introducing ceramics and other fun stuff into the mix. A good example is my alu-based Specialized S-Works M5, which failed in the form of a hairline crack, but didn't catastrophically collapse on me. That, plus their lifetime frame warranty, is a credit to Specialized.

[@Hugo_Rocker]

I live in the US and I remember the day I received a Camelbak pack. Totally made my summer! I also rode Vitoria MTB shoes. Even saved them when the sole began to fall off. I miss them, although today I use adidas shoes. My bike of choice was a Bridgestone MB2. Kept the Suntour gear going for years

[@red_dread]

I wish this part had made it into the film: this was my Camelbak's final ride! It went into the bin after the rainwater mixed with the perished glue and neoprene and turned it into a sticky powdery sludge. Glad it at least made it to 2024 and was documented for history. I think the Vittoria shoes will live another day though.

[@Adversitiv]

Thanks for the content

[@ellipticalsoul]

Those Orange bikes 👌

[@badger67]

Superb 👍

[@johne1956]

Great fun!

[@escgoogle3865]

That vintage Michelin tire has such a distinctive gumwall color.

[@red_dread]

It's stunning isn't it! Would be scary to ride though - a suspicious surface sheen to it, not to mention the strange block shapes.

[@coletrick8748]

That Dyna tech Pro my goodness she’s beautiful

[@jonmiller4330]

Another excellent vid. Thank you. Jealous of the bikes and the fact of an entire cartel of vintage mtb riders. I tried to organize a vintage mtb ride in my corner of the US but it devolved into a guy showing off the automatic weapons in the back of his car.

[@red_dread]

Seems to be the case that whenever you get a group of outdoorsmen together, someone always ends up being really into guns. Perhaps less so over here, but they do still exist.

[@garethclarke7375]

As a Barrovian, Caroline Alexander is a home town hero! Many an hour was spent perusing the full Orange range in Top Mark windsurfing and mountain bike shop. Sadly the bikes I actually bought were the more mundane Carrera Quattro comp GT , full XT though!

[@red_dread]

I came VERY close to buying that Carrera Quattro last year, before the Facebook seller realised what it was and re-listed it at ten times the price. That thing was built under licence by Saracen, had full black XT, and scored 5/5 in the MBUK test. It was no joke. As for Caroline Alexander, what a legend. I saw her race in about '93, she overtook me and left me for dead.

[@garethclarke7375]

@@red_dread I think j remember Barrie Clarke racing it for an MBUK article or similar.That may have been a vulcanising solution induced dream though. Brass rivet saddle , Kona esque splatter paint job. I secretly wanted a kili flyer though.

[@red_dread]

Your memory is similar to mine. Also I suspect the Carrera and the Kili were more closely related than we might have known. I guess the former was Reynolds and the latter was Tange, but might even have been built in the same factory. Would have to check.

[@mattcardarelli]

You are a legend my man. Big fan from Indianapolis you potbelly plutocrat!

[@red_dread]

Thanks for watching, stay tuned for more entertainment from the very highest echelons of the British establishment.

[@waltersobchak7275]

This dude is cool as a fan💯💯

[@madyogi6164]

1:35 This one is nice!

[@JarosawTabor]

Love the video, but why there was a reupload? :) I got interrupted after almost 2 minutes into prev. uploaded movie :)

[@red_dread]

Previous one was corrupted file! Glad you found the real one, sorry you were one of the 32 people that saw it...

[@JarosawTabor]

@@red_dread nah. I was doubling the guilty pleasure of watching a well-structured intro.

[@blairrighton6270]

aah yes, the age old conundrum for the retro mtbr... does it sit around looking purdy or (like me) does it consistently require replacement parts through use. I feel the pain those suffering trying to procure original parts as it's near impossible.... 24/28 hole 26' rims for example!!

[@red_dread]

I think we all have to accept that certain parts are going to end up as ornaments, but you can't take this stuff with you to the grave. It's made to be ridden! If anyone scratches my Zolatone Marin though, there will be fists.

[@8888swatt]

I have a new 28 hole rim in my garage

[@seanie.tturrell6616]

Once again great video….please please please could I ride with you guy on a ride? 🙏

[@red_dread]

We would love to make these rides more regular and have others join us. Sad to say though, even though we are a group of old friends, this crew doesn't get together that often because we live all over Europe and have busy families and jobs. We're on whatsapp daily planning adventures, but it always takes months...

[@cra_55]

6'3" on a 19" frame? I'm 5'10" and 19" frames don't feel big at all. That's some crazy sizing right there.

[@red_dread]

Yes, it's insane. It's because my only frame of reference back then was pictures of pros' bikes in magazines, and the geometry was all low top tubes, long stems and seatposts, and extreme "aero" positions. I was brainwashed into thinking that was what a cool bike ought to look like, so when I got my first bike that actually fit me (the '99 S-Works M4 in size XL) I could never get over how clumsy it looked. Went a lot faster though.

[@cra_55]

@@red_dread I'm too young to have actually witnessed the MTB scene in the 90's but I've always admired the clean look and mechanical simplicity of old bikes, so I got myself an 18.5" '96 Univega Alpina. The first thing that immediately threw me off when I got that bike was that ridiculous cockpit that it came with, 120mm stem and 580mm handlebars with zero rise. The ride home was just pure shoulder torture, so I immediately swapped them out for a more modern cockpit, 80mm stem and a riser 680mm bar. It instantly made the bike 10x better.

