here it is. i don't care what anyone says, but when it comes to the best mountain bike ever made hardtail or full suspension there is no arguement to be had. i raced for schwinn and was one of the lucky few to own one of these. this was my 1998 schwinn homegrown factory pro LTD. there were only about 200 of these ever made and they were full on factory race bikes. fast, stiff, simple and light. retail back then was $4000 and worth every penny. this was the bike.

wow that is nice!!

I'm a big fan of manitou forks and run them on my specialized.

I'm with ya. Schwinn really tried to do it right but it was already to late for them(bankrupt). A very sought after mountain bike. Top notch BID. Nice ride.

I recently scored a 15 in. homegrown for my wife. 97 or 98. Totally stock but like new. SWEET RIDE!

I think I have some new real deal Schwinn Homegrown water bottles if you want to finish off those rides with the final piece. Let me know.

hands down here is my list...

Moots (rigormootis)
Ibis (mojo)
Fat City (YO)
Independent Fabrications
Seven CYCLES
SWorks (not all specialized just SWorks BITD)
Schwinn Homegrown
Lite Speed Obed

(list can go on and on) but all great, but my top three are the ones above.

I ride a 96 Ibis Szazbo. Not claiming it's the best ever, but I think it was certainly one of the best full suspension bikes of it's era. Still rides like a dream today.

The homegrown Schwinns were made by Yeti, were they not?

I love that era mt bike. I have those same forks on my 97 GT LTS, which is the best full suspension bike ever made.

I think FTW made some of the Homegrowns. That would explain the Yeti ties.

I have the bass boat metalflake gold saddle and grips that would match that bike perfectly. I'm guessing you're not going to let it go.

Some were, some weren't. The shop I worked at back then carried Schwinn, but I don't remember exactly how to tell which were Yeti made and which were not.

1994 Bridgestone MB1

I worked at a bike shop with a guy that had an S-Works. Everything was supposedly American made except the tires. Paul's derailleurs, brakes, King headset, etc. It was freakin' sweet.

The parent company that owned Schwinn also owned Yeti. Both companies were sold off in the last bankrupcy sale when Pacific bought the Schwinn name and trademarks. So yes, the Homegrown "Factory" frames were made by Yeti. But they made alot more than 200 per year. The Easton tubed frames were made by the Yeti shop in Durango, Co. FTW was not around at this point so I doubt he laid a torch on any of those frames. Great bikes indeed. I have seen quite a few over the years (maybe a dozen) and over half were broken hanging in shops (I work as a industry sales rep). The production numbers were more that 200 per year. Especially since these frame was made for 3 years maybe 4 based on the paint jobs on the team bikes that I had. That would only be like 66.6 frames a year which is not correct. The support team I raced on got about 20 frames per season so production was much higher since this was a bike in their catalog.

That's HOT. Awesome bike.

I made the mistake of selling my Homegrown a couple years back.

Voodoo Cycles, first "generation"- mid '90's to 2000 - 2001(?) when they were still in Sunnyvale, CA. I have a Bakka (black and green) and the Shango (Aluminum red and silver). The Shango was a BMXers MTB frame - low profile, long toptube, American bb, light, and horizontal dropouts. There was some discrepancy which ones were made in the U.S. They're still strong, killer looking frames.
My other choice would be th GT Karakoram, just a sweet bike/frame. I'd buy one if I found the right one.

I loved my Klein Mantra and I gave it up because I thought the Giant NRS was cooler when it came out... now I miss my Klein!

I don't know all of these bikes, just heard Moots, Litespeed, Sworks.. that sounds good. For me it would be a grey Titanium hardtail frame with regular seat stays (no wishbone), 80 to 100mm forks, with a complete XTR group... or same kind.
There has been thousands and thousands of bikes made, it's hard to say. I also love Cannondale in general, titanium Merlin, Litespeed, Moots. A good friend of mine used to work for Moots and sent me documentation, they are simple just like i love.
In any case, the best MTB is a hardtail for sure !! when you push on the pedals, it's stiff !! Chrome moly or Titanium or alloy but not carbon in my opinion. 27 speeds because we are talking about MTB, so no singlespeed, cause we must climb. Simple, pure, light, 11kg max.
I love when seatpost and stem are the same, and bars too, and cranks why not, like Race Face.
Brakes... hard question. Let's say disc front and Magura HS11 rear... i love those brakes, so easy, strong and maintenance free.
Forks : cross country with full of settings or strong street ones ? blocking system is useless as far as compression must be hard.
2.1 tires.

