I guess I was an early teenager at the time and it was the cool thing to have, like the best thing besides actually having suspension. I thought it seemed sorta gimmicky, but whatever. This kid's parents had mad cash, and he had an oldschool Rockshox elastomer fork complete with flex stem on his bike. He was talking about how awesome and plush this downhill bomber machine was, and decided to prove it to me. He rode off a culvert that was perhaps 18 inches tall, and didn't distribute his weight well. The front fork absorbed some of the motion, and then the stem loaded up and sprung him off, face planting him into the ground. I laughed. Funny to think how far suspension and mountain bikes have come. I had an old Roadmaster steel 10 speed, with a bald front tire and super knobby monster truck rear tire that my dad put on. U-brakes that didn't stop worth a damn, plastic flat pedals, and gears that you were better off just not shifting.
That's how I learned to ride, and I think I had just as much fun then as I do now after spending several thousand on various go fast parts.
That's how I learned to ride, and I think I had just as much fun then as I do now after spending several thousand on various go fast parts.
