19?? Rocky Mountain Stratos

awe man, i was afraid someone would notice that.
i switched handlebars and the darn things wouldn't fit inside this bar.
had everything on the bar, shifters, brakes and grips before i tried them.
long story short.....i got lazy. ya caught me.
i'm looking for another black syncros bar. when i get one i'll put them on too.
how's that.
roy

awesome! its come up a treat. i reckon you should refurbish and respray the bullseye cranks, then its pretty much job done!

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Actually it's earlier than 1989 even. I used to work at a shop in Toronto, called Duke's Cycle, and moved from there in the fall of 1989. I'd already bought this bike there and raced it a bit before leaving in 1989. So it was 1987 or 1988 model (and it was one of the first ever aluminum frames in mass production). Retailed for $1000, Deore was the standard issue on it. I'll dig up my training logs and see when I got it. BTW, it STILL have one of the wheels. The Wolber AT-20s that came with it were INDESTRUCTIBLE. Well, almost anyways... one left.

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baltobikeboi":11q5sovb said:

Actually it's earlier than 1989 even. I used to work at a shop in Toronto, called Duke's Cycle, and moved from there in the fall of 1989. I'd already bought this bike there and raced it a bit before leaving in 1989. So it was 1987 or 1988 model (and it was one of the first ever aluminum frames in mass production). Retailed for $1000, Deore was the standard issue on it. I'll dig up my training logs and see when I got it. BTW, it STILL have one of the wheels. The Wolber AT-20s that came with it were INDESTRUCTIBLE. Well, almost anyways... one left.

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Welcome to the forum baltobikeboi! Very cool that you had an early Stratos and raced it BITD. I've also got some AT-20s on three of my retro Rockies, and yes, they are pretty solid wheels!

I have to agree with Fluffychicken and Bagpipes that this is an 89 Stratos due to the seat stay u-brakes, but also because this bike has the Deore II group which was 1st released in 89. And according to the Rocky catalogues the 88 Stratos came with the XT group and the 89 Stratos had the Deore II group. There was no Stratos in 87.

Here's a link to all the old Rocky catalogues on this site.
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/v/M ... atalogues/

Also, MOMBAT also has a great webpage detailing shimano's MTB groupsets...
http://mombat.org/Shimano.htm

Great bike Roy!

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Don't forget though 'model years' and I have no idea if rocky where running with the usual academic year release back in the 80s.
Also nothing to say prototypes/test frames where not out before and being sold on close to home. I know our UK company Orange ran similar but had many changes through the year as and when new batches of bikes came.
But Shimano where so that's what I would date in assuming original.

I will go back further then two post to see what I wrote before, lol.

Be lovely to see your pictures and log. Start a thread on it

Re: Re:

FluffyChicken":nllveq72 said:

Be lovely to see your pictures and log. Start a thread on it

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+1… and welcome to baltobikeboi

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baltobikeboi":1nnjeveb said:

I used to work at a shop in Toronto, called Duke's Cycle, and moved from there in the fall of 1989.

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That was my favorite shop in Toronto. Lived there from 1998 to 2006. For a couple of those years, the Leafs were actually kind of decent

Hey Fluffychicken...

So dug around... And came across this from my training log, entry for Monday, Sept. 19, 1988:

- paid Gary $1000 for Colnago & I picked up Rocky Mtn Stratos - rode to work & then home. Bike has nice feel to it. Light & responsive,
- ribs sore where hit with fridge door 2 weeks ago. Not sleeping well.

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So I bought my Stratos in the fall of 1988 (and apparently was accosted by a refrigerator some time while I was at work at the Albany Club - King St. - where I used to work as a waiter). I suppose, as a model, it could be an '89. But the rear derailleur and U-brake might be a hint that shows the other here was a 1989, and mine an '88 (but the catalogs you shared don't match either - my 1988 isn't not that first year gawd awful test case, lol).

Now it did come with a U-brake, and that was the Deore U-Brake. I upgraded later to an XT U-brake, but as late as May 1989, see below, I was still riding it with the original brake and a Deore long cage derailleur, RT-MT60, which was sold in 1987-1988 -not a Deore DX, so again, maybe mine is earlier. Here you can see them on the bike, and note that the U-brake was mounted on the chain stays, not the seat stays:


... and a stock phot from velobase.com:


This is me - May 18, 1989 - after my first mountain bike race ever, at Etobicoke (Toronto), Centennial Park. Finished 2nd



Other goodies this bike is outfitted with back then that also suggest it was 1988, not 1989 includes the crank set and chain rings - it came stock: with a Sugino crank arm set. Unlike the stock photo you show it was not sold with BioPace chain rings) - at least not in Canada.

Other parts stock included:

• Tioga Stem
  Deore SIS shifters
  Deore Front Derailleur
  Wolber AT-20s rims
  Sugino seat post (25.4 if I recall)
  I think it was stock with Deore cantilevers but replaced them with XT
  Deore U-brake

Add-ons:

• Vetta Gel Saddle
  Hite-Right
  Specialized water bottle cages
  Ritchey Tires

So still a bit of a mystery because my late 1988 isn't the 1988 that appears in the catalog but also doesn't have the same equipment as the possibly 1989 here!

and there you have my old trusty steed. Rode and raced it through 1997 BTW.

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That looks nice and great you have your logs, so that's how it was done before Strava.

I'm off out to ride its younger brother, some 3 or..4 year younger.