Whats the Oldest Most Retro MTB/ATB You Own ?
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justbackdated
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1983 ProLite for me with Specialized Tricross tyres-mmmm.
I do have a 1943 BSA Parabike which could be classed as an offroader![/list]
I do have a 1943 BSA Parabike which could be classed as an offroader![/list]
Being in Northern California there are many early 80's Ritcheys, Mountain Goats, Fats, etc. Here's a bike I'm sure none of you have seen in the UK.
Part of collecting old MTB's for me is the history or story behind the bikes and who made them. I restored this bike last summer. Its certinally unique and only 1 of 2 known to exist today :shock:
A '83 uh.....not sure what to call it. I suppose a Stuber/Drake/Shickle, sounds more like a law firm :roll:
This bike was the effort of 2 Physics professors and a grad student at UCSB, Santa Barbara in '83. Mountain bikes were not readly available and these bike enthusists decided to build there own, well, because they could.
Rudi Stuber was head of the Physics dept and machine shop, now retired. Greg Shickle's official title would be nucular physicists/physics professor. I bought the bike from him off CL ad and when I picked it up you could tell he likes making things.
He is sorta semi retired but runs Tech-Alloy, http://www.tech-alloy.com/
He also custom builds choppers, the $100,000+ kind! Barney Drake was a grad student in Physics and a bike racer. He went on to become a leading pioneere in nanotechnolgy (atomic microscopes,etc) and retired at a very early age. Hes still very active racing road bikes in the masters class and is a fellow RenoWheelmen although I have yet to contact him about this bike.
I was able to track down Rudi Stuber and he explained in his Swiss accent that back in the day MTB's weren't readily available and the ones that were had very slack angles. He wanted to be able to ride and let go of the handlebars. He was very critucal of how MTB's were being welded and the heat applied. In his Swiss ascent he gave me lecture about metallurgy and all the many special parts he made for NASA, nuke subs, etc, etc, over the years.
Rudi had a road bike built by local a frame maker in '82, Greg Diamond, and was able to borrow his frame jig to setup in the UCSB machine shop. This is the same frame jig used to make the '84 Pawley/Diamond bike that's in FirstFlights collection : http://www.firstflightbikes.com/1984_Pauley_Diamond.htm
Working after hours this group produced 3 frames, made of 4130 Cromo aircraft tubing. The angles are somewhat steeper than your typical early '80s MTB. They wanted a clean look and went for internal cabling. There's stainless tubing running inside the toptube/downtube and Rt. chainstay for this. The seat tube is really ovalized at the bottom bracket shell and overall a very well made frame. The welds are nice and clean, much, much better than my '84 Fat Chance. The drop outs are Shimano and has the usual rack / waterbottle mounts, including a shoulder strap mount. The fork is a early Cromo Tange boxed crown unit. They were outfitted in the standard '83 componets of the day.
Rudi still has his bike and rides it occasionally, he had had it professionally painted white and blue. Barney Drake's bike was stolden about a year after he made it, bummer
Greg was just happy to see his go someone who would appreciate it. The bike had hardly been used but had many paint chips from being moved around the shop. It hung on a wall for last 15 years.
I repainted it with a silver metallic base and then a transparent cherry red top coat. Looks more razzberry but changes depending on the light. The build is Shimano's 1st mountain group released in '83, the M700 Deerhead componets.
I rebuilt it up with :
M700 shifters, brakes/levers, front and rear derailleurs, Shimano HP-6207 600 headset, Shimano MF-6208 600 6 speed freewheel, high flange XT HB-MN72 hubs/Arraya 7x rims, Scott Mathauser brake pads, Nitto aluminum bullmoose bars , Grab-on grips, Sugino AT Crankset and bottom bracket, sedisport chain, SR Laprade seatpost, Brooks saddle, Suntour XC pedals, Specialized crossroads tires
Sorry for the long winded story
Part of collecting old MTB's for me is the history or story behind the bikes and who made them. I restored this bike last summer. Its certinally unique and only 1 of 2 known to exist today :shock:
A '83 uh.....not sure what to call it. I suppose a Stuber/Drake/Shickle, sounds more like a law firm :roll:
This bike was the effort of 2 Physics professors and a grad student at UCSB, Santa Barbara in '83. Mountain bikes were not readly available and these bike enthusists decided to build there own, well, because they could.
Rudi Stuber was head of the Physics dept and machine shop, now retired. Greg Shickle's official title would be nucular physicists/physics professor. I bought the bike from him off CL ad and when I picked it up you could tell he likes making things.
He is sorta semi retired but runs Tech-Alloy, http://www.tech-alloy.com/
He also custom builds choppers, the $100,000+ kind! Barney Drake was a grad student in Physics and a bike racer. He went on to become a leading pioneere in nanotechnolgy (atomic microscopes,etc) and retired at a very early age. Hes still very active racing road bikes in the masters class and is a fellow RenoWheelmen although I have yet to contact him about this bike.
I was able to track down Rudi Stuber and he explained in his Swiss accent that back in the day MTB's weren't readily available and the ones that were had very slack angles. He wanted to be able to ride and let go of the handlebars. He was very critucal of how MTB's were being welded and the heat applied. In his Swiss ascent he gave me lecture about metallurgy and all the many special parts he made for NASA, nuke subs, etc, etc, over the years.
Rudi had a road bike built by local a frame maker in '82, Greg Diamond, and was able to borrow his frame jig to setup in the UCSB machine shop. This is the same frame jig used to make the '84 Pawley/Diamond bike that's in FirstFlights collection : http://www.firstflightbikes.com/1984_Pauley_Diamond.htm
Working after hours this group produced 3 frames, made of 4130 Cromo aircraft tubing. The angles are somewhat steeper than your typical early '80s MTB. They wanted a clean look and went for internal cabling. There's stainless tubing running inside the toptube/downtube and Rt. chainstay for this. The seat tube is really ovalized at the bottom bracket shell and overall a very well made frame. The welds are nice and clean, much, much better than my '84 Fat Chance. The drop outs are Shimano and has the usual rack / waterbottle mounts, including a shoulder strap mount. The fork is a early Cromo Tange boxed crown unit. They were outfitted in the standard '83 componets of the day.
Rudi still has his bike and rides it occasionally, he had had it professionally painted white and blue. Barney Drake's bike was stolden about a year after he made it, bummer
Greg was just happy to see his go someone who would appreciate it. The bike had hardly been used but had many paint chips from being moved around the shop. It hung on a wall for last 15 years.
I repainted it with a silver metallic base and then a transparent cherry red top coat. Looks more razzberry but changes depending on the light. The build is Shimano's 1st mountain group released in '83, the M700 Deerhead componets.
I rebuilt it up with :
M700 shifters, brakes/levers, front and rear derailleurs, Shimano HP-6207 600 headset, Shimano MF-6208 600 6 speed freewheel, high flange XT HB-MN72 hubs/Arraya 7x rims, Scott Mathauser brake pads, Nitto aluminum bullmoose bars , Grab-on grips, Sugino AT Crankset and bottom bracket, sedisport chain, SR Laprade seatpost, Brooks saddle, Suntour XC pedals, Specialized crossroads tires
Sorry for the long winded story
