The Vintage Mountain Bike Thread.

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Brett

Likes Dirt
Alright guys I have a bit of a challenge for you. I bought this bike in 1996 or 97 in Cairns. It had been stolen and repainted and was bought at a police auction. The bike has Ritchey vertical dropouts, slotted cable guides and a welded head tube junction with the head tube taking a 1" steerer tube (the forks in the picture are not the original forks). I think the seat tube / top tube / seat stay junction is lugged. The serial number is 5H 042 and at the time the bike had a shimano XT group set.

So what do you think it is?

I'm pretty sure this is not a Ritchey frame as no other Ritchey has this rear brake cable routing. From what i can tell it's a fairly decent frame for the time due to the components it came with, The ovalised top and down tube and the Ritchey dropouts.



 
Turner_rider

Turner_rider

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Brett said:
So what do you think it is?
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The tubes, drop outs etc are all pretty standard off the shelf things available at the time. The only thing which stands out is the cable guide at the rear for the cantis.

Nothing really springs to mind though.

If its got the original paint left under the current paint you could carefully strip it back with some mild paint stripper to see if it reveals anything.
 
evObda2

evObda2

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Few things on ebay (us) if anyones interested in snapping one up..

Marin (manitou fs)
http://cgi.ebay.com/vintage-Marin-Team-FRS-full-suspension-Manitou-XT-XTR_W0QQitemZ310175765657QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMountain_Bikes?hash=item4837ea9499#ht_500wt_1182

GT STS Carbon frame
http://cgi.ebay.com/GT-STS-1-STS-Carbon-Mountain-Bike-Frame-Old-School_W0QQitemZ330369807415QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMountain_Bikes?hash=item4ceb933437#ht_500wt_1182

Proflex 856
http://cgi.ebay.com/ProFlex-856-Full-Suspension-51c-Al-Mountain-Bike-Frame_W0QQitemZ290362310740QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMountain_Bikes?hash=item439af14054#ht_500wt_1182

GT RTS
http://cgi.ebay.com/1995-19-GT-RTS-Team-RaceFace-Manitou-XTR-Chris-King_W0QQitemZ320438912909QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMountain_Bikes?hash=item4a9ba5c78d#ht_11263wt_1167

or my fave out of them..

Yeti ARC ('96)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130338323532&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1182
 
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GORDOK

Likes Bikes
Mammy said:
Managed to find a single Altek blade (BL40) for my front Maguras on ebay.de
Just as well, as I'm running XTR V-brakes for the rear.
And because it was only for one lever, I got it for less than 8AUD.
Could not have worked out any better.



If ever you need some good 'ol hydraulic rim lovin', check out the German ebay site.
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Still have an original pair of Altek ano blue cnc V-brake levers. Unbelievable workmanship, could never bring myself to get rid of them.
 
S

sammydog

NSWMTB, Hunter MTB Association
I've just gone and followed up the purchase of the proflex 856 with this, a 1994 model 854.

New elsastomers for the front and rear are on order from Scotland. A new paint job probably wouldn't go astray either once I get some replacement decals made up.


 
RCOH

RCOH

Eats Squid
I have some Rockshox Quadra 21 forks that I no longer need. Thet are the same as in this link:

http://images.google.com.au/imgres?...ox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N&um=1

There are a couple of scratches on the lowers but I would say the condition is very good. Previous owner replaced the elastomers with spring/oil dampener so they work well, a tiny bit of stiction at first but then pretty nice & smooth. Set up for heavier rider though, I would say 75kg+. 1" unthreaded steerer, 17cm steerer tube.

Also have 1" stem - ritchey 130mm 10 degree rise
 
S

sammydog

NSWMTB, Hunter MTB Association
Arran said:
How many Pooflex's do you have now Sammydog?
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Pooflex's...........none. Never heard of them to be honest, are they any good. :p

Proflex on the other hand.......I've got

854
955
855
856

I'd love a carbon 5500 and one of the new 790's, but can't find anywhere that sells them, not even on the net.
 
Turner_rider

Turner_rider

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Here's another little beasty that has recently found its way into my garage.

Pace RC200 F5 in all its square tubed goodness. Photo is from it's previous life in the UK.

I'll post more details in post your ride when I've had a play with it.

 

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WestcoastPete

Squid
Mr Bungle said:
I had one of these Pro Flex 855's in the 90's..until the frame cracked :( The frame is still sitting in the garage waiting to be polished up and mounted on the garage wall

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I was waiting for one of these to come up! One of the guys I rode with in the mid/late '90s had one of these and I remember we all frothed on it. I was riding a Giant Cadex CFM3 at the time. Wish I had more photos!
 
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