My finished 1998 Shaun Palmer Replica

Hi Guys,

Thanks for looking....

Just finished my build. A bit more modern than usual but still in my opinion a 'Retro' Classic, well it is nearly 10 years ago!!!

Anyway, an exact replica as pictured in Specialized's '25 years' book, i have attched a scan of that picture.

Every part on my build is as exact as possible. I had heaps of help from Palmer Mechanic over in the States to make sure this build is spot on.

Not everyones cup of tea, I know but comments would be greatfully recieved.

Thanks

Thats a great build Bounty69

My comment on the other thread 'what is retro?'

The Palmer replica may not be as iconic to everyone as Rumpfy's Tomac replica, or from everybodies era of choice but I think its pretty cool achievement and I'm sure others here will agree. Nice one!

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I really like it. You gotta be happy that you didn't sell it, what magazine will it be in?

holy shi*, that cool and the gang! race reps are cool, especially somebody as iconic as napalm. good work.

Nice mate, like it

Very nice mate, glad that you saw this project through to the end. Now you need to make your own palmer replica pants using a felt tip and a pair of old jeans...

I remeber fondling 1 of those frames at a specialized demo day. replicas can be hard work getting the exact build so congrats

that's one of the best builds I've seen on here - why? Because it represents the era just before the downhill bubble burst, and with it the associated $300,000 contracts, huge Troy-Lee painted team buses and massive egos, and the 1999/2000 Diesel World Cup sponsorship fiasco. For a while the future of mtb racing - not just DH - was really being called into question. Specialized pulled all DH teams. GT went belly-up. Sunn collapsed. Volvo-Cannondale stalled. Vouilloz quit, Chausson and Giove had to go begging for sponsorship scraps. Suddenly "grassroots" was the priority. Massive names went to tiny teams - Peat to Orange - and were grateful for what they could get.

Also, it would still be competitive on most domestic race courses, which is not always true of some retro bikes. The holy-grail of team replicas (apart from Tomac/Raleigh and Overend/Ultimate) would be the Sunn Radical+ as ridden by Vouilloz and Chausson (with datalogger!), and the Cannondale Fulcrum (the first serious reworking of the 4-bar theory post Leitner and Lawhill 8 years before the VPP/DW-Link/Quad etc.) and the earlier double bb drive system the used circa '95 (single pivot Super-V derivative with top tube). Anyone?

Personally I would also like to see a HBall replica. I made an attempt with one, but than I didn't want a Judy for example. So attempt failed. Better bike though.

I seriously like above Specialized DH weapon. It is a very accurate replica, it seems. Also like it because of the fact it is one of the not so many DH weapons on here. Like to see them

Sam R":13tv0a3l said:

The holy-grail of team replicas (apart from Tomac/Raleigh and Overend/Ultimate) would be the Sunn Radical+ as ridden by Vouilloz and Chausson ?

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See my now sadly sold radical + at the end of this thread (apologies for picture quality) http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12186

Its one of the earlier versions with the same rear end as the later radicals, rode very well, very stable under power. This was an ex-team bike given to a Brit BMX'er on the Sunn team who didn't really get into DH'ing.

Elev12k":2u3flmka said:

Personally I would also like to see a HBall replica. I made an attempt with one, but than I didn't want a Judy for example. So attempt failed.

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You tried to do this?



All that Ringle! That'd be a tough project!