A Trip Down Memory Lane with a £500 Bontrager.

I was asked why no build thread, and in truth, I hadn't given it much thought, it's a Bontrager, what can you say, make your choice bolt it together and you've got a Bontrager.

Everybody knows.....

On seeing Jimis Stunning botm entry adorned with a saddle Ive been looking for, for quite a while at sensible money, with as much chance buying one as Dating Sandra Bullock......., the real-world cost of this thing of ours came to mind.

And then Came the thought of the Bontrager, and what a Bang for its Buck it really is and why I ended up with it, and no build thread.

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So, let's go Back a bit more than 20 years or so.....(Some will remember, some will have read my comments before).

The Name Bontrager was synonymous with American magazines, small clips and pictures from Bike shows, attached to a carbon Suspension frame, a Mavic rim that had been re-rolled, a Special brake to alleviate suspension design issues, only later to be adopted and dubbed the V-Brake by Shimano, all by this guy called Bontrager.

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Bitd, my first significant memory of Bontrager was for me, as for Many, seeing a bunch of Black Dread wearing Rasta Looking Fellas at the Malvern's, all wearing Rasta colours of Brixton Cycles race jerseys that in time became the united Colours of Bontrager.

A cool bunch of fellas, all riding Bontrager Frames, assembled to their taste and Spec.

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The years and races roll on, more racers come to the fore.

Bearing in mind this is in the Day of No Internet, no advertising and a small importer called Global Fridge. And Racers such as the Lovely Jenny Johnston, Supplied by Global Fridge, Followed by Bontrager/Trek, and doing incredibly well.

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It was all Low Key or it was when compared to the Mass Marketed machines of other Brands out there out there at the time.

This image was cemented into my subconscious, later to be stirred by dealing with Brixton cycles, and eventually Global Fridge and finally Trek/Bontrager directly, and the mere hint of magazine advertising.

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I guess the image of Bontrager was simple, you don't need to say a lot, the machine speaks for itself, they were sold as soon as they were available (if not before), they didn't break, they were strong, and they won races.

It really did feel like an underground movement at the time

It was cool, but not because it was flashy or frilly or made of some expensive super cool new Wonder material, but it conjured images of simply "Hard",
a tool, Like a Snap On wrench, or a Landover Defender.

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Most of My history saw them at the tail end of Global Fridge and the beginning of the Trek era. A funny time in the Market place, the magazines we love and relied upon all going the suspension route, every page had a fork, a frame, a suspension upgrade a piece of kit or apparel.

The market was evolving for me, Customers were looking at options, new Customers, riders, younger customers, all walks of life, Dual Slalom, full suspension, Carbon, Big Hit frames, Long Travel Frames, Azonic, Hot Chilli, Orange Missile, Cannondale, all playing their part, there role in this evolution.

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.But personally, my needs were simple, one bike that could do it all, 8 mile each way every day, to work, the Wednesday night club ride, and the Sunday Cross country ride with the local club, and Racing cross country when time Permitted.

With some Lead time, and help from Global Fridge, a Silver Race frame was bought. With one thing in mind, i set about assembling the bike.

A Rock Shox Fork and M950 XTR, Mavic rims, Bontrager and Titec finishing kit.

The reason for my choices were simple, it wasn't flash, I could leave it outside the shop in the morning when getting the daily milk, bits didn't break, it was light and yet low cost, and the Shimano M950 was perhaps without doubt the most reliable and efficient Group set Shimano had developed, and again it was reliable and didn't break, the bike would stand the punishment, and over time reward me with a hassle free set up that would pay dividends.

Suffice to say, I used the bike nearly seven days a week, road and OffRoad, and surprise surprise it did what it said on the tin, and the last of the Santa Cruz frames did me really proud.

Fast forward a bit to the Trek Days, and things just got better, the customers asked for them, the younger guys saw it as a way to buy a strong complete bike to use for street riding, bought in small frames sizes the green Privateer in particular a favourite for overall balance and value for money. And these guys were doing stuff on them that left me in awe, for me they were a precursor to the dedicated frames we see today. And these riders were filmed for different video magazines using them to jump off Bus shelters and Triple Jumps etc etc etc. (well if that wasn't proof in the pudding I thought).

A glorious time, and yet some frowned upon the Trek Buyout, like something was taken away, got worse, ruined the brand.

I'm afraid i am in the minority that disagree.

Keith will be the first to admit that had the deal not been struck, the ailing, company would have inevitably ceased trading. thankfully for me, then and now that didn't happen.

There is always the age-old argument that the Santa Cruz frames were undoubtably the better frames and the Wisconsin frames were simply massed produced copies.

I also beg to differ, sure i love the Santa Cruz Frames, but i won't turn my nose up to one Fabricated in Wisconsin, the design is the same, the theory behind it and its use is fundamentally the same.

Now Trek were on board, with Bontrager overseeing the Whole process from design, through to quality control and to the end result, a Range of Bontrager Hand built Bicycles were born.

It's Common Knowledge that Trek pretty much made a loss on them and the Tig welded hand-built frames were perhaps the most expensive steel frames to make, cost per unit that left the frame shop at the time. And the Market did change, and yet the Bontrager name and Legacy lives on.

The bike I built was perhaps my longest running and hardest worked steel frame I owned. And a Favorite for just that reason.

Which is what led me to the build of this one.

Originally bought as my wife simply wanted something that rode well that she didn't have to worry about, not scratching it, scuffing it, breaking it, she wanted something that was pretty indestructible but that rode as well as a Roberts D.O.G.S B.O.L.O.X, but for a third of the money.

A tough call, i thought at first, until this frame and fork came alone on my doorstep for 70 quid.

Perfect for her i thought....., Until i picked it up, and realised it was going be too big.....(WInk).

The frame was shelved, and over time got a cheap 40 Powdercoat in silver, some Decals from GIl, and the Rockshox refinished again with decals from Gil.

The forks needed work, and lucky for me, an Original Rockshox Spring kit was bought in Devon for £10 Posted and arrived in the factory packaging unopened.

With time on my side, a Donor Carbon Bike was found Damaged with a hanging M950 XTR group set on it, with suitable Mavic rims for a £190 complete.
A Titec Seat post was found in Hungry and posted for £25.00.

The Bontrager Perforated saddle was from a member here for £30 posted, alas steel rail and silver, but it works well with the Titec grips which were £6.00 and the Barends..£8, both from eBay and in Europe somewhere.

The IRC front and rear Specific tyres were £40.00 and NOS, the Ti bars were lovely and from here for £40.00 and the Stem came from a fella breaking a Voodoo which was a bonus as Titec of the era is not easy to find and was only £10.00 posted.
Most of the cable outers came with the bike and were good to go again. headset is rather nice period Tange and was only £12.00 on eBay.

So, I managed to achieve the goal of building the wife a bike, only inadvertently ended up building the last cross-country bike i had when in the trade, that i can now enjoy again.

I may have got Old, I may have got Fat, I may have gone Grey..... But somethings don't Change, they don't go out of Fashion, and they don't get old and boring.

And that is a Bontrager.

perhaps my Time Machine, and proof you can with some time and effort build a quality bike for as little as a Covid BSO.

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The First ride out was pretty spectacular for me, and led me to want to share, and perhaps foolishly i put the pics up in BOTM when really it ought to have been shared elsewhere, But the ride, the bike, the graffiti we stumbled upon, all took me back down memory lane, and help demonstrate, no amount of advertising is as good as proven design and word of mouth.

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Bontrager and his Bikes, whatever model, wherever made were an inspiration.

Here is a great video with some humble words from the man himself, if you haven't seen it already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYvPMmlBZwg