1996 Curtlo Mountaineer

[originalseven]

I’ve had this chunk of steel since new and despite it’s floor-queen appearance, it’s been ridden and raced substantially in 26 years and is still my daily driver for tooling around Northern California. All custom geometry built for a specific rider (my 21 year old self) and a specific trail style (stupid fast single track and monotonous fire road climbs).





I saw these in the the early nineties in Southern California; a neighbor rode for Team Kahlua and the local shop had a mountain team that all rode em’. They were, at least in 1990, some sort of magical hyper bike that only fanatics rode while I putted around on my bio-pace equipped Rockhopper. Adding to the aura was the fact that they were built in barn about five miles from my house and literally at the foot of a trail I rode every weekend (Viper Trail) Curtlo (Doug Curtis actually built a frame for this trail, called the….Viper. Aluminum. Pretty rare.



A few of the parts have been refreshed but this is basically as it looked when I finished it in ’96. It’s missing it’s XTR front derailleur and the Nuke Proof hubs on Campy rims were swapped out for the current set up. It was built with the Judy in mind but when you bolt the Accu-Trax on, it steepens the head angle and tracks like a gazelle. However, it then proceeds to beat you about your upper body with a baseball bat.

Good times all around. Highly recommend.



Frame: 1996 Curtlo Mountaineer. OX3 Fillet brazed. Dupont Imron ‘Masi Rossa’. 17.77" C2C

Fork: Rock Shot Judy XC. White Brothers internals with LT kit. SRP titanium hardware/ Ti steerer tube

Answer Accu-Trax / Early ’91. Ringle' 1 1/4” cable hanger

Headset: Chris King Threaded 1 1/4”

Stem: Answer A-TAC 110mm

Handlebar: Easton CT2 Carbon

Grips: OURY Mountain

Barends: Onza Raw

Brakes: Shimano XTR Cantilever

Brake Pads: XTR Cartridge/Ritchey

Brake Cables: Shimano

Cantilever cable hangers: XTR

Brake Levers: Avid Speed Dial 2.0

Shifters: Grip Shift X-Ray 800

Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore LX

Rear Derailleur: Shimano XTR / ControlTech pulleys

Derailleur Cables: Shimano

Cassette: Shimano 8 Speed XTR

Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace

Cranks: Cook Brothers 177 RSR 110/74 Pre-’92

Crank Bolts: SRP Titanium

Chainrings: Sugino 44/36t Onza Buzzsaw 24t

Chainring bolts: Cook Quality Products/ARP

Bottom Bracket: Phil Wood Titanium Sealed

Pedals: Shimano Deore DX DH/DS

Hub Skewers: ControlTech Titanium

Rims: Sun 0 Degree XC 32H Radial/3X

Hubs: Phil Wood High Flange

Nipples: Wheelsmith Stainless

Spokes: Wheelsmith Double Butted

Tires: Michelin Country Gravel

Tubes: RA

Saddle: Schwinn Stinger Homegrown Team Kevlar/Ti Rails

Seatpost: American Classic Single Bolt

Seatpost Binder: SRP Titanium

Weight: 25lb with Judy XC

22lb with Accu-Trax

 

[CTK]

Lovely stuff

 

[raidan73]

Lovely indeed

 

[Tedgey]

What a beauty

 

[pw_pw_la]

Amazing!

Have a Curtlo penciled in on the One Day... list.

Friend of mine recently picked up an amazing ex Team Kahlua/APE race bike he's about to start building up.

BB shell is even stamped for the original rider:

"ESTHER"

If any roadies out there know who that might be, let me know. Because he'd love to!

 

[originalseven]

Amazing!

Have a Curtlo penciled in on the One Day... list.

Friend of mine recently picked up an amazing ex Team Kahlua/APE race bike he's about to start building up.

BB shell is even stamped for the original rider:

"ESTHER"

If any roadies out there know who that might be, let me know. Because he'd love to!

If you got custom geometry/fit-kit or (and especially OR) it was a race bike, it got your name. Mine has first initial and last name. Every other custom/race Curtlo I've seen has been the same. Like CKING or LPEACE.

STHER seems an odd surname but you could email Doug and he could answer it I'm sure.

Kahlua/APE was heavy SoCal. So if that was a team rider, he/she was most certainly out of the Santa Clarita/Newhall area and spent time at either Cycleworld or Cyclepath.

I'll keep digging

 

[pw_pw_la]

Ah, that's amazing intel!

Thanks so much @originalseven

If you figure anything else out, please do let me know.

 

[originalseven]

Ah, that's amazing intel!

Thanks so much @originalseven

If you figure anything else out, please do let me know.'

I

ll bet it was a rider for Cycleworld. They were the APE team and did support for Kahlua during tri meets. There were a lot of riders; I rode with a dude in high school on a teal mountaineer with his name in serial. He rode for Cycleworld.

Anyway, the name/serial implies some custom geometry or race prep. Be it on a tandem or Mountaineer. But on an early APE/KAHLUA that was probably a big deal, Doug wasn't making a lot of frames back then. Months of wait time on custom work. I'll wager that frame has a special story.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Through old newspaper race reports my buddy found a Team Kahlua rider named Esther Van Verseveld.

So the assumption is it was once hers. But she's based in Europe, so perhaps the custom frame was later used by a Team Ape rider here in SoCal?

Weird she wouldn't take it with her!

 

[originalseven]

The name alone leads me to believe she destroyed people in xc. That's the name of an ass-kicker with iron lungs.

She probably had a shield.

Doug Curtis would definitely have info on that bike. He gave me a build date on mine and has the original drawings - and I was just a shop idiot with the chance to get wild shit at cost.