One for the shorties - 1991 Alpinestars T24

[raidan73]

I bought this ages ago and hadn't got around to doing anything with it until fairly recently. I got my boy involved but he's not always that interested to tell the truth!

Alpinestars were one of the few companies who produced an off the shelf 26" wheeled bike designed with the shorter rider in mind, without compromising on wheel size or riding position. Here's the review, by Deb Murrell and Neil Simpson (who kindly sent me the scans), from the July 1991 issue of Mountain Biker magazine.

 

[raidan73]

Some additional pics which didn't feature in the July article.....

 

[mk one]

Brilliant

 

[raidan73]

Here's the bike as it arrived, back in early 2015 I think! It's mostly stock I believe, with a 300LX groupset. I don't remember if I bought it from Lynne @mamadirt or whether someone else owned it in between. Plans were to upgrade the spec list slightly, without going crazy.

 

[jimo746]

Superb! Great bike for the smaller rider.
Almost like a trials bike if you drop the seat right down

Plans were to upgrade the spec list slightly, without going crazy.

Not an easy job!

 

[raidan73]

Excerpt from the 1991 Alpinestars catalogue

 

[raidan73]

Brodie getting involved with cleaning down the frame. It has a few scuffs and scrapes but still looks pretty good for a 30 year old bike

 

[tintin40]

very good bikes. Nice example

 

[raidan73]

The zero stack headset was feeling a bit rough but fortunately it was just a little overtightened and a bit dry. Nice to have the original bar, stem, seatpost and saddle still attached.

 

[raidan73]

The 300LX groupset was sold/given away and alternative options were considered. I bought some nos Gripshift for not much money and chose some slightly tatty Dia Compe SS4 levers from the spares bin. I figured both of these would be good for smaller hands, especially compared to the chunky original 300LX STI units.