98 Bontrager Privateer Comp

I love it.

Apart from the sticker on the top tube being put on the wrong way... :twisted:

"Er... Gil...?"

I am doing the same to my 97 Privateer at the mo. Was all black before, on a budget, but since the lbs have managed to snag the frame by hammering an old seatpost down into the bottle bolts, needs some cosmetic surgery... :roll:
Did you get a tab welded onto the back then? I was not sure about taking this step, as the frame wasn't designed to take stress down the seat stay. Have decided to go with a really lightweight V instead.

Will have carbon rigids, a disk up front, xtr cranks and tings... Hope it turns out as nice as yours; it's at the powdercoaters now. WHITE gloss. And I've got some stickers from Gil...

J i m s t e r":35yb6ypu said:

I love it.

Apart from the sticker on the top tube being put on the wrong way... :twisted:

"Er... Gil...?"

I am doing the same to my 97 Privateer at the mo. Was all black before, on a budget, but since the lbs have managed to snag the frame by hammering an old seatpost down into the bottle bolts, needs some cosmetic surgery... :roll:
Did you get a tab welded onto the back then? I was not sure about taking this step, as the frame wasn't designed to take stress down the seat stay. Have decided to go with a really lightweight V instead.

Will have carbon rigids, a disk up front, xtr cranks and tings... Hope it turns out as nice as yours; it's at the powdercoaters now. WHITE gloss. And I've got some stickers from Gil...

Click to expand...

OMG - what a numpty mistake to make - LOL

guess I'll be ordering more decals form gil then

Re welding - Argos Cycles did all the work. They also removed the rear brake bosses and added on new cable mounts and to ensure the rear end doesn't collapse they add a small brace across the rear triangle on the non drive side and then resprayed signal green. They have done a great job - it just me that put it back to gether wrong

look forward to seeing your build

How does it ride with the new fork and disks? I think the original fork was a RS Indy with about a rizzla-width of travel, whereas the shock game has moved on since then. I am going with carbon rigids...

J i m s t e r":1iwmzq0f said:

How does it ride with the new fork and disks? I think the original fork was a RS Indy with about a rizzla-width of travel, whereas the shock game has moved on since then. I am going with carbon rigids...

Click to expand...

Still got the original forks - Judy XC's with a mind blowing 63mm of travel. they work fine but compared to my Ibis (with 140mm travel) this is nothing, so decided on something a bit longer.

At the minute, the Reba's have got 120mm, so I still need to work out if these forks have slackened off the head angle too much (was 71 degrees but with this much travel is now more likely 68 which is why there's a shorter (70mm) stem fitted).

I took it out for a blast last weekend and whilst it was OK on descents, it was a bit twitchy on climbs - a bit too light at the front for my liking. so, next steps - first fit a longer stem (90 - 100mm) but ultimately I reckon I'll end up reducing the travel to 100mm

As far as discs are concerned - I'm running Hope X2's (180mm front, 160mm rear). They're great! have got X4's on the Ibis but felt this bike needed a more XC build. Personally, I love the feel of Hope brakes and (to date) have never had a problem with them.

Weight? need to get it on the scales but guess 27-29lbs, did toy with the idea of going single speed (there was one on this site recently and it looked sweeeet) but decided to keep the gears - might turn my Orange to SS?

Can't wait to see yours mate - should be a killer in white and with carbon forks

thanks

I bought Gils old Bonty, really nice to ride. Gil had the bosses removed and disc mount added, no brace required. One of the few bikes i miss


Bonty Disc by ritcheyp20, on Flickr

Love it - nice bike really nicely updated and a great colour.

Looks really great
Really like the disctab on the rear. I really want to do the same, but don´t really know if anyone in sweden does stuff like that.

Keep up the good work and ride hard :twisted:
/J

Re:

Do the modern forks not screw up the handling. I've just managed to get a '98 Bonty for a steal off eBay and am considering what to do. Not sure if I should restore back to how it was initially, or do as you've done and fit relatively modern parts.

I do intend to keep using it as god (Keith B.) intended and not wrap it in cotton-wool!

Love that. I suspect Gil has done well with reproducing Bonty decals. I know I've bought several sets myself.