1983 Diamond Ridge Runner

I like the lugged frame and the unique front-pull Suntour SuperBee rear derailleur. In the end the derailleur sucked, because the cable would catch on rocks and branches twisting it into a useless pretzel shape. I was jumping the bike at a local BMX track, and went through 3 forks. What I remember most about the bike, was the beautiful lugs, outline with silver on the black frame. Oh, my knees would always hit the Bull Moose bars. I will always have a special place in my heart for the Ridge Runner, because it was really my first mountain bike. I leaned so much on it, and had so many adventures. It took a lot of abuse/stress, and after two years the frame was trashed. I traded it in for my Cimarron.

1985 Schwinn Cimarron

I liked it because it had 6 cogs in the rear (vs. 5 for my Diamond Back), and Shimano XT parts. The frame was really strong, and it was originally set-up more as an off-road touring bike. They used lugs in the rear triangle of the frame, but then they ovalized and fattened the top and down tubes where they met the head tube, and filet brazed the front. Strong, but a little heavy. I made some modifications that turned it into a great off-road bike, and I only bent the fork once. I traded it in for my Wicked.

1985 Bianchi Road Bike

It was black with a beautiful lugged frame, with red trim. I got a special deal on it, but it was one size to small for me. A great beginner road bike. I later gave it to a past friend of mine in Hungary.

1986 Fat Chance Wicked

After I got my Schwinn, I read a review of the Fat Chance Wicked in MBA - and knew that was my next bike. I also really liked the interview with Chris Chance, I thought he was very knowledgeable and really knew what he wanted his bike to be like. So, after a year I finally had enough money to get it. I think I got it at Bikeology in Huntington Beach, a sweet blue power coat, with a chainstay U-brake. Remember those!! What the fuck were they thinking?!?!? Later in that year, I got in contact with WTB legend Charlie Cunningham and upgraded to WTB parts and a 7 speed freewheel in the back. Even though the WTB brake was mounted under the chainstay, it was such a good brake that even today it is still equal in braking power and feel to the Avid V-brakes. I love it! I still have that bike and the WTB part are like new - a testament to their incredible design and quality.

1987 IronMan Master - The Orange Monster

I got a new $600 dollar road bike for $75. What a deal! I later put Profile bars on it, and would ride from Santa Ana to Irvine to go swimming. A great training road bike. I loved it. Later, I sold it at a swap meet for $200, but wish I had kept it.

1995 Trek OCLV Carbon Pro

This $2000 hardtail dream was part of my payment for selling the Hungarian Trek Distributorship. I ended-up changing all the original parts, except for the front XTR derailleur. This is the bike I am still riding. I am not a light rider, and I ride some really rough and technical trail at a good speed, and this 24 pound bike is dealing with it well. It is such a precise and quick bike, like a knife. I have a Judy that I built up from 95 and 96 parts, and speed springs. It works great on normal XC trails, but I ride with a Geax 2.35 tire and had to put spacers in the fork to keep the tire from hitting the crown. 58mm of travel on the front end, is simply not enough travel for the trails I am riding. I blow through the travel the whole way down Rock-It. Still, I love the handling so much, that putting on a 80mm travel fork would just ruin it. I got my blue Ringle hubs direct from Geoif Ringle, when I went and visited him in N.J. before he sold the company to Sun. A great man, and the hubs are so sweet! I had a flat bar with bar-ends while I had the bike in Hungary, but when my friend Andy came to visit me in Cali, he said flat bars and bar ends are for pussies - especially with the type of trails we have here. So I switch to just downhill bars, and won’t ever go back to pussy bars.

1995 Specialized FSR - The Blue Flame

This was my first full suspension bike. I had it painted by my friend Repa in Hungary with a metallic blue background and red/orange flames coming from all the right places. I raced this bike in the DH World Cup races in Kaprun, Austria in 1995 and 1996. I modified the rear end to get more travel out of it, and it was a good bike for testing parts. I really liked the rear suspension, and felt at the time it was the best I has ridden. I later sold the blue flame to a Hungarian DH rider, who raced it for some time.

