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Posted: 4/25/2024 12:13:35 PM EDT
They were truly like mobile Lego sets. Endless possibilities for “customization”. Mine was a Blue Max (Mongoose) frame with Shimano pedals, Oakley grips, Z-rims, and whatever the best handlebar neck was. Can’t remember what it was called. Blue and white color scheme. It was crazy how many different ways you could make it “yours”. Many good times and miles went on that bike until some POS thieves stole it.
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Quoted: They were truly like mobile Lego sets. Endless possibilities for “customization”. Mine was a Blue Max (Mongoose) frame with Shimano pedals, Oakley grips, Z-rims, and whatever the best handlebar neck was. Can’t remember what it was called. Blue and white color scheme. It was crazy how many different ways you could make it “yours”. Many good times and miles went on that bike until some POS thieves stole it. View Quote Blue and white GT. Mine was stolen also. Think that will be the most common theme in this thread. |
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I would've killed for something like that as a kid. I had a thrift store girls huffy, was the best my parents could afford at the time.
Rode the absolute shit out of it anyway, what else was I going to do? |
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I also had an OG Mongoose (I think Motomag? it had those waffle wheels) that I put some parts on, I no longer remember the names but I know I swapped the handgrips, the seat, the pedals/crank/chain, and a few other things.
I sold it to another younger kid on my street when I was in high school, and someone stole it from that kid. I was told the bike was recovered a few days later from "the bad part of town" where some kid had taken it apart and was rattlecanning it black in his backyard when the po po found it and him. |
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My little brother’s was the same frame with the super popular mag wheels, the laid back seat post, Mushroom grips, and those damned Bear Trap pedals. Those things were a menace lol. His was a yellow/black color scheme. Also stolen. Shitbag thieves.
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My folks got me an Otasco Magnum....
It was unusual in that it was a two speed. So I could take off faster than my friends, shift and leave them easy. I was jealous of the Schwinn Predators and others with perfect stack dime welds, but mine wound up being better for daily kid use. To and from school and buddies houses, and home when the streetlights came on. Then I got one of the first Mountain bikes in town during junior high, and it was a Peugeot 18 speed, and I wAS A SPEED FREAK. |
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I had a Diamondback Silver Streak with Skyway mag wheels, Redline handlebar gooseneck, Skyway handlebars, upgraded cranks (can’t remember the term - 1 piece?), upgraded bearclaw footpedals, upgraded seat post, and…. I think that’s it.
My Grandpa would buy me just about anything. :) |
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Had a Mongoose first, then GT & finally a Hutch. GT was my favorite… Attached File
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I had a chrome GT that my neighbor gave me for xmas in the mid 90s. Like a dumbass I left it in the yard one night and it was gone the next morning
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Black and yellow Huffy Pro Thunder with the cheese grater wheels...............great bike
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Chromed chro-moly Schwinn scrambler frame (serial: ER500636)
Skyway Tuff II mags (black) I forget what the forks/bars/pedals were Trickest part: Carbon graphite saddle/post (post had flex). All my friends were jealous of that saddle/post Left it with my nephews in the early 90s and lost track of it after that. |
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Mongoose looptail FTMFW!
I had a 97' Expert Pro. Blue that year. Complete with Lizard Skins. Brotherbhad a matching 96' which was red. |
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I started a little earlier in the BMX craze.
Back then we just stripped down regular boys bikes, had someone’s dad with a welder weld in a crossbar on the handlebars, re-lace the wheels with heavy gage spokes, and fit knobby tires. That era only lasted a few years before Mongoose, Stroker, Little John, Ashtabula, etc. began making purpose built bikes and components. |
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GT X-Games, circa 1999. Had that for when I wanted to look cool around the neighborhood with my friends. I had a nice Canondale for real rides.
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Quoted: I had a chrome GT that my neighbor gave me for xmas in the mid 90s. Like a dumbass I left it in the yard one night and it was gone the next morning View Quote It was neat before the thieves got bad to see a pile of ten bikes laid out in the front yard of a house. That’s where all the gang was eating lunch lol. |
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We lived in a small town north of Dallas. There was only one bike shop for the area unless you went to Dallas. Our bike shop specialized in custom orders, including Mongoose. The first time I saw one of those, I was in heaven. Mongoose fever swept though the area around 1977? The older boys built a full blown race track on an undeveloped street complete with the giant ramp thing for doing "table tops?"
Mine like the others was a mix of a chrome Mongoose frame, Supergoose forks and black Skyway mags. Then the shit really hit the fan with Redline, Kuwahara, GT etc. By the time those bad boys hit our area I was growing out of it, but I miss that time. I will not give up my GT mountain bike. |
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They still are.
