The Late, Great Bontrager Race Lite

Buy the Koski fork from PW for the Merlin. He is hoarding that fork and not using on any build. The Koski is a much better fit for a Merlin 88.

Woah, woah, woah. Leave me and my forks out of this.

The Koski is the least of my problems: that's not even here yet!

The Ritchey, the Steelman, the IRD, the Syncros**... now those I'm hoarding! ;)

**This one's actually about be be for sale.
 
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Woah, woah, woah. Leave me and my forks out of this.

The Koski is the least of my problems: that's not even here yet!

The Ritchey, the Steelman, the IRD, the Syncros**... now those I'm hoarding! ;)

**This one's actually about be be for sale.
You should sell the Steelman.;)
 
It's right at 20lbs as pictured. Many of the lighter Ti bits didn't make it on.

-Ti derailleur hanger wouldn't thread into the hanger, started but then got really hard and I wasn't wanting to push it.
-Ti Odyssey Svelte pedals wouldn't thread into the cranks, they'd start and get ~half a thread in then stop. Though I tried them on a shimano 105 crankset and went right in.
-Ti brake hardware didn't get used because I only had enough for one caliper, whoops.
-Ti CK crown race didn't get used because there was already a race on the fork so...whatever.
-Ti T-Gear QR's didn't make it. Had the bike at the LBS to tidy up the cables and the front lever snapped, cheese I guess. Replaced with some Ringle I had on hand, wish they were black.
-Syncros BB 110mm spindle was a tad short so in went the old White Industries I had with 113 Ti spindle.

As she sits

Frame1994/7 Bontrager Race Lite
ForkIgleheart
Headset1" CK nothread
Wheelsetm950 laced to ceramic Bontrager Valiants, ASYM rear, radial laced front
TiresContinental Cross King Front / Race King Rear - Schwalbe tubes
Front Derailleurm900
Rear Derailleurm900 w/ vuelta pulleys and Ti pulley bolts, rollamajig
Cassettem900
Bottom Bracketold White Industries, Ti spindle 113mm
Crank SetCook Bros F-Type compact with NOS Shimano/Profile Racing rings
StemMoots Ti
HandlebarsTitec Hellion Ti
GripsBontrager Race NOS
ShiftersSuntour XC PRO 7/8spd in 8spd index mode
SeatpostSyncros Ti
SaddleSSM Bontrager Ti
Pedalsm735
Leversolder Paul
Brakesm900 w/ Koolstop ceramic pads, DKG boosters NOS & @synlos WTB hanger Ti ferrule =P
CablesXTR NOS
SkewersRingle
Bottle cagetbd

first ride report -
It's fast as hell and tracks better than the OR. Fork is stiff (one day I'll see what a curved blade fork feels like) and the tires didn't inspire much confidence but I probably need to play with the psi. The ceramic pads/rims perform really well despite the naysayers but the newer, sprung Paul levers with Yokozuna cables feels way better.
 
Where did you find the titec ti handlebar?
Btw... curved or straight should not make any diff. but geometry and tubing does. What is the a-c number on the fork? It could be pic distortion but it looks a bit low. The race lite is sup corrected for Judys and mag 21s... 420mm a-c distance give or take.
 
Where did you find the titec ti handlebar?
was some months back, I posted a want ad on facebook looking for hellbents or a Ti crowbar and the seller offered up the Hellion, which I was stoked to find.

Btw... curved or straight should not make any diff. but geometry and tubing does.
curved / straight doesn't make any difference? That doesn't seem right, why are people curving stays and straight blading forks? AC is on par with the Bonty Comp fork, closer to 400mm. Not all Race Lites were suspension corrected and this is a '94 frame when both sus and non sus were on offer. Though I'm not certain on this one really, it measures the same as the race which doesn't help me determine anything and I have pics of the bike how it came from the orihinal owner wearing a judy, but it also came with a comp fork (to the 2nd and previous owner.) I think it's not suspension corrected, was sold with the comp fork and the original owner purchased the Judy either when the frame went in for repair or at some point after the original purchase. First year for the Judy was '95, after all.
 
was some months back, I posted a want ad on facebook looking for hellbents or a Ti crowbar and the seller offered up the Hellion, which I was stoked to find.


curved / straight doesn't make any difference? That doesn't seem right, why are people curving stays and straight blading forks? AC is on par with the Bonty Comp fork, closer to 400mm. Not all Race Lites were suspension corrected and this is a '94 frame when both sus and non sus were on offer. Though I'm not certain on this one really, it measures the same as the race which doesn't help me determine anything and I have pics of the bike how it came from the orihinal owner wearing a judy, but it also came with a comp fork (to the 2nd and previous owner.) I think it's not suspension corrected, was sold with the comp fork and the original owner purchased the Judy either when the frame went in for repair or at some point after the original purchase. First year for the Judy was '95, after all.
No one is curving Colnago precisa or yo eddy or steve potts P2 forks yet. Neither accutrax. It´s been debated to exhaustion to no conclusion by roadies who are very sensitive to how their forks behave. The only way to know for sure if frame is corrected or not for susp is to measure BB drop then compare to the geo diagram; no builder messed w/bb drop. To my eyes i see too much drop and a seat angle that´s too steep but i am looking at a picture. If it was my bike i would try a longer fork, a Judy or Marzocchi z2 bomber. The bonty addicts i know swear by the bomber on their race lites. This bike was tuned for front susp: it´s geometry throws a lot weight up on arms and front wheel. Keith Bontrager was part of developing of the first RS fork and his crown is right there since the beginning. He tuned mag 21s for his bikes removing seals and adding a crown that made for less rake.
 
Ryne, this looks fantastic! Bravo, nice build! Perfect time to get that bike outside in this gorgeous spring weather.
 
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