Monday, January 28, 2013

Bontrager Ti Lite Build Complete

Between dinner and a movie with the family, the Stanley Kubrick exhibit at LACMA and cleaning up the garage I somehow still managed to complete one build this past weekend. I've been working on and off on this Bonty for about four to five months now. The original build for this bike was going to be straight up M950 XTR but along the way we decided to upgrade this and that and before long nearly every single part was changed. 

The revised build has a full complement of Syncros components including stem, bar, post, stem, revolution cranks and Titanium bottom bracket. The hubs are Chris King on brand new Mavic 217 rims. Brakes are NOS Avid Arch Supremes with Black Ops levers.








I still need get everything dialed in, but for all intents and purposes this one is all done! 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

1988 and 1989 Doug Bradbury Manitous

First of all a big thank you to Randy for letting these two bikes go. I'm very excited to now have an example of each of the first three production years of the DB Manitous. I'll write up a full story once the bikes arrive in CA, but for now here are some pics:

1988 Manitou - Includes both the rigid and first generation suspension fork. Custom Bradbury modified front and rear hubs and IRD progressive U-brakes on frame and rigid fork








1990 Manitou - First generation Manitou suspension fork, cantilever mounts, custom front and rear hubs and Manitou stem






Full restoration of these two sometime this summer... stay tuned!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

1992?? Klein Attitude pearl black final photo shoot

This bike is my first Klein restoration project. I have delivered two repainted fuselages but this is the frist complete build. I acquired this bike in Horizon linear fade, but it was already repainted once by Klein in 1993 with newer style debossed decals. I believe that bike might have originally been a 1991 or maybe even a 1990 as there were traces of the green in Dolomite paint on the MC1. The bike came with a Uniklein fork, but the previous owner mentioned that he had the fork replaced with a brand new one in 1993, perhaps the original fork was a box crown. Another clue is the early style of downtube cable inlets usually only found on early Pinnacles could be another indicator that this is a 1990 frame. Lastly the serial number is ATxxx, which based on my records is common among 1990 Attitudes.

This is how the frame came to me. The paintjob was pretty and vibrant, but there was a fair amount of corrosion under the paint. It was a good candidate for a repaint.



The frame, fork and MC1 were repainted in pearl black which although not very common was a catalog color in the early years. It's especially wonderful when paired with the outline decals instead of solid ones. I think most will agree the final result is nothing short of stunning.
















I've enjoyed working on this bike and for my first Klein I think that I put together a solid restoration worthy of the brand.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

1992 Klein Attitude Pearl Black

Quick update on the 92 Attitude in stunning Pearl Black. Full photo shoot and story tomorrow, then it's on it's way back to Andre in Hamburg.







Sunday, January 6, 2013

1993 Yeti ARC build for NAHMBS

Trying to kick off the new year in style by building up the 1993 Yeti ARC that I plan to display at the Spectrum Powderworks booth at this year's NAHMBS in Denver. This ARC will be an attempt at representing a top of the line race build that would have been used by factory riders in the 1992 / 93 season.

For those who do not remember this frame came to me with a cracked headtube, but was in otherwise great condition with the exception of some oxidation under the clearcoat.



The frame was repaired by Frank The Welder and repainted by Spectrum Powderworks.

The build is a who's who of early 90s CNC bling in stunning 3DV. Brakes, levers, shifter perches, bottom bracket and cranks are courtesy of Grafton Performance while the wheels, quick releases, seatpost and chain guard are Ringle. Chris King headset and Answer ATAC Team-cut stem and Hyperlite bar round out the rest of the cast. Drivetrain is the then new Shimano M900 XTR.












Now all I have to do is the get the shifter perches, cable guides and brake levers anodized and I can finish the bike. For once this was actually easy... Maybe I'm getting good building ARCs...