1997 Yeti Lawell DH 6

This was my first real downhill bike. John Parker, then owner of Yeti bikes and I became friends, and he cut me a deal on the bike - and he had it specially sized for me. I used this bike to tryout and develop the Maribor World Cup course. I had a Mr. Dirt fork on the front, and it was such a sweet bike. Much better then I was, but it helped me make a great course at Maribor. I didn’t have it long, but I had a lot of fun on it when I did ride it. It was stolen, and everyone in Hungary knows it - I feel sorry for the guy who ended up buying it.

Magellen Crux

This is a Hungarian brand bike, which is actually a great cro-moly hard tail. This is set-up as my city bike in Hungary, and is what I ride when I am there. It is really a great fun bike, and I got a great 80mm Manitou fork up front. A very comfortable bike, and even with street tires is a great ride off-road. I rode it in the 50km Bukk Marathon this summer.

2000 Dyno Tiki God Bike

A most wonderful Birthday gift from the magnificent and incredible Paula. It is a great bike for riding the bike trail at the beach. The definition of cool and I loved riding it from Newport to Huntington Beach pier.

BIKE TOYS

For some strange reason, my bikes have always been decorated with stickers and bike toys. It’s a rebel karma kinda thang, and you I really don’t care what you think about it. I have always felt that most mountain bikers just take things far too seriously. Stickers and bike toys are my way of saying, "Hey, this is for FUN!"

My first bike toy was a large plastic Bart Simpson that usually hung up side down at the front of my bike. I got Bart in 1990, and we had many adventures together. Later I had a plastic Snoopy riding a bike. Snoopy usually was strapped to my top tube. Bart was my rebel-mischievous symbol, and Snoopy was my fun-good symbol. Later, I got a plastic Buzz Lightyear for my downhill bike, and that was my anything-is-possible symbol. Unfortunately, Snoopy and Buzz were taken from me by some really cruel and mean people. Ah, Karma...

I held on to Bart till 2002, when one day riding in Aliso Woods, he broke free from the bike on a technical trail, and even though I went back to look for him - poor Bart was gone. It was very sad for me. So, I got a big stuffed Mike, from Monsters Inc. Kind of my single-sight/narrow focus symbol, a temporary bike toy till...

I found Radioactive Man (a Bart Persona) at a mall in Owensburo, KY. So now the Radioactive capped superhero is now flying on the front of my bike.

THE FUTURE

My current rig - the Trek OCLV Carbon Pro - is such a sweet thang that I will always keep it. One of the best "single-track green forests like back East or in Europe" bikes. Unfortunately, for the trails that I am now riding, 58mm of front travel and a rigid rear end is a little painful. It is so rough, and the bike is so taxed at the speeds I ride a lot of it (add to that my extra weight) that I am really afraid I will brake it. So, a full-suspension bike is in my future.

I told myself that I could get a new bike when I meet two conditions. First, I had to have the money for it - and even at the prices I can get, that is still a lot of money. Second, I had to loose 15 kg (30 lbs) - which I have now dropped half of it in the last 2 months. So, to help motivate myself I have put together my future bike.

Frame

I really want a cross-country bike, and 100mm front and rear is my game plan. I am also looking for a frame that weighs 2.5 - 3 kg (5-6 lbs), uses the 4 bar linkage system designed by Horst Leitner for Specialized. This pretty much narrowed the selection down to: 1) Specialized M5, 2) Specialized M4, 3) Intense Tracer and last 4) Yeti ASR.

I really like the Tracer the best, but I pedal like a duck and my heals hit the wide seat stays. I have a special place in my heart for Yeti, and the ASR is a sweet and beautiful bike but I think the Specialized suspension works just a little bit better. So, I have pretty much decided that The Specialized M5 or M4 will be my next frame. I like the light weight of the M5, but I think the M4 is a stronger frame and that might be better for me. Still, I am thinking about it – write me if you have an opinion.