Mercedes Benz MB4/AMP Research B5

r32

Devout Dirtbag
So in between deciding what to do with my second Straight 6 build, I chanced upon another of my dream bikes, an AMP Research B5 on the 'bay for a reasonable price and picked it up because it was in my favourite colour of yellow:



Knowing the amount of bespoke parts that accompanied those early full suspension and disc braked bikes, I also picked up a 1999 Mercedes Benz MB4 that would serve as a donor for the important components - such as the brakes, brake mounts, hubs, and possibly the fork. The MB4 I got was an interesting bag of bits - it looked to have been ridden only on pavement, suffered a bunch of chips that looked like they came from bike rack and handling rather than trail riding. It wasn't completely factory spec, some of the original bits, as best as I could tell, have been swapped. But the important parts remain, as I intend to make it look like the catalog bike:



And here's now the MB4 looks like. The B5 is in the mail......



Looks like it had a fairly easy life pounding pavement instead of dirt.....some parts, like the M755 rear derailleur, as well as LX crank, look like they've been switched out. No matter, M95x XTR bits will go on there. The saddle has to go.



The seat mast has more sheetmetal than the AMP version - I prefer AMP's.



The AMP brakes use a fairly small rotor, and is a 3 bolt pattern. They bolt onto a standard Shimano XT M737 hub. How, you may say?



A disc brake mounting ring is secured to three of the spoke holes, and the spokes themselves are laced onto this ring as well. Viola! Disc brake hub.



This is the F3 fork, but for the B5, I hope to be able to get the F4BLT to match the longer rear travel.





A lot of CNC machine work
 

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I've moved it along a little:



Cockpit:
Raceface Ride stem (just because it was lying around, I much prefer a Kore to be correct)
Easton CT2 flat bar
Shimano M950 8-speed XTR combo brake and shifter
Chris King NoThreadSet (just dummied on for the pictures)
Thomson Elite 31.6mm diameter 287mm long seatpost
SDG Ventura Comp Ti saddle

Drivetrain:
Shimano M952 chainset and bottom bracket
Shimano M952 rear derailleur
Shimano M950 8-speed cogset

The final items to be obtained for this build:
Kore or ControlTech stem
AMP F4 BLT fork (the F3XC fork currently on the bike probably would not match the rear travel well)
Risse rear shock (the stock AMP shock on there now is leaking)
Some fancy skewers to replace the horrid cheap items on there now
Better spokes, rims and tires (eventually) as they are now mismatched budget items
 

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Excellent work, looks brilliant. I was impressed with the Mercedes as it was, but the AMP looks amazing. Definitely agree that the AMP seat mast looks better, matches the fork well too. Keep up the good work.
 
So to make a long story short - being ultimately based in Singapore, I had arranged to have the B5 shipped along with my flight home in a bike box from New York via Tokyo to Singapore. By the end of the trip, a small box of parts consisting of the rear shock and its brake calipers were missing. Belatedly I noticed that the box had been checked over by the US Customs service. The shock I could lose; those things are notoriously leaky. The brakes however, I was soon to find out, were not......

Separately, my impatience to locate an F4 BLT meant that I eventually bought an AMP B-4 frame and fork package to get at the fork itself. It wasn't perfect (had a damaged fork pivot bolt) and was aluminium legged instead of carbon, but they at least had a medium spring paired to a hard spring to give a more usable spring rate. I salvaged the MB4's Controltech stem, and sent it all away for a build, resulting in this.
 

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In the end, the brakes were sourced off eBay, from Australia. Usefully they came with some spares, and an extra pair of hubs. After a protracted period of rebuilding those D1 calipers (the caliper pistons were seized at one point), it was finally returned to me and I had the wheel decals removed for a cleaner look. I would have liked Mavic 317 rims but that proved impossible to find locally and expensive to have posted.

Little details like the top swing XTR front derailleur, too. I managed to find a NOS one after years of searching on eBay as well.

Finishing touches was a set of replicas from Retrodecals and here it sits, nearly 4 years after the project started, involving 3 frames, 2 countries..... before arriving at one complete bike.



The final build part list as follows. Without too much effort at weight savings, it came in at a very surprising 26.5lbs. With lighter rims and tires, it could probably be less than 25lbs:

AMP Research B5 frame
Risse Genesis rear damper
AMP F4 BLT fork
Chris King anodized NoThreadset headset
Nukeproof Generator 32h silver rims
AMP 32h disc front hub/Shimano M737 rear hub
DT spokes/brass nipples
Kenda 26x2.1 slick tires
AMP D-1 brakes
Shimano M950 combination brake levers and shifters
Shimano M952 BB and crankset
Shimano M952 front derailleur
Shimano M952 rear derailleur
ControlTech stem
Easton CT2 flat bars
No-brand grips
Thomson Elite seatpost
Salsa Flip Off quick release
SDG Ventura saddle
 

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i don't suppose a front or rear rotor was spare? id be kinda interested..

great looking bike, amps were cnc nirvana !
 
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