I recently got my hands on a blingy vintage mountain bike – a 1984 Ross Mt. Hood. My love affair with classic hard-tail MTB’s has been documented here before, with articles on customized Univega Alpina Uno and Bridgestone MB-2‘s that I’ve built in the past. But this one needed no work at all, except some careful hand polishing. It’s 100% original, down to the tires! Read on for more details…
I built this bike up over the weekend, starting with a vintage Italian-made frame that I found online. It was fully chromed under the paint, so I stripped the paint and polished up the chrome to a nice shine. I added a shiny silver Shimano 600 group and Dia-Compe brakes, along with brand-new wheels and saddle that complimented the classic spartan look of the frame.
While the frame didn't have any identifying logos, some research confirmed that it's an Italvega Super Record. Italvega bikes were designed and hand-built within the noted Torresini workshop at the Torpado factory in Padua, Italy. It was carrying a sticker from Zumwalt's Bicycles in San Diego, CA so perhaps it was their in-house brand at one point.
It's a quality frame, with gorgeous long-point lugs and Columbus SPX tubing, one of their higher-end tubesets. Size-wise, it's 53cm bike, with a 53cm center-to-center top tube and a 53cm center-to-top seat tube. Read on for more pictures and details:
This is a cute lil' commuter / townie bike I built up in the winter of 2011 for my girlfriend. I found an old Bridgestone MB-2 frame, a high-quality lugged rigid mountain bike from the early 1990's. It had a lot of scratches and small dents so I gave it a new coat of paint and a built-in top tube protector made of shellacked hemp twine. Read more after the jump…
This is the Surly Traveler's Check that I built up as a touring bike to replace the Surly Long Haul Trucker I was using as my previous touring bike. I wanted to see if a 700c-wheeled tourer would feel "faster" and would also be a better all-purpose bike. The Traveler's Check is a version of the Surly Cross Check that has S&S couplers that allow you to dismantle the bike and pack it into a small bag for airline and train travel.
The Traveler's Check build is a combination of parts I was using on the Long Haul Trucker along with improvements based on lessons learned. It's all come together into a very handsome package that rides wonderfully.
Read on for more details and pictures!
The Surly Long Haul Trucker is considered one of the best modern, non-custom touring bicycles on the market these days. Introduced in 2004, it quickly became the “go-to” bike for riders looking for a reliable, no-nonsense machine for long, multi-day travels. It can also do double duty as a solid commuter or errand-runner around town, perfect for hauling camping gear or groceries.
This one is a 2009 model in their beige “Truckaccino” color, size 52 with 26″ wheels. I scored it off of Craigslist from a guy who won it in a radio contest and then never rode it. It came stock with a set of Ortlieb panniers and Blackburn racks. Since I’ve never been one to leave a stock build alone, I changed almost all of the components out.
Highlights of the build include a Gilles Berthoud “Aspin” touring saddle, Schmidt SON28 Classic generator hub with Supernova E3 light, BioLogic Reecharge system for the iPhone 4, Schwalbe Marathon tires, Deore XT derailleurs, Suntour Command shifters, Tubus racks, and a LOOK ErgoStem. More details and picture gallery after the jump…
I built this bike over the winter from parts I had laying around. The company I work for moved offices over the Christmas holiday to a building that doesn’t allow me to bring my bike up to my office. Instead, we have to store our bikes in a shady loading dock that’s open to 43rd street / Times Sq. So I needed an inexpensive “beater” to commute on every day. More on the bike build and additional pictures after the jump…
I’ve had this bike for a couple of months now, but I only recently got around to taking some pictures. It’s an original Grant Petersen-designed Bridgestone RB-1 from 1990, and when I found it on eBay, it came with all the stock parts: Suntour GPX drivetrain, Hatta Vesta headset, Dia-Compe BRS 400 brakes and levers, and Sansin hubs with Wolber rims.
A month ago I switched the groupset to a NOS Shimano Santé group I pieced together. Santé is a rare and misunderstood groupset – in 1987 Shimano created it with the idea of appealing to consumers who wanted pro-quality parts with a slicker design. Perhaps due to the cheesy name and white powdercoated parts, many people assume Santé is low-end stuff – not so! Mechanically, it sits between Ultegra and Dura-Ace., and the Disraeli Gears site enthusiastically calls it “most innovative and influential derailleurs in recent history.”
Santé performs beautifully – after switching the groupset this bike went from “very good” to a truly remarkable and amazing ride. It’s now my favorite bike, the kind you look forward to riding, regardless of the weather. The shifters are set to friction and it shifts and coasts smoothly and nearly silently.
I held onto the original parts for the RB-1 in case I ever decide to sell it, but it will take a pretty special bike to replace this one. More pictures after the jump…