Orange P7 Pro or Santa Cruz Chameleon are great affordable best bikes ever although they are not exactly as stated above..

What do you think about this one ?

Very Cool...I like It

The 1996 Cannondale Tinker Juarez F3000 world championship model. Still have it and even with a choice of other bikes that I have had in the past, it is still my favorite.

Kona Hei Hei Ti hardtail. An all-time classic.
Mine's a '98 with all the cabling along the top-tube.

Light, comfy, beautifully welded, maintenance-free, telepathic handling and still looks modern today, with the low standover and sloping geometry.

I live in Sydney , Australia and in 1996 attended the Cycle Messenger World Championships in SF, soooo thought it would be a once in ten years opportunity to buy a nice bike. Litespeed Ocoee, lovely raw finish, designed around a 63mm fork, it has had 6 different forks so far, even a Fox vanila 125mm. This frame has always felt like it has alot of "give" in the rear end but is always stiff when you stomp on the pedals. This bike has already paid for itself and I will probably give it to one of my children one day.

This thread really got me thinking and day dreaming. By thy way, I really like that Merlin Newsboy.

I started in the bike business in 1987 and didn't get out till 1995.

I've been fortunate to have owned a boat load of really cool bikes...
1988 Miyata Terra Runner
1991 Specialized Stumpjumper
1991 Specialized Stumpjumper Pro
1992 Lightspeed Mountain
1992 Specialized S-Works M2
1994 Serotta ATX
1994 American Bicycle Manufacturing M16
1995 Outback hardtail (still have it)
1996 Titus SFS (bought it new from my wife and still have it in the basement)
1999 Titus Titanium Quasi-Moto
2000 Titus Downhill bike, serial number 2
2000ish Yeti FRO Alloy (built as a slalom bike)
2001 or 2002 Specialized Enduro Expert
2003 Yeti ASR
2005 Yeti 575
2007 Maverick ML8 (current bike)

drumroll please...the absolutely craziest most expensive one ever...1992 Specialized S-works Carbon Ultimate. That's right, all carbon tubes with titanium lugs. Sick. I bought it used back in 1997, sold it in 1998 or 1999. Just as well since it had a 1" head tube.

The bike I miss the most is the 1994 Serotta. That thing would make such an epic single speed right now. The Quasi-Moto was pretty cool too, especially in titanium.


Thanks for the memory lane stroll y'all.
Paul

Ridded that Maverick Fork I see! I had heard and read they were pretty useless. Looks nice.

The Skinner Decender! Circa 1983.

Check out the monoshock set up...lightyears ahead of its time!!!

I don;t ride any of these just have them. I spend most of my time riding a Xizang or Psyclone but many think the Zaskar was one of the best ever...

I barely even ride MTBs but I freaking LOVE that Merlin!

I still have my original 1991 Gary Fisher Supercaliber!

s works best hardtail i have ridden,I beat the crap out of that bike never could break it,I broke 2 gt zaskars,And the Gt Lts rode nice but the rear tri would snap like a twig,and the pivots wore out about once a month.I sent that frame back 7 times before getting rid of it.I still miss my sworks

Very very charming.

Cove Stiffee 69er hardtail,

two full seasons as a mountain bike guide and I never made this bike complain once and its still going strong after 6 years:-



DINGO

Wasn't that Merlin called the "Paperboy"? I always loved that bike. It is one of the few early-mid MTBs that still sells for a fortune on eBay - if you can find one.

In keeping with the Schwinn Homegrown theme, what about one of the best DH bikes ever produced?
In my opinion, any of the Lawwill designed bikes are in that catagory. This is my DH-9.
Click to view attachment

Titus's, Racer-x 29'r is so far my favorite . . . Not exactly vintage at 5 years old though.

Santa Cruz Nomad - I have an 06 - this frame was built for all types of terrain - can do it all and do it all well unlike most companies that proclaim they have the ultimate All Mountain bike - I ride with a crew of guys and all 4 of us own Nomads by fluke . Ridden a few hard tails but my Giant ATX 890 with STX set up has taken a beating for over 10 years and never change a part - finally put a dent in the down tube last year. Sorry, no pics but will soon.

Sweet ride!! Internal gears??