BoTM November 2010 - Carbon Special

My 1988/89 Kestrel MXZ.....

I throw this into the pot, my 1988/89 Kestrel MXZ which is show room condition with period correct original 18 speed XT gears. Seeing this bike in the Freewheel catalogue at the tender age of 16 at a ‘dream on’ price tag the paper round wouldn’t stretch too, I found this near new and thought I’d gotta have it!! What I like about this bike is how ahead of its time this was, unique and futuristic even by today’s standards I think!

Ok, here goes ... my first foray into BoTM! Here's my Giant-MCM-carbon-to-the-max! I'll start off with a caveat though - I don't know what year the frame is, so can't be 100% sure that it's sufficiently retro. If the consensus is that it's too recent then I'll withdraw it.

It started off as 'Project Superlight' - hence the tyres! - but when the frame showed up is was some way north of the 1100-1200g weight you see quoted for Giant's current XTC - so I decided it would be a giggle to see how much plastic I could hang off it. So far I have cranks/seatpost/bar/stem/brakelevers/bottle cage. I'll try to find a set of the Ergon bar-ends in carbon, and later look out for a set of Spin, Spinergy Spox or NukeProof-hubbed wheels. Then some finishing touches like carbon effect brake shoes. I could switch the transmission to X0 but that would be gratuitous.

As it is, it's a rider - in dry conditions only with those tyres but it's a very quick, responsive machine. I daresay it'll get ripped to shreds, but I'm not that attached to it yet so the cuts won't hurt (much ).

Cheers,
Gareth.

Nice frame but...........

id say between 98 and 2000. I had one of the first mcm1s painted metalic grey with lighter grey graphics and that was from 97. the coloured ones were later.

kaiser":2opsoq9o said:

Now thats cool, more pics please

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Ok.....................

here she is in todays guise with the original fork and a few more battle scars, she is one of a pair = http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2569&highlight=kestrel

Interesting that you say yours is one of the first from '97 - I had the impression that the MCM was available from about '95 onwards. Or did you mean one of the first in the colour scheme you outlined?

stonneyup":3kanclue said:

id say between 98 and 2000. I had one of the first mcm1s painted metalic grey with lighter grey graphics and that was from 97. the coloured ones were later.

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KAPOW!

Lock it in Eddie!

uno-speedo":5ms5wifl said:

My F1

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Looks a strong and select month. Will be getting the poll up over the next few days. If you intend to enter best be quick!

i'll try and get a fresh pic up tomorrow
daylight permitting

British eagle carbon pro 92 ish but might be earlier
ALAN built screwed and glued frame and matching forks
built with 93 lx /dx mix
pulstar hubs ,early american ones on fir rims with 1.5" cross country's
fiberlite carbon bars ,syncros stem ,ritchey saddle and post