Stripping paint… off paint??? plus name that RM!

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Since the demise of my Equipe frame(RIP ) i have a spare angled seatpost binder if you need one
The thread has stripped in it but i've used it with nut and bolt with no issues, you can have it if you want it

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So maybe I'll just call it my Rocky Mountain Altizzard, or maybe a Blizzitude????

Grannygrinder":2a2s0jew said:

Since the demise of my Equipe frame(RIP ) i have a spare angled seatpost binder if you need one
The thread has stripped in it but i've used it with nut and bolt with no issues, you can have it if you want it

Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer!

I have a collar, but like yours the thread is stripped and so in place of a bolt, a hacked quick release was put in place. :roll:

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RockiMtn":2qydgf49 said:

I have a collar, but like yours the thread is stripped and so in place of a bolt, a hacked quick release was put in place. :roll:

Click to expand...

ditto!

Here's my 2 cents and some food for thought .......

Those welds look pretty clean but looking at the rear dropouts, those look like they were just slapped in much like on a Hammer or a Fusion. If they were brazed then those would be as smooth as butter as well. If it were a race bike that was custom made for a rider then those would also be much more sturdy and with different dropouts.

Interestingly though is that whomever painted the yellow, took the time to mask the inner section of the bottom bracket so that is factory. Notice the big hole in the BB area. The person who sprayed the black obviously left BB in place when it was rattle canned which fortunately saved the original paint inside so we can see it now.

The only Altitudes I've seen with rack mounts were early 90's with the wishbone seat stays - this frame has fastback stays.

To add more confusion, the Thunderbolts and other brazed bikes were completely brazed including those rear dropouts.

SO .... I'm thinking that this is a demo frame from the factory. They used to (and still do) weld up bikes, paint them and use them for testing and then tweak the geometry. That would explain .....

- the factory paint in team colours with no decals indicating a model, only the company logo like on the head tube (even the demos were painted to prevent rusting ... may have been a day in the paint shop for team paint jobs when this one was done .... toss it in with a batch of frames)
- no serial number
- odd hole in the BB area
- decent / strong welds
- the extended seat tube as seen on Blizzards with seat stays that line up to the top tube as seen on Thunderbolts (no production model appears this way ... something new to try out????)
- "poor attention" to the rear dropout welds (don't mean that to sound smart a$$)
- rear dropouts using the Rocky Mountain stamp as seen here are also on most lower end frames (some Blizzards) which would be cheaper to use / swap out for bent hangers which happens with demo riding; better to use those than the Ritchey or Henry James Investment Cast Dropouts that were used in the custom bikes and the Altitude frames

I'm thinking it's a keeper. I would be willing to bet it was a demo frame with some history to it. It would be a shame to strip the original paint off it but at least try to get the black off. If a full strip becomes the decision then at least you can see if there is any evidence of repairs or re-welds which would be the norm with test frames. It would also determine if there are any brazed sections too or if there are any weak points. Pros and Cons to both sides of that decision.

That's a pretty cool frame Frank. (BTW if somebody is offering a collar - I'd grab it quickly. The frame is no good for riding without it)

K.

the extended seat tube as seen on Blizzards with seat stays that line up to the top tube as seen on Thunderbolts (no production model appears this way ... something new to try out????)

Look a the Blizzard picture I posted..

What I would like to know is the top tube tubing, it's highly Oval at the seattube. Was the ~1995 Blizzard like this ?
Max OR does that, but so may the Concept or similar Tange tubing I do no know.

I know Rocky where capable of welding up MAX-OR but the only bike to use it I know of was as an option on Thunderbolts. That would add to the possible test bike idea ?

I like the look of it myself. Have you got any further along with the paint stripping ?

Ya I see it now. And that Blizz has the rack mounts too. hmmm

Frank, what is the outer diameter of the top tube, down tube and seat stays. I meant to mention that those tubes appeared to be large. It may just be the camera playing tricks or the bike could be retaining water weight

I originally thought it may have been aluminum but the tubes weren't quite that beefy and then I saw the mild corrosion in the BB shell.

You could always sand off a small area under the BB to see evidence of brazing or welding. I'm betting on weld though.

Fat tubes LOL .... Black isn't always slimming.

Did we get any progress removing the rattle can paint?

Oh something to compare to
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... ogle.co.uk

okay since this thread has been resurrected by bagpipes and with this new onslaught of inquiries, i took some time to take pictures and measurements to update the mass.

1) there is a gradual bulge on the seat tube starting from under the top tube. The diameter of the seat tube is approx. 28.8mm from the BB to just below the top tube, but grows to approx 30.4mm and is this diameter above the top tube.

2) there seems to be no ovalization that i can tell in the tubing. the top tube is approx 32mm and the down tube is approx 35.2mm

1) paint stripping has not gone far. i went with the readily available 3M marine rubbing compound. worked okay in areas which were sparingly painted with some yellow showing through, noticeable the underside of the top tube. i also took a utility knife and gently scrapped on the seat tube and bottom bracket then did some rubbing. you'll notice that there's a sunset colour fade happening at the top tube as the base layer is red and yellow was sprayed on top.

i'm on the fence with regards to continuing to get back to the original paint. as you can see the paint on the stays have sustained significant wear. perhaps i should just call it a day and strip it clean. if however i proceed to try to get it back to original, i have an nice set of battle scarred RF turbines to match.

as for the collar, i have one, but it's somewhat stripped but a larger threaded bolt seems to work with a little help of a nut. it'll due till a get a good one. seems to take a 27.0mm seatpost.