[@red_dread]

I'm torn for the same reasons. My modern builds go so much faster, with the newest (S-Works Epic World Cup) by far the fastest of the lot thanks to carbon, 29", dropper post, super wide bars, super stable geometry etc. But these old bikes with the insane aero look just take me back to the pictures of the pros from back in the day. I keep mine as extreme as possible, because looking good has to be number one priority, always.

[@escgoogle3865]

@@red_dread when you are old and slow, looking good shifts to #1. I'm a smidgen smaller than you but bought a 19incher in 96'. Gave it to a friend after way to much back pain on a bikepacking trip.

[@Papieck37]

We are missing Bar-ends in this video... I got the brake-squeal, the clothing, the trails, the rain and the guys... Where are the bar-ends?... I saw 2 bikes with them but come on!!... 😂

[@red_dread]

A point of discussion that has crossed my mind a fair bit lately. This weekend we had some NOS X-Lite and the incredibly rare Team Marin titanium ones, but otherwise I agree it's rather weird to see so few. I might put some stubbies on one or two of my builds for next season.

[@leerichy6489]

​@@red_dreadThe most comfortable bar ends I've used for the past 30 years are the Bontrager race lite magnesium on my Fisher. Really light with a shape and length that doesn't get in the way but gives you lots of hand grip changes. I ride road bikes too and bar ends allow you that same kind of riding on the hoods position that is relaxing to your grip when you want a change. May be no use to you but I just thought I'd say incase.

[@WhiteVaille]

God this is so fucking cool. Big goals to 'upgrade' from my 85 Raleigh USA Elkhorn (tbf, at the moment, I feel the Elkhorn is a good contender for a "forever bike" for me, as it's my first real bike, and the bike that inspired me to learn everything I now know about bikes from, in my full refurbishment of it over the last two months.)

[@donttouchthisatall]

High brow british MTB savagery at it's finest. red_dread never dissapoints. If I only had half his vocabulary to paint a word-picture of my bikes, I'd be beyond blessed :D - One word: amazing!

[@red_dread]

Thank you for your kind words. Delighted to have a creative outlet for my literary pretentiousness!

[@spindlehospital5263]

like heaven 😂 greetings form türkiye as a bike lover

[@red_dread]

It really was a weekend in heaven! Would love to ride Turkey one day.

[@abcdefgh-xf2th]

Top tip or such tyre situations, a bit of ductape wrapped around the pump. It can even double as a makeshift puncture guard.

[@red_dread]

A sensible idea indeed. I actually did have a tyre boot but left it in the van because I didn't want to over-stuff the pockets of my beautiful Team Z jersey. Lesson learned.

[@abcdefgh-xf2th]

@@red_dread I'd say that was perfectly rational decision.

[@scubasteve4093]

This is awesome and hilarious

[@BikeDispatch]

Fantastic. And hilarious. 🙏🤣🇳🇿

[@wchu702]

Mur-rahnns was the original mountain bike company founded in France in the late 70's predating Marins. 😁

[@red_dread]

Tell that to the Americans

[@wchu702]

@@red_dread I had to look up two words today.....blighters and poltroon. I always enjoy the embedded vocabulary lessons in your videos!

[@red_dread]

I do like to add a dash of pretentious literary flourish. Benefits of a classical education, as the baddie in Die Hard once said.

[@keirfarnum6811]

You’re missing the best steel mtb of the 90s: the Fat Chance Yo Eddy.

[@red_dread]

Au contraire, one of the best examples in existence is on this channel. We took it on our Yorkshire gathering, the video is in my archive. "Grellow" colourway with all the Syncros finishing kit and full M900 XTR, in box-fresh condition.

[@richmatthews9344]

Bravo 🎉

[@markturner-smith5309]

I have a 1994 Kona Kileura Love to get involved in your rides, I’m based in Devon

[@red_dread]

I might be restoring a slightly earlier Kilauea quite soon, stay tuned... I'd love to ride Devon one day, but it's not likely any time soon since most Cartel activity is centred on Scotland, and whenever I'm down South it's with hundreds of tiny kids in tow.

[@markturner-smith5309]

That’s good Keep eye on channel, won’t have anything as good as your area being Scotland! Nearest bike park place to be area Haldon Forest nr Exeter not much good off road where I am near Chard.

[@kamoterorl]

Mad props, when I get on a ridged 26er. I feel like I'm going to crash and die. So awkward and uncomfortable. I recently couldn't even give away a few nice bikes from the late 90s. Nobody wanted them. A giant xtc3. A trek carbon stp. Of course they were riden into the ground and needed repairs.

[@red_dread]

I have similar feelings on some of my rigid 26ers, but not all. The Team Marin is astonishingly comfy and fast given the era it came from. My late 90s S-Works is still a delight to ride. But yes, modern technology blows all this old stuff right out of the water!

[@digbysirchickentf2315]

Riding a Flex stem is criminal.

[@red_dread]

It goes faster than yours does!

[@allesiofondressi2602]

No blokes impaled by shoddy old MTB forks! Why did I watch this video?

[@red_dread]

Keep watching and sooner or later it'll happen

[@Speedscholars]

3rd time I’ve watched this 😂 ❤

[@ianscottuk]

You are wrong! I have modern oval chain rings!

[@red_dread]

I'm never wrong. I've talked a lot about those modern oval rings in other videos, but nobody was riding them in that forest on that day!

[@davemoss6976]

The pronunciation of kirroughtree is like kerr- orck- tri. As long as you say tri, not tree you won't seem like a southern numpty..

[@red_dread]

I was born 446.5 miles south of Kirroughtree.