Hello from Cumbria U.K. 97 A2BS

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cometdata2
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Hello from Cumbria U.K. 97 A2BS

Post by cometdata2 »

I want to say what a great site with all the history on Barracuda's, I never knew of the following for them until just over a year ago when I found this site. So a big thanks to Mark and everyone else who uses the site as it has made good reading.

I am in Cumbria in the U.K. and have a lot of off road areas/tracks near by with a lot of Mountains, I am still getting back into mountain biking after 13 years not doing it, one thing I notice now is it hurts a lot more when I come off the bike :lol:

A brief story of my first Cuda, I hope I do not bore you and have tried to keep it short.

When I was 15 and on a six week holiday to Florida I wanted to do some mountain biking and went to a small bike shop (Trail Sport near St Pete beach), the whole shop was full of Barracudas and some Norco's. The owner was called Ted a really good guy he offered to take me and a friend up to the Hardrock track the next day, it was brilliant and I went back a few times with them over the 6 weeks holiday. The bike I was given to use was a brand new A2BS 97, I used it for all the trips to Hardrock and then at the end of the holiday I managed to talk my dad into treating me to it, Ted done a pretty good deal on the bike and all the trips to Hardrock I believe I got it for about $650 all in.

The bike was my pride and joy, unfortunately when I was that age the thing to do was to upgrade the bike so the next year when back in Florida I spent a small fortune upgrading the shifters, front derailleur to XT, the crank was replaced for a more beefy looking Sugino one and the wheels replaced with Ricthey logic hubs with Mavic rims. the rear derailleur was replaced under warranty as it had snapped so was given the newer esp 5.0 the only reason why I never bought the XT one at the same time.

I road the bike for nearly three years until I got my first car and sadly it has sat unused in the back of my parents garage, it was only when I took up the cycle 2 work scheme they run here in the U.K. did I look to get a new Barracuda and then found out that they had stopped making them and found this site. I ended up with a Cannondale Trail SL 6 and I am not really happy with it but will do until I get another Barracuda, I am in the process of getting the A2BS back on the road but I think the frame is only a 16" which is too small for me now. I will dig it out of the garage and see what condition it is in but I think it will need a bit of work as its not been used for 13 years, I will put some picture sup when I get round to this.

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vpc66
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Re: Hello from Cumbria U.K. 97 A2BS

Post by vpc66 »

Hi again Comet, the area you are talking about is where I am from and still live. I used both of Ted's shops and wish I had bought the Cuda back when (was riding boring roadbikes at time) but then moved to good bikes and ended up buying Ted's wifes frame after they stop selling Cuda's...He sold the shop a few years back to spent time with family and ride more,but still shows up from time to time. And you are correct,he is a good person and does great work on bikes also..he built my rims for me about 12/13 years ago and they still run smooth and true. Anyways glad to know a fellow Cuda head knows some of my haunts and have enjoyed them as well.

Vinnie
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F.C.C.R Ride hard,Ride Fast.....Go Insane

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Mark
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Re: Hello from Cumbria U.K. 97 A2BS

Post by Mark »

Great story!

And welcome to the forum. ;)

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Re: Hello from Cumbria U.K. 97 A2BS

Post by neo_pop_71 »

Just looking at the first three posting in this thread...

a Cudahead from England...

a Cudahead from The U.S....

and a Cudahead from Canada...

I think it's pretty cool that a small bike company that wasn't around for long could attract such international appeal.

Welcome to the family cometdata2, always pleased when another makes it home!

Best regards,

-D-

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Re: Hello from Cumbria U.K. 97 A2BS

Post by Mark »

Yep, good observation; says it all!

cometdata2
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Re: Hello from Cumbria U.K. 97 A2BS

Post by cometdata2 »

vpc66 wrote:Hi again Comet, the area you are talking about is where I am from and still live. I used both of Ted's shops and wish I had bought the Cuda back when (was riding boring roadbikes at time) but then moved to good bikes and ended up buying Ted's wifes frame after they stop selling Cuda's...He sold the shop a few years back to spent time with family and ride more,but still shows up from time to time. And you are correct,he is a good person and does great work on bikes also..he built my rims for me about 12/13 years ago and they still run smooth and true. Anyways glad to know a fellow Cuda head knows some of my haunts and have enjoyed them as well.

Vinnie


What a small world it is, I had wondered what happened to Ted and the store as the last time I was in Florida would have been about 5 years ago and I had noticed the store had gone and was a boat shop, So thank you for sharing the information Vinnie.

Justin

cometdata2
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Re: Hello from Cumbria U.K. 97 A2BS

Post by cometdata2 »

Thanks Mark and Neo

I know that a few friends bought a couple of the Cuda's after trying mine when I brought it back to the U.K., There was a store in U.K. importing them and selling them in the MBUK magazine. So I know the brand was getting some coverage over here but was probably too late, it is a shame they did not last.

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Re: Hello from Cumbria U.K. 97 A2BS

Post by vpc66 »

When you were in town 5 years ago you could have stop into his new shop to say Hi...but now even that shop is gone and the new owners have moved Trailsport just south of that spot. Anyways glad to have you on the forum and can not wait to see the pictures of the new ride that you just bought.
Relax and have deep water thoughts.

F.C.C.R Ride hard,Ride Fast.....Go Insane

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