Amazing what a difference 5lbs makes

Today I took my 92 Adroit out on the same trail I've been riding the Manitou on for the past weeks. I've bee the having a great time riding the Manitou but today it was as if someone flipped on a light switch and all of a sudden everything was that much brighter. This bike is just so amazing, no other word for it! The Tension Disk was cool, maybe it made the back end feel a bit softer, not sure. The sound was awesome though.

Awesome ride on the Manitou

Enjoyed a great ride in the San Gabriel mountains today. I feel like in finally starting to get this bike dialed in. Now if I could only stop getting flats.

1994 Klein Attitude in Moonrise Linear Fade

I was going to build this bike a couple weeks ago but the MC2 needed some rework due to an upside down logo. The bar came in this weekend and I had just recently removed the XT grouppo off the XL nightstorm Attitude which was perfect for this bike.

The frame started out life in Painted Desert, but the time it came to me it was in pretty sad shape with some fade on the top tube, lots of chips and scratches, some corrosion under the paint around the BB shell and downtube cable exist, significant chainsuck and some spun water bottle cage mounts. The minor repairs were done by FTW and paint by Spectrum. I think the results are fantastic. All of the bearings were replaced with fresh new ones, along with new brake bosses and cable liners. Fork received a full rebuild as well and was reconditioned externally.

Parts kit consists of Shimano M737 XT, Syncros post, Vetta saddle and Panaracer hardcore Dart and Smoke tires. Aside from some Klein specific things like grips and tires this bike is almost exactly like one that would have come out of the factory back in 1994, quite a throwback.

1988 Doug Bradbury Manitou

I spent a little bit of time this weekend geting the 1988 DB Manitou read to for rebuild. I have to admit I got distracted when some Klein parts showed up and instead I ended up building up a Klein Attitude, so not as much progress on the DBM as I would have liked, but it's a start.

The frame in question here is an 88 Doug Bradbury Manitou. As far as I can tell 88 was the first year of  what one can call production in Doug's shop in Crested Butte. He definitely made bikes in 87, but things didn't seem to get started in earnest until 1988. I think his official catalog came out in 88 and starting in that year you could get the whole frame, fork, wheels and stem package coupled with his unique frame details we all talk about today. Anyways, this post is not meant to describe the frame and it's characteristics in extreme detail, but simply start the process. I'm lucky enough to have an example of Doug's work from 88, 89 and 90 and I hope to dedicate several threads to discussing in as much detail as I can muster the differences and progression of the Manitou across the early years. Maybe I spin off an website wholly dedicated to Doug's early work.

On to the pics:

That taller top tube to head tube gusset is characteristic of the very early frames, later ones had a shorter gusset that went back further on back on the top tube.

This early Manitou lacks the stiffener bridge between both the chain and seat stays commonly found on the later frames.

Due to the size of the frame not a lot of room was available for the rear brake setup requiring a modified straddle brake hanger.

Oversize 90mm bottom bracket shell, became a standard feature on Manitous in the years to come.

Very cool rear entry drop outs. Shimano 600 rear derailleur was a good choice if you wanted to run a compact spread rear freewheel (as this bike did), the short cage XT didn't come until 1992 or 1993.

This frame came features front and rear roller cam mounts and came equipped with IRD progressive u-brakes.