1993 Univega Alpina Comp

June 2011
I picked this frame up on ebay with the intention of building it up as a more or less period correct bike for riding during the winter. I already had a full selection of components in the spares box so the build up was relatively straight forward.
Having established that it was from 1993 based on the Shimano production codes on the front mech and bottom bracket, the frame was cleaned up a bit and put to one side. However upon learning that this year's Mountain Mayhem was forecast to be a muddy wash-out I thought I'd build it up as a spare bike for grinding into the Malvern mud.

It turned out to be a good choice, and although the track did dry out during the event, it was very muddy at first. I ended up riding all of my four laps on my Univega and it proved to be a very reliable and well mannered bike.

Of note is the double chainring gearing, with 38 and 24 tooth rings matched to a seven speed 13-30 cassette. This gave a good range of gears and encouraged some fairly strenuous climbing at times until I dropped onto the steel granny ring.

I built the wheels a couple of days before the race using XT M730/732 hubs, ACI DB spokes and modern Mavic XM317 rims. They stayed perfectly true and tensioned throughout.

The pictures show the rest of the spec and details:












The Retrobike NWA: 'Unleash the Inner Chimp' team 2011.

(Modern Panaracer Fire XC Pro tyres fitted for the race)


The mud and grass after the recce lap on Friday evening.

wow..thats the filth after a recce lap! good work paul as there must have been stack of modern stuff around with 'rotavating' tyres.

there's something sturdy and dependable looking about these univegas and with DX attached, even more so

i nearly bought a similar bike at the weekend but, had a ritchey a-head system so, a later production no doubt. most have a ritchey stem, off topic but, was this a univega standard thing?

nice example dsp.

very nice work,you get alot of bike for not alot of money with univegas

tidy

Nice Paul!......it looks like you've done 10 laps of the school field with that grass!.....

Always liked univegas. Might join the club one day if I can find one as tidy as yours! Good to see it put through it's paces as well.

That is a great looking bike.

Knew I should have bid on that. Damn it!

Looks lovely though.

That looks fantastic Paul.

How did you find the ride? Love mine to bits

Have you weighed it yet?

It rides great Chris. I initially tried a 130mm stem but it was too stretched out. The current 110mm stem is much better and the bar-ends make for good climbing options.

It weighs in at about 26 pounds and overall I'm really happy with it. It'll probably come with me on the Settle to Malham ride this weekend.

Wish I was going to Malham Paul, would have been nice to compare it with mine, surprised at the weight though to be honest, mine is between 23.5lbs and 24.5lbs depending what tyres happen to be on it and I thought yours would weigh in very similar

...and it looks even better 'in the steel' than it does in the photo's...

^ As ridden on the Settle to Malham loop on Saturday 2nd July 2011.
Aftermath thread here: ---> http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=155918

Lovely bike mate. I bought my Alpina Comp new back in the day. It was thw first thing i treated myself to when i started work. It is still totally standard except for the tyres. Nice to see mine is not the only one left. Neil

I have an Alpina Comp, had it since new. Great bike.

I am soooo tempted to fix her up like that. Looks awesome. Nice work

NB- Pic of mine in my gallery, but it's a bit large so I didn't want to mess up this thread with a giant pic.