1994 Steve Potts Steelhead

halaburt

Retro Guru
This just got done and I was toying with entering it into this months BOTM "USA Special" until a certain porcine member ruined that by entering his mind-blowingly cool Otto tribute bike!

Anyway, this is a 1994 Steve Potts "Steelhead". It's from an era when Steve was shifting over from making custom and series "Cross Country Racer" (CCR) frames to making mostly WTB Phoenix frames.

Apparently, about 10 very similarly-sized (tall) guys got together and decided to have Steve make them all identical (except for color) frames/forks/stems. Like the CCR's, this is mostly welded but does have the brazed seat cluster. Ultimately 12 frames were made -- but this one was a "spare" that sat unsold in Steve's shop for a couple of years until a very fortunate, local high school student had his dad buy it for him as a graduation present. As luck would have it, the boy was more interested in his studies than riding apparently because the bike was in minty near-unridden condition when he (now a prosperous attorney) sold it to me late last year.

Because the bike sat in Steve's rafters from '94 to about '97, when it did get built up it was with less-than-ideal parts -- mostly M739 XT. It did come with the precious brakes/bridges and at least one appropriate hub.

Virtually everything else on it got swapped/upgraded. I went with a full XTR M900 build with all the available WTB substitutions plus a few personal favorites like the King headset, XC seatpost and Salsa skewers.

A full gallery of pics is here: http://gallery.me.com/halaburt#100515

I know it's the RB rules/custom to never say anything remotely negative about someone's build... but I've got a thick skin and would love to hear what you really think. I know from past comments on some of my builds and others that many here aren't used to seeing (and perhaps doubt) some of the Potts/Cunningham/WTB parts and setup -- for example the chainstay-mounted brakes.

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Frame: 1994 Steve Potts Steelhead MTB #94211

Fork: Steve Potts Type-II

Headset: Chris King Two-Nut (No Logo)
Stem: Steve Potts Flatbar (quill-style)
Handlebar: WTB Titanium Flat-Bar
Grips: WTB Trailgrips

Brakes: WTB Rollercam front & rear w/ WTB Bridges
Brake Pads: WTB Gripmaster (dual compound)
Front Brake Cable Hanger: WTB
Brake Levers: Shimano M900 XTR

Shifters: Shimano M900 XTR
Front Derailleur: Shimano M900 XTR
Rear Derailleur: Shimano M900 XTR
Cassette: Shimano M900 XTR 12-32t
Chain: Shimano HG-91
Cranks: Shimano M900 XTR 180mm
Chainrings: Shimano SG-X 24/36/46t
Bottom Bracket: Shimano BB-UN91 XTR
Pedals: Shimano M737 Clipless

Hub Skewers: Salsa (No Logo)
Rims: WTB PowerBeam 32h
Hubs: WTB New Paradigm 32h
Nipples/Spokes: DT
Tyres: WTB VelociRaptor front & rear
Tubes: WTB

Saddle: WTB SST Titanium
Seatpost: Suntour XC-Pro

Bottle Cage(s): King Cage Titanium
 
very cool :cool:

how well do the brakes work? as opposed to xtr canti's for example, more or less powerful?

edit, just read some of the story, (i posted before reading it) regarding comments good or bad, i think i am right in saying that the UK tends not to favour chainstay mounted U brakes purely because we live in a very muddy country! U brakes etc are ok on the seatstay but chainstays they just get clogged up.
 
1994? Lovely bike but it looks earlier with that U brake. I have one that I must start on soon. Yours is certainly an inspiration.
 
Rod_Saetan":2zzbjbxd said:
Iwasgoodonce":2zzbjbxd said:
1994? Lovely bike but it looks earlier with that U brake.

It isnt a U brake, it is a roller-cam brake.

that's probably my fault, i mentioned them first :oops: but i just meant that by comparison with a canti they are physically quite big and wrap around the tyre without much clearance
 
Truly fantastic! If you want a criticism then the tyres look too chunky for a very svelte looking frame. I'd still enter it in BOTM though!
 
wow, that is really nice. there is something that really just works visually with the old thin tubed steel bikes.

that green paint is lovely too, a really nice shade.
 
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