As a teenager in the late '90s, I only had eyes for that sleek, Y-shaped carbon fiber frame, stretching from seatpost to stem, and all the way down to the bottom bracket. Oh yes, we never forget our first crush.
This isn't all about me and my Y-Bike fantasy though. In fact, I'm just trying to tee things up for you, the reader, to share your story with the world! Starting this week, we're going to be asking a question on Monday, and then it's up to you to leave us a comment below with your best answer. Polls close Thursday at noon, and after that a winner will be randomly chosen from the commenters. The grand prize is (drumroll...) a limited-edition TPC x Lead Out handlebar bag!
UPDATE: This week's winner, randomly selected from the commenters (and yeah, we excluded TPC staff, don't worry) is David. He actually has a Y-Bike of his own. What are the odds?!
"In 1986, having watched my older brother jump in to road and track cycling, I wanted in on the fun, too. My Dad took me to T-Town Cycles. There was a gorgeous black and white Colnago there that I loved, but I knew was way too much bike for a beginner 12 year old. We got the Panasonic DX3000, which I also liked (nice black and yellow schema) and put many miles on for the next three years."
See below in the comments for more of his story plus a photo of his personal Y-Bike
[newsletter]
Oh, what's that, you want to hear more about Y-Bikes? Well sure, twist my arm.
What you see here is a race-ridden Trek, belonging to mountain bike legend Travis Brown. Throughout his race career, he was known as a forward-thinking early adopter of bike technology, so it isn't surprising he rode this radical Y-Bike. He went on to be the first to race a full-suspension bike in the Olympics at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Unlike the Trek Fuel he raced Down Under, the Y-Bike's unified rear triangle suspension design was much less viable. This carbon fiber marvel was phased out in 2001 after seven years of production.
Okay, now it's your turn to hop into the comments below and tell us about the first bike you lusted after! Better still, if you have photos to share, please add them — we just upgraded to a fancy Disqus comment system that'll let you do that. Oh hey, and speaking of fancy, if you happen to have a Judy yellow Y-33 in size 18" kicking around, please let me know!
