You may have seen this frame before on the site. It's been owned by bratfass, sithlord, ringo and bought by me in April 2012, since when I've been collecting parts for it.
All I know about Biria is that it was a German company started by a man of Iranian descent. It was bought by an American group in 2005 and I believe it's now based in the USA. Biria now makes folding and city bikes mainly.
I think the frame is probably a Taiwanese job. It would be great if someone could throw some more light on Biria and their bike range from this era. I would be particularly interested in knowing what the frame tubing is. Even this frame has been made of everything from Tange Infinity triple butted to Ultimate Superlight according to some posts. I have taken the liberty of putting an Ultimate Ultralight decal on it, until somebody tells me otherwise. I’m reasonably sure that its successor, the MX 700 was made of Tange Ultimate Ultralight. Everyone seems to agree it's some flavour of Tange though. You might wonder why I don’t just weigh it to see if I can get some clues, but at some point the frame has been filled to the brim with waxoyl, so I don’t think that’s going to tell me much.
You could describe the paint as a bit of a Marmite thing in more ways than one. Personally I like it, reminds me of an old Wolseley car interior, just the thing for riding down to the pub smoking a pipe and wearing a cheesecutter cap (and very little else!).
Bratfass has an excerpt from a magazine showing one BITD with Marzocchi XC500 forks, Shimano XT groupset and gold anodized Mavic rims. I thought it would look good with Suntour xc pro in champagne finish where possible, and Mavic 217 sunsets, and I think it does.
And discuss.........
Frame: Biria Natural Biker 1993
Fork: Tange Superlight
Headset: Suntour xc pro
Stem: Answer ATAC
Handlebar: Answer Hyperlite
Grips: Onza Porcipaws
Brakes: Suntour xc pro
Brake Pads: Suntour
Cantilever cable hangers: Suntour power hanger front / racerx special rear
Brake Levers: Suntour xc pro
Shifters: Suntour xc pro thumbies
Front Derailleur: Suntour top pull
Rear Derailleur: Suntour xc pro short cage
Cassette: 7 speed Suntour 11-24
Chain: KMC X8.93
Cranks/chainrings: Suntour xc pro MD 42-32-20
Bottom Bracket: Tange Seiki LN-7922TVS 115mm
Pedals: Suntour xc pro
Rims: Mavic 217 Sunset
Hubs: Suntour xc pro 32 hole
Tyres: Front : Panaracer Dart / Rear : Panaracer Smoke
Saddle: Selle Italia Flite Ti
Seatpost: Suntour xc pro 27mm
All I know about Biria is that it was a German company started by a man of Iranian descent. It was bought by an American group in 2005 and I believe it's now based in the USA. Biria now makes folding and city bikes mainly.
I think the frame is probably a Taiwanese job. It would be great if someone could throw some more light on Biria and their bike range from this era. I would be particularly interested in knowing what the frame tubing is. Even this frame has been made of everything from Tange Infinity triple butted to Ultimate Superlight according to some posts. I have taken the liberty of putting an Ultimate Ultralight decal on it, until somebody tells me otherwise. I’m reasonably sure that its successor, the MX 700 was made of Tange Ultimate Ultralight. Everyone seems to agree it's some flavour of Tange though. You might wonder why I don’t just weigh it to see if I can get some clues, but at some point the frame has been filled to the brim with waxoyl, so I don’t think that’s going to tell me much.
You could describe the paint as a bit of a Marmite thing in more ways than one. Personally I like it, reminds me of an old Wolseley car interior, just the thing for riding down to the pub smoking a pipe and wearing a cheesecutter cap (and very little else!).
Bratfass has an excerpt from a magazine showing one BITD with Marzocchi XC500 forks, Shimano XT groupset and gold anodized Mavic rims. I thought it would look good with Suntour xc pro in champagne finish where possible, and Mavic 217 sunsets, and I think it does.
And discuss.........
Frame: Biria Natural Biker 1993
Fork: Tange Superlight
Headset: Suntour xc pro
Stem: Answer ATAC
Handlebar: Answer Hyperlite
Grips: Onza Porcipaws
Brakes: Suntour xc pro
Brake Pads: Suntour
Cantilever cable hangers: Suntour power hanger front / racerx special rear
Brake Levers: Suntour xc pro
Shifters: Suntour xc pro thumbies
Front Derailleur: Suntour top pull
Rear Derailleur: Suntour xc pro short cage
Cassette: 7 speed Suntour 11-24
Chain: KMC X8.93
Cranks/chainrings: Suntour xc pro MD 42-32-20
Bottom Bracket: Tange Seiki LN-7922TVS 115mm
Pedals: Suntour xc pro
Rims: Mavic 217 Sunset
Hubs: Suntour xc pro 32 hole
Tyres: Front : Panaracer Dart / Rear : Panaracer Smoke
Saddle: Selle Italia Flite Ti
Seatpost: Suntour xc pro 27mm