Kid's just don't care like they did. It's easier to be an indoor kid now than the 80s. I put handbrake on my Kid's 16". She has a 24" "Mongoose" now, but it's Pacific bike or whatever they are now. |
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I had an aqua gt pro performance. I would stay outside all night under the street light practicing. Had pk ripper and a wore out hutch too. Right now I have a 1986 gt performer I bought nostalgically 10 years ago. Bearings need replacing but in decent shape.
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I had a SE Racing PK Ripper with Landing Gear forks. Redline 3 pc cranks and Uniseat. Blue trim
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Quoted: I had a Haro Sport freestyle bike I was a bad ass Like this one https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/118035/1000010907-3197527.jpg View Quote I was in the minority with my racing oriented build lol. Most of the kids went the freestyle route. I smoked their asses on the race track in the woods though. |
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My cousin sold his Haro last year for $1700 and it needed a little work (needed new cranks, bearings, etc). One of the green competition bikes, I can't recall the model. I had a Huffy (the "motocross" style black and green model with the thick padded seat and crappy coil springs on it, motocross style fender, etc.; it definitely wasn't what I'd asked for); I'm pretty sure that heavy beast ended up on the trash as I abused it and kept breaking parts.
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I had a Redline PL20, w/ Flight Cranks and Hutch bear trap pedals. I’m sure I still have scars from those damn things.
Picture is similar to mine Attached File |
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GT, Haro, Mongoose,...
We were constantly swapping and upgrading parts. No idea what ever became of the stuff piled in the garage. Best looking frame I ever had was a Raleigh. The welds and chrome were beautiful. I traded a Crossman air rifle for it but never got around to building the bike. |
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Quoted: I still have what’s left of my 1977 Yamaha Moto-Bike. It’s been through several different configurations since ‘77.https://i.postimg.cc/j5W7VwxL/0-A6-B381-A-E850-4-E9-E-9-DE3-D2-E394-F26948.jpg View Quote I still have my 1976 also, even have the owners manual that came with it. (yours looks to be in better shape than mine) |
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Still wish I had mine but was stolen.
From what I remember since I built it myself. Kastan Pro xl DK headset Powerline bars Brand X Ti forks Profile blue hubs w blue nipples Rims that had flames on them Redline 2 piece crank Crupi pedals shimano v brakes |
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I didn't have a primo name bike, I had a Schwinn that was my first real bike that got endlessly upgraded with parts.
What did they call the composite mags everyone had... tough wheels or something like that? |
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I had a friend that had a polished CW with blue parts and stuff... probably the sweetest ride I was around..
We were kinda poors |
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Still have a Dyno/GT built up with period correct parts for ~99-2000ish. Should tear it all down and refresh it just because...
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My last BMX bike was a Candy Apple Blue Hutch TrickStar. While I was away at college my mom gave it away to a friend of my younger brothers who lived in section 8 housing. Never saw it again.
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I've still got a mid-80s Chrome Mongoose Expert on newer Skyway mags but it has seen better days with surface rust at the joints. I don't think it's worth having it rechromed since the rest of it isn't original.
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I had a Matthews Mono Shock for a while-what a heavy, inefficient pile of shit. I replaced the shock with a 1x1 square tube- no fix for the "beam" fork though- flexed like a noodle.
I traded it in for a Panda ProAm......what a difference. My folks sold it at a garage sale after I moved out. |
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It wasn't just BMX. Many bikes, especially Schwinn, could be customized as far as one wanted to go. All kinds of Schwinn and aftermarket parts were available. I ended up with something much different than it started out.
Always wondered about something. How strong were the Z-Mag plastic wheels? |
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1982 ish....I had a PK Ripper and I was for a short time, King Ding-A-Ling.
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Quoted: It wasn't just BMX. Many bikes, especially Schwinn, could be customized as far as one wanted to go. All kinds of Schwinn and aftermarket parts were available. I ended up with something much different than it started out. Always wondered about something. How strong were the Z-Mag plastic wheels? View Quote |
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Man, I always wanted a BMX. I'm 51 and still do. I might do it now since I have a 2 and 5 year old. I still have a few years before they're riding all over the neighborhood.
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Bike name brands really mattered back then.
I had some POS Huffy that I tried to make more like the popular brands, but there was no helping it. I was in the local bike shop often buying parts and tires. I think one day I took my dad in there and said something like "Please... no more bikes from Sears or Toys R Us. If you ever buy another bike, buy me something from here. Anything from here. Everything they have is so much better." I got a blue GT for Christmas. It was an incredible upgrade. |
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I had a Diamondback Silver Streak that got stolen. I then had a GT. I loved the DB, far superior to the GT I had.
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Thank God for the burbs. Our BMX bikes were MX bikes.
Suzuki RM80s and Yamaha YZ80s. |
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