A few years ago I restored this FUCHS that picked up from a seller in London. (handbuilt in Germany fairly early on for an alloy bike from the mid'80s at considerable cost when new) I looked into whether its built by the same Fuchs family as the Porsche wheels, but its not, there is no relation.
It was a total basket case when I collected the Fuchs as an almost complete bike on a heavy rigid fork; used as a commuter in the smoke for a few years - so it had a deep clean and some new period parts.
Testament to how strong these frames were there were no dents, cracks or damage anywhere - with all the extra external butting around the head tube it was well thought-out as a frame and built to last. I've not seen another in the UK.
I was facinated how similar this bike was to an early Manitou HT with its square section rear triangle and was engineered well. I fitted a selection of period parts from such as a Manitou1 fork and 1" Ringle quil stem I had at the time and an XTII group (with the rarer black finish std profile cantis) and it came back to life nicely and felt a tough and functional bike.
Sold the Fuch on ebay post-pandemic when I lost the garage 'bike-loft' when the family converted it to a home office to work from home post pandemic (photo of the bike loft during the pandemic featured below - it was such a handy store). What's left of my bike collection is in my footer, and split between the family home in Kent and my own house in the Brecon Beacons - and I obviously swap them around from time to time when I fancy riding something different either in the Powys countryside or on the Kent Coast depending where I happen to be at the time.
Anyway - I thought some of you might find this German handbuilt early alloy MTB interesting. And who knows, one of you might know its owner today within this community
It was a total basket case when I collected the Fuchs as an almost complete bike on a heavy rigid fork; used as a commuter in the smoke for a few years - so it had a deep clean and some new period parts.
Testament to how strong these frames were there were no dents, cracks or damage anywhere - with all the extra external butting around the head tube it was well thought-out as a frame and built to last. I've not seen another in the UK.
I was facinated how similar this bike was to an early Manitou HT with its square section rear triangle and was engineered well. I fitted a selection of period parts from such as a Manitou1 fork and 1" Ringle quil stem I had at the time and an XTII group (with the rarer black finish std profile cantis) and it came back to life nicely and felt a tough and functional bike.
Sold the Fuch on ebay post-pandemic when I lost the garage 'bike-loft' when the family converted it to a home office to work from home post pandemic (photo of the bike loft during the pandemic featured below - it was such a handy store). What's left of my bike collection is in my footer, and split between the family home in Kent and my own house in the Brecon Beacons - and I obviously swap them around from time to time when I fancy riding something different either in the Powys countryside or on the Kent Coast depending where I happen to be at the time.
Anyway - I thought some of you might find this German handbuilt early alloy MTB interesting. And who knows, one of you might know its owner today within this community
Last edited:
